Ep 183: His Beard Looks Like a Bush

This week's WIPs include Bookend Monsters, a felted purse and crocheted snowflake ornaments.  FOs include Christmas-themed socks, Seeta fingerless mitts, sport-weight socks, a cotton baby blanket, a faux Duotone cowl and a Korknisse ornament.  Lots of finishing going on!  Baubles and Bling include more striped sock yarn, a Stitched by Jessalu bag, sock yarn minis and a Going Gnome felted gnome.  We draw two prizes for the stash busting KAL and announce the winner of the Twist Fiber Studio drawing.  We also review a new Cooperative Press Book "A Head for Trouble" by Julie Turjomen.

SHOW NOTES

KAL/CAL:  We opened a November Stash Busters thread.  Post a pic of your finished project made from yarn purchased at least 6 months ago in the thread and get that stash under control!  A winner will be drawn at the end of November.  Please note that we will be skipping the December KAL and starting with new themed KALs in January 2015.

We are hosting a contest to win the Aila Grace shawl pattern by Jennifer Lasonde.  A winner will be drawn next week.

We drew prizes for the Twist Fiber Studio contest and for the September/October stashbusting KAL this week.  Winners are announced at the end of the show!

On The Dance Card:

Wendy is working on:

Snowflake 4 by Sally V. George.  The pattern is one of 10 free snowflake patterns grouped together.  Crocheted in mercerized cotton on a US 6/1.80 mm crochet hook.

Sheila is working on:

Monster Bookends by Rebecca Danger in scrap worsted weight.

An improvised felted purse in scrap worsted weight.

Rate Your Date:

Wendy finished:

Snowflake 1, Snowflake 2, and Snowflake 3 by Sally V. George.

Seeta Fingerless Gloves by Maria Sheherazade in Tempted Yarns Luxe Grrl base in the After Glow colorway.

Groovy Socks by Caroline Hegwer in Mint Rain tough sock in the Holly Jolly colorway.

Sheila finished:

Duotone Cowl by Orange Flower Yarn.  She is calling it "fake" duotone because she is using sKNITches Syncopation self-striping sock yarn in the Zoot Suit colorway.

Toe-Up socks in sport weight Desert Vista Dyeworks yarn in the Dias de los Muertos colorway.

Lion Brand Diagonal Comfort Blanket in Kitchen cotton dyed with RIT dye.

Korknisse by Manne in scrap yarn.

Whirlwind Romance:

No progress this week.

Future Dates:

Wendy plans to knit another pair of self-striping socks with a simple slipped stitch pattern.  Sheila plans to knit socks and possibly a winter hat from scrap yarn.

Baubles & Bling:

Wendy purchased:

Mad Color Fiber Arts self-striping sock in the Sweet Tarts colorway

Cherry Tree Hill Self-Striping yarn in the Mountain Moss colorway

Stitched by Jessalu bag in a modern folk-style fox print

Play At Life mini-skeins in various Supernatural themed colorways

Wendy received:

Going Gnome fall colors gnome from Mom

Gossip & Innuendo:

Contests:

BOOK REVIEW:

This week we review A Head for Trouble by Julie Turjomen, published by Cooperative Press.  This latest collect by Julie Turjomen features hats and matching accessories inspired by female detectives of the 20s and 30s.  The designs are true to their vintage inspiration, and Turjomen includes a resource list to help knitters source buttons and other findings for their own designs.  The book does a great job explaining the various hat styles and how to measure your head to get the correct "vintage-fee" fit.  This books would be an excellent resource for knitting Christmas gifts when you would like to give more than just a hat, and a coordinating scarf, mitts or purse would fit the bill.

You can win a copy of this pdf book by posting in our contest thread in our Rav group!  Just tell us which hat you'd choose and why.  A winner will be drawn in Episode 185.

Announcements:

Winners were drawn for three contests (see Shout Outs).  Thanks for participating in our group!