SOUTHEASTERN ANIMAL FIBER FAIR is the Sponsor for the 2009 Skein and Garment Competition is World in a Spin.  Share your love of the fiber arts, get recognition for your work,  and receive valuable feedback by entering the SAFF Skein and Garment Competition. Amateur fiber artists only. This competition is intended to give individuals with all levels of experience a chance to enter and exhibit their work. However in the interest of fairness, individuals who would be considered professional practitioners of a particular craft are encouraged to seek other avenues of exhibition such as gallery displays and juried competitions. A professional would be considered someone who meets some or all of the following criteria: advanced degrees, certifications, nationally recognized instructors/authors, and/or significant fraction of income derived from the sales/exhibition of their own work in a particular craft endeavor.  Check this contest out SOUTHEASTERN ANIMAL FIBER FAIR.

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!

Another fabulous giveaway! Josh, of eknittingneedles.com is offering a complete set of bamboo knitting needles or crochet hooks, “you pick and choose”! I now own several sets and I am so impressed with these needles and hooks and the great pricing and quality. I have been using their needles for months now and my experience with these needles is A++++! This is a chance of a lifetime to have every size needle or crochet hooks you need at your fingertips.

eKnittingNeedles.com not only sells knitting needles but also beautiful bamboo crochet hooks in a large variety of sizes.  Bamboo is my needle of choice, because the yarns do not slip and they become better and better with age when it builds up that wonderful patina that comes from use. Handling something as natural as bamboo just feels good in your fingers. Just think of all the gorgeous knitted or crocheted felts you can make with these wonderful knitting needles.

I thank Josh of eknittingneedles.com for his amazing generosity.  An added bonus is that you get free shipping on orders over $15 plus my readers get 10% off any purchase using the following code “FELTING854” now what could be better than this offer!  They also accept PayPal and credit cards and they also take checks and money orders.   For this giveaway, go over to eknittingneedles.com and check out the needles, crochet hooks, Dangle Crochet Hook Collection (12pc Set) and their other amazing products. eKnittingNeedles.com are very interested in just what products you would like them to carry. Then come back here and in the comment area type what your ideas are for them.  YOU must enter here not at eKnittingNeedles.com!  This giveaway will run from August 17th 2009 through August 29th 2009.   Good luck to everyone!

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

Thanks you all for entering this giveaway and the next book giveaway will be an amazing book call “The Natural Knitter” and I think you will all love it.

The winner of this awesome book is Mia.  I had five friends of mine help me select a winner and four out of five picked Mia.  So congratulations Mia.  Mia has a blog “Knit & Play with Fire” which is filled with things of interest to many crafters.  Don’t forget you can buy “Paperie for Inspired Living” at Amazon.com.  

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!

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.

Whether it is called up-cycled, re-cycled, altered designs, deconstructed or reconstructed, many of us are trying this eco friendly crafting and saving money in this repressed economy.  I know when I go through my wardrobe I am more aware to how I can transform a piece that has been in my closet for awhile into something eco-chic.  Now, Bridgett Artise and Jen Karetnick are leading the way in show us how to recycle our cast-offs into exciting new designs with their book “Born- Again Vintage” (Random House Book) 25 Ways to Deconstruct, Reinvent and Recycle Your Wardrobe”.   Bridgett’s company is B Artise Originals believes that fashion trends come and go like the speed of light, but your pieces are timeless, trendless and more importantly “HOT” proving that with a few cuts and stitches, your entire wardrobe can be transformed!  One of the most interesting things I learned about Bridgett is that she does custom orders, if you send in your old prom dress, maid of honor gown or any dress that’s been in the back of your closet for way too long and she’ll wave her magic wand and recreate your garment into something new and chic!  Visit Bridgett’s site and see all she offers.

