My daughter, Chloe Findlay-Harder,  has been organizing some things in her studio.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Bless her heart,

she gave me a couple more

of the fab wire baskets

that she made a few years ago.

Here’s one of the

new ones,

sitting on the

shelf that lives

on my knitting machine

table.

When I was

busy admiring

the new baskets,

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I realized how  much

I love using baskets

for organizing studio

stuff, and that I have

baskets by the dozens.

(There’s another one of

Chloe’s baskets in this

pic, too)

So, I started taking

photos of some of

the baskets in

my studio,

and before long

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I had taken

almost 50 photos….

I won’t bore you

with photos of

all the studio

baskets, but

there are a few

baskets that are

dear to my heart…..

The blue wicker basket

is an old one that I bought

when I was a teenager. I painted a sheet of masonite with a homage to oriental carpets, and wired it to the top and used the basket as a table. Now, it holds a huge whopper of a melon basket that I found at a garage sale this summer. They are both great for yarn storage.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I thought that I would

also include a pic

of Ms Kitty examining

a couple baskets

that I have just recently

made.

I posted a tutorial

on how to spool knit

the basket that is full

of spool knitters.

The crocheted basket is made

with yarn that I spun from

paper streamers from the Blue Man Group show last month.

Baskets are one of the most ancient ways of organizing the stuff of our lives.  They are also a wonderful way of expressing creativity, because every handmade basket is, by it’s very nature, completely unique.

Do you have any favorite baskets?

Vintage Magic Looms are a sweet little tool, and I love them.
But, the boxes have a baffling oxymoron-
a photo of a crocheted granny square,
which could lead people to assume
that the Magic loom produces
crocheted granny squares.
They don’t.
But you can make wonderful squares
with Magic Looms, and then
combine those squares
to make other charming things.
Like this
tiny bog coat
that I made with
four little squares
from the 2 inch
Magic Loom.
Here’s the link
to that tutorial:
Bog Coat on the Magic Loom
The coat in the photo is about 3 inches tall, but, you could make a full size Bog coat for yourself with the Magic Looms.
I’ve made a video tutorial …read more

Many years ago, my husband bought me a wonderful little tool that has become one of my absolute favorites.
It’s a little
robot with
lots of  articulations
that allow the
arms to be
manipulated into
any position
that you need.
The little robot
introduced me
to the wonders of the
alligator clip.
Well, perhaps it wasn’t truly an introduction to the alligator clip…. wikipedia says that alligator clips are often used by dentists to clip the bib around the victim …erm… patient’s neck.
So, I guess I would have been in close contact with alligator clips before my husband’s spiffy little gift revealed the wonders of the alligator clip to me. But, I am …read more

Nicky Epstein is one of the most popular knitwear designers to have ever graced the planet.
Check out her website: Nicky Epstein
If you are already a fan of Nicky Epstein,
you are going to be thrilled with
Knitting a Kiss In Every  Stitch:
Creating Gifts for the People You Love
And, if you weren’t a fan before,
you most certainly will be
after you see this lovely,
delight filled treasure of a book.
This is a book that is
all about love:
The love of knitting,
the love of great, and inspiring
designs, and the pleasures of  putting love into action by making wonderful gifts.
It’s a beautiful book, built on an excellent …read more

One of the many things that I love about the fiber arts is that they are sooooooooooo forgiving.
You can make a right proper
hodgepodge of most things
‘fiber artery’,
and mostly,
not booger the blazes out of the yarn.
And the best part is…
with most of the fiber arts
(except for tatting, which
is lametably un-rip it rip it rip it-able)
you can ‘frog’ that
messed up project
right back down to it’s yarnie little zero state, and start all over again, no harm done, kiss and make up and better luck next time!
I did some
serious ‘frogging’
today…..
‘rip it rip it rip it’
(ribbit ribbit=frog it).
Several years ago,
I wove a couple of
boring, …read more

I am so pleased! Our Artsy Bloggers group has come together again and decided that we are going to re-connect and start our link ups again.I’ve missed the group, so I am delighted that we’re trundling along again!  Yay!
Chloë  has 2 offerings for the Artsy Bloggers links this week:
Arts & Crafts Examiner :
The latest Twilight Movie is coming out soon – celebrate the launch with these fun New Moon crafts.
Celebrate-the-release-of-New-Moon-by-making-your-own-Twilight-crafts
Gadabout Media DIY :
You don’t need any fancy gadgets to make round yo-yos – Chloe shows you how with this easy tutorial.
tutorial-of-the-day-round-yo-yos/
Cyndi has some beading tips for you:
Beading …read more

Prepare yourself to enter into a world of intoxicating color and texture!

Are you familiar with Kristin Nicolas’s work?
Check out her website: Kristin
And, now, prepare yourself for a treat!
Color by Kristin: How to design your own beautiful knits
by Kristin Nicholas has just been released and it is gorgeous beyond belief!
It’s a gloriously, deliciously inspiring book by master knitter and designer, Kristin Nicholas.
Do yourself a favour and buy yourself a copy of this book- call it a holiday present for yourself, because you’ll be transported by the beauty of the photographs. That’s a very inexpensive holiday, isn’t it? Open the book, …read more

‘Ugh!’, said the daughter of the woman who was holding the garage sale, ‘Take those ugly buttons, away! Please! Free!  Just take them!’
Well…. I didn’t  think that the buttons were hideously ugly…. just kind of
hopelessly kitschy.
I certainly wouldn’t
have bought them….
but the upcycler in
me just could not
resist the challenge.
I wondered if I could ever use the buttons in a reasonable way.
Hmmm… I could cover them with fabric, if worst came to worst…
This evening, I was looking for something else, and found the poor much maligned buttons.
I thought…. why don’t I use a flower from my flower looms and a little spool …read more

A couple of days ago, I posted about a sanity saver tool that I use all the time in my life as a designer.
Here’s another of my
most favorite tools
of the designer and author’s trade.
What is it?
A spreadsheet.
Why is a spreadsheet
such a big deal?
Believe me…
it’s truly one of
my favorite tools for a lot of reasons!
This is the spreadsheet from my latest book: The Woven Bag (the link is to Amazon, but it’s not one of the payback links…. it’s just the only link that I can find to the book at this point…. )
Anyhow…. when I am creating a book, …read more

A friend of mine has just started exploring the delights of working with a knitting machine.
I hopped up and down,
pointing at this totally
awesome book that I
bought more than 15 years ago.
Luckily,
Hand Manipulated Stitches
for Machine Knitters
by Susan Guagliumi,
published by Taunton Press,
in 1990, is still available.
This book is stuffed full of
useful ways of maximizing
the creative possibilities of working with knitting machines.
It’s one of those ‘foundation’ books that you just have to have if you are going to be using the knitting machine as a tool in your fiber arts.
I am soooooooooo glad that it is still in print, and I hope that …read more