Here be dragons!  The other day, a member of the Tatta Tat Tatting group on Ravelry began a conversation about tatting dragons.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

One thing lead to another, and before long,

I had invited the group members

to participate in a challenge, to make dragons.

The challenge is to make a

dragon in any medium

that includes tatting.

The first thing I always

do when working on

a new piece, is to get out

my sketchbook.

As I was sketching,

the thought popped up…

Could I make a dragon shaped

tatting shuttle?

Well, it took a heap of drawings and sketches, but finally I  twigged to making the dragon tatting shuttle be just the head of the dragon, and not the whole body.

The dragon head tatting shuttles were really a challenge to carve, but they were worth it. I am sooooooooo pleased with them!

Now, to tat some dragons with the dragon head shuttles.

Would you like a link to a super wonderful pattern for a tatted dragon?

Here are links to Anne Bruvold’s glorious tatted dragon designs:

RingtrimEng and MinidragerEng

If you would like to weave a dragon on the potholder loom, I designed one as part of my book:

Magical Creatures to Weave on the Potholder Loom

Back to tatting.

This weekend, I finished tatting the dress for Flora:

Photo by Noreen Crone-Finday copyright

I didn’t write out the pattern for the dress,  but may tat another one, and will write out the pattern at that point.

From dragons to doll clothes, tatting is so much fun!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Here’s the link to the article:

Noreen’s scarves/tablerunners

I designed a couple of scarves

that show several techniques.

One thing that they illustrate

is how to weave a narrow band

of fabric and then to use

my ‘mitered loop’ technique

to make a piece that is twice

as wide, but 1/2 as long as the

original woven fabric.

I also show how to work with

a clasped weft, which is one of

my most favorite techniques.

The scarves, which work really well as table runners, also feature a keyhole, so that one end can be pulled through a small opening to hold and shape the scarf.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I used sock yarn (Patons Kroy Socks and Patons Stretch Socks) and for both scarves.

I wove the multicolor scarf on my Saori floor loom,

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I wove the blue scarf on my Schacht Cricket rigid heddle loom:

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I feel like I covered a lot of ground with 2 little scarves!

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Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Well, I haven’t gotten around to making the bag yet,

but I did snip a little flap off the coat

and have used it to make

the perfect accessory

for the Fanciful Flat Fiber Friends Dolls: Shoes.

Doesn’t every doll need the perfect pair of shoes?

Well, Flora did, so I got busy

with my sketch book and graph paper.

I snipped out a half a dozen different versions

of shoes for Flora and her friends.

When I was happy with the pattern, I cut out 2 fronts and 2 backs for Flora’s shoes.

Here’s the pattern:

I drew it on graph paper so that you could print it out to the correct size.  This is 1/4 inch graph paper, so print it out so that the squares of the paper are 1/4 inch. The back of the shoe is just over 1 1/4 inches tall.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Sew the fronts of the shoes to the backs. I used my old Singer sewing machine, as I can turn the hand wheel and make one stitch at a time. You can also stitch the shoes together by hand.  Do use a leather needle in your machine when stitching leather.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

You’ll need to trim the seam allowances after the shoes are finished.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

There you go. Stylish footwear for your Fanciful Flat Fiber Friends Doll!

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If you’re ’saving’ your socks and not wearing them because of  ‘hole-aphobia’, then fear no more!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I have worked out a way of darning socks that is based on using a pinboard loom.

It’s quick and easy and quite fun……

Here’s the tutorial:

The clock ran out on me, so I wasn’t able to show this last little bit… stitching the starting and finishing loops to the sock:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Weave in the ends, and Voila! a quick and easy way to darn your socks.

So, wear your glorious socks and when they grow holey,  darn it all, stitch a badge of honor onto them and wear them with joy!

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I took small diameter hardwood dowels and then sharpened the points. Then I  added tiny Matroushka doll ends to them:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The  dolly tops of the knitting needles came from a pair of Russian pens that I found in a ‘Ye Olde Crafte Shoppe’ in a local mall.

I sawed the dolly ends off the pens (they never worked as pens).

I carefully drilled holes into the ends of the little Matroushka dolls and then glued the ends of the knitting needles.

I use the remainders of the pens around the studio in various weaving and other craftie uses.

If you are very brave, and oh so careful, you can make the most glittery and glam knitting needles from resin.

