A few years ago, I bought several balls of Bernat Sox yarn in wild colors because I wanted to

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

experiment with plain, unadorned sock yarn.

Why? I had just done a trade on a handspinning list on yahoo.

My trading partner had sent me  several cones of what looked to be a very vintage blending thread: Bucilla Silk Tweed.

That’s it in the pic, sitting just above the needles.   Oooh… yummy stuff!

I have used the Bucilla Silk Tweed thread in all kinds of projects and absolutely love it.

It’s a slubby, mostly super fine strand of quite lively thread that blends beautifully with any yarn that it is held together with.

I have woven it into shawls and scarves, and all knitted all kinds of socks with it.

But, I had forgotten about my original plan for the tweeded-up wild color socks until just recently.

A week or so ago, I wrote about a pair of socks that I have just recently knitted and tatted flowers onto:

Flower top socks

Well… those socks made me remember the balls of  Sox yarn. I dug out a balls of turquoise, red and purple, and a cone of the Bucilla Silk Tweed thread:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The plan is to tat flowers onto the tops of these socks, as well. I am going to  use green yarn for the stemmie bits and bright yellow for the flowers.  I am sick of winter drab and am breaking out by knitting oh so colorful sockies!

I just love the silk thread so much and am sadly, running out of it.

I was wondering if there is anything in the current marketplace that is close to the Bucilla Silk Tweed?

I googled and searched  and came up blank on it.

So then, I thought… what about blending threads?

So I googled on that, and came up with Kreinik’s blending threads that are mostly meant for embroidery:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The Kreinik blending threads are really neat, but I don’t think I would use them in the body of a sock.

I think that I will, however, experiment to see how it looks with the tatted flower sections at the top of the socks.

I love tatting with metallic threads, so it’s worthwhile to do some sampling.

BUT…. finding something that resembles the silk tweed has totally eluded me and it remains a mystery.

Do you know if such a thing still exists and who carries it?

I bet someone out there knows!

One of the important keys to creativity is to give ourselves the permission that we so desperately need to simply play.

Play? Yes!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

It’s essential to be willing to break through the rules and conventions we set up for ourselves

and to be willing to try new things.

We need to be able to take artistic risks and

to suspend judgement long enough to experiment with new approaches,

new techniques, new thoughts…

or to look again at the ways we have always worked and

to see if there is a hidden treasure waiting to be re-discovered, re-invented, re-created.

So, give yourself permission to play, play and play some more, then step back and see what emerges!

The other day, I was thinking about writing about permission to play as part of the

Face of Joy Challenge.

I decided that I definitely wanted to include photos of  my ‘Permission’ doll. I tried taking boring old lay-the-doll-on-a-piece-fabric and shoot, pics.  Oh, borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring………

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Besides………. the monster wrinkles in the fabric were just ridiculous.

So……… I decided to be playful, and to give the Permission doll a new place to sit.

I figured I could ignore some rules about ‘where things go’ and then shifted some furniture around in the studio.

Voila! A new place to sit and weave with my small looms.

The cupboard on that wall of the studio had always seemed to be an impediment to using that space.

I decided…. what the heck…. the cupboard is full of Christmas stuff, and only gets opened to take the Christmas stuff out, and then a month or so later, to stuff the Christmas decorations back in.

Why not ignore it, hang a loom on the doorknobs, and enjoy the space?

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The boss of the studio approves of her bench being in a new spot, and I think the Permission doll does, too….

And, one of the most delightful benefits of playing around with the stuff in my studio is that I have given myself a very pleasant place to sit and weave with my small looms.

Also, choosing to ignore the mostly unused (but useful) cupboard in the wall is an excellent metaphor about another issue that writing about ‘permission’ brought up.

I realized that I have been frustrated by the placement of this cupboard for the 15 years that we have lived in this house.

I had made a rule that I couldn’t block access to the cupboard, even though access is only  needed a few times a year.

By saying: That’s a rule that doesn’t work for me, I was able to re-claim a wasted space that I am simply revelling in now!

Ah…. those rules……… sometimes, we have to bump up against them before we even know they exist! It sounds so simple, and minor, but it was a big ‘aha’ moment for me……  so often, we define our lives by rules that we may have invented unconsciously, or have inherited from relatives, friends or ‘experts’.  If we don’t know the rule is there, it’s going to shape our spaces and shape our lives.

Playful exploration is a good way to shine a light on all kinds of corners in our lives…..

