I have never used Noro yarns or knit these patterns, but this book is filled with wonderful and fun projects for the fashion knitter and I will try one using Noro yarn.   The colors are amazing as are the patterns.  I did read some reviews on this book and most were 4.5 Stars on Amazon.  I really like this book. Any yarn with the same gauge as the featured Noro yarn can be used for these patterns. Most knitters are familiar with Noro yarns by name and by look, even if they’ve never knit with them before. These yarns are known for their vibrant colors, individual dyeing techniques and doing as much of the production process by hand as possible. Fans of Noro love to use these yarns for a variety of projects, and Knitting Noro: The Magic of Knitting with Hand-Dyed Yarns by Jane Ellison (a specialist at working with the yarn) offers Noro lovers new and old a variety of simple clothing designs to try with some of the company’s products.  The beginning of the book reads a bit like an advertisement for Noro yarns, which I guess the whole book really is, if you think about it. “Compare a hank of hand-dyed Noro yarn with a ball of man-made acrylic yarn and the differences between the two are immediately apparent,” Ellison writes in one passage. This book is beautifully done with lovely clear pictures and some trendy patterns.  Some of the wording  here is taken from About.com Knitting, by: Sarah E. White who has a great review for you if you would like to know more about this book.  I received this book form Random House and they mention designer Jane Ellison presents more than 30 patterns to knit with Noro yarns. Designed to let the glorious colors of the long repeat variegated yarns take center stage, the garments are divided into six classic silhouettes with variations for each. From the Pullovers chapter, readers can make a striped sweater with ribbed details or a turtleneck sweater dress; from the Classic Jackets chapter, both a zippered hoodie and a long textured coat can be made.  From tanks to wraps, the patterns are accompanied by beautiful photographs and clear instructions. The figure-flattering shapes of these garments and the vibrant colors of the yarns are sure to make Knitting Noro a book that knitters of all skill levels will come back to again and again.  If any of you have used Noro Yarns please let us know what you think of them.   This is a random drawing book giveaway that will run from November 1, 2009 through November 14th 2009.  Please type “Enter Me” in the comment area and good luck.

Little Felted Animals by Marie-Noelle Horvath is a sweetheart of a book for beginner needle felters, with projects that are well illustrated and it gives the beginner a chance at making a charming product your first time.  Create 16 Irresistible Creatures with Simple Needle-Felting Techniques by following the step by step pictures and you will be able to create one of the adorable animals or birds in this book. There is a supplies and tips section in the book that explains what is involved in basic needle felting such as tools and wool roving color palette. There is also a lesson on how to add glass eyes to these felted darlings which does make them realistic. Three dimensional needle felting is a fairly easy technique and this book gives you clear instructions for creating 16 animals and birds in miniature.  These projects make wonderful Christmas decorations. Dimensions and detailed instructions are given for the following animals and birds: blackbird, brown bear, Chartreux cat, Turkish Van cat, Dalmatian, fox, Jack Russell terrier, koala bear, mouse, penguin, polar bear, rabbit, robin, seal pup, sheep, Welsh Corgi. Marie-Noelle Horvath, is a great source of inspiration offering techniques on how to shape precious small animals. I love the mice pictured above! Pick up a copy at Amazon.com if you want to learn this growing craft or win one here on Craft Gossip Felting, you will love this book. In the comment area, just type “enter me” for a chance to WIN this book by a random drawing.  This giveaway will run 9-6 through 9-19!  Good Luck!

