Scottish Crafts - Celtic Crafts

Why do we craft? Wow, there are so many great reasons. We want our children and grandchildren to have items made with our own hands and filled with our hearts - items that can be passed down through the generations. We want our homes to reflect warmth and love. We share an innate yearning to create beauty and to express our own uniqueness and artistic vision. And it's fun!

When we craft items reflecting our Scottish heritage, we connect with this timeless longing for beauty and family continuity. As our Scottish ancestry incorporates a strong connection to the long line of Celtic tradition, it's natural we would seek to draw on the incomparable beauty of Celtic symbols and knotwork designs.

I've tried to find some of the best books for a variety of Scottish crafts and Celtic themed crafts - quilting, needlework designs and cross stitch, knitting, and more.

Celtic calligraphy and knotwork instruction books have their own page (stencils, stickers, clipart and coloring books are still here) - click here for Celtic Knotwork and Calligraphy.

Scottish and Celtic Craft Books:

Celtic Cross Stitch: 30 Alphabet, Animal and Knotwork Projects This one looks to be a real winner - great Celtic craft projects, many based on original illuminated manuscripts	Celtic Cross Stitch Designs Wow - 100 celtic cross stitch designs - knotwork, animals, alphabet - everything you'd want
Celtic Quilts : A New Look for Ancient Designs Highly rated for clarity of instructions and detailed list of supplies needed - beautiful Celtic quilts	Celtic Quilting Wide variety of Celtic quilt projects. To a non-quilter, it looks to be beyond beginner level.
Celtic Charted Designs (Dover Needlework Series) One of Dover's great bargains - over 300 Celtic designs for the experienced crafter (no projects, no colors)	Celtic Stencil Designs (Pictorial Archive) A nice selection of celtic stencil designs. You have to copy the designs before using them.
159 Celtic Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive) I would assume the pictures are small, because though the reviews were good, people seem to use these for clipart mostly.	Celtic Animals : Iron-On Transfer Patterns 65 wonderful celtic animal patterns for a very reasonable price. Such a deal!
Celtic Motifs : 24 Black-And-White Stickers Celtic stickers for a variety of projects	Celtic Animals Coloring Book My sister colors as her "relaxation therapy", using markers instead of crayons. This is a gorgeous celtic animals coloring book.
Celtic Design Coloring Book Another great Celtic coloring book for teens and adults.	The Art of Fair Isle Knitting : History, Technique, Color and Pattern The author spent a great deal of time in the Shetlands researching fair isle knitting for this book. Five stars.
Aran and Fair Isle Knitting: Patterns, Techniques and Stitches A great two-in-one deal here - both types of knitting originated in the Scottish isles, though most think of Aran as Irish.	220 Aran Stitches and Patterns - Volume 5 (Harmony Guides) Aran knitting is what we commonly think of as "fisherman's sweaters". Wonderful!
Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified Lots of 5-star reviews for this fair isle knitting book - the authors have made it possible for everyone to knit fair isle sweaters (and who wouldn't want one!)	Arans & Celtics: The Best of Knitter's Magazine Compilation of the best Aran and Celtic knitting projects from the past 18 years of Knitter's magazine. Projects for women's, men's, children's, and unisex sizing and styles are included.