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I designed the Permission doll as a reminder that we need to give ourselves permission to be and do

who and what we are, what we love, and to approach life with joy, panache and zest.

So, go ahead and play, and give yourself permission to move things around, and to try out new things, and to ignore some of the things that might have felt like blockages.

AND…. please remember to enter the Face of Joy Challenge…..

There is just nothing better than having a great pair of handmade (knitted OR crocheted) socks on your feet, and yarn, needles and inspiration for the next pair!

Socks in the City copyright Patons

Knitting socks is addictive.

Don’t say I haven’t warned you.

Once you’ve worn sockies that you have knitted for yourself,  you’ll never want to go back to store bought socks again.  Hand knit socks are infinitely more comfortable than store bought ones.

And with the spectacular yarns that are available now, they are a visual treat.

Speaking of a visual treat, wait until you see the new sock designs from Patons!

Socks in the City (click on the title to see the pics of all the socks) is a collection of 10 designs for absolutely fabulous sockies!  There are socks to knit on 2 needles and there are socks to knit on 4 or if you prefer, 5, needles.  There are socks to show off your cabling skills and socks to show off your fairisle skills… there are whimsical socks that allow you to wiggle your big toe in solitary splendor, and there are stately socks.There are even charming little Mary Jane slippers.

AND there are polka dots!  Polka dot socks! Life is good indeed!

The patterns are all for intermediate knitters.  I betcha,that even if you don’t consider yourself to be quite intermediate, that carefully following the instructions will soon have you knitting these oh so delightful socks up and doing a happy dance in them.

My one disappointment? The designs are so great that I would really love to know the names of the designers. And, sadly, they are not listed. Too bad, because the designs all get a huge gold star.

I love these socks. Excuse me…. my needles are beckoning…..

Any month that starts with with a day of foolishness deserves to have a celebration of playfulness, doesn’t it?

I’ve been reading up on ‘play’ (click the link to read what wikipedia has to say about play)

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

and playfulness.

Expert after expert has talked about the importance of being playful

for our entire lives.

There was a wonderful conference about Serious Play last year.

All the experts agree:

Play is essential to our well being, in body, mind and spirit - as individuals and as communities.

Being playful can alleviate all kinds of stress.

Playfulness increases resiliency and flexibility….and, whew… do we ever need to be flexible these days!

Because of the grim situation with the economy, we are all rattled and frazzled to some extent or another…. sooooooooooo…….

I thought……….

How about starting a challenge of playfulness?

Here’s the scoop:

For the month of April, I would like to challenge you to  show us all

your face of joy.  What does that mean?

Well, play with some yarn and make a face that shows an image of joy,

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

whatever that means and however you interpret that. NO! you don’t have to be an “artist”  !  A few simple lines CAN convey joy!

For example: I drew a ‘joy’ face with spool knitted cord. (1st pic)

Then, I played with my photoshop program in the 2nd pic. (you don’t

have to do that…. I just wanted to play with it!)

The RULES:

1] Make a face that shows joy- BUT… the face MUST have yarn as some part of it. (Thread and string and wire all are going to count as yarn for this challenge).

2]Any technique that uses yarn IN ANY WAY to make a face, and, the more playful the better! (You can make a mask or a puppet or a doll or a wall hanging or or or… )

(knitting,weaving, crochet, photo collage, spool knitting, tatting, beading, embroidery… and…. and… or…..

ANY playful way you can think of to make a face  of JOY and you’re in!)

3] Send me a pic of your Face of Joy OR blog about it and link to this posting.

4] The challenge lasts for the month of April

5] You can make as many faces of joy as you would like….. please post a comment with your blog links if you’re going to post the pics on your blog, so people can see what you are up to.

6] Would winning a prize bring a smile to your face? Well…. I thought that it might…. so, I am going to give one of the challenge participants one of the one of a kind Homage to Jane Austen crochet hooks that I carved: ( I do ask that the winner pays the postage… sorry about that part…. )

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

All right! Now go have some fun! and make some faces of JOY!

Okay… now, here is an invitation that is hard to resist….

The invitation is  from Luib na Lùban, (Lùban air an Drochaid in Gaelic, pronounced, roughly, “Loooban er n drawkitch”),

copyright stitches on the bridge

which translates to: In Amongst the Stitches.

They are  a new textile art group in Skye, Scotland, that is inviting all Scots, ex-pats, Scotophiles and any other stitching folk  to take part in a wild and woolie project to cover the Skye Bridge in knitting and crochet.

