Baskets in the studio
November 20, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under miscellaneous, yarn crafts
My daughter, Chloe Findlay-Harder, has been organizing some things in her studio.
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,
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
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.
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
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?
How to for vintage Magic Loom
November 19, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under small loom weaving, yarn crafts

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
Small but mighty-alligator clips
November 18, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under miscellaneous

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
Knitting a Kiss in every stitch book review
November 17, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under charity knitting and crochet, holidays and holiday crafts, knitting

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
Frogs are a fine symbol of forgiveness!
November 15, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under weaving and handweaving and looms

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
Artsy Bloggers Links Nov 14 2009
November 14, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under crafts

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
Color by Kristin book review
November 13, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under book review, knitting

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
Totally whimsical spool knitted flower doll
November 12, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under doll and dolls and dollmaking, flower maker, spool knitting and spoolknitting

‘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
More essential organizing tools in design
November 11, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under books, yarn crafts

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
Hand Manipulated Stitches- Machine Knitters
November 10, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under knitting, lace

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
















