Crafting the Resistance

Those of you who follow me on social media already know this, but just in case you missed it, I have a new (co-authored) book scheduled to come out in August. It's called Crafting the Resistance.

Like many of you, I was a little bit consumed at the end of last year. When the chance came to do something, I grabbed it with both hands. I hope that, in a small way, my work will help other people resist, insist, persist, and enlist.

This work is very personal for me for many reasons. Here's one that I hope will resonate - Heather and I wanted to use many different skill sets to make the book as open as possible to all kinds of crafters. 

Craft books that cross lines from knitting to crochet to sewing and beyond don't always hit it off with crafters. There's a risk of not pleasing anyone as you attempt to reach everyone. It's a bit of a gamble, but I hope it works! 

Crafting the Resistance includes projects that use sewing, hot-iron transfer, knitting, stenciling, needle felting, wet felting, very basic quilting, and (a very little bit of) crochet.

The book is available for pre-order now and is set to release in August. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood. 

I Do Own Crochet Hooks

I'm using this tutorial to make a fleece blanket and it's really fun!

#StitchAwayStress

I know April is almost over, but I wanted to let you all know about the “When Life Gives You Lemons” Lemon Stress Ball pattern - www.craftyarncouncil.com/health. There is a crochet version and a knit version, and they are both part of the #StitchAwayStress campaign by the Craft Yarn Council as part of National Stress Awareness Month.

Also available on that page is a link to a fun video/tutorial on YouTube from Twinkie Chan for the lemon stress ball and a video that features personal stories from a variety of people who have used knitting and crochet to reduce stress. If you make a stress ball, please post a photo of it with the hash tag #StitchAwayStress and #lemonstressball on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. 

Even if you don't want to make your own lemon, go look for #StitchAwayStress on its Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

Knit and Crochet Now! Review and Giveaway

The nice folks at Annie's Publishing sent me a Knit and Crochet Now! Season 4 disk set to review.

I hadn't seen the show before, but now I'm sad that I've been missing it. It plays on many PBS stations, and you can see where and when it's playing near you using their handy online search tool.

Thirteen half-hour episodes are on 3 DVDs and there is a CD-rom with over 39 patterns on it. If your main interest is in the patterns, they offer many of them for free on their website.

But you're missing a lot if you miss out on the episodes. The host, Brett Bara, is engaging and knowledgeable. The projects look both fun to make and useful or pretty. The lighting and camera work is all professional - so you can really see what they are doing. Also, because it's on DVD, you can pause and rewind if you miss something. One feature I would have liked is chapter controls within each episode. At least on my player, I couldn't skip forward to the next project, but had to watch the entire episode to get to the information I wanted. 

Every episode has at least one project made with knitting and another one in crochet, so there's going to be something in every show for people who aren't bi-craftual. (I'm not a crocheter, but the Woodland Fox from episode 4 has me rethinking that stance.)

Overall, a great show, and well worth the time!

I'm giving away the review copy they sent me. Leave a comment on this post by midnight EST on 12/18/13. I will choose the winner at random and announce the winner on the 19th. I may not be able to mail it right away because of holiday travel, but I'll get it out to you as soon as possible.