Author Archives: tottietalkscrafts

About tottietalkscrafts

Noreen Crone-Findlay is an author, designer, workshop presenter, doll maker,and fiber artist and small loom weaver and designer. She is the creator of Tottie Tomato and loves the fiber arts in all it's glory.

May 13, 2010 · 10:57 pm

How to make a join in fabric strip yarn or tarn

I’ve been working with Tarn (T shirt fabric strip yarn) a lot lately.

I remembered this afternoon that I had been asked how to make a smooth join in fabric strip yarn…. so I thought that I would post a quick tutorial on how to do that.

Everyone has their own system of cutting t shirts into fabric strips (tarn).

My favorite way is to stretch the t shirt over my swift and open it up until it stretches the t shirt taut.

I then cut a narrow strip, starting at the hem of the t shirt, spiralling up to the sleeves.

Then I stop and cut away the neckband, and cut strips around and around until I reach the sleeves.

I cut them off, and cut them into strips.

And then I wind them up into yarncakes on my nostepinnes.

This pic has a touch of oddness, doesn’t it?

The scissors floating in mid air are posing politely while my cutting hand is busily taking the picture.

You can see the loops of Tarn pooling up in my lap.

So, what do you do if you need to join one length of fabric strip to another?

Cut a small slit into each end of the 2 fabric strips.

Take the shorter piece through the slit of the longer piece.

Now, take the tail end of the shorter piece through the opening of the shorter piece.

Tug on it to pull it up tight, and Voila! the 2 strips of fabric are magically joined!

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Tagged as how to join 2 fabric strips, t shirt yarn, Tarn

May 7, 2010 · 7:43 pm

Yes that is my necklace design on the Lion Brand site

A new design went live on the Lion Brand website today. It’s for a spool knitted Celtic Interlace medallion necklace.

A very beautiful Celtic Interlace necklace, even if I say so myself….

😀

Since the pattern went live,

people have been saying:

‘Hey… Noreen!

Have you seen this? It looks just like one of your designs!’

And, with a grin that

reaches all the way round…

I have been responding:

‘Why yes! I have seen it…. and yeppers… it IS one of mine!’ LOL!

Here’s the link: Celtic Interlace Medallion Necklace pattern on the Lion Brand site

Spool knitting works beautifully for making jewelry, and I have designed lots of wearable pieces in spool knitting.

It was a pleasure to design these necklaces for Lion Brand. I used their ‘Vanna’s Glamour’ yarn, which is very springy and stretchy, so it works well for making lightweight, very comfortable jewelry. The touch of glitter in them is great, and I like that it is really soft, and not scratchy, like some metallic yarns.

Because of the flexibility of spool knitting, you don’t need fittings or closures for the necklace.

If you want to add beads, you can certainly do that, too…

I also wrote an article for Lion Brand about spool knitting, too:

Article about Spool knitting on Lion Brand Site

One lady wrote to me, after reading the article and asked exactly what spool knitting is, and how is it done.

To see what you can do with it, and to see some video tutorials on how to do it, click on

Spool knitting on Crone-Findlay Creations (the video links are at the bottom of the page)

Happy Spool Knitting!

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Tagged as Celtic Interlace spool knitted necklace, Lion Brand

May 3, 2010 · 9:23 pm

Menopause Fairy and 5 peg spool knitting on 4 pegs

Recently, I noticed that -horror of horrors! – that there was a link to a dead file in my pdf pattern for the Spool knitted Menopause Fairy. Here’s the link to the pattern in my etsy shop: LINK

So, I completely re-built the pattern, and added all the information that was missing, and made it all ‘oh so pretty’.

😀

And, one of the things that I needed to do to make the Spool knitted Menopause Fairy do-able is to make a video on how to turn a 4 peg spool knitter into a 5 peg spool knitter.

So, I shot the video and here it is…. I love doing the impossible, don’t you? LOL 😀

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Tagged as spool knitted Menopause Fairy Doll, video tutorial on how to adapt a 4 peg spool knitter into a 5 spool knitter

April 29, 2010 · 9:30 pm

This week 2 profiles and Friendship Fairies

It’s been a busy week in the studio!

I have been working away on a new design for some adorable little spool knitted dolls.

They are ‘The Friendship Fairies’. They’re spool knitted dolls that are a celebration of wonderful friends and relations, teachers, students, co-workers…. you name it- if there is someone who makes you feel like the world is a better place because they are here, then that’s who the ‘Friendship Fairies’ are meant to celebrate. The pdf is available for purchase on my website at Spoolknitting .

Several months ago, (sorry about the bold face type… I can’t seem to get it to stop doing that!) I was asked to share some photos of my studio and to answer some questions about where I work. It’s been really hectic, and it took me a long time to get it done, but the post has gone live. This pic is a photo of the alcove where I shoot my video tutorials. Hmmm… you’d think that I could have straightened the lampshade before I took the pic…. oops… anyhow, here’s the link:

noreen-crone-findlay-studio

Cherie Burbach also posted an interview with me this week. It’s here: Cherie’s Interview

Lots and lots more has been cooking up in the studio, so I’ll be posting more about it as it all ripens…

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Tagged as designer profile, spool knitted Friendship Fairies

April 20, 2010 · 8:07 pm

How to spool knit with 4 pegs and cast off

People keep telling me that they have forgotten how to get themselves started with spool knitting.

So, I have made a video tutorial on how to spool knit with a 4 peg spool knitter. LINK

And, they also ask me: ‘How do you cast off or finish your spool knitted cord?’

Good question!

Here’s a video tutorial on how to finish your spool knitted cords: LINK

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Tagged as how to spool knit with 4 pegs, spool knitting video, video tutorial on how to cast off spool knitted cord

April 15, 2010 · 9:10 pm

How to spool knit with 2 pegs- 3 video tutorials

I am working on designs for all kinds of spool knitted jewelry. So I have just made 3 video tutorials that explain how to spool knit 2 peg cords, as these are wonderful in jewelry making.

2 peg cords are also great for doll and toy making as well as bag handles and other things…

Here are the videos:

Video #1: Basic 2 peg spool knitting: Link

Video #2: How to spool knit a flat link braid: Link

Video #3: More 2 peg techniques: Link

Hope you’ll find them useful!

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Tagged as cord maker, making cords, spool knitting, video tutorial on how to spool knit with 2 pegs

April 12, 2010 · 12:42 pm

Talisman necklace with spool knitted cord

A few months ago, our daughter was very sick and needed surgery. It was VERY challenging- we were just wrenched by the trauma of having our beloved daughter going through such a rough experience right after having her beautiful baby.

The Demeter/Persephone story resonated deeply with me (by the way, ‘Traveling with Pomegranates‘ by Sue Monk Kidd and Anne Kidd Taylor is a great book to learn more about Demeter and Persephone).

For many years, I have been delighted with the images of the Minoan Dewdrop or Bee Goddess images that relate directly to the Minoan Goddess of the Bees, and have made lots of things in homage to her, including shuttles and necklaces and other treasures.

I asked my daughter if she would like me to make her an amulet or talisman necklace with the Minoan Goddess of the Bees on it, as a reminder of my love for her. It’s always nice to have a physical reminder of that love, after all!

She said yes, but not a metal one, as the baby loves to grab and hold onto anything she wears, so she would prefer wood on a soft cord.

So, I drew the Minoan Goddess of the Bees onto a piece of wood, and burned it, and sanded and smoothed it. I didn’t varnish it, just in case the baby puts it in his mouth. Olive oil or bees wax will do nicely for a baby safe finish.

Needless to say, we wanted to make the cord baby safe too, which meant using an organic cotton. I used Lion Brand’s Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton in ‘khaki’. It spool knits beautifully.

I used my Cordelia cordmaker Link and spool knitted a 36 inch (90 cm) long cord.

I joined the ends of the cord and made a lark’s head knot to attach it to the wooden piece.

(How to make a Lark’s head knot: Either make a fold in a cord or join the ends to make a circle. Push a loop of the cord through the hole. Pull the other end of the cord or necklace through this loop and pull up. Lark’s Head Knot completed!)

I love making gifts that are an expression of my love, using techniques that I find very comforting and soothing. I hope that that feeling of love and soothing energy will be carried in this necklace and that it will serve as a reminder to my beautiful daughter that she is loved and treasured!

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Tagged as amulet, how to make a Lark's Head Knot, jewelry, Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton, Minoan Goddess of the Bees, necklace, spool knitted cord, talisman necklace, wooden jewelry

April 8, 2010 · 7:17 pm

Video Tutorial how to weave bias triangle on potholder loom

I love the continuous technique of weaving that I learned from triangle looms.

It struck me that I should be able to adapt the triangle loom technique to potholder loom weaving, so I played around with it until I figured it out.

Triangles are such a neat design element that the more ways I can figure out for weaving them, the better it is.

In my book: Storytelling with Dolls, I showed a completely different way of weaving triangles on the potholder loom, using yarn.

Perhaps I will make a video of that technique, too.

And, here is the video for this version of how to weave a triangle using the bias or continuous weave technique: LINK

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March 31, 2010 · 9:16 pm

Video Tutorial of how to wind a center pull yarn ball on nostepinne

One of life’s great pleasures is to be found in mastering techniques that may be simple, but take practice.

One of those very useful and satisfying skills is winding a center pull ball of yarn on the nostepinne.

I like to wind a ball of yarn on the nostepinne in 2 stages.

Here’s a little video that I made, showing how to wind lovely flat, stackable flat balls of yarn.

The nostepinne is contemplative and portable, and to be honest, I much prefer it to my ball winder.

Here’s the link to the video: LINK

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Tagged as center pull yarn ball, how to, nostie, video tutorial on how to wind a ball of yarn on the nostepinne, winding nostepinne

March 29, 2010 · 8:33 pm

New Video Tutorial for how to weave a rectangle on potholder loom

Potholder looms may be square, but! you don’t have to just weave squares on them!! I have figured out ways of weaving other shapes, too.

Last week, I decided to make a video of how to weave rectangles on the potholder loom.

We were in the middle of a nasty springtime cold snap. March was really doing it’s lion in winter routine. brrrrrrrrrrrr.

It was so cold that we had amazing icicles on the prayer flags outside the studio window.

I wimped out of going with my husband to walk the dogs and opted to work on making a video of how to weave a rectangle on the potholder loom.

I was just about finished the video when my Best Beloved burst into the studio, and with great gusto cussed out the cold weather.

I instantly cracked up, and when he saw that I had been making a video, he blushed and apologized profusely.

I deleted the video and started over.

I was still laughing my head off when I started the next take, and it took me a minute to get myself composed again.

I went off and did something else, and forgot about the goofiness on the video, and hit upload.

It took hours and hours to upload it, and when I checked it… oh no! there was my chortling about my hubby’s little out take!

I asked him if he wanted me to take it down and start over and he said, nah… that it was fine, and he was sure that people wouldn’t mind…. so without further ado, here’s the ‘cold and wintery day’ video tutorial: Here’s the link to the video: LINK

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Tagged as how to weave a rectangle on the potholder loom, potholder loom, video tutorial on potholder loom weaving