Born Again Vintage, tells you where to go to find those awesome vintage clothes and it is not the trendy Vintage Boutiques.  Where you ask? Buy or win this book and you will be an insider in vintage shopping.  Create boot pants from sweater sleeves.  Make a vest from and old blazer and out-of-date shirt. Put together a chic sweater mini dress from a sweater and skirt or charming sweater corset from a cast off sweater.  The tee shirt blouse is created from a tee and an vintage blouse. A darling denim bags from those dated jeans. Use a elegant vintage skirt and create stunning dress shorts.  I could go on and on but you will want to open this amazing hard covered book with its stunning pictures and instructions and let your mind go wild. 

Co-author Jen Karetnick is an amazing lady you will want to get to know along with Bridgett.  Bridgett claims she was Jen’s pain while they worked on this book together.  Jen is based in the fascinating and multicultural country known as Miami; Jen is one of the most oddly prolific writers around. An editor, author and poet as well as pen-for-hire, she tackles a variety of lifestyle subjects: food, travel, wine, liquor, literature, health, medicine, sexuality, arts, culture, home, garden, shopping, parenting, children and even cats and dogs and of course “Born Again Vintage”   To learn more about Jen visit her site.  This book is available at Amazon.com or Buy.com at great pricing.

This is a book review and a GIVEAWAY to one lucky eco-minded, fashion savvy person.  Instead of using Random.org I will put your comment number in a container and the last one picked will be the winner.   Giveaway will run from June 2, 2009 through June 16, 2009.

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”

Our winner of “Simple Needlefelt by Jayne Emerson” is Fleece2Fantastic

She has a blog Fleece2Fantastic if you would like to stop by and take a look at what she is up to.

Many thanks to Jayne Emerson author of Simple Needlefelt for giving her book for this giveaway!  You can buy this book at Amazon.com.

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.

Gourmet Felted is holding another wonderful needle felting contest for beginners.  Test the waters with your needle felting.  Gerry is offering two GREAT prizes to aid you in your needle felting art.  You can win a PEN STYLE FELTING NEEDLE OR WOOL/FIBER, YOUR CHOICE.  EACH WORTH $15.00!  Get felting and join this contest it is a lot of fun at Gourmet Felted.

This is a real treat for my readers! Josh, of eknittingneedles.com is offering a complete set of their circular knitting needles. There are 15 gorgeous bamboo needles running from size US 0 through size US 15. I ordered a set and I am so pleased with the pricing and quality. They also sell double pointed bamboo needles in any size you need. I purchased a set of size 15 for a hat I am doing. This is a chance of a lifetime to have every size needle you need at your fingertips.

Eknittingneedles.com not only sells knitting needles but also beautiful bamboo crochet hooks in a large variety of sizes.  Bamboo is my needle of choice, because the yarns do not slip and they become better and better with age when it builds up that wonderful patina that comes from use. Handling something as natural as bamboo just feels good in your fingers. Just think of all the gorgeous knitted felts you can make with these wonderful knitting needles.

When I spoke to Josh today he said the 16 inch circulars were going fast and if these are what you’re looking for there would likely be a bit of a wait until he replenished the stock. He has the 16″ circular needles on order. In the meantime, he has all the others in stock. He also mentions that the Tunisian Crochet hooks are flying out of their online shop. 

In the near future, Josh informed me that they are going to be carrying organic knitting yarns and when that happens I will certainly be doing another article about their new yarns.  Besides this wonderful giveaway Josh is offering everyone here a 10% discount at checkout you would enter: felting854

I thank Josh of eknittingneedles.com for his amazing generosity.  An added bonus is that you get free shipping on orders over $15 and what could be better than this!  They also accept PayPal and credit cards and they also take checks and money orders.

For this giveaway, go over to eknittingneedles.com and check out the needles that they carry at eknittingneedles.com merchandise and then come bak here and in the comment area type “and mention what you like about their products” and “enter me” YOU must enter here not at eknittingneedles.com! .  This giveaway will run from May 1st through May 14th good luck and knit-felt on!

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!

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