A tiny bog coat for Albert Einstein
November 7, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under doll and dolls and dollmaking, handmade, holidays and holiday crafts, small loom weaving, tutorial
A tiny bog coat for Albert Einstein? Say What?
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…….
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…..
Flower loom blossoms and freeform crochet
November 6, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under crochet, doll and dolls and dollmaking, eco projects & green projects & recycling craft, flower maker, handmade, small loom weaving, tatting, weaving and handweaving and looms

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
Vintage yarn gadgets are heart stealers
November 5, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under flower maker, yarn crafts

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
Vintage Magic Looms don’t do granny squares
November 4, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under small loom weaving, yarn crafts

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
Spool knitted Celtic Interlace necklace
November 2, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under jewelry, spool knitting and spoolknitting

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
Making Holiday Presents Starting Now
November 1, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under Christmas & Christmas projects & holiday crafts, crafts, sewing, spool knitting and spoolknitting, tatting, weaving and handweaving and looms

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
Celebrating sisterhood with sister bears
October 31, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under crafts, doll and dolls and dollmaking, inspiration

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
A Collection of Crocheted Cats
October 30, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under crochet

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
Thin thread with subtle but definite impact
October 29, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under Creativity, crochet, hand spinning and handspun and spinning, yarn crafts

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
How to spool knit a basket
October 28, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under spool knitter & spoolknitter, spool knitting and spoolknitting, yarn crafts

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
