Fun Felt Crafts by Tina Skinner is a fabulous book for those of us that love felting.  This book is published by Schiffer Books and they were kind enough to send me a copy to giveaway to one of you.  The pages are filled with clever ideas on how to recycle old or used woolens, as Tina points out in the history of wool crafts (Below).  Homemakers have been using left over or outdated wool clothing and recreating these into fashionable wearables for their families. I recall my mother telling the story about a coat and showing me pictures of this adorable coat that was made for her out of the wool lining of a worn out man’s overcoat.  The lining was a brown and cream plaid and the matching bonnet that matched the new coat.  There was a fur band around the bonnet and a fur muff was also created.  This book will show you just how to recycle wools and turn them into amazing and useful home décor items and wearables. Tina shows us the proper way to take apart an old wool blazer and skirt for use in fun new projects.  Felting and cutting up used wool sweaters will leave you with enough wool for many smaller projects. She shows you the basic stitches to use when hand sewing felted wool. There are patterns for making adorable pouches, bags and fabulous flowers she calls “flower Power” to decorate your hats, sweaters, jackets or stand alone brooches.  She has the cutest hats and sweater bags that will be one-of-a-kind by you the designer.  Tina has many templates in this book for patterns for your use.  The illustrations in this book are wonderful and clear and you will enjoy looking through the projects and creating your own from Tina’s basic ideas. This is a book that all felters will want to own.  

A History of Wool Craft by Tina Skinner:

Felt is one of the most popular craft mediums right now, but it’s hardly a flash-in-the-pan trend. Sheep are one of mankind’s oldest commodities, and their wonderful wool has been clothing and sheltering us throughout recorded history. Saving scraps of wool from sewing projects and salvaging what’s usable from used-up clothes is an age-old tradition. Women have been recycling wool into clever crafts since time immemorial, and the styles pioneered by America’s early homemakers are still much admired and imitated in Grafting circles today. Besides forming the basis for hooked and braided rugs, wool scraps are also the stars of the lesser-known penny rug. Penny rugs were probably never destined for work on the floor. Rather, they were used to protect the tops of precious cabinetry or furnishings while showing off the mistress’s skill with a needle.

To learn more about the designers and projects get this fun filled book.

Enter today or purchase it from Amazon or Schiffer Books. To enter (type enter me in the comment area)

Katerina Lauer (number picked by Random.org) is the winner of our amazing book giveaway “Barbara Albright’s, The Natural Knitter” thanks to Random House Books. Congratulations Katerina and I know you will enjoy this book. Katerina has a blog called, “Find Katerina” if you would like to pay her a visit.  Thank you all for entering this giveaway and stay tuned for the next book giveaway “Fun Felt Crafts” thanks to Schiffer Books and on the 17th I will be holding another fabulous knitting needle giveaway by eknittingneedles.com.

This is a very bittersweet review of Barbara Albright’s “The Natural Knitter”.  Barbara wrote both knitting and cooking books.  Sadly she died last fall of a brain tumor at the age of 51. This was her last book, and regrettable she missed enjoying her wonderful book. The world has lost a wonderful person, knitter and author. When Barbara wrote “The Natural Knitter” it had to be an enormous task to write and illustrate.  This book is like an encyclopedia of yarn all natural all beautiful. You will learn what natural fibers to use from Alpaca to Yak.  We are all familiar with the new interest in natural fibers like cotton, flax and hemp and all other fibers that come from plants.  Barbara introduces us to a fiber called vicuna and it is softer than cashmere and extremely protective. The vicuna is a rare wild animal which sports hair less than half the diameter of the finest sheep’s wool. Its wool is not just for show, however. Because it lives at an elevation of between 12,000 and 18,000 feet on the slopes of the Andes Mountains it needs that insulating coat. Up there, near the snow line the days are beautifully sunny but at night the temperatures plummet to many degrees below zero. I learned that you can spin fibers directly from an Angora rabbit onto a spinning wheel, which is absolutely amazing to me and that angora goats produce mohair.  Did you know cashmere comes from the Cashmere goat? You will learn about different qualities of particular fibers, it also provides information about the animals and plants that provide the yarn. You will learn which plants produce fibers for each yarn and which animals yield fiber for other natural yarns. If you are in to eco-friendly knitting then this book is a must have for the conservationist knitter.  The section on natural dyes used centuries ago is a must read to keep fibers toxin free.  Did you know that there are yarns made from bison, guanaco (The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is a camelid animal native to South America) and even yarn made from pineapples, I didn’t! You certainly see that this book was created by people who are passionate about fiber.  In addition to all the great information about the yarns themselves and where they came from, there are also 23 patterns using the different fibers Barbara has introduced us too, helping you be aware of how you can use these fibers to their best advantage. Carol Cypher, is one of the contributors in this book on felting, an author in her own right, so you may want to take a look at her blog. This is a book you will definitely want for your knitting, felting and fiber library. It is a beautiful hardcover book with stunning photography by Alexandra Grablewski. This giveaway will run from July 20th through August 2nd.  In the comment section simply type “enter me” I know that everyone will want this book as a living memory of Barbara Albright. This book is available at Amazon.com if you would like to purchase it. I want to thank Random House books for making this giveaway possible.

