Book Review: Faux Taxidermy Knits by Louise Walker

I got the chance to review a wonderful book for the quirky, whimsical and curious: Faux Taxidermy Knits, 15 Wild Animal Knitting Patterns by Louise Walker. Face it, have you ever secretly desired a fox stole, alligator bag, or a tiger rug, but you don't feel great about killing the animal to have it? Well, now you can have it and no animals will be harmed! This book has 15 patterns for things such as a moose head mounted in traditional taxidermy fashion, a mink stole, hedgehog slippers and and owl tea cosy.

 

  
I love the way their beady little eyes stare up at you, with love and mischief, not like the dead eyes of a real mink stole that make you say EWWWWW. But that may just be me. I am not a big fan of zombie minks. 

Isn't this tea cosy the sweetest thing ever? This book is a British publication, so it just had to have a tea cosy, as well as a badger head. 

You can buy the book at Stitch Craft Create, or browse the whole selection of books in their bookstore. Books that caught my eye in browsing were Edward's Menagerie by Kerry Lord, Craft Bomb Your Bike by Shara Ballard (mostly because the name sounds slightly dangerous yet with a heady sense of crafting), and Knit Your Own Boyfriend by Carol Meldrum ("And the best thing about a knitted boyfriend? He doesn't answer back!" LOL).

I decided to make a project from Faux Taxidermy, the very last one in the book: Bear Coasters. Here is a picture of them in the book:

So cute!

You have to knit two pieces for each one, and a couple of ears.  (The last time you saw them, they were swimming in my sink.)

Knitting them was easy. There were three mistakes in the pattern, all of which were probably an editing error, and none of them were so bad that I couldn't remedy them easily. In the event that there were any mistakes that were insurmountable, I think you could get a quick reply from the publisher -- they are great people, and crafting is clearly their passion. 

Sewing the pieces together and stuffing the head, legs and arms came next, which was the part that I was most worried about, since I am knitting with only one hand. But in the end, I got it done, and here they are, my own faux taxidermy:

I wished I had had a view of the coasters without a cup on them, so here ya go:

I love them! They were really fun to make, too. Each bear took me about 5 hours to knit. You can probably sew them together much more quickly than I can! 

~:: FREE GIVEAWAY ::~

Thanks to the fantastic publisher, I have a free copy of the print book Faux Taxidermy to give out to one person who comments either here or on Facebook by midnight eastern standard time on September 22. Enter and you may win a free copy! 

There is a blog hop about the book too, so if you want to see what others are doing, click here to go see! 

 

Comments

[Val Schmitt]

Very cute patterns!

[Jean LaCroix]

I, too, dislike actual dead, stuffed animals but these are adorable! LOVE your bear coasters, Beth; well done as usual!

[Lisa Blais Thurman]

Happy to have found you because of the blog hop! Your coasters are adorable! Would love to win the book & make some.

[Kate]

I am a big fan of bears, so I am very impressed by your mug mats. The would make every cup of tea taste better.
Canadians are actually the biggest tea drinkers in the world!

[Tracy Murphy]

So cute, Beth. Of course, if it takes you five hours to make one it will take me 20. You continue to inspire me to try new things!

[Serina]

So cute! I love the cup holders! <3

[yarndemon]

@Kate: The bear coasters DO make the tea taste better!
@Tracy: I don't knit fast anymore, but these coasters were pretty quick!

[Rachel]

I would love to win! Such a cute book!

[Jos]

Love it!

[Hilda]

Such a great idea - very amusing! I must knit one of these projects for my 20 year old son - he'd find it very quirky :)
thanks for the chance!

[Brigette Botto]

These are awesome! What a clever idea. I am interested to see the other patters. I'll have to check out the blog hop. Thanks for sharing!

[Lalaroo]

I would love to win the book! So cute and weird!

[Kristin]

What fun! I love even just looking at this type of book. I kinda want that wolf head hat.