photo by Jim Findlay copyright

So, I am going to make a short list

of some of the posts

that I loved the most this year.

Hands down, my absolutely

MOST favorite post has to be

the announcement that:

I am a granny!

Sweet Baby James

changes

E V E R Y T H I N G for us….

Sigh… a moment out for blissing…. okay, I’m back…

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Albert Einstein says that

being creative

means looking at the world

and seeing it in new ways.

Well… I saw the creative potential

in the paper streamers that the

Blue Man Group fired out

of a special effects canon

and ended up

spinning them into paper yarn

and then designing

a wonderful Shadow Scarf….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

One of my most popular YouTube videos

this year was the one

on how to make

Flowers on the

Vintage Flower Loom.

Here’s the link to the

post and the video:

Vintage Flower Looms

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Another really popular

video is a tutorial

that I made on

how to wind yarn with a

nostepinne.

Here’s the link

to the post and

video tute:

Nostepinne

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

This year, I have switched

formats in the way that

I self publish my

designs.

I am focusing on

the pdf format,

because readers have

told me that this is

how they want to

purchase their books.

So, Spooligarumi,  and so are Weavagarumi and Virtuoso Vests.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Sock knitting is one of my great passions.

I live in clogs and crocs,

which are really

really hard on socks,

so I am constantly darning

my socks.

Another of my most popular

video tutes is

‘A new way of darning socks’

So, there you have it… a few of my favorite posts from 2009- I have more fave posts, so will gather them up for you, soon!

I hope that you have lots of lovely memories from this year, too, and not just painful ones because of the economy.

Things will get better. And all shall be well…..

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Hankering for yarn
Last weekend, I met the most amazing child who dazzled me with her insight and wisdom…
remember-beauty-of-small-things-she-said

Beading Arts
Cyndi is giving away a copy of Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith! Come leave a comment and you’ll be entered for the drawing.
giveaway-seed-bead-fusion

Creative Dreamer
June is issuing a dare to help spread random acts of holiday cheer…come see what it is…she dares ya…
dare-ya

Gadabout Media DIY
Make a cute little snowman softy using a vintage knitter, knitting loom or even a spool knitter!
tutorial-make-a-knitted-snowman-softy-part-two/

The Artful Crafter
A bead spinner is not required, but certainly recommended, to make a beautiful seed bead Christmas tree like this one created by Shaaron.
seed bead Christmas tree

All in all… it’s been an intense and amazing week for me. I hope it was a wonderful one for you, and that you’ll enjoy this week’s links!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Well, the other day,  I had one of those amazing experiences.

My husband’s jazz trio

was playing at our favorite bistro

(beautiful music, fabulous food, lovely company- ahhhh, bliss!)

Things had drawn to a close and

we were all getting ready to head out.

I started chatting with the beautiful

little daughter of one of the chefs.

She looked like she was about 4 or 5

and reminded me of Alice in Wonderland,

with a solemn, winsome presence that transcended whatever age she is.

She asked me if I had seen the fish in the tank.

I had never really paid attention to them, so admitted that I hadn’t.

We stepped over to look at the 2 goldfish, who responded by coming to the wall of their world and mouthing little fishy songs at us.

The light flashed off the side of one of them like a rainbow and I was astonished. I asked her if she saw it, and she said that oh yes, she had.

I commented that it was amazing how such a small thing could be soooooooo beautiful.

She looked up at me ( a long look, as I am very tall, and she is very petite) and said: “Of course there is beauty in small things! ”

Then she held up the palm of her little hand and said: “Remember how beautiful one single piece of glitter is? It’s very small, but it is VERY beautiful! Remember that!”

I suddenly remembered how I had noticed that there was a little bit of glitter on my daughter’s beautiful cheek, earlier that morning, as we sat together- her making her beloved yo-yo’s and me knitting, while listening to her father’s trio playing glorious music. I had thought how magical it was that a bit of glitter had transferred itself to her cheek, like a blessing or an unseen kiss.

I agreed with my new little friend that, yes, indeed, glitter is beautiful, and that we should sometimes look very closely at it to really remember how amazing it is.

Then, she waved her hand at the door of the bistro, and said: “Think about the snow!”

I said that I didn’t like it very much and that I wasn’t happy about the big storm and awful cold.

She looked at me gravely, and said: “No! no! remember all the wonderful things we can only do when there are snowflakes!”

I thought: “Um, yes, like shovelling?”, but had the grace to not blurt it out loud.

She waved her hand again, and declared: “You NEED to REMEMBER the SNOWFLAKES! They are so beautiful! And every one is different!”

By this time, I was completely dazzled, feeling like I had been in the presence of a profoundly wise and wonderful person.

Her little sister trotted over to us, and we admired her necklace. Her big sister Wise Woman, wrapped her arms around the shoulders of Little One, and in that charmingly awkward, proprietorial, ‘this is my baby sister, and even though she is almost as big as me, I can still lift her” way, hefted her little sister up approximately 3 inches for a closer look at the fish.

