The finished pieces look like they take years of skill to produce — small sculptural animals with detailed surfaces, precise pictorial panels worked in wool. The technique behind them is straightforward: barbed needles mechanically tangle wool fibres into felt, and everything else is a variation on that action. In this complete beginner's guide we cover the equipment you need (needles from £1.99, foam pads, finger protectors, felting wool batt at £1.95), the full range of 12 needle felting kits we stock from £7.99, and how to progress from kits to working freely with loose wool. All stocked at Craft and Canvas.

Oil painting without solvents is not a compromise — it is a genuine development in artists' materials. Winsor & Newton Artisan Water Mixable Oils use the same quality pigments as traditional oils in a modified binder that thins, blends, and cleans up with water. The painting experience is substantially the same: slow drying, rich blendability, the fat over lean principle, the full range of oil techniques. In this complete guide we cover the full 40-colour Artisan range (37ml tubes at £7.35), the Artisan Linseed and Safflower Oil mediums, varnishes, the fat over lean principle, drying times, and the Water Mixable Oils book at £14.99. All stocked at Craft and Canvas.

Crochet is one of the most accessible craft skills you can learn — one hook, one ball of yarn, and a simple sequence of hand movements. In this complete beginner's guide we cover the KnitPro Zing hooks we stock from £2.95, which yarn suits beginners best (Stylecraft Special DK or Rico Organic Cotton), the four essential stitches from foundation chain through treble crochet, the UK/US terminology difference that confuses almost every beginner, how to read a crochet pattern, why the granny square is the best starting point, and the beginner crochet books we stock from £9.99 including You Will Be Able to Crochet by the End of This Book at £19.99.