vicuna

Cashmere goat

No matter what your fiber of choice, you will stockpile inspiration from Karen Bartolomei’s “Paperie for Inspired Living”.  First off this book is a beautiful hard covered addition for your library and brilliantly illustrated.  Each page holds divine designs from stunning invitations, awesome decorations, gift tags, place holders and so many ideas even for the budget conscious crafter.  If you have never created a card this book will force you to make one or several and you will never want to buy a card or invitation again.  Karen shows us how to customize and coordinate fabulous paper products for any occasion from the most elegant event to your most casual outdoor picnic.     Each chapter contains several projects, from the all important invitation to smaller touches like labels, tags, and keepsakes. How unforgettable your personal stationary be when Karen demonstrates step-by-step how to make a monogrammed, Thank-You cards, Mailing Labels, Business Cards, Letterhead, and Note Cards. The chapter on New Year’s Eve projects includes Invitations, Menus, Resolution Sign-in/Postcards and Drink Signs.

Karen also offers us vital advice for invitation wording and etiquette, and provides tips for throwing unforgettable parties, like choosing a color scheme and ideas for breaking the ice.  She has also thoughtfully included several useful templates and source ideas as to where we can purchase your materials for these paper fiber creations.  I am sure you all have some of the materials needed for many of her projects in your craft areas.  Have this book on hand as the summer fades and fall explodes into radiant colors signifying holiday parties are close at hand and the gifts and cards desired that will bring you back to this book over and over for ideas.  Maybe you saw something in the book and stored it in your mind for a special occasion and you know just where to find it and put your own spin on Karen’s idea.

Are you getting married in the near future and need invitation and planning ideas?  Well, you do not have to spend a fortune using ideas from Karen’s book.  “Paperie for Inspired Living” can be pre-ordered today at Amazon.com or nay of the favorite book stores.  The release date is July 7th 2009 so put your order in today. 

Karen Bartolomei’s 

Here is a lovely video by Karen Bartolomei of Grapevine grapevinepaperie.com, she designs elegant and expensive wedding invitations. This video will offer a little about Karen and above is also the link to her site.  Now you can reproduce some of her stunning ideas by using this book.

For this giveaway, in the comment area, tell what event you are planning and why this book would be a money saver for you.  This giveaway will begin July 1, 2009 through July 12, 2009.  Good luck!

I am happy to announce that Eleanor of Undeadgoat (Her Blog) was the last number picked.  I hope she enjoys this book and make some awesome things and shares them with us.  Thanks to everyone that enters the contests and hang in there, one day your number will be picked!  I just got the new that eknitting needles is sponsoring another contest and I will be posting this in the next day or two.

When I received this book and first thumbed through all the projects, the words “up-cycling and recycling” kept popping into my mind.  Sherri uses many items that we have stockpiled in our crafting areas that can be used to create some of her lovely jewelry. Pieces of fabric find new life in a beautiful pendent, broche or bracelets. I would almost say that Sherri is an ecologically friendly jewelry maker. She uses small pieces of wool roving and felt and creates stunning necklaces and bracelets that you will want to make and wear or give as a gift.  “Felt, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry” not only covers felted jewelry but includes beautifully photographed and illustrated projects made from leftover fabrics, yarns and metal threads.  And a knotted necklace is precisely illustrated for you to follow and create your own version. If you like crochet you will find this book invaluable because she shows you step-by-step how to crochet chokers, flowers and beautiful bracelets. She uses treasured buttons and beads to embellish some of her creations. The felted necklace on the cover of this book is made from sheets of 100% wool felt and Sherrie shows us how to form the petals using water. The templates for the flowers are included in the book. There is the pattern for an embroidered ring that is delightful.  Each stitch she used this is clearly laid out for you to follow to achieve the look you are going for. The yo-yo necklace is one I will want to try because it reminds me of a quilt my grandmother made.  All in all Sherri has offered us 20 very doable projects that we will all want to try. There are several pages dedicated to the tools you will need to make these lovely projects.