The fish looked back at us, and I swear, one of them winked, and they both carried on, singing their snowflake, swishy fish, beautiful glitter song.

I wanted to make a little something to remember this lovely moment, so I made a little wire snowflake, with a little vintage celluloid swishy fish. After all….it’s important to remember the beauty of small things……

(link to tutorial for making wire snowflake)

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Oops…

this yarn isn’t

crocheted, it’s

spool knitted.

I spun it from

a variegated roving,

but found the color breaks

to be too sharp.

So, I plied it with a thin

slubby strand of brown silk thread.

This toned down the color breaks and made the yarn more visually cohesive.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

This golden

yarn was just a little

bit flat looking.

Combining it with a

strand of very thin

variegated thread gives

it depth and more

life- it’s a far more interesting

fabric than when the gold

yarn is used on it’s own.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I crocheted these two

Shadow Scarves

using  red merino/possum

lace weight yarn from New Zealand.

The shadow scarf on the left

was crocheted with just the red yarn

and a size ‘H’ (5 mm) hook and is

delightful.

I wanted to see what would happen if

I combined a strand of the variegated thread

with the red yarn. I also wanted to try taking

the laciness factor up a notch, so I went up

one size of hook, to an ‘I’ (5.5 mm).

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

The variegated thread

really punches up the

impact of the plain red yarn.

Even though the variegated thread

is very thin, it has tiny slubs,

so it dramatically increases the

texture of the finished fabric.

Wonderful!

Oh…. I just realized that the one

thing that I haven’t done (doh) is

to crochet or knit the variegated thread completely on it’s own.

I’ve been so caught up in combining it with other yarns, that I forgot to try it on it’s own.

This particular thread came from Salt Spring Saori, and is kind of one of a kind, I think, as Terri brings in unique yarns from Japan.

Watch second hand stores for interesting threads and yarns- and garage and yard sales, too! Also, don’t be afraid to combine serger threads and sewing threads with your yarns to create interesting crocheted, knitted, spool knitted or woven fabrics.

You never know where you’ll find fun threads and yarns. And, when you put them together with other yarns, you might just be surprised by the fascinating textiles that you can create!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I saw a  fantastic

film that was a real

eye opener for me.

The film was an explanation

of how the Day of the Dead

is a celebration of love and life and connection.

We went through a rough passage a few years ago,

when we had many deaths of family and friends,

and we were worn out by grief.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The documentary said that Mexicans

feel that the ones we love

are still present in their own way

and that the veil of separation lifts

between Halloween and All Souls Day.

So, with a  celebratory outpouring

of  crafts and culinary delights,

they create  colorful and loving

symbols of life  mocking death.

There are all kinds of flower embellished

sugar skulls and skeletons dressed up

wild finery and festive regalia.

Personally, I find this very comforting. I love the thought of celebrating the lives of the ones that we have loved.

Even though they are no longer here in the way we would like them to be, we hold them close in our hearts.

Cooking and crafting in celebration of life and love….. well, I believe that that is a tradition to embrace!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I promised to show what I have been doing with the upcycled paper yarn.

Well…

I’ve been working on a couple of things.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I knitted a little pocket doll with the yarn.

Myeh.  It wasn’t magical.

So I frogged it.

And, then, I followed my intuition. One of the b5 bloggers wrote recently that her little girl was saddened by being told that Unicorns are not real.

I thought…. hmmm…. why not show her that the realm of imagination is alive and well?

So, I got out my potholder loom, and started weaving the paper yarn.

and guess what I wove?

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

A Unicorn, of course!

Weaving the paper yarn

is a lot like weaving wire.

Neither of them have

any give, so it’s essential

to warp the loom so loosely

that it is almost crazy making.

BUT…

the completed weaving

is wonderfully maleable

and sculptable, so

the pain in the neck-ed-ness

of weaving with it is worth it.

Although, weaving with normal ‘yarn’ yarn is infinitely easier!

The  paper yarn crochets well too and I quite like the way it can be sculpted. I am working on a crocheted piece that I am making with the paper yarn that I upcycled from the Blue Man streamers. Stay tuned! I’ll post pics of it.

The pattern for the woven unicorn is available at: Potholder Loom Magical Creatures because, yes, the world of imagination is indeed essential, important and must be cherished!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Of course, I immediately thought…. ooooooooooooh! You could make such a neat doll using the God’s Eye wrapping technique.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Sis wanted

to make

hers with

toothpicks

and size 10

crochet cotton

from Coats.

To get started,

glue 2 toothpicks

together and

tie on the cotton.

Wrap the thread in an ‘X’

around the center.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

To make a larger

scale God’s Eye,

tie 2 twigs together.

The thread

(in this case, hemp cord

from Jolly Store)

is wrapped

around one arm,

taken to the back,

and wrapped around the next arm.  Keep turning the God’s Eye, and wrap, turn, wrap turn….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Sis and I laughed

when we saw that

there was a bit

of tatting in the

bobbin of thread

that I gave her.

My God’s Eye

took longer

than her’s to

make, because it

was bigger,

and because…..

