Felt So Good 70+ Felted and Plain Wool Designs For You and Your Home by Tone Rørseth

Such an exciting book review!  I was given the opportunity to review this book from Sellers Publishing and I was immediately excited!  I went straight to the internet to check out a preview of the book.  You can check out the preview on Amazon here.  I was antsy and stalked our mailman and the delivery guys until it finally arrived!  I am just getting in to felting (aside from accidentally felting fleeces- oops!) and I was really excited to start flagging projects to do.

Felt So Good 70+ Felted Plain Wool Designs For You and Your Home by Tone Rørseth

Another beautiful cover!  The projects immediately draw you in and there are examples of easy and more advanced items on the cover which is nice because it brings in advanced felters and doesn't scare off newer felters.  The author's forward says it all with "You only need a little enthusiasm and imagination.  No education in crafts is necessary."

The Basics
The book has a quick well written summary of the materials used in the projects and well written information on the techniques used for the projects.  Coming from a fiber background I can suggest both roving and top.  For felting both work well and I will include some fiber information at the end of this review for good felting fibers.  The book is very well printed and all of the photography is lovely.  I didn't expect any less from an author who is also a photo stylist though.  (She is pretty awesome!  I will get to that later too.)  The back of the book is loaded with patterns.  They are positioned well on the page so that you do not do much damage to the spine of your book when you copy them.  You can purchase the book directly from the publisher here.  It is also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  

Projects

All of the projects are well written and easy to follow.  Every one of the project instructions is very simple and concise.  Seriously the hardest thing in any of the projects is sewing which can easily be done by hand if you do not own a machine or do not know how to operate one.  For a lot of the projects if you have crafting supplies or old wool clothing on hand you may not need to purchase anything at all!  I love impromptu crafting especially because the nearest craft store is two towns away!  As I read each project I took note of the projects that I can do without buying any supplies and flagged those and I flagged a few that I wanted to pick up some new supplies for and a few projects I have in mind for craft time with my kids.  As a mother of two young children it is double points for projects that I can get my kids involved in.  Especially things that my under 2 year old can help with! I have already started a few Braided Headbands for my daughter and my niece.  I also have roving all sectioned out and ready to make the Necklace with Felted Wool Balls, My husband also has surgery this week so I specially dyed some roving for him to create the Bird Pincushion while he is home.

The Author

Tone Rørseth has a background in jewelry making and design.  She is a graduate from the Beckmans School of Design in Stockholm, Sweden.  She got in to felting when her little one started school and she joined a felting group with the other moms.  It inspired her to create this wonderful book after she realized how easy and rewarding it is to felt.  I spent some time trying to find some more of her work but just about everything is in a foreign language.  The book after all is Scandinavian felt designs. Nevertheless it is very apparent that she is very competent at what she does.  She is also a photo stylist for various interior design magazines.  (She is on the inside for trending fashions!)

Final Breakdown
I am very excited to be doing crafts from this book.  I ordered some felt and picked up some from the craft store.  It was a little short for my headbands so I improvised on the first ones and Tone even says to make the projects your own.  I used some cream felt, a 1/4 inch orange ribbon and a 1/2 inch brown ribbon and I am going to add the orange flower to it for a real fall inspired headband.  I raided my craft closet and picked out numerous ribbons to use in headbands.  I cannot wait until my longer felt comes in!  I am also on the hunt at local thrift shops for sweaters to complete a few projects.  My kids and I are going to make Wool Ball Necklaces this week.  We were unfortunately delayed last week by the lack of skewers in our household.  Oops!  All of the patterns seem very easy to create and would be great projects for a lot of ages so you can get your kids involved too or give the book as a gift to older kids or teenagers too!  I think a lot of the projects would definitely catch a teen's eye and keep them busy!  I really enjoyed how easy the book is.  Simple but all of the projects are very lovely.  They would make great handmade gifts or for your holiday craft festivals or stock items for your online shop.  I would definitely recommend this book to others.  Especially those who really enjoy wool or fiber in general but don't know where to start.  There is a lot you can do with very little investment.


Fiber Supplies
I have learned the hard way what will not felt so please let me share the knowledge that a very large group of fiber junkies has shared with me: down breeds just don't felt.  Not how you want them to.  It is easy to find people willing to share fiber.  Different types of wool are great for different  purposes and some are multipurpose.  Merino is a great felting fiber.  Look for plain Merino not a blend and be sure to make sure it is not super wash.  Super wash is specifically intended to not felt.  Suffolk and Southdown also do not felt well- if at all and neither does silky mohair.  (Oops!)  I can say though that Targhee, Cheviot, Rambouillet, and BFL all felt well.  Merino is what has been recommended to me time and time again.

As far as tools you don't have to look to far!  Michaels carries a ton of different felting tools and they are reasonably priced.  You can also get felt and small bits of roving there too,  I will write a post specifically about fiber products in the next few days with more information.

Sweet & Simple Baby Crochet by Kristi Simpson- REVIEW

Everyone was excited when the book came in! 