On their Ravelry page, they have listed the dimensions of all the pieces that they need. (They need a lot, and don’t worry, the pieces won’t be wasted! They’ll be re-configured later to donate to charity)

The Skye Bridge links the Isle of Skye with the mainland in the West Highlands of Scotland.

The plan is to link this gigantic and glorious feat of urban stitching with Highland Homecoming 2009.

The Highland Homecoming is an exuberant  celebration of Scotland’s many wonderful contributions to the world, in October 2009.

Here’s the website: stitches on the bridge, where you can find links to myspace and facebook as well as other group links,

and here’s the  link for the yahoo group yahoo stitches on the bridge and the  Ravelry page

Get your hooks and needles flying! They need to cozy up the bridge to Skye starting now!

It’s so easy to add a little touch of springtime to your sockies! So…. why have plain jane socks?

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!

I just posted about the  crocheted compassion cap Knots of Love kit  that Laurel Hill is kindly donating to one of the  readers of Hankering for Yarn.

And, now I am pleased to offer a second contest, courtesy of

Knots of Love and Laurel Hill.

This contest is for a compassionate knitter.

The prize is one of Laurel Hill’s

knitted compassion cap kits

How do you win?

Simple, post a comment, telling me to  whom you would donate  the compassion cap that you will knit from this kit.

The contest begins now and closes on March 17th.

It is open to citizens of Canada and the United States.

(image source: drawing by Noreen Crone-Findlay. Copyright, not to be used without permission)

Knitting the Threads of Time: Casting Back to the Heart of Our Craft by Nora Murphy  (published by  New World Library)

Nora Murphy weaves together the story of knitting her young son a sweater with stories about her life, as well as historical explorations of women’s connections to the making of yarn and clothing.

Reading the book is a lot like subscribing to a favorite blog and getting to know a very pleasant and intelligent person. Her style is very intimate and accessible.

Ms Murphy speaks passionately about the lives of women from ancient times right up to the present.

She talks from the heart about  women who work in abominable conditions now in order to clothe us….

and poses questions about how we can help to make their lives better.  Important information indeed!

I love Knitting the Threads of Time and HIGHLY recommend it!

By the way, I couldn’t resist looking up the url for the story about the exploding knitting needle.

I also went… cringe… and got out my bamboo needles to finish knitting the  sock in the picture above.

To photograph the book , I plunked the book and the sock in question on a sweater that I designed and knitted more than 20 years ago.  Why?

Because I have a fun story about this sweater.

I was wearing it to run errands. I was zooming into the grocery store, when a street person stopped me and did a happy little dance, and twirled his finger in the air, asking me to do a pirouette so he could see the back of the sweater.

He giggled gleefully and crowed: “Beautiful! Beautiful! and you did it all with 2 sticks and string!”

He then danced away, miming knitting and grinning over his shoulder at me, calling out:

“2 sticks and string! 2 sticks and string!”

Ah, yes … “2 sticks and string!”

There are so many stories about 2 sticks and string, and Nora Murphy tells all manner of them with grace  and intelligence.

(image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay. Copyright, not to be used without permission)

Well before the Internet came along and encouraged a virtual togetherness among crafters, people routinely knitted, quilted, tatted and crocheted in groups. Your local yarn shop may have a regular day or evening when crafters get together, over food, fun and fiber.

Do you enjoy craft groups? Do you belong to one at your LYS or do you attend one in someone’s home? If so, what do you like best about getting together with like-minded people?

Image: Photos.com

Maybe you learned to knit at the knee of your mother, grandmother, aunt, uncle or friend. Unfortunately, for many of us today, learning crafts at the hands of older friends or family isn’t as commonplace as it used to be. Knitting is no longer taught in most schools — as a matter of fact, the arts are sometimes greatly curtailed due to budget restrictions.

If you’re fortunate enough to teach a child to knit, consider yourself — and that child — very lucky. I think it’s great to pass along such traditions first hand. Chances are, if you learned to knit from an adult in your life, you know exactly who it was and how it was to first hold yarn and needles in your hands.

A lot of beginning knitters are taught scarves as a first project, but when you’re dealing with kids, you’re usually dealing with a shorter attention span. So what makes suitable first projects for the younger set? Projects that they can complete relatively quickly without giving up due to boredom?

Some ideas:

• Dishcloths
• Neckwarmers
• Bookmarks
• Doll or toy blankets
• Hats (a great way to teach them to use circulars)

It doesn’t always have to be scarves.

Image: stock.xchng