BE CAREFUL! Don’ t work with resin without a special chemical gas mask, as resin is dangerous stuff.  This is one of those: Do this at your own peril and I take no responsibility, and believe that you’ll be very very smart about doing all the safety precautions that are listed in the tutorial….  that being said, this tute is pretty darned awesome- those glittery knitting needles are mighty gorgeous!

This isn’t me in the tutorial – I am too chicken to work with resin:

HOW TO MAKE RESIN KNITTING NEEDLES

But, if you are brave and make some, please send pics so we can all admire them!

AND!

oh ooh ooh… this tutorial is soooooooooooo kewl!

Make bangle bracelets out of old knitting needles

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For centuries, tapes and ribbons were essential for so many reasons:

They were used for a lot more things than they are now-

Woven tapes were essential to hold clothing up, hold clothing together, hold shoes onto feet,as well as being used around the house and workshop in a miriad of other ways.

Fancier woven tapes and ribbons were used to trim and embellish all kinds of textiles, from clothing and fashion accessories to curtain ties and trims to all kinds of home decorating accessories.

Nowadays, there are lots of people who are working with tape looms, not just to re-create history, but for the pure pleasure of creating beauty in a unique way.

There are 2 styles of tape looms.

One has a box base and ratchet system to wind the warp strands onto a back beam.

photo by Grace & Fred Hatton used with permission

The other is a paddle style, held between the weaver’s knees.

photo by Grace & Fred Hatton used with permission

There are advantages to both, and both are very beautiful.

Here’s a great little video of a woman in historic costume, working with a paddle style tape loom, held between her knees.

Video of tape loom in use

Here is the  most wonderfully useful and comprehensive website about tape loom weaving: Tape Looms

Luckily there are some talented craftspeople still building these beautiful looms:

Jonathan Seidel

and

Fred and Grace Hatton

Grace Hatton has written several excellent articles about how to weave with their double hole Norwegian style rigid heddle tape loom.

Here’s a link to the article she wrote for Weavezine.

Small looms can be sooooooooooo enchanting….. and these are especially so!

Happy Weaving!

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Lately, I have taken to adding a touch of whimsy to my sock knitting.

photo and project by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Now, I add tatted flowers to the top edges of my handknitted sockies.

I posted the pattern for tatted sock toppers a few weeks back:

Tatted Flower pattern

For awhile now, several of my friends have been asking me to please make a video about tatting.

I was kind of chicken to do that, because I hold my hands in an unconventional way in tatting.

I figured I would take flak about it.

I mentioned this on the Ravelry group: Tatta-Tat-Tatters .

One of the members is  a very experienced tatter who is very generous in her advice and mentorship.

She said: “Oh, don’t worry about people fussing about oddball ways of holding your hands when you tat!

People need to see lots of different ways of tatting. Just go for it. ”

I respect her a lot, and so I decided, alrighty!

I would go ahead and make a video about how I tat flowers onto socks.

I did the video.

And discovered, much to my chagrin, that I had made a video that was 10 minutes and 26 seconds long.

Ack! YouTube refuses to upload anything that is ONE second over 10 minutes. erk.

And, my Flip video allows you to trim the beginning or the end of the video… not the blatherie bits in the middle.

So….. I had to knit the second sock before I could make the video over again.

I sure wasn’t going to cut the tatting off to make the video over.

Needing the second sock to be done got me over ’second sockitis’ pretty quickly!

Alright! Take Two:

This time, I kept my beady little eye on the clock, which did make for a couple of fumbles,oh well…

BUT- YAY!  I got the video done in under 10 minutes.

I hope that it helps show how I tat fleurs on sockies…. and will help you tat ‘em, too, if you want to!

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photo and project by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Yesterday,  we had a very stressful day. We went to visit an old friend who is terribly ill in the hospital.

As we were leaving the hospital, talking quietly together about our friend, a young woman dashed into the elevator with us.  We could hear her coming by her booming, angry voice.  She shouted into her cellphone throughout the elevator ride, with her harsh voice bouncing off the glass walls.  Her voice filled the rotunda of the hospital and many people were jolted and  glared at her in response.

We felt like we’d been smacked sideways by her anger. As she dashed on ahead of us, it suddenly struck me that, yes, she was screaming in rage at the poor person on the other end of the connection, but there was so much more to it. What was really happening was that she was shouting to the whole world that she deserved to be loved, and that someone, somewhere, had told her that she didn’t deserve love and wouldn’t BE loved. Some part of her was yelling back, that she bally well had better be loved or there would be h*ll to pay.Yikes.