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

And,

because

I got a bit

carried away…

I had

crocheted

a wire face

a few weeks ago,

and it seemed

perfect.

The shoes are

temporary,

but will do fine

until I can get the ‘real’ ones carved.  This doll is made from Arbutus (aka Madrona) twigs from the tree in Sisters yard. It seemed perfect to use them to make this doll, as she was inspired by the fun of sitting together with a beloved sister, each playing with sticks and string, in our own way!

Here’s to sisterhood, and here’s to the joy of sticks and strings- hurrah!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

We use yarn as a blessing.

Is there a baby on the way?

Get out the knitting needles

and crochet hooks to

celebrate!

Is someone ill?

Knit or crochet or weave

them a prayer or blessing

shawl.

Is there a rite of passage or significant spiritual event? Chances are good that textiles will enter into it, somehow, somewhere.

We swaddle our babies and wrap them in soft cloths. And, when the time comes, and we leave this life and are born into the next, someone will wrap our bodies in cloth again.

Cloth, and the ways we create it, whether we knit, crochet, weave or make it in some other way (or have someone else make it for us) is intertwined with our lives from the moment we emerge from the womb until after we leave this life.

So, doesn’t it make sense to find ways to make some of that cloth be significant to us? How do we do that?

By paying attention to what we make, and how we make it and why we make it…. then,  hopefully…. those things that we knit, crochet, weave, spin, and whirl out of our imaginations, hearts, minds and hands, will become the source of joy, sustenance and healing.

Ah,  Joy….. that’s what yarn and thread and creativity can bring….. joy……

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I am a total tea afficianado-

I drink it from morning to night.

White, black, red, green…

I love it.

My husband is a jazz musician,

and when his trio plays at

our favorite bistro,

they always immediately make me

a cup of green tea.

I was just dazzled by the gorgeousness of the flavor of  a new  tea, and was delighted when the server told me that it was because the tea was in a silk bag.   There was no way I was going to throw that bag away, so it came home with me, and inspired me to start experimenting with the fabric from cloth teabags.

I wondered if the shape of teabags and being made of cloth would make a difference to the flavor of the tea, and in lots of cases, I would think so…

Anyhow… I’ve been sampling several different teas that come in cloth bags – and have been playing with the sheer fabric that the teabags are made from.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I let the teabags dry out after I have

sipped up the tea.

Then, open the bag, empty it, and pull

the edges apart.

It ends up as a small rectangle.

Cut a narrow strip along the long edge of

the rectangle, almost to the short end.

Turn, and cut another strip parallel to the first,

again, almost to the edge. You’re cutting a

continuous strip, and will end up with

approximately one yard of narrow ribbon yarn.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Wrap the ribbon yarn

onto a bobbin

and then -

you can either

weave with it,

or crochet with it.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I crocheted flowers with

the upcycled teabag fabric

ribbon yarn:

With a 1.5 mm steel

crochet hook:

Ch 4, join to form ring.

(Ch 5, sc into ring) 5 times.

Sl st last st to 1st.

Pull yarn end through last loop on hook.

Stitch it to something,  (in this case a sampler that I am weaving with natural cotton yarn and silk thread and stitch a bead in the center of each flower.

Here the flowers are appliqued to the sampler:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

And here, you can see some of the yo yo circles,  a small diamond shape of inlay weaving with the ribbon yarn, and then at the lower edge of the photo, another crocheted applique that has beads stitched into open spaces in the crochet:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

And, I have been doing other interesting things with the sheer fabric teabags….

I’ll be posting more about this fun upcycling project, so stay tuned!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Recently, I found some delicious tea that comes in silk teabags.

Well… if that isn’t an invitation to upcycle, I don’t know what is!

After all, if I am going to pay for the silk

in those tea bags, I am certainly not

going to waste it!

It’s silk, for goodness sake!

and silk’s precious!

So, now, after I savour my cuppa tea,

I save the bag and turn it into all kinds of  upcycled embellishments.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I used to snip one edge of the teabag open,

but I realized that I can pull at the edges

and break the seal,

thereby saving some of the silk.

So, pull the teabag open,

and toss the used leaves in the compost.

Open all the seams, and you’ll have a small rectangle of silk.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I began my adventures

in upcycling silk teabags

by making one of my most favorite motifs:

The yo yo circle:

You can make a very small yo yo circle

by using just one bag,

or a larger yo yo by stitching 2

silk rectangles (2 flattened, opened silk teabags)

together and cutting a circle from them.

They are so sheer that you can barely

see them in the photo.

Challenging to photograph!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

After you have cut the circle,

fold a tiny hem over

and stitch

around it

then

pull up

on it,

and stitch in place to anchor.

Voila! silk yo yo circles!

You can use them to embellish all manner of things.  I have stitched them to a sampler that I am weaving with natural cotton:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I stitched a bead into the center of each yo yo circle.

Tomorrow…. other neat ways in which I have upcycled silk teabags.

Green living can be fun, even if it means having used silk teabags hanging up to dry in the studio….. 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn