photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

I’ve been focused on finishing up the designs and projects for a new book, and have been totally immersed in it.  Oops…. the homework  for the tatting class got  pushed to the back burner.

I decided today that I would play catchup, and get going on the homework.

I filled a tatting shuttle with rainbow colored hemp cord and tatted up the first exercise.

I decided that it would make a great bookmark….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

so…… I tatted up the side of the first section, and added a dragonfly at the top of the bookmark.

I quite like tatting with unusual yarns  like hemp cord, but, you have to make allowances for it’s idiosincratic nature.

The thickness of the cord tends to change, and sometimes you get little tussocky bits.

It makes it somewhat challenging to tat, but it’s still fun, and I do recommend it.

I then switched to silk thread that I had left over from tatting butterflies for my daughter’s wedding dress a couple of years ago.

The silk thread is very fine and soft, and when I was making the butterflies I found that a single strand made incredibly tiny butterflies.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

Because of this, I doubled it up and worked with 2 strands.  It’s lovely thread and tats up beautifully.

And so, then,  I finished up the homework for the second lesson  of the course.

I had intended to move straight on to the homework for the third lesson,  but I got distracted.

I was giving our dog a bone to chew on, when I noticed that one of the bones that the dogs had already chewed clean was really straight and hollow.

I had an ‘upcycling’ moment, and  thought…

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

I could make tatting shuttles from this!

Earlier in the weekend, I had joined the Trashion upcycling/recycling team on etsy, so I was definitely ‘pre-programmed’ to be thinking about alternative uses of materials!

(I took a pic of the bone, but when I was photoshopping it, the program hung royally. Arghhh.

Anyhow, trust me…. it was a big old, cleaned bare bone that the dogs had had a lovely time with.)

I scrubbed it off, and traced my templates onto it.

My husband called out to me to wear the heavy duty dust mask as I was trotting out to the workshop.  You bet… I didn’t fancy inhaling the sand off the bone!

I was a little concerned about what it would be like to saw and file and sand.

all photos by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

It definitely has grain…. and it does splinter if you catch it the wrong way with the files.

But…. I really like the way the bone polishes up.

I decided to take a chance and see if I could use my wood burner on the bone. Yes! and it didn’t even smell! I thought that it might…..

The finished tatting shuttles feel really nice. They are light and smooth and pleasing to the touch.

So, it was really worthwhile to take a chance and follow my inclination about experimenting with the dog’s old chewie bones.

Although they keep coming up to me and looking very, very sad about their Mum snitching their treat……

And, oh yes…. I really ought to get back to that homework.  If this class was in the ‘real’ world, I’d probably be relegated to the back of the class!  Ahem.

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

She developed a crochet  technique, called ‘crochet overlay’ that creates a kaleidoscopic effect.

Her book: Crochet Overlay Jewelry

is a collection of stunningly beautiful crocheted pieces that will inspire awe.

Melody teaches people how to crochet pieces that are like mandalas, with exquisite geometric progressions. You can see how mathematics and artistry have melded so harmoniously in her work.

I met her a few years ago, when we were both teaching at a national conference of the Crochet Guild of America. Unfortunately, when you’re teaching a full slate of courses, you don’t get to spend a whole lot of time with other teachers, who are also run off their feet.

But, even in the brief conversation I had with her, I knew that she was definitely a very special person.

As well as being a gifted crochet designer and teacher, Melody has a passion for beading and teaching beadwork.

It has been fascinating to see where her love of beads has taken her.

It has lead her to become an African Queen! Yup!

Melody has created a small foundation in Ghana that is doing great work.

(and that has resulted in her being recognized as an African Queen).

She is working together with a small but dedicated group of bead makers, bead designers and wire workers to create a sustainable bead industry in Ghanna.

The bead makers use recycled glass that they pound into powder and then they individually sculpt the beads.

Melody writes all about the process of the bead making, as well as the impact on the beadworkers lives at: Soul of Somanya

I am so pleased that Soul of Somanya now has an etsy shop so that people can easily buy the Soul of Somanya beads.

Once again, it’s creativity, compassion and crafting in action to make the world a better place! Yay, Melody! and Yay! Soul of Somanya!

Images: Copyright Leisure Arts and Soul of Somanya

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I have carried it around in bags, moved it from table to desk and back, taken it out, put it back, taken it out again, sighed, and put it back …. and  just haven’t been able to finish it.

Why, why why, I snivel? It’s a simple little cap!

Alright.

Yesterday, I read a note about March being crochet month. I even joined a Ravelry group in celebration of Crochet month!

I decided- this is it!

Crochet Month is here- I am gonna finish that cap in honor of Crochet Month! (actually ALL months are crochet month for me, but that’s just being pickie pickie)

This cap is for a friend. He shaves his head and gets cold, so he likes to wear neat little caps. BUT, he owns a bistro (where my husband’s jazz trio plays all the time), so the caps have to be light enough to not make him uncomfortable when he’s making magic in the hot hot kitchen.

I made him a cap a few months back and it was too heavy, so I said, ‘No problem…. I’ll whip you up a light weight one’.

He can’t tolerate wool and cotton gets too floppy really quickly (I crocheted elastic thread into one of the caps he loves so he can wear it again) so it’s synthetics for him.

I just wrote up a tute on how I split the yarn for his cap

I took out the unfinished cap and glared at it, demanding to know why it was being so reluctant to come together.

Tahdah! the answer presented itself!

It wanted a spool knitted edge!

I whipped out my trusty little spool knitter, and whipped up a cord. I used more of the Caron Shadows, but didn’t split it.

I spool knitted a 22 inch long cord on all 4 pegs, then sewed the ends together.

Then, the cap just flew along!

The only problem was, that I had started at the center of the crown of the cap, and adding the spool knitted cord was, pardon the pun, a corker!

I ended up making the most complicated manoevers to  join the spool knitting to the cap, that I could never write the pattern out.

My husband tried it on and we decided it was quite fetching on him, so I am in re-design mode now.

I am designing and working on  another one – going in the opposite direction from the first one.

I’ll be able to write out a vunderbar pattern for it.

Here’s the finished Version #1 of the Jazz Cap

This is Babette, my new model.

Isn’t she wonderful? I bought her in a hat shop last summer when Jim and I were buying sunhats.

The shop owner had bought out a millinery business that had been going for 50 or more years.

She had several of these lovely ladies languishing without hats, so I was thrilled to adopt her.

Please welcome Babette to her new life as a blogmodel.

And, now, it’s back to work on Jazz Cap #2….. more later……

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

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I had some discontinued Caron Shadows that I had used in another project that was rejected, so I figured I would be eco friendly and recycle and upcycle the yarn.

By splitting it, I was able to divide out the color shifting sections and use them in the design of the cap.

Splitting yarn is a pain in the neck if you don’t have the secret to doing it painlessly.

Here’s a quick tute on how to split yarn without tearing your hair out:

Take the ball of yarn and unroll a few feet of yarn. Stick a small crochet hook or turkey skewer into the ball to hold it together:

Now, split the strand of yarn into 2 strands and let the ball hang freely. It’ll spin like crazy.

DON’T do this while your cat is watching!

Wind the 2 strands onto bobbins or into their own separate balls, right up to the original ball.

Release more yarn from the original ball and keep on going.  Don’t release more than 2 yards of yarn at a time.

Voila! soon your ball of yarn will be 2 skinnier happy little balls of yarn!

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

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so I made a second one:

Because I had a plan…. bangle bracelets look better when there are more than one….

(BTW, the flash does nasty things to the bracelets…. in real life, they look smooth and kind of irridescent. The flash seems to expose their undies. How rude!)

AND, because I love Furoshiki.

What’s  Furoshiki?

It’s an ancient and elegant Japanese solution to carrying things in the greenest possible way.

Here’s a link: FUROSHIKI

I’ve impressed the heck out of all kinds of people by whipping a headscarf out of my purse and tying a couple of knots in it to make a market bag.

I have also been using bracelets  as handles for my version of furoshiki.

Here’s how:

Tie 2 adjacent corners to one bracelet, and the other 2 corners to the second bracelet….

and VOILA!

You have an instant, earth friendly, eco happy market bag, GREEN tote bag, carry sack, re-usable, upcycled, recycled tote!

HURRAH!

