Yesterday, I posted about the woven Halloween dolls that I designed for Weavezine.
When I was getting
ready for taking
the photos of the
projects, I wanted
to make some
pumpkins that
were the right
size for the
dolls.
I decided that a
pumpkin pincushion
would be perfect.
When I cut out the fabric for the pincushion, I popped a scrap into one of the little cauldrons and that inspired me to make the first set of pincushions. ( I posted about them at pincushion cauldrons)
Here’s how I made
the pumpkin pincushion:
Cut a rectangle of
light weight orange fabric,
4 inches by 8 1/2 inches
on the bias.
Gather the upper and lower
long edges.
Stitch the short
edges together.
Pull up …read more

Have you started working on making your Christmas presents yet?
I have 
A few weeks ago,
I posted about
finding a delightful
Sunbonnet Sue
Needle book in
a thrift store
while we were on holidays.
That’s her on the far left
in the photo.
I posted the link for the pattern  for my version of an updated Sunbonnet Sue Needle book  (the one in the center) at:
sunbonnet-sue-needlebook
Why would you want to use a needle book instead of a pin cushion? Needles don’t have the head on them that pins do, so when they are
stuck into pincushions, then can work themselves right into the pin cushion and get lost forever.
(And …read more

Normally, I quite like yarncentric gadgets that allow me to play with yarn in interesting ways.
Well, I have found a gadget that I  truly loathe.
I have a rule about my blog, and that is that I only talk about stuff and books that I really like.
Well, this dumb thing is sooooooooooooooo bad,
you almost have to love it
have to pity the poor thing.
When I saw these two needles in
a drawer of a second hand store,
at first, I thought… hmmm….
plastic punch needles?
Nope…. it says: ‘K-Tel Knitter’ on it.
I still had to try it as a punch needle- and no no no… don’t …read more

A few weeks ago, I was enchanted by finding this adorable little vintage Sunbonnet Sue Needlebook in a second hand store:
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 …read more

I hope that you had a lovely Easter, or Passover or whatever it is that you celebrate.
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 …read more

Upcycling, recycling, reclaiming, re-using, re-purposing…. whatever you call it – it rocks!
I have several little loop lifters that came with red plastic spool knitters. They are really uncomfortable to work with, as they are too short and have a sharp sawed off end.
BUT… today I had a brainwave!
I often use sponge brushes in the studio.
I use them until they give up the ghost and squeak and crumble into tiny woebegone little bits.
I never throw away the wooden handles, as that would be a terrible waste, wouldn’t it? 
The handles pop off quite easily, as, luckily, they are not …read more

A ball winder is one of those yarn-related accessories that’s nice to have, but as in a lot of cases, not 100% necessary. I did without a ball winder for years (and still don’t have a swift), but finally broke down because I use laceweight yarns from time to time and winding hundreds of yards of thin yarn by hand can get tiresome.
Of course, if you love winding hanks of yarn into balls by hand, then by all means, skip the winder. Your local yarn shop may even offer the service when you purchase yarn there (for a small fee). …read more