About: Sherri Haab is a bestselling craft author with over 23 published books to her credit, with several selling over a million copies each. Haab is a certified metal clay instructor, leading numerous craft and jewelry making workshops internationally. Sherri has been a pioneer in the American Metal Clay revolution since 1996 when it was first introduced in the US. She is known for tracking trends in the craft industry and then educating consumers about how to use new products and techniques. Her own product, “ITS”, is one example of a new craft innovation. This product allows printed images to be applied to polymer, tile and metal clay. She now resides in Springville, Utah with her husband and three children. Click on this link to watch Sherrie’s Video on etching on metals.  Sherrie also has a website and blog for you to visit and find you more about her.  This book can be purchased at amazon.com.

To enter this giveaway just type “ENTER ME” in the comment section.  The Giveaway will run from June 16^th through June 29^th.

Faith, Hope, Love, Knitting by Lorna Miser, is a charming book that it’s almost an autobiographical knitting project book. Lorna invites us to join her on her self-discovery trip. When she was a little girl her desire to knit was born while looking over her grandmother’s shoulder and watching her while she knit.  She believes that her knitting skills are a gift from God and how she meets invaluable connections she’s made with people on her knitting journey. With these new friends she shares her stories and listens to theirs. Each project in the book in some way represents a person that she has become friends with and has encouraged her along the way.  Of course, her grandmother was her first knitting instructor. Her grandmother prided herself in knitting amazing lace doilies on very thin needles. Although her grandmother was a very shy person she would take her finished doilies two different appointments and events to show others. Most people would be in awe of her talent and she would sell or take orders for her gorgeous doilies. The first project in this book is of grandmother’s lace shawl.

Lorna’s mother was a very frugal knitter and a seamstress.  She never had a stash of materials or yarns laying around their house.  She only bought yarn and material when she knew what she was going to create and when she was finished with the project she would create something from scrapped of fibers and never cast them aside as worthless. For some reason, I was very touched by this due to the fact, like Lorna I have so many skeins of yarn that I am sure I will never use. During this recessionary time we should all take a lesson from Lorna’s mother.

This hard covered book holds 25 beautiful projects for us to knit and each one has a story of lasting friends that Lorna met along her knitting journey that influenced her life deeply. When I do book reviews sometimes it is very difficult to find out anything about the author, but in this case Lorna tells us a great deal about herself and when you have finish the book you will feel that she is one of your friends.

Through people she met Lorna eventually was the founder of Lorna’s Laces where you will find incredibly beautiful hand dyed eco-friendly yarns and learn more about this dedicated knitter.

This book is available on Amazon.com. 

This Giveaway will run from May, 20^th through June 3th.  Just type “Enter Me”