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

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Part 1- upcycling a bag of funky mystery thread

So, I got out some of the tatting shuttles that I love to carve and filled them up with multiple strands of the threads:

Part 2 – Choosing colors and loading tatting shuttles

Now, some folks might say that this is NOT really tatting… but it is!

Really!

Part 3- The Josephine Knot worked over the bracelet

Changing colors might seem tricky, but it’s not….

Part 4 – Color changes

And, one bracelet was good, so 2 were even better! Besides, now, I can multitask with them!

Wear them as bracelets, then whip them off and make a magic market bag- INSTANTLY!

Part 5- How to turn bangle bracelets into an oh so Green, eco friendly market bag

No animals were harmed in the making of these bracelets.

She did, however, supervise the whole process VERY closely.

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

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

This is a rather unique approach to tatting…. there are no lacy bits, no loops, picots, chains, just plain Josephine Knots over a simple flat wooden bracelet with upcycled funky thread.

(Feel free to do this with gorgeous thread! It will be – well….. gorgeous!)

Now…..

What if you want to change colors?

Easy peasy….

1 choice is to cut the first color, leaving a few inches to spare.

Just pick up the next color, and hold the thread end from it together with the last  thread end, and carry on as if you were in your right mind.

When you make the first pass with the second color, make an ‘e’ with the thread to encourage the thread to tighten up.

Squish the threads really close together.

Sometimes, let the threads at the inside of the bracelet lay on top of the previous one to make them fan out a little and get maximum coverage.

Continue to add more colors, working with just one tatting shuttle at a time

OR

With all your shuttles all at once.  Don’t cut the threads, just carry them along the outside edge, and tat over the non – working threads.

As you decide that you’ve done with one color, snip it and work over the ends to hide them. When the bracelet is done,  snip the last colors, thread the ends into a sewing needle and take the ends inside all the wraps.

Voila! an upcycled thread tatted bracelet!

Ahem. I know I shouldn’t…. but I just couldn’t resist:

Always, Mum, you take the silly pictures of me…..

this will cost you in tuna.

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

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I didn’t tie the thread to the bracelet (by the way, this would work on any bangle bracelet).

I just took the thread through, and pinched it to the bracelet with my left thumb.

Then, I started making Josephine knots over the bracelet. What’s a Josephine knot?

Basically, it’s the blanket stitch.

∞The tatting shuttle goes through the bracelet, from the front to the back, and a loop of thread goes over your left index finger.

The shuttle comes up through the loop and then is pulled tight. ∞

The thread ends are carried along for awhile and eventually snipped off.

Repeat from ∞ to ∞

until you want to change colors……

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

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Not primo for sewing… so what to do, what to do….

Hmmmm…. good for spinning… yes! Will set some aside to use when spinning ‘designer yarn’.

Wait a minute…. this is T H R E A D, right?

T H R E A D !

Thread = tatting……yessssssssssssssssssssss………..

And, then I HAD it!

I decided I would  finally get around to finishing some wooden bracelets that I made last summer.

My plan was, cut out plain wooden circle bracelets and crochet yarn around them.

Good plan…. but – I have a BETTER one!

I will use the mystery thread and tat it around the bracelets! Yes!

I picked out a group of colors that I thought would work together….

Then,  I grabbed one of the bracelets, and a spool knitter,  and some bamboo skewers. (Every studio should have chopsticks and bamboo skewers!)

I slid a bamboo skewer through each of the spools of thread and put them on top of the spool knitter to separate them. You could stick the ends through a shoe box to achieve the same result, but this was easier for me.

And, then, I started winding thread onto tatting shuttles

To wind thread onto a shuttle that is closed at the top like these Great Mother ones, or a traditional netting style shuttle, you loop the thread over your index finger and slip it over the head. Flip the shuttle and repeat.

I had to put the shuttle down to take the picture, but you don’t do that when you are filling the shuttle.

I decided to leave the pink out, so just filled 4 tatting shuttles with thread: Royal blue, tan, silver/pale blue, and dark brown.

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

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

(You weren’t supposed to WASH me, human! I no hold together when wet!)

Loved the colors, tho’, so had a little think about it……

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

Post from: Hankering for Yarn