this tatted cord:

I am really pleased with the cord. I wanted it to be simple and not too frou frou.

It’s light and really pleasant to wear.

I am going to make it up in other threads to see how it looks in other colors and textures.

I loved the process of coming up with this design, and now, I am super inspired about designing all kinds of other tatted jewelry!

Fun!

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

making a tatting shuttle that broke.

And, so I recycled it and made it into a necklace:

And, now, I am debating about the cord for the necklace.

I know I am going to use Lion Brand Lamé in the oilslick version, but I am waffling about how I am going to make it.

I know that the Cordelia cordmaker on the left, works soooooooooooo beautifully for making square cords.

But…. since the necklace began it’s life as a tatting shuttle, it would make sense to tat the cord….

So, that’s what I have done!

Here’s the link to the finished cord: Tatted necklace

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I broke one of the tatting shuttles

sigh.

I tossed it into the sawdust bucket for burning next winter.

Tammy suggested that I reclaim it and use it as an inkle shuttle.

I like my inkle shuttles to have straight sides, so it wouldn’t work for that…. But…

I had been thinking that the Lady Hoare shuttles look like little dancing people….. so…..

I raced out to the workshop, grabbed the broken shuttle, and drilled a tiny hole.

I put a wire through it and a bead onto it (for the head) and

Voila!

I decided to burn embellishments on it:

and dip it into the varnish:

And, now, I am just delighted with it!

So, there you have it – a bit of an old desk drawer is recycled into a tatting shuttle, which is recycled into a necklace.

Recycling squared!

What have you reclaimed or recycled lately?

And…. do you have a favorite shuttle, tatting or otherwise?

Also, thank you so much for posting comments.

You inspire me! Yay for creativity!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

In my previous posting, I showed how I got started making the Lady Hoare tatting shuttle.

I took the bits of recycled wood back out to the workshop, and cut the 2 shuttles out on the bandsaw:

Then finished up the openings with a smaller saw:

Next, time to make some sawdust:

You can see how it’s looking more ’shuttle -y’:

Time to switch to files:

OH RATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I snapped one prong off! THIS is why I always cut out TWO!

(I didn’t waste the broken one- see what I did with it)

So, start all over and be a WHOLE lot more careful!

HURRAH! I actually finished it without breaking it!

Finishing touch time:

I burned a little interlacing heart on it.

Voila! my new tatting shuttle from an old desk drawer!

They are a monster load of work to make, so I wouldn’t be making them for sale.

Besides, people can order beautiful Lady Hoare tatting shuttles from Lacis in Oakland, CA.

(no profit in saying so, but I dearly love their shop and the people who created and run it)

I LOVE making my own tools, and especially love it when I am reclaiming the stuff I am using in making the new treasure !

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

The desk lives on in all manner of ways!

I have made bag handles and a heap of bracelets from the bottoms of the drawers.

And, today, I made myself another ‘Lady Hoare’ (I pronounce it Lady Harr, as the other possible pronounciations are slightly ‘ahem’-ish) tatting shuttle:

The Lady Hoare style of tatting shuttle is a very old version of shuttle and I absolutely love it. It’s my favorite style of tatting shuttle.

Why? Because it allows me to load it up with a ton of thread, so I don’t have a bunch of little joining knots.

AND… I can tat with thicker yarns, including handspun when tatting with the Lady Hoare shuttle.

At first, it felt a little clumsy, but I have gotten so used to them, that it is quite speedy now.

Here’s how I make them:

First of all, I like to have a template, .so I drew out the pattern on a sticky label. I stuck it to some thin brass that my son pulled out of an old amp before it went to the eco station for recycling:

Here’s the template cut out:

I have a big old pair of scissors that I paid a dollar for at a garage sale. I use it to do things like cut templates out of brass sheet!

Then, I traced the template onto the bits of old drawer. It’s hardwood, but I don’t know what kind of wood:

I traced out 2 of them, because the fiddly bits can be notoriously unstable.

Next posting: Out to the workshop!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I have loved pom pom makers since I was a kid.

The blue pom pom makers on the left are ones that I have had since I was knee high to a grasshopper.

The red/blue/yellow ones are  new Lion Brand pom pom makers and the tan/red ones are Susan Bates.

Pom poms are a classic trim or embellishment. But!

They don’t have to just be mild mannered trims.

I often design and make wild and wonderful dolls with them:

Like this one that I made with recycled/reclaimed objects for hands/feet and head.  The head for this doll is a bamboo tea whisk.

Thumbs up for pom pom makers. You can use yarn scraps to make great embellishments and neat dolls and toys.
What’s your favorite yarnie gadget?

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

It’s a very bad idea to read a hysterically funny book when you are in bed, and your exhausted husband is trying to sleep.

Last night, I was reading with my wee tiny light, trying oh so hard to be inconspicuous…. well…. oops!

I am reading the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, and the gentle, but hilarious adventures/misadventures in the agency and garage had me in stitches. Which meant that the bed was shaking like a windswept leaf.  Poor seasick (awake) hubby!

There was one passage that struck me as being totally ‘Winnie the Pooh’. That made me want to be able to share it with my sister-in-law who was also a Pooh fan. Sadly, as the characters in the book say, she is now ‘late’.

Today, I was rummaging around searching for a missing earring, and there were two heart earrings that she had given me, right beside a little amulet bag that had a Piglet pin (also given to me by her) on it. It felt like a message of love and connection to her, from her.

So, today, I am wearing my Piglet Pouch and heart earrings, feeling connected to a sister who has gone on ahead.

I wove this pouch on this cardboard loom:

Cardboard Loom 

and then added a seed bead fringe. And a Piglet pin, and happy memories.

Oh, yes! Because of Mma Ramotswe and her Ladies Detective Agency, I was wondering what the textile traditions are in Botswana. Crochet is mentioned in the books, but no weaving, basketry or knitting.

So, I did a search on Youtube to see if there were any videos of weavers in Botswana.  Yes! there are!

But – they are all birds ….. Weaver birds

If you haven’t discovered the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and are open to a charming, gentle, wise, funny and engaging, but oooooooooh so addictive read, then you’ve got some lovely summer reading ahead of you!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I knew from the first moment that I started sketching the doll, that I wanted to use spoolknitting for the hair. Patty was born with curly red hair, so I wanted to celebrate that.

I wanted lots of spoolknitted cord, so I decided to use my Embellish knit spoolknitting machine.

I did a test swatch and decided that it was too stiff. I really wanted to use Caron’s Simply Soft in Mango, so I figured, what the heck…. I’d just split it and zip it up………

I am lucky enough to have 2 yarn winders. I bought the first one when I was 15 years old. I bought the other one second hand. It’s really handy having 2 of them!

I clamped them both to a little table, rolled the yarn and test swatch of spoolknitting into a ball:

When splitting yarn, I have found that it’s best to work in short lengths, with the ball secured with a darning needle.

That way, the ball can spin freely.

After I split the yarn (picky picky! when you have 3 dogs and a cat and indulge in a very fiberlicious lifestyle, the yarn picks up all kinds of little blubbitses that make the splitting process quite ~questionable~ as in what the heck was I thinking?)

Um……. it’s not a speedy process, but, I am pleased with the results:

It’s quite gratifying to whir up a heap of cord right off the yarn winder:

And the Patty Memory Comfort doll has her hair….

Her heart and wings will be spoolknitted, too….

On a larger spoolie………

later………

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

Post from: Hankering for Yarn