Nikola went to the farm to see the animals up close, but she so a group of women making fuzzy hats and poking crazy needles into the fluffy pieces of fiber. She relates that she almost knocked everyone over to get a closer look at the women and what they were making. From that time she was hooked on felting. She was fascinated with all the things you could make with wool fiber hot water and a little soap. Poke it with needles and within minutes you have a wonderful piece of art. Well it was almost enough to make her want to devote her life to exploring felt. She had always been part of the Indie-crafts movement, but into more traditional crafting until she discovered that you could make felt items with a funky urban twist that would knock people socks off. Now Nikola and co-author Brookelynn Morris invite us into their magical world of felting with their new book that will be released in a few days. The name of this book is “Feltique”. They have pictured magnificent projects for us to try in this wonderful book. The illustrations are beautiful as is the entire hard covered book. Each project is laid out for us so we can easily understand and follow the instructions. They also have a vast array of projects using felt in several different ways.  Such as; Wet felting, a process involving heat, moisture, and agitation, requires only a little soap, hot water, and elbow grease. Needle felting, in which you turn wool fiber into needle felt by merely pricking it with a felting needle, is like sculpting with wool. Fulling, the process of knitting or crocheting a garment and then agitating it in hot water and soap, creates a strong, durable wool fabric. There are also some projects using commercial felt that you’ll want to try such is the stunning necklace featured on the cover of their book.  You will be surprised as to what you can actually make with felt. Like gorgeous thirsty coasters or flower trimmed hat. There is a pattern for a pillbox hat in this book that you will definitely want to try, I know I will. They also lay out basic knitting and crocheting techniques for us, so if you are not a knitter or you have never tried crochet it is clearly laid out so you can begin a new journey in crafting.  There are more than 45 unique projects in this book for you to try.  Each one of the 45 projects are quick and doable.  Now everyone, here is our wonderful gifts from Nikola Davidson and Brookelynn Morris co-author of  Feltique.  Brookelynn put together five stunning felting kits to giveaway to my readers. These earrings are featured in their book. So this is not only a book review but a felting kit giveaway and five lucky people will be getting these kits. I want to thank everyone involved from our accomplished authors to the publishers for allowing me the opportunity of presenting this book Feltique and being able to hold this amazing giveaway!  “Feltique” will be released on May 19, 2009 you can pre-order this book from Amazon.com or from, Random House. Heidi works with Random House and is their author’s most passionate promoter. She is the one responsible for sending out this amazing book and making sure we were part of these promotional felting kits. Thank you to all who are involved with Feltique!  To enter this giveaway, tell what intrigues you about this new felting book Feltique in the comment area  and you will be entered in the giveaway.  This giveaway will run from May 11th through May 24th.  I hope you all find this book as interesting as I do and purchase one for yourself or a gift and try some of their amazing projects. Sticky Wicket Crafts is the brain child of Nikola “Wicket” Davidson, at the beginning of her crafting career. They are committed to using recycled, non-toxic materials and worker-friendly products whenever possible. Their mission is to provide original craft kits that are high quality, creative, and fun! Sticky Wicket Crafts is proud to be part of the indie craft revolution in Seattle.  Nikola co-founded and served as Urban Craft Uprising’s first President.  She is now working on a how-to book that features Urban Craft Uprising’s best crafts. Brookelynn Morris co-author of Feltique worked very hard on this book and creating these amazing kits. Her art  has been featured on the cover of craft magazine.  She does amazing felted fruits and several other felting applications.  Craftzine has an informative interview with Brookelynn you will want to read.

Jayne Emerson, the author of this book has graciously consented to give one of her copies of “Simple Needlefelt” for this giveaway.  She lives in the UK and we all realize that shipping out of our country is not that easy, so you residents of the UK get a chance to win this amazing book. You can go to interweave press and see a slide show on this book and purchase this book today or go to Amazon UK for a copy.  I want to thank Jayne for her contribution to this giveaway!  Please visit Jayne’s site and find out about all the books she has written and the Workshops she holds.  I did a book review yesterday so you can take a look at the review and I am sure you will want to own it.  In the comment box, simply write “enter me”

This giveaway will begin today April 29th through May 12^th!

Thank you all for entering our package giveaway! It’s so very hard to pick winners in any of our giveaways and we depend on random.org to pick the winners. I wish you all could win! Sheryl is our winner and we want to congratulate her.  Sheryl has a blog called Mom Knitter and I think if you dropped by her site you will see some interesting postings.  Sheryl is a mom, a wife, a knitter, a spinner and homemaker. We hope Sheryl makes something cute from the book and the wonderful starter needle felting kit that was so generously donated by Wild Wool Farm and the book “needle felted figures” was donated by SEARCH PRESS.

Stay tuned for our next giveaway, it is going to be felting kits.

A major thanks to search press, I have another delightful book titled ”needle felted figures” by Bodil Nederby, and Arlene, of Wild Wool Farm an ETSY shop for her generous gift of a “Starter Needle Felting Kit Complete with FREE Core Wool” we are offering this AWESOME package giveaway!