I had taken a crocheted comfort doll to our sick friend. She loved it, and clutched it in her hand.

It struck me that it would have been great to have had another comfort doll to give to the angry young woman, as a sign that, yes, someone did hear her, and that there are good things to hold onto, even in the darkest times.

I felt totally wiped out, so when we got home, I laid down, hoping for a nap. Instead, I kept thinking about how good it would have been to have had a small comfort doll to offer to the upset woman.

Sleep didn’t come, but inspiration did.   What popped into my mind was this:

Old fashioned yarn babies:

photo and project by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I decided that it would be really good to make a bunch of them and have them in my bag. Then, if an opportunity presented itself when someone might need a little something, then, I would have these ‘Yarn Babies’ on hand.

Then, I thought… oh, it would be even better to have one pinned on my jacket, and then I wouldn’t have to rummage around in my bag. So, I decided to add a pin on their backs.

AND then… I had another thought…..  it was about this bag of  cheap and cheerful thread that my husband had bought for me in our fave 2nd hand store a few weeks ago:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

There are great colors there, but the thread is totally hopeless to try to sew with.  So, I have been having fun upcycling it.

I grabbed some tubes of it, and a stack of old business cards, and started wrapping around the 2 inch side of the cards:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

When it felt like I had enough wraps for the doll, I cut a 6 inch long piece of the threads, and took them through the top.

I slipped the loops of thread off the card and tied a knot securely at the top.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Snip the loops at the lower edge open, smooth down the yarn ends, and wrap and tie securely around the neck:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Separate out 2 arms, and wrap and tie securely around the waist:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Wrap and tie the wrists, and trim the extra length off the ends of the arms.  If you have access to oak trees, glue an acorn cap to her head.

Punch or cut out a heart and glue it to her chest.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Stitch or glue a pin on her back if you want to wear her on your lapel, bag or hat.

To turn the skirt into legs, divide the skirt in half and tie off ankles.

I now have a full rainbow of Olden Days Yarn Babies made with upcycled thread…. so, if I happen to feel that someone might just need a little comfort, then, I have a little bit of threadie goodness right close at hand……….

photo and project by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

And, I have just thought of some friends and relatives who might like to find one in an envelope, so I think I had better go get wrapping…

Don’t forget that they make great angels when you add wings.  If you want to hang them on a tree, then leave the yarn ends at the top of their heads loose and make a hanging loop with it.

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I have been spool knitting variegated handspun for the edging, so I posted a tutorial about how to spool knit a sturdy cord on 2 pegs with thin yarn.  Tutorial

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Here’s a pic of the 2 shades of yarn that I spun for it, as well as the Butterfly loom, a spool knitter, my Nostepinne, and a flower loom (I think I will add flowers soon….)

The instructions that come with the loom show how to stitch the layers of yarn together with a blunt craft needle. I use a different  technique to  interlock the layers of yarn:

I really like to use spool knitting for the edges of ButterflyLoom pieces.  This is how I attach the spool knitting to the fabric:

Make several rectangles on the Butterfly loom and join them, to create a very spiffy narrow scarf :

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Why do cats always need to sit on freshly warped looms?

I worked with 2 looms set to their smallest dimension. (And was supervised well and truly by Ms Kitty)

You choose the size that you want the Lily Speed-O-Weave loom to be by matching up the holes on the sides and bolting them together.

I used Lily Sugar’n Cream in Black and White to make the front and back of the bag, and to spool knit the cords that form the edgings for the bag front and back.

The front of the bag is embellished with spool knitting, crocheted and vintage flower loom flowers. See: Flower Fairy

project and photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Today, I made a video, showing how I stitch the spool knitted edging to the perimeter of each piece.

This is done before the piece is removed from the loom.

Take off the rubber bands that are holding the loops on the pegs.  Untie the yarn ends from the loom and tie them to each other.

Weave in the yarn ends.

Spool knit a cord that goes all around the outside edge of the loom, and tie the ends together.

Thread up a needle and click on the video.

Stitching the lining to the woven piece is done by hand. If there are any little ‘oopses’, you can clean them up while you are stitching on the lining.

Note… I wanted to jump ahead to show how the lining is attached, so I popped the weaving off the loom before I finished stitching the edging to it.  DON’T do that! erk.

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