photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Crocheters often weave.

Weavers often knit.

Knitters often embroider.

Embroiderers often crochet.

Tatters often crochet.

Spinners use their yarns in

all kinds of ways….

Some of us love to

explore all of the above.

And why not bring all  these strands together  in one piece? This is often called free form work.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I call it  a ‘Cross- Currents’ approach to the fiber arts.

This photo is the back of  a Cross Currents Jacket

in which I used handspun yarns,

with crochet, weaving, knitting,

embroidery, spool knitting  and tatting.

How do you pull together all the strands of  your yarn work

to create a Cross Currents piece?

Start at one point, and hold your focus,

and build out from that focal point.

Be flexible, and pin things together

before you stitch them together.

And, be brave!

Try things that you might not have thought of.

Most important, have fun!

Enjoy your yarns, they are your paintbrush and sculpting tools- and if you aren’t happy with the piece, don’t worry.

Yarns are forgiving. You can always start again.

Another opportunity to play with yarn…. win win.

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Well, now you can treat yourself to that shirt and upcycle it by crocheting simple flowers to cover the unwanted logo.

photo & project by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

The other day, I was looking at my summer clothes (finally – what a long winter!)

And, I realized that I needed a new black t-shirt.

My old ones  are beyond wearing, and are destined to become fabric strips for weaving.

They’ll also become rags and other ‘green’ options.

Later that day, we were at a garage sale, and Tah-dah!

There was the PERFECT shirt- black, short sleeves, cute button front…. perfect!

photo & project by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

The only problem was that there was a very obvious company logo on the back of the shirt , just below the collar.

I had been working on the Simple Crocheted Flower Jewelry tutorial, so immediately, it struck me-  Whee!

I could use the crocheted flower motifs to cover the unwanted logo!   YES!!!

(click the link in bold letters to go to the tute and instructions)

So, I got out one of my most favorite ever threads: South Maid mercerized cotton in Mexicana, and a ball of Aunt Lydia’s Size 3 Fashion Crochet thread in Warm Blue, and a ball of Red Heart Hula in Orangina. I used a 1.75 mm hook for the rainbow thread and a 3.5 mm hook for the orange and blue. I crocheted up a medley of flowers and pinned them over the logo:

photo & project by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

Then, I stitched the flowers to the shirt, and added a couple of vintage buttons, and a bead or two:

photo & project by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

and the ‘new to me’ shirt is now gloriously and completely mine all mine!

photo & project by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

I am really pleased with the way this shirt turned out. I have another one that has an unwanted logo on it, and guess what?

It’s going to get upcycled with crocheted flowers, too!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

You can add a little embellishment to socks that you have knitted or crocheted,

like these ones that I just finished knitting.

Or, you can dress up purchased socks by stitching on purchased or crocheted or tatted

lace.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I tatted super simple flowers onto these socks…. it took 4 attempts to get the sock

edging right.  I found that I liked it best when I cut the self striping yarn into colorways

that made sense for the flowers.

The flowers are rings of 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p,3 ds, p,3 ds, p,3 ds, p,3 ds, p,3 ds, close.  So, I put the flower colors onto the tatting shuttle, and used the green shades as the ch of 7 ds, to make them read as the stems for the flowers.

By cutting the yarn, and paying attention to where the colors were going to be, it made the flowers read much better than when I  just let the yarn come off the ball willynilly.

Don’t be afraid to cut the yarn! Make those stripey bits work for you.

AND…. have fun tatting with sock yarn. Sock yarn is springy and bouncy and tats up just beautifully.   So….. sock yarn is not just for knitting or crocheting! Get out your tatting shuttles and tatta-tat-tat with it!

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My daughter, Chloë Findlay-Harder, made a gorgeous set of curtains for her brother and his wife.

The curtains are a heavy, soft brushed denim in smokey green.

Chloë spool knitted cord with Lily Sugar’n Cream in ecru, and then pinned and stitched Celtic Interlaces to the top corners of the curtains. She also did this at the lower edge of the curtains.

They’re beautiful!

If you have a plainjane set of curtains that are ho hum, get out your spool knitter and have fun embellishing them!

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It’s in a needle tatting site, but there’s cross fertilization there for whatever your yarn craft is!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn