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

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I ‘ve been thinking

that you could make

great little bog coats

from Origami Paper,

to use as Christmas ornaments.

Fold a square

of origami or

other decorative paper

in half.

(Note that you

can use a square

of any size that you want).

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Now,

open the

square of paper up

and fold it

in half

again,

top to bottom.

bog-coat-origami photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Open the

paper up

and fold

the top edge

to the center

line.

The top section

is going to

become the sleeves.

bog-coat-origami photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Open it up again

and fold the side

edges to the

center.

This will

create the

center front opening

of the bog coat, as

well as the side edges

of the coat or jacket.

I drew  lines on

the paper

so you could

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

see  which

fold lines

you’ll need

to cut to complete

the bog jacket.

Black dotted lines

are folds,

and the red lines

are the cutting lines.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

You can see now

that the lines are

snipped, how

the folds

form the shape

of the jacket or coat.

Isn’t that clever?

People have done

this for thousands of years.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

If it was made in

cloth, you would

stitch the

underarm seams,

and across the fronts

of the jacket to join

the upper sections.

But, since this is paper,

all you need

by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

is a couple of

snippets of paper

and some glue,

and Voila!

You have made

a very cute

little bog coat

to hang on the

Christmas tree,

or glue to a card,

or  to embellish

in lots of fun ways…. I’ll post some of them soon, so stay tuned!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

There are some fun links for you in this week’s Artsy Bloggers roundup:

Arts & Crafts Examiner :
Designer Minoo Hersini shares her unique fall centerpieces, perfect for  Thanksgiving entertaining for our American friends.
Make-unique-fall-centerpieces-with-tree-bark

Creative Dreamer
June shares a post from August when she was experimenting with creating hand made books. She wanted to see if she could create a round one, and these are the result.
hand made books

Gadabout Media DIY
Do you have a pair of blue jeans with a hole? Don’t throw them out – it’s easy to repair them!
how-to-repair-blue-jeans/

Hankering for yarn
This week, I made a video tutorial about how to work with the charming little vintage looms, ‘The Magic Looms’, that mysteriously always have a photo of a crocheted Granny square on the box. This is odd, because the looms couldn’t possibly do that, but they DO create delightful squares. What were the manufacturers thinking? Ah well, the magic lives on…..
how-to-for-vintage-magic-loom/

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi has finished a second Garden Quilt and is offering her tutorial!
finished-pear-quilt.html

The Artful Crafter
Say �Happy Anniversary� to Totally-Creative and win a free 1-year subscription!

happy-anniversary

We are also open to accepting new members into the Artsy Bloggers group.

If you are regularly blogging about the arts and crafts and are willing to post a link to the group each week and then to post the collection of everyone’s links to your blog

once a week, then you might want to join us.

If you are interested, send me an email with a link to your blog, and I will pass it along to the moderator of the group!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay

I was thinking

of one particular

vintage button

that a friend

sent me last year.

It’s kind of

translucent

and totally

wonderful.

I decided that I didn’t want to sew the button to the shrug, as that would mean that I could only enjoy it on one garment.

I thought…. why not attach a safety pin to the back of the button so I can wear it on lots of things?

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay

I wanted the pin

to stay in one place

without glue, so

I unwound the coil,

then slipped a bead

onto the pin.

Then, I slid the pin

through the shank of

the button, and slipped

another bead on.

I used a pair of pliers to twist a coil back into the pin, and Voila! and tahdah!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay

The button is now

wearable on ~anything~

I love it!

and got lots of

compliments on it

today.

This is a big old

button,

but you could do this with

any size button.  Fun!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

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!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

What better way to celebrate summer than to make a special summer friend that is an exploration of all kinds of wonderful fiber arts and crafts?

I have designed a very simple flat doll that is 8 inches/20 cm tall.  I am going to be posting all kinds of patterns and tutorials about wonderful clothing and accessories for the Flat Fanciful Dolls, using all kinds of yarn and other fibery techniques.

Here’s the pattern for the Flat Fanciful Dolls:

Flat Fanciful Craftie Doll pattern designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I’ve drawn the pattern out on 1/4 inch graph paper, so when you print it, adjust it so the squares are 1/4 inch and your Flat Fanciful Craftie Doll is 8 inches (20 cm) tall.

Print out the pattern, and either trace it onto 1/4 inch plywood or chipboard from the craft store, and saw it out with a fret saw (cheap and cheerful, wonderful saws- you can get them at hardware stores or online).

OR: Trace the pattern onto cardstock, and then glue that to millboard, which is the thick non corrugated cardboard that they make book covers and the backs of sketchbooks etc from or onto masonite.

Then, drill a hole in each shoulder, and at the top of each arm.

Tie the arms to the doll with string,

then, with a pencil, sketch a face and the outline of undies and shoes…….

Your Flat Fanciful Doll can be a boy or a girl.  You can print a pic of your fave child and glue it to the doll’s face….

Flat Craftie Doll photo & design by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

So, whether you are going to be teaching lots of fiber arts to your favorite child, or whether you prefer to make some treasures for your inner child (remember that it’s never too late to have a happy childhood…..)  I hope that you’ll join me in having a lovely time with the Flat Fanciful Dolls for a VERY fun and fibery summer…

Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to make a wig for your Flat Fanciful Doll, and I’ll get mine painted.

This will be a fun summer….

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I brought the branch home and let it dry out for a few months.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

I trimmed the small stickie outie bits off….

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

And carefully sliced pieces off the branch. The pine wood smelled wonderful!

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Then drilled holes

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

Voila! Handmade wooden buttons- they need to be waxed or varnished…

perhaps embellished with a little woodburning or paint first?

Hmmmm….. my son trimmed the apple trees…. perhaps I should make some apple wood buttons…..

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

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.

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Wee hearts

Valentine cloth

Seven of hearts socks

Hearts dishcloth

Hot pad

Chain of hearts bookmark

Lattice hearts dishcloth

Enjoy!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Don’t think I forgot about man’s (or woman’s!) best friend just because I posted free crochet patterns for kitty yesterday. Today, I bring you some crochet patterns for your favorite pooch:

Dog bed

Easy dog sweater – With helpful tutorial

Bandana – Very cute and quick!

Doggie bone – You’ll need this additional 3D heart pattern

Enjoy! And, if you can’t get enough of puppies and doggies, check out The Doggy Blog, where it’s all dogs, all the time.

Image: Photos.com

Post from: Hankering for Yarn