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Listen Whilst You Craft

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Thanks to Random House We have these amazing Audio listening books to review, but rather  than waste too much time actually reviewing each novel I am going to review Audio Books in General.

I am sure your wondering what Audio books such as Twilight and Harry Potter have to do with Craft?  I have only 3 words.  “HANDS FREE READING” Now you can craft, knit, sew, crochet, paint whilst listening to best sellers.

Imagine being at your next knitting group meet up and being able to throw in a little book club discussion. In today’s busy busy world finding time to craft is nearly impossible and finding time to read is left to commuting trips, car rides (if your not driving) and those sick winter days cause your stuck in bed under a pile of snotty tissues.

Make sure you add Audio books to your Christmas wish list so that the next time your looking for an excuse to knit, or an excuse to listen to a great novel you have something great to listen to.

Audio books are perfect Christmas presents for crafting loved ones too so check out some of the books below.

THE LOST SYMBOL

By Dan Brown

Read by Paul Michael

A fantastic new thriller from the author of The Da Vinci Code, this time set in Washington, D.C.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

By Stieg Larsson

Read by Simon Vance

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was one of my favorite books of last year—this is the second book in the trilogy.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA

By Stephenie Meyer

Read by Ilyana Kadushin

Vampire-werewolf rivalry, a love triangle and teen angst—try giving the audiobook a listen to get you in the mood for the New Moon movie release in November!

HARRY POTTER

By J.K. Rowling

Read by Jim Dale

This series not only gives you a lot of material (the entire series runs more than 117 hours!), but is one of the best audiobook productions of all time—Grammy winner Jim Dale narrates the series with over 134 voices (and holds a Guinness World Record for that feat).

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY

By Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Read by a full cast

This charming audiobook won an Audie Award last year for Best Fiction, and is written as a series of letters read by a full cast of colorful characters.

LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER

By John Irving

Read by Arthur Morey

John Irving returns with an audio that is epic in scope (over 24 hours long!)—it spans the past fifty years in America, and has at its center a complex father and son relationship written with great suspense and wry humor.

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Comments

  1. Children’s audio books mean eye-free reading with small children – when my eyes are too tired to read, or when I’m trying to finish sewing something, or when dinner has to be cooked and TV is not allowed!! My favourites come from Barefoot Books.

  3. I can’t knit without a book now! I love Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell by Susanna Clark and the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik. Cannot recommend them highly enough.

  4. I currently subscribe to several audiobook clubs. I can not sew without listening to books. I go through 3-4 a week. I will definitely check out audiobooks. Ps. Some really great listens are: Suzanne Collins “Hunger Games” so, so good, you’ll love it. The sequel is “Girl on Fire”. Also, Stephen King’s new one “under The Dome” It is a good book and is long which helps with my audiobook spending.

  5. Podcasts are amazing to sew to (if you don’t have patience to go through an entire book). My personal favorites are “This American Life” and “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” from NPR. Many of them are also free, conveniently enough.

Have you read?

Strawberry Cross Stitch Patterns

My favorite thing about mid to late spring is local strawberries. Strawberries are fun as a graphic element, too, because they’re an interesting shape and cheerful color. Let’s stitch some strawberry cross stitch patterns.

Craft Club Co AU has this cute kind of retro strawberry pattern with a pink checkerboard background. The pattern pages doesn’t give a lot of details but it looks like is uses at least 7 colors and it says it will fit in an 8 by 10 frame when stitched on 14 count fabric.

For a classic farmhouse look, check out the strawberry pattern from Largodargento Shop. This one reminds me of little wild strawberries, and it has a bit of a mandala design with other geometric shapes.

Speaking of classics, you can also stitch a strawberry alphabet sampler from Curious Carrie Designs. It is 54 stitches square, which comes out to 3.86 inches or 9.8 cm square. It calls for 8 colors and was stitched on 32-count linen. Keep it flat or turn it into a biscornu stitched with flowers and bees.

This strawberry pincushion from The SubRosa Design is super sweet and of course could be framed instead of using it as a pincushion if you’d rather. This one is 93 stitches square, or about 5.3 inches/13.5 cm square stitched on 36 count linen as shown.

This graphic, slightly abstract strawberry design from Box and Fox is so much fun and would be great to have on your kitchen wall or in your breakfast area. It measures 98 by 141 stitches, which comes out to 7 by 10 inches or 17.78 by 25.58 cm on 14 count fabric. The design uses 6 colors.

Don’t let the mice get your strawberries! This oddly cute design from Tourmaline Pattern measures 95 by 94 stitches and uses 16 colors. I love the look of it on black fabric, because it really makes the mice and the flowers pop. On 14 count fabric this comes out to 6.7 inches or about 17 cm square.