A tiny bog coat for Albert Einstein?  Say What?

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The other day,

on one of my fave lists,

someone posted a link

to Bog Coats.

Bog Coats are an

ancient style of

woven coat that

are rather like

a kimono.

They are made from a

rectangular or square

woven piece of fabric

and are simple to make

but offer endless opportunities for embellishment and exploration.

Because I have been playing with tiny vintage Magic Looms that a friend sent to me, I immediately thought-

Woohoo! I could use the Magic Loom to make a tiny bog coat that would work as a Christmas ornament…….

sketch and photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I knew that I wouldn’t be

able to cut into the fabric

made on the Magic Loom,

so I decided to make 4 squares

and stitch them together

as shown in the sketch.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I used the 2 inch

square Magic Loom

to weave these 4 squares,

but you could use

any size or style

of loom that would give you

squares.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The 2 lower squares are

for the body.

The 2 upper squares

will become the sleeves.

Body: The center back is stitched

together by joining 2 squares.

Then, the shoulder section

of the back is stitched together

(also at the center back),

by joining 2 more squares,

but only stitching half way,

so that there is an opening for the front neck.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

In this photo,

the sections between the

2 needles have been

stitched together,

and from the ‘x’ down to the

center ‘x’.

The other seams aren’t stitched

until the fronts

and sleeves  are

folded into place.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The lower 2 squares

are folded to the front,

to complete the body shaping

and the upper 2 squares

are folded down

to complete the sleeves.

The sleeve seams are

stitched, and then the

remaining seam across

the fronts, and the  bog coat is done!

When I went searching through the studio to see who wanted to model this tiny Bog Coat ( It’s about 3 inches tall and 4 inches from sleeve cuff to sleeve cuff),  Albert Einstein volunteered!

Well, okay…. my Albert Einstein Action Figure volunteered…  and immediately invited a friend over for a cuppa tea to admire the new addition to his wardrobe, and to discuss the nature of the Universe……. If you listen carefully, you might hear them chatting…..

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I’ve been posting about flower looms lately, because a dear friend sent me a box of flower and magic looms.
The flowers from
flower looms work
beautifully  in combination
with crochet.
I quite like using
unusual yarns with
the flower looms.
This is slubbly quite
hefty silk handspun
in a shawl.
Here are a
bunch of flower loom
flowers in another
shawl- also all
made in handspun yarns.
The rainbow  flower
was made with
spool knitted cord
on a flower loom.
The white flower
was made with chained
yarn…..
so you can really play with
your yarn before you use it
with a flower loom.
What are those flowers part of?
Well…
a wild and wonderful
freeform crocheted, spool knitted,
tatted, woven, sewn, sculpted
doll made with all manner of
found objects.
Yes…. …read more

When you are a yarn lover, chances are good that you’ll fall in love with gadgets and devices that allow you to make, manipulate, and play with yarn in lots of fun ways.
Yesterday, I posted about a wonderful box of goodies that one of my friends (who is also a fiber artist) sent me- with a set of Magic Looms in it.
As well as the Magic Looms,
she sent me a set of
flower looms,
which made me
so happy.
I know, I am easily
amused…. but these
are such charming
little looms-
The booklets say
that they were sold in 1970.
They feel a touch brittle, and, given that I …read more

The post office loves it when we  decide to de-clutter.
We find treasures that we send to our friends- so the friends are happy, and the post office is sooooooo happy because Friend B then mails a treasure on to Friend C, to keep the de-cluttering going.
And, oh yes,Friend B has to send a little thank you back to Friend A.  Yes… the post office loves it when we de-clutter.
One of my friends(Friend A)
started a cycle of
making the Post Office
and me (Friend B)
very happy.
We were talking about
small looms and
flower looms.
She had noticed that I blogged about my broken  much loved flower …read more

I’m very excited about a new design that I have been working on for ages. I’ve been experimenting with some neat new jewelry making techniques for spool knitting. I love Celtic Interlaces, and have designed a Celtic Interlace necklace. I’ve been working on it for a year or so, on and off.
Finally, I have finished
doing all the
photo editing
and writing
and pattern
formulating and
text editing
for the pattern.
Some designs
take a lot of work
to develop and refine,
and this is one of those ones.
But it’s worth it. I am pleased!
The Celtic Interlace Spool Knitted Necklace.
If you’re a regular visitor on Hankering for Yarn, you’ll know that  …read more

Now that November is here, the gift making season has begun.
Well, okay,
for me,
the gift making
has already started.
I’ve been having
a lovely time
working on
Sunbonnet Sue Needlebooks.
I just love making them, and I hope that the friends and family that are receiving them will love them, too!
Here’s the link: Sunbonnet Sue
If  needle books
aren’t your cup of tea,
maybe making
a bracelet or two
might appeal?
Here’s a tutorial
for how to spool
knit with wire.
Spool knitted wire bracelet
Spool knitting wire
is a great way to
showcase a favorite bead,
button, stone or found object and turn it into a one of a kind bracelet.
One of my favorite
tiny gifts to make
and to receive
is …read more

About 5 years ago, my sister-in-law bought a blue polka dot teddy bear at at garage sale when she was visiting us.
She gave it to me, and I had an idea….
For years,
my sisters in law
had been giving each
other the same
cardboard box
back and forth
back and forth
at Christmas time.
That little box
held many gifts
and many memories.
It got shabbier and shabbier as the years went by, but, it became more precious even, than the gifts it contained.
We all would look for ‘the box’ to see how it was holding up.
Well, when the polka dot bear came in the door, I thought… ‘Hmmmm, what if …read more

What a crazy day.
My day went sideways when I found out that I had a big whalloping error in my  crocheted Shadow pattern. ERG!
I re-did the chart and fixed the error in the text and sent out the corrections to all the people who had ordered the pattern.
Then…. I noticed….. that….. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH……. there was another typo!
I ran, screaming from the room….. and then came back and fixed it, and sent the correction off agaaaaaaaaaaaain!
Through all the ‘ruptions’
Ms Kitty was keeping me company,
purring away,
and looking all squidgie eyed at me,
telling me that she still loves me,
even though
I was having a horrible
terrible, …read more

One of the pleasures of painting with yarn and a crochet hook is to explore the subtleties of blending colors by combining yarns with threads.
Oops…
this yarn isn’t
crocheted, it’s
spool knitted.
I spun it from
a variegated roving,
but found the color breaks
to be too sharp.
So, I plied it with a thin
slubby strand of brown silk thread.
This toned down the color breaks and made the yarn more visually cohesive.
This golden
yarn was just a little
bit flat looking.
Combining it with a
strand of very thin
variegated thread gives
it depth and more
life- it’s a far more interesting
fabric than when the gold
yarn is used on it’s own.
I crocheted these two
Shadow Scarves
using  …read more

Since the beginning of time, people have made baskets.
They are useful,
and can be embellished
in endless ways
to make them one of a kind.
There are a million ways to make a basket.
One of the most fun
ways of making
baskets is to spool knit them.
To make a
spool knitted
basket,
you’ll need to
spool knit a heap
of cord.
Luckily, this is a
very pleasant and
contemplative task.
Make a couple
of yards each of
2 contrasting colors.
I like to use my 2 peg
Cordelia spool knitters
as they are so speedy
when I’m spooling up lots of cord.
Making a basket
is much easier if
you have a mold
to shape it over.
So, for this basket,
I used an empty
olive oil tin.
Trace …read more