photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

There, at my feet,

in our driveway,

was a tiny stone,

shaped like a heart.

I was amazed.

I have walked up and

down that driveway

a million times,

and suddenly,

a little stone heart appears!

It was like a gift from an unseen hand.

I felt very blessed.

I brought it inside, and looked around the studio, to find the perfect background to photograph it on.

I pulled open a drawer, and found this small piece of hardanger embroidery.

My mother spent many years doing magnificent hardanger embroidery, and I always hoped that she would make me a tablecloth.

She never got around to it, and her days of doing embroidery are now past.

So, this 4 inch square  little treasure is the only piece of her hardanger that I have and probably ever will have.

As I placed the little stone heart on it, I suddenly felt a wave of gratitude…. I realized:

How perfect it is- this little square of embroidery is ~enough~.

It’s the perfect background for an unexpected gift, because it is all about essence- it is small, but it holds vast webs of memories about all manner of  beautiful embroidiery that my mother created in the many years of her passionate involvement in needlework.

And, I also realized, that sometimes, a small thing is absolutely ~enough~…. that what is truly important about something is what it symbolizes, and what memories it triggers.  I don’t feel like I need to have an entire tablecloth to be able to connect with the heritage of gifted needlewomen in my family…. a tiny piece is enough.

How lovely that a small thing can be imbued with emotional keys that are deeply significant- it shows me that, like the old motto says: ~Enough~ truly is as good as a feast.

May all your feasts be just ~enough~, and be filled with joy and gratitude!

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Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Poor little thing… she’s very stained, and rather frayed around the edges.

Even so, she stole my heart, and I knew that I just had to see if I could rescue and re-create her.

If you are wondering what a needle book is, it’s a rather sweet bit of stitchery history.

Needlebooks are small ‘books’ with cloth pages that are alternatives to pin cushions.

Needles are stored in the inner pages of the needlebook.

Her front and back are way out of kilter with each other, and the middle section is oh so frazzled.

I sketched and worked on the pattern and made some adjustments and arrived at my version of the Sunbonnet Sue Needlebook:

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

I cut out 2 outside pages from cream colored felt, and one inner page of white felt. I cut the feet off the inner page:

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Then, I crocheted 5 tiny flowers, using a .6 mm hook and size 50 crochet cotton, and my pattern from Crocheted Flowers:

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

I stitched tatted lace edging  to her hat, and to the  hem of the skirt in the inner pages.

I stitched the flowers to her muff, as well as tiny felt leaves.  I stitched a bead to the center of each flower.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

I made a  bow from a narrow strip of felt, and stitched that to her hat.

I also stitched leaves and a flower and beads to the inside of the front cover,

and covered the stitching along the hat with another strip of felt.

The original needlebook just left the inside cover with the raw stitching showing, but I prefer the way it looks when it’s ‘cleaned up’ :

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Then, I sewed the 3 layers together at the 2 ‘X’s -

the original was only stitched at the nape of the neck, but I prefer the stability that the exra stitching gives.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

I just love her to pieces….

Here she is with her much older sister:

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

I think that she’d make a lovely gift…. I can see that I am going to have to make more Sunbonnet Sue Needlebooks!

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with my potholder loom, yarn  and stuff in a project bag .

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

As we rolled down the road, I was not happy to discover that I had left my weaving hook at home. Oh rats! That would mean ~no weaving~ for me.

No no no  no no no!

Luckily, I had an extra chopstick, so I knew I would be able to carve another weaving hook by upcycling the chopstick into a weaving hook.

When we got to the grocery store, my husband loaned me his pocket knife (mine was too dull to be safe to work with) and offered to go get the groceries so I could carve the hook…. what a sweetheart!

He went and got the groceries, and I rummaged around until I found a nail file and a little rock. That gave me all the tools  I needed to carve the hook.

I had my camera with me, and snapped pics as I carved, as I knew that this would be fun to share on hankering for yarn.

By the time he had bought the groceries, I had carved the hook. I was such a happy camper! Bless his heart!

So, here you have it: How to carve a handmade weaving hook from a chopstick – a fun bit of upcycling and DIY!

AND please remember: NEVER  work with a dull knife, and DON’T EVER point the knife towards your hands, fingers, or leg when carving or whittling. Always take tiny little slivery flakes off, and work slowly and carefully, nipping of the tiniest bits possible.

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Ours was lovely, although we are all so exhausted we are walking into walls……

it’s been moving week for our daughter and her husband, so we’ve been scrubbing,

sanding, priming, painting, packing, moving moving moving…. yargle………

Anyhow…. we had a lovely supper with the whole family, and afterwards,  my daughter-in-law and son brought out a special little Easter treat….

the chocolate bunny was delightful, but even better…..

The lovely tin box it came in has become the home for some of my crochet hooks and tatting shuttles.

I have a major soft spot for rabbits, and as soon as my daughter-in-law and son saw the box, they knew that I’d love it. Bless their hearts!

They were right…. the box is lovely, and the rabbit is just wonderful.

I am going to enjoy keeping  small projects, or  crochet hooks and tatting shuttles in the new bunny box!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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)

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There have been a heap of changes and I am soooooooooooo excited to be part of the new direction !

One of the biggest changes is that Hankering for Yarn will soon be part of Bliss Tree, which is an oh so nifty website/community.  I am looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds!

I have all sorts of ideas and plans for Hankering for Yarn, so stay tuned!

I will be playing with all things yarn:

Which is why I combined all those things in the picture.

If you can tell me what everything in the picture is, leave a comment in the comments section below, and you’ll win a prize!

Alrighty… you have until Tues March 10 to list off everything in the pic, and tell me what it’s for….

and yes…. there is a  mystery object in the picture…. let’s see if anyone gets it!  LOL!

I feel like I have come home again…..  I am happy dancing! Won’t you join me?

Thank you so much everyone who has posted so far…. I had planned on masking the answers, but woke up this morning to discover that answers were showing up….. oops!
That really ticked one reader off, ~sorrrrrrrrrrry~
SO – being a very creative hoppitty bunny, I am going to award MORE than one prize!
Alrighty?

(image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright)

Post from: Hankering for Yarn