Craft Gossip

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Book Review – MESS

by

Mess by Keri Smith.

ISBN 9780399536007 RRP $13.95

I was lucky enough to receive a Galley Proof for Keri’s new book MESS. My 2 year old grabbed the book and asked if she could draw in it. I had not even read the title and snapped back NO that’s mummy’s book.  She informed me it was a drawing book and proceeded to look for a pencil.

After reading the introduction I thought wow, what better way to MESS up this book than to let me 2 year old have a go.

What am I talking about?

You may be familiar with her best selling book “Wreck this Journal” where Keri provokes her readers to Wreck the journal by poking holes in pages, tearing things up and much much more.

Well MESS (the book) is pretty much the same thing, the book is filled with directions on how to MESS up the book with quirky challenges to inspire you to be creative. Not only by yourself but with others too with several pages being directed to Groups.

Edited to add:  Now that my children are older I can truly appreciate the importance of children learning that imperfection is okay. I have two children who like to get things right all the time. This book is something we have revisited to show them that mess is not only creative it is also an important step in life, that can be acceptable.

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Christmas Stocking Knitting Patterns for Your Pets

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings