This Ribbed Keyhole Scarf makes a great last-minute gift because the design is simple and the pattern works up so quickly. Only a few hours and one skein of worsted weight yarn! The scarf is worked in rows, leaving a “keyhole” opening on one end. This means you can have a cozy accessory that’s not super-long, but stays in… read more
The Tapered Scales Shawlette is a triangle-shaped mini shawl with lacy shells. The pattern is worked in rows from base to tip. It includes simple instructions on how to adjust the size of the accessory, so you can make a small shawlette or a full-sized shawl. In shawlette size as written, it only takes 400 yards of fingering-weight yarn. Download… read more
I’ve enjoyed crocheting jewelry with my skinny little steel hooks, but this is the first dollhouse-scale project I’ve embarked upon. I made this colorful little blankie by crocheting 20 motifs, then stitching them together with single crochet stitches. I used a single strand of embroidery floss with a 1.6 mm hook. It’s about 3 x 4 inches. At 1:12… read more
I’m so happy with my new Ashford traditional spinning wheel! New to me, that is. The beautiful wheel is older than I am. After referring to Ashford’s timeline for the traditional wheel (which is an interesting read in and of itself), I think it was made in 1975 or shortly after. Well-loved in its early life, it has… read more
Nerdy confession: I love plastic canvas. It’s one of the first crafty things I learned to work with way back in the day: I can’t tell you how many Christmas ornaments I’ve made as a child. Plastic canvas doesn’t seem to be very popular for modern crafters: many seem to think it’s only used to make… read more
Tapestry crochet is a color working technique where you use two or more yarns at the same time to create color patterns and pictures in crochet. Very simple patterns as well as more complicated multicolored tapestries can be created with this technique. One yarn is worked while the other color is carried underneath the stitches.… read more
I’ve really been digging thread crochet lately. The open and lacy stitch patterns are loose and quick to work up, and it’s such a contrast from the tighter wearable items I usually make. After finishing these doilies, I picked up my regular ‘H’ hook and some worsted-weight yarn, and it felt like thick rope in my hands. It’s nice… read more
Now that I’ve experimented a bit with felting, I don’t know why I was so nervous to try it before! I found a copy of the book Felted Crochet at the library. It outlines the basics of both felting by hand and felting in a washing machine. The book includes a wide variety of projects to crochet and then felt. I decided to try both… read more
Part 4 I feel like I’m making progress as a new spinner and things are going pretty well. I’m starting to move beyond the park-and-draft method of having to stop the spindle to catch up with the drafting. I’ve been trying to spin a little every day, as suggested for beginners to really get the rhythm down. I’m still… read more
Part 3 I’ve finished spinning my first 2-ply yarn. Spinning the dyed combed top with my light drop spindle, I got the singles as thin and uniform as I could. It’s still taking me some time to get the rhythm and consistency down. I spun two singles and wound them into balls. I love the way the singles turned out, and… read more
Interested in learning the basics of macramé? It’s simpler than it looks! Here’s an illustrated guide of the most common knots used in macramé. Generally, when crafting the most common styles of knotted bracelets or necklaces, four cords are used (or two long cords folded in half, creating a loop at one end). The two middle cords, called… read more
Part 2 I’ve finally embarked on my journey in handspinning yarn. Here it is: my first single! Becoming familiar with working with fibers and manipulating them into yarn has been a slow, but quite interesting, learning process. There are so many factors that affect the character of the spun yarn. Getting everything to come together as… read more
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