Stop! If you are thinking about buying this book solely because of the picture of the sock cat on the cover (the reason why I bought it), then you should reconsider your purchase. "Stray Sock Sewing" is yet another one of those highly irritating craft books that include photos of dozens of items that you would just love to make, but only give instructions for one or two of them (and never the one that you've fallen in love with). Yes, that's right; the instructions for the cat doll are NOT included in this book. Admittedly, an experienced sewer should be able to make their own cat doll from the photographs given, but that's not the same as working from instructions and it doesn't help beginners.
What is included in this book is a very cute and very well presented 62 page gallery of 22 of the author's sock creations, all photographed in full colour and in adorable poses. This is followed by a general section on the sewing stitches and techniques necessary to make sock dolls (making this book appropriate for beginners) and then instructions on how to make 8 different sock creatures, most of which were not included in the gallery at the front of the book.
The instructions given in this book are actually very good. They are clear and each step is accompanied by a colour photograph that shows exactly what is required there. If such instructions were given for each toy presented in this book, then I would probably have given this book either 4 or 5 stars. The only misgiving I have about these instructions are that they frequently depend on the use of a particular style of sock which I suspect might either be difficult to obtain, or expensive if you can find it. Nevertheless, because instructions are not given for all of the toys, I couldn't help but feeling ripped off by this book and as a result, my rating of this book went down accordingly.