Arlene of Wild Wool Farm an ETSY shop and her son have been raising sheep that are listed on the rare and endangered species list for 20 years. They raise Black Welsh Mountian,Jacob,and Navajo Churro Sheep. They live on a small 10 acre family farm in beautiful Northwest Washington. To help with the upkeep Arlene has been selling a little of their wool and yarn so others can enjoy the beauty of it too. She has created a website for her son call Michaels-Exotics (although the site is not complete, you will get an idea about this amazing farm) with more pictures of their animals, Always remember your purchases are going to help keep a breed from extinction, It takes all of us to keep something special. 

This book “Needle felted figures” was first published in Danish and now has been translated into English for us felting enthusiasts. With easy to follow instructions and pictures you will soon have your own menagerie of felted caricatures.  Very few supplies are needed to create these wonderful little friends. You’ll need a felting needle, roving and a foam pad to work on. (Which you now will be getting with this giveaway) Bodil demonstrates in this book with wonderful illustrations how to create these amusing characters and animals, there is are penguins, bears, rabbits, dinosaurs, trolls, aliens and butterfly and flower brooches.

Once you get the basics down on needle felting caricatures you’ll be able to come up with your own unique ideas, such as color combinations and a variety of different animals or other fun creatures.  This book is beautifully illustrated with complete instructions for you to follow. I tried to find some information about Bodil but was unable to locate a site or blog about her all I found is; Bodil Nederby is an illustrator for children’s books and a textile artisan. I always like to know about the authors that write these wonderful books. If any of you are knowledgeable about Bodil, please let me know. In the meantime I’m sure you all want to sign-up for this giveaway.

To enter this book and kit give away, first visits Arlene’s ETSY shop Wild Wool Farm and then ”RETURN HERE” and in the comment area mention something you like in Arlene’s shop then type “enter me”  please do not convo Arlene ETSY she can’t eter you in the contest because it is HERE on CRAFT GOSSIP! Thank You

This contest will run from today March 30^th through April 12^th.

This book is a must have book, “Beginner’s Guide to Needle Felting” By:  Susanna Wallis, was sent to me by Joan of Search Press and now I will be sending it out to one of you! There are so many fun projects (some are shown on the cover) in the use of needle felting. Although it states these projects are for beginners, I learned several new techniques with their easy to follow pictorial instructions. It is an excellent introduction to needle felting, in particularly if you are interested in dimensional technique to make objects. The materials you require are very minimal. You will need felting needles, Roving wool and foam.  This book has great step-by-step instructions on needle felting. It explains all the materials that are required and takes you through all of the basic techniques.

Learn to use raw wool to make felt balls, carding your wool to blend colors and using pipe cleaners to form an armature to shape to work.  The illustrations in this book are stunning and the projects are fun and useful.  Make and give unique gifts that show your creativity.   This giveaway will run from March 16th through March 27th! Just enter “yes please!” in the comment area to win this book.

One of my favorite pastimes is going to one of the larger bookstores and thumbing through all the craft magazines on the stands.  Drugstores carry very few crafty magazines, but the big bookstores carry racks of our favorite DIY magazines. I am always attracted to beautiful covers of the crafts that interest me. When I saw the Craftstylish on the publisher’s website I was immediately attracted to the cover and pre-ordered my issue and when I received it I was delighted with the felting ideas. There several fun felting ideas in this issue that I would love to share with you. So I will be thumbing through this magazine for you.

I have pictured a few of the amazing projects in felting from this magazine and I’m sure you’ll want to try them all. Felt an old sweater and then turn it into a crop designer vest and then add decorative stitching to really make unique.  Turn an ordinary pair of drapes or curtains into a designer’s dream with needle felting decorative edging. There is a gorgeous purse, pictured, titled felted times two. You first create the purse out of an old felted sweater and then you embellish it with needle felting and embroidery. Every project has complete illustrated instructions that are easy to follow. No matter what your craft, they are all covered in this particular issue of CraftStylish.  If you don’t win one here for you just can’t wait, than go over Taunton and order your issue today.

This magazine publisher “Taunton” is offering two issues of this magazine to two of my readers and I want to thank Jessica. To win this amazing magazine just write in the comment area “I want this”!  This giveaway will run from March 5th through March 14th. Visit craftstylish site that covers most crafts and new publications.