This is my first book review on here so I am going to try and keep it fun and less like a book report.  As promised this is my first of many blogs regarding crochet.  This book is very near and dear to my heart so it had to be the first crochet blog I posted.  (Shameless plug?  Not quite.  Keep reading.)  Sweet & Simple Baby Crochet by Kristi Simpson hit shelves in the Fall of 2013.  It was published by Stackpole Books and can be found on their website for sale here.  There is also a great preview of the book there was well.  Not a big online shopper?  No problem!  Michaels now carries the book as well as many major retailers!

My Crochet Experience
I think at this point I should cover my experience with crochet.  I am a VERY new crocheter!!  I know a lot of people have stories about learning when they were six from a dear loved one.  While my Grandma could crochet I never had the patience to learn when I was younger or the courage to ask her to teach me.  I was easily frustrated and after trying to learn twice as a teen I gave it up.  Then while living in NC I wanted crocheted items for my photography business.  I started buying props and was soon referred to RAKJpatterns.  I learned to crochet through YouTube and I started buying patterns.  Soon enough I made a hat, then two, then I was blazing through all of the new patterns!  I've been crocheting just over two years now so no matter where you are in your crochet journey don't feel intimidated.  For those advanced crocheters I believe you will love the sweet and creative patterns and their ease of use!

Breakdown of the Book
Back to the book!  Ease of use is a big deal for me.  I've read many, many patterns and just looked back at the photo and thought to myself "there is just no way".  I never had that problem with this book.  Or any pattern from RAKJpatterns by Kristi Simpson for that matter.  I have always been hesitant to buy crochet books because of a beginner book I bought as a teen that was far from beginner.  In this book it clearly explains each stitch and there are clear and concise directions on how to work up each pattern.  The book is set up really well and there is no confusion in finding the patterns you are looking for.  The photos are clear and there are full page photos which make it easy to see detail.  I know actually seeing the item is important to me and the multiple photos of each item makes it so much easier to work up correctly without second guessing myself.

My Projects From the Book
I've worked up many of the items from the book.  I think seeing someone else's work is often really helpful and makes me confidant that if someone else could use the pattern then I can too.  

I absolutely love this pattern.  This is the James Sporty Sweater.  I switched it up a bit and changed the colors and used cupcake buttons for my daughter. I was so afraid of trying to tackle this pattern but I wanted it so bad.  It didn't take very long at all and half of the sweater was completed!  It worked up so fast!

This is my daughter again a few months later in her Ruffle Skirt.  This is another pattern I could not live without!  The yarn was a new experience for me but it worked up easily and the end result is absolutely adorable!  I bought five more colors to add a bunch more of these sassy skirts to her wardrobe!

This is my son wearing the Happy Hippo Bib!  (Before his first haircut.)  He loves to try out new hats and play with all of the stuff I am working on.  He was as excited as I was about this bib and stayed up past his bed time to see it finished.  He still thinks it is his despite the fact he doesn't even wear a bib anymore!

Elephants are very revered in our family and aside from her wiggling out of her hat I had to get one baby photo in her wearing the Elephant Ears Beanie.  I added the little flower sitting on top just to show she is a little girl.  This worked up super easy.  Because the ears were so simple they are really easy to make duplicates that match which was something I was worried about.

I've made nearly all of the items in the book now.  I have to say it is the easiest crochet book I have seen.  The way the patterns are written is just like how you would tell a person verbally how to make an item.  There is little confusion and the use of complicated verbage is at a minimum and use of technical abbreviations are limited as well.  Reading from patterns in the more technical style is easier now that I understand more but it still makes it a lot easier especially when I typically crochet in the car or with my kids playing around me.  It is easy to follow without the need to highlight or mark my book as I go.  Another really awesome perk is if you buy a book you can send it to Kristi Simpson and she will autograph it for you.  (Get your autographs ladies and gentlemen!  She is up and coming and she may just be really famous one day!)  I really enjoy having authors autograph my books.  It was a huge perk that she offered to do this for her customers and fans!  Very awesome if you ask me!  

So?  About That Near and Dear Part:

I was very fortunate to be a pattern tester for this book.  That is part one.  Part two is I worked with the author during the making of this book and two other really awesome ladies who tested as well.  It was a really great experience.  I had the least crochet experience out of the bunch and I easily followed these patterns.  Part three is the best part.  The author, Kristi Simpson, is really amazing.  She has built her business from the ground up and has gone from learning crochet to designing her own patterns that she sold online to being published.  Her patterns are honestly very relevant and she has classic style and there is no lack of creativity.  I've always valued the fact that she, and her brand, are original and innovative.  The fact she can combine simplicity and creativity in design never ceases to amaze me.  I am all for elegant, cool, creative, chic and EASY!  I really love supporting small businesses and while RAKJpatterns is growing in size it is still fully operated by a wife and husband team who are tentative to their customers and they connect well and communicate effectively with not only their customers but their growing fan base!

So all in all am I biased?  Not one bit!  If I had no experience with the company I would become a frequent customer and fan after buying this book.  I am after all a long time customer because the patterns I bought from RAKJpatterns were easy to use and always worked up correctly without a hassle.  I also utilized the RAKJpatterns Facebook page and their amazing customer service if I ever had a question.  Good service and good products will forever be good service and good products.  (You can find RAKJpatterns on Facebook here.