Bake Knit Sew by Evin Bail O'Keeffe blog tour.

Have you heard yet? The very talented Evin O'Keefee has published her first book and let me tell you: it is a treat to enjoy. 

 © 2014 Evin Bail O'Keeffe

I met Evin through Raverly few years ago and have been admiring her award-winning blog ever since. I'm very excited to be taking part in her blog tour and happy to share some of my thoughts on her book here. 

© 2014 Evin Bail O'Keeffe

I received my copy of Evin's book few weeks ago and since then it has been my daily companion, my daily source of inspiration. During these dark and cold November days all I want to do is knitting beautiful things and baking delicious treats for my family and Evin's book provides so many ideas for both. 

The book covers a whole year of crafts. You'll find a delicious recipe and a knitting or sewing pattern for each month of year. As an active knitter I was curious about the knitting patterns and I quickly fell in love with them. Cupid's Arrow Cowl, Falling Petals Lace Shawl, Keating Hat and Sugar Maple Vest are my favorite. I'll be making them for myself but, since Christmas is just around the corner, these patterns are perfect for gift-knitting too. 

© 2014 Evin Bail O'Keeffe

The book is filled with beautiful images and the photos that accompany the recipes make my mouth watering. There are twelve delicious recipes for cakes, cookies, scones and pies. I want (and I will!) try them all. Not only they are a real treat for you and your family, most of them are easy enough to make with your kids. I've already made Lime Poppy Seed Scones and they turned out wonderfully. They tasted great with maple syrup and a cup of tea on a rainy afternoon. Now I'd love to try Snickerdoodles, Monster Cookies, Aunt Nell's Blondies and this tempting Strawberry Mascarpone Tart:

© 2014 Evin Bail O'Keeffe

And if you're not sure what to do with all that pumpkin abundance this season, there is a lovely recipe for Grandma's Pumpkin Pie too.

The book also includes few sewing patterns and although I'm not into sewing as much as into knitting, I found them very interesting. Princes Street Market Tote makes me want to dig out my long forgotten sewing machine and get to work. So does On the Green Picnic Mat... and Mary's Hostess Apron...

© 2014 Evin Bail O'Keeffe

What I really like about Evin's book is that it is simple in its beauty: each pattern and recipe seems achievable and you instantly feel you want to make them all. She also tells a story that stands behind them. Also, the ingredients  in the recipes are given both in cups and grams- it's a small detail but so helpful as I often give up on some recipes if they provide measures in cups and ounces (can't be bother with converting them into grams...).

It is also worth to mention that Evin, living in beautiful Ireland, for her projects she shares with us in her book, selected her supplies carefully and obtained them locally from independent businesses owned by women. 

For more information about Bake Knit Sew book, you can visit Evin's blog, here. You can find her on her Twitter and Instagram too.

The book is available for purchase in two versions: as an e-book and as a paperback. 

Evin is kindly offering the readers of my blog a 10% discount on Bake Knit Sew. Simply use the discount code BLOGTOUR for 10% while purchasing form Raverly or AnchorandBee. This offer ends on the 27th of November. Thank you Evin!

You can visit previous stops on this blog tour, here:

Mon, November 10 – Reckless Knitting (Liz) http://recklessknitting.com 

Tues, November 11 – Live and Let Pie (Rose Anne) http://liveandletpie.net/ 

Wed, November 12 – Jen’s Kitchen (Jeni) http://www.jenskitchen.ie Thu, November 13 – The Dublin Knit Collective (Diane) http://dublinknitcollective.wordpress.com 

Fri, November 14 – Crafty Tails (Jenny) http://craftytails.com 
Saturday, November 15 – The Writer’s Journey (Markie) http://writermarkiemadden.blogspot.ie 
Sunday, November 16 – Lisa Bogart Thoughts (Lisa) http://www.lisabogart.com/thoughts/ 
Mon, November 17 – Glass of Win aka Moonstruck Quaint (Rachael) http://www.glassofwin.com 
Tue, November 18 – TanisKnits (Tanis) http://www.tanisknits.com 
Wed, November 19 – Lilly Higgins (Lilly) http://lillyhiggins.ie 
Thu, November 20 – Calso Cooks (Paul) http://thesustainablelarder.blogspot.ie 
Fri, November 21 – By Eline (Eline) http://byeline.no 
Sat, November 22 – Yarn Poetry (me :-) ) http://www.yarnpoetry.blogspot.ie

Sun, November 23 – Live and Let Pie (Rose Anne) http://liveandletpie.net/?s=and+let+pi

~ ~ ~ GIVEAWAY ~ ~ ~

Evin is also generously offering a free copy of her e-book to one lucky reader. To enter leave a comment below by 4:00 p.m. GMT Saturday, November 28, 2014, telling me which of the designs you would want to make or recipes you want to bake to be in with a chance to win an ecopy of the e-book. 

Your comment also counts as entry to win one signed paperback copy of Bake Knit Sew being given away on the 28th of November to one lucky reader on this blog tour.

***No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Winner must have a valid email address or Ravelry account. Value of the prize is $16.00. No cash equivalent will be offered.***

Good luck!