Since the beginning of time, people have made baskets.
They are useful,
and can be embellished
in endless ways
to make them one of a kind.
There are a million ways to make a basket.
One of the most fun
ways of making
baskets is to spool knit them.
To make a
spool knitted
basket,
you’ll need to
spool knit a heap
of cord.
Luckily, this is a
very pleasant and
contemplative task.
Make a couple
of yards each of
2 contrasting colors.
I like to use my 2 peg
Cordelia spool knitters
as they are so speedy
when I’m spooling up lots of cord.
Making a basket
is much easier if
you have a mold
to shape it over.
So, for this basket,
I used an empty
olive oil tin.
Trace …read more

There is something quite magical about wooden spools. When the thread companies switched to plastic spools, people everywhere sighed sadly.
I search second hand stores for vintage spools and buy them whenever I find them:
You can see in the photo what I have mostly been using the vintage spools for: Yep… spool knitters.
BUT…. other people are doing amazing and wonderful things with vintage and repro spools.
For instance:
Creating from the Heart on Etsy, is using spools and clothespins to create the most enchanting little dolls and critters!  The craftsmanship in these little dolls is superb!
Erica Daley is another doll maker on Etsy …read more

A simple, and very effective way to make a bag handle is to spool knit it.  There’s often a problem with spool knitted handles, though.
They can stretch and stretch and stretch. Not so good.
So, I use a couple of techniques to get around that problem.
Spool knitting with 2 interlocking colors works well.
Another way  to make a spool knitted handle that doesn’t stretch
is to spool knit over a stabilizing core of non stretchy yarn or cord.
I have been working on a bag that I have woven on the Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom.
I decided that I wanted to spool knit the handle and …read more

Here’s a really neat way to make a 2 color cord that won’t stretch.  Because this spiffy cord doesn’t stretch much, it is the perfect candidate for things like handles  or some decorative edgings.
How do you make this excellent cord? With the humble little 4 peg spool knitter – a tool that is under appreciated in it’s capacity for creating oh so nifty components for your needlework and yarnie happiness.
Spool knitting with 2 colors of yarn in the crossover sequence that I show in the video results in a cord that has 4 lines of color running the length of …read more

For ages now, I have been plotting and planning a narrow scarf. I keep going off in different directions with it, but have settled on a plan.
I have spun up some wonderful yarn for it, but can’t find the photo of the spindle  with the gorgeous yarn, so this one will have to do for now….
I keep trying different ways of weaving the scarf, but am debating about what to do for it. I think I am just going to give in and just get on with it!
The one thing that I know for sure about the scarf is that …read more

Happy Almost Earth Day!
I hope you have had a wonderful day that included lots of lovely green living
and eco projects, and that you are going to do something special for Earth Day tomorrow.
We are going to plant some baby trees.  That’s them in the pic to the right.
The Spool knitter is one that I made from a chunk of old wood that we found in Jim’s Dad’s workshop 10 or so years ago. Jim’s Dad was a champion recycler.
He would upcycle stuff in the neatest ways…. nothing much got thrown away around Mum and Dad’s house. If it could be …read more

Today, I was asked a question about working with copper wire.
The questioner had just gotten a fab deal on 24 gauge copper wire and snapped it up.
When she experimented with crocheting it, she found it to be not very pleasant to work with.  24 gauge is pretty energized, and fairly stiff.
Crocheting with it is mighty tough on the tendons.
She had seen that someone else had asked me to make them sturdy spool knitters for spool knitting wire and wondered if  the 24 gauge could be spool knitted.
Why would you spool knit wire?
Because you can make absolutely gorgeous jewelry with it!  …read more

It’s spring! And, even though I may be too late for Easter with this bunny, I hope that you will have lots of fun weaving and spool knitting a darling Springtime Bunny.
You’ll need: A ball of pink yarn (I used Bernat Denimstyle in Weathered Rose)
A Potholder Loom,a weaving hook, a chopstick,a crochet hook,
a 4 peg spool knitter, a loop lifter,
a craft needle, a ruler, a dime, scissors, about an ounce of polyester stuffing,
about 10 inches of red yarn, a paper punch for circles, a paper punch for the heart,
or cut it out of junk mail freehand, thick craft glue, a …read more

Today, a wonderful package arrived in the mail.
I was so excited I could hardly stand it.
Last week, a very kind person sent me a note, saying that she had found a book on her shelf.  She knew that I would love it, and was sending it to me.
She also laughed about some of the rather strange projects in the book.
Needless to say, I was intrigued.
The title sounded vaguely familiar, so I googled it and discovered that it was uploaded on several websites.
Wow! I was about to own a copy! I could hardly wait until it arrived!
I have been peering into …read more

Do you have some plain curtains that could do with a little spiffy-ing up?

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

My daughter, Chloë Findlay-Harder, made a gorgeous set of curtains for her brother and his wife.
The curtains are a heavy, soft brushed denim in smokey green.
Chloë spool knitted cord with Lily Sugar’n Cream in ecru, and then pinned and stitched Celtic Interlaces to the top corners of the curtains. She also did this at the lower edge of the curtains.
They’re beautiful!
If you have a plainjane set of curtains that are ho hum, get out your spool knitter and have fun embellishing them!