CRAFT:ONCE UPON a time and not so very long ago, sewing and knitting fairs were a bit on the earnest side. Fuddy duddy, you might say. Tea cosies and turned collars. Scratchy sweaters and baby booties. But last weekend a record number of people – more than 23,000 – descended on the RDS for the Knitting and Stitching Show, and many of the workshops, fabric artwork on display and Irish suppliers became the talk of the town.

Crafts in this Year of Craft are, of course, winning new respect and recruits generally. Well-made, handmade objects are gifts of time and skill, and that’s what makes them often invaluable, worth keeping and even fun.

The Cath Kidston phenomenon is all rather cutesy and florid, but we do think this new book of designs and patterns for 30 simple needlepoint and cross-stitch projects is worth recommending. It’s out just in time to get cracking for the giving season, and it’s full of bright and likeable ideas. A splash of embroidery on a favourite sweater, say, might give it new life; a pouch for someone’s mobile phone might protect it from the depths of a cavernous handbag. Ideas, all of them do-able.

Stitch!by Cath Kidston, is published by Quadrille (€17)