Welcome to The Complete Book of Handicrafts ， which is<br >packed with super things for you to make for home and family<br >and friends， The satisfactions of craftit~g it yourself are many-<br >you will probably turn out a superior product， for less money than<br >it could be bought readymade， and have a good time doing it.<br >The value of working with your hands cannot be underestimated<br >for also giving your spirit a boost. Once a craft has been mastered，<br >the imagination will go to work， and the yield of your labors can<br >be both practical and inspired. A fabulous sunset may turn out to<br >be a perfect subject for a collage or piece of needlepoint. A visit<br >tO a department store where every dress you see is overpriced，<br >and none of them is exactly right， may send you home with a<br >length of fabric and the determination to get it together on your<br >own (try that hem， this collar， those sleeves， and see what<br >happens!). All of us have the energy to create， often without<br >being aware of it. and if you will give some time to learning a few<br >of the ways to express that energy， life will be the richer.<br >We have tried to turn you on to some of these pleasurable tasks in<br >the lessons that follow: how to knit， sew， embroider， how to do<br > basketwork and make hats， how to make picture frames， rag rugs，<br > and jewelry， sweaters and toys (and that s not all !). If you are<br > familiar with some of the crafts on display here， you can skip the<br > lessons and go on to the actual designs. If you are not already<br > adept at a craft， you will find that the lessons are paced to keep<br > rhythm with your fingers-the designs grow more difficult as you<br > become more practiced. But， beginner oT no. we hope that this<br > volume will provide a quick and handy reference guide for various<br > craft skills， that it will give incentive for hours of working pleasure<br > tothose who wish to create (no less than to those who receive<br > the fruits of creation on birthdays， Christmas and ordinary<br > I-just-felt-like-giving-you-a-present days).<br > The frenetic pace of our everyday world can be slowed down a<br > little by doing it yourself. The dreaw feeling that life is a long<br > mass-production line can be translated into a sense of joy with<br > the rediscovery that the human hand may be the most useful<br > machine of all.<br >