Catherine Arnfield
July 21, 2020
Search Press
Blurb: Combine knitting and felting to create stunning, realistic animals in this original book by textile designer and Knit2Felt founder, Catherine Arnfield.
Fuse two of your passions – knitting and felting – to create gorgeous, characterful animals.
Did you know you could felt your knitting? In this incredibly inspirational and unique book, Catherine shows how you to knit animals and felt them to make wonderfully textured and cute creatures that you, friends and family will love!
Knit the pieces using 100% wool, following the knitting pattern provided.
Stuff and felt the pieces in hot water and leave to dry.
Assemble and sew your animal.
Add needle-felted detailing for a unique and realistic finish.
Only basic knitting skills are required – cast on, cast/bind off, knit, purl, increase and decrease – and the felting process is simpler than you think! Whatever your skill level, a comprehensive techniques section with photographed step by steps is included for both knitting and felting, so you can dive into your animal designs with confidence and creativity.
The tools and materials needed are basic, easy to source and cost very little, making these cute creatures perfect for beginner crafters or more experienced knitters and felters looking for fresh ideas and new techniques to try.
Purchase Links:
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As a knitter, I’ve tried to learn and try as many new techniques as possible, just to keep the knitting interesting. Years ago, I knit and felted bowls; that was as far as my felting techniques went. When I saw the cover of Catherine Arnfield’s Felted Animal Knits, I fell in love with the little creatures she’d created through knitting and felting. (If you click on this link for the book entry at Search Books, you can see some of the adorable critters. Click the arrows at the bottom of the page to move through the pics.)
Felted Animal Knits is far beyond anything I’ve accomplished in felting, but the book has so many graphics, pictures, and detailed, step-by-step instructions that I think any knitter can take this on.
Each pattern is given a difficulty level and while I’d personally love to start with Pickle the Dachshund, which is listed as intermediate, I think I’m better off starting with Cocoa and Waffle the Alpacas who are listed as easy. I’m a complete novice as far as needle felting but find the technique intriguing.
The level of detail is just amazing, making the projects look like art to me. And, even better, I think these would make lovely keepsake gifts. Imagine giving or receiving one of these cute creations!
As I mentioned, the techniques, both knitting and needle felting, are explained so I do think that even a beginning knitter could attempt the easiest of these projects and have a fulfilling creation at the end. For more experienced knitters, I think these would be entertaining and satisfying projects.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating:
5 out of 5 butterflies
Those are adorable.
They are! I am going to try at least the alpacas when I get myself sorted. You should knit, Maggie! 🙂