Many years ago, I bought a vintage gnome at a garage sale.
Rather liked that he had weathered off all his paint, and yet was still steadfastly all in one piece.
Last month, when I was weaving hearts for the window, I decided to add gnomes to the window, and the old fellow didn’t look cheerful enough to add to the gaity.
So I painted him:
It struck me as being odd that he didn’t have a mustache, so I added one, using my much loved old ‘Gnomes’ book as a guide.
I tried to add the Bunny to the window, but he’s too big and floppy, so he’s sitting in a corner of the studio instead.
I designed him many years ago for Canadian Living magazine.
Here’s a link to the pattern for him and his sweetheart: KNITTED BUNNIES
And, then, I took pics of some of the other things in that corner of the studio.
Including a little video:
And then I totally forgot to blog about Gnomes and Bunnies and looms.
Mermaids are a beautiful metaphor for staying afloat, no matter how hard the waves may crash upon the rocks.
This video tutorial shows how I took the idea of Yarn Baby (Tassle) dolls and created Mermaids with a little bit of yarn, a whole lot of love and a little bit of head scratching.
Oh, yes, also a few sneezes are included with love from our aged rescued Chihuahua mystery mix dear old dog who seems to respond to the making of video by coming into the studio and sneezing loudly whenever the video camera is turned on. Why? Who knows?
Anyhow, I hope that you will enjoy making Yarn Dolly Mermaids!
I wrote and designed and wrote and designed sooooooooooooo many patterns and projects for the Potholder Loom Weaving book that the book became too big, and my editor and I had to make some hard decisions. Even so, the book is a lot thicker than the publisher had originally intended, so many thanks to Stackpole Books and especially to my wonderful editor, Candi Derr, for going to bat for the book and letting it grow bigger than it was originally intended.
We pulled this design from the book and now I am offering it to you as a gift.
If you want to make the blanket larger, use a 27 peg (Pro size) 9 inch loom instead of the Traditional 18 peg size potholder loom.
POTHOLDER LOOM GEOMETRIC BLANKET by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)
The Geometric blanket is a cozy wrap to keep you warm no matter what season. The teddy bears and their friends are having a lovely picnic on the Geometric blanket. Won’t you join them?
NOTES: Feel free to change colors and yarns. The blanket in the photos was woven with a single strand of bulky yarn. If you choose to work with thinner yarns, you will need to purchase (or spin) twice as much yarn and use 2 or more strands held together as if they are a single strand.
The twill pattern is on page 59 of Potholder Loom Weaving. The brown and green butterflies in the original blanket didn’t work well, so use the twill pattern or you choice of alternates instead.
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS: 60 inches/150 cm square.
If you would like a larger blanket, then use the large size (27 pegs or nails per side) potholder loom, following the chart and weaving the same number of squares and rectangles. You will need to purchase at least 50% more yarn.
WPI of yarn: 6 wraps per inch
EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS: Potholder loom- 6 inch size (18 pegs or nails per side), Optional: Small size (9 pegs or nails per side) potholder loom; weaving hook; chopstick or knitting needle for shed stick; crochet hook; scissors; tapestry or craft needle.
YARN: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Tonal; Bulky #5 weight yarn; 80% acrylic/ 20% wool; 124 yd/ 113 m; 4 oz/113 gm; 1 strand of yarn is used as warp and weft. 3 balls of each of the following colors: #112 Raspberry; #153 Night Sky; #123 Sand; #126 Coffee; 4 balls of #194 Lime.
INSTRUCTIONS:
WEAVE:
20 squares in #194 Lime Here’s a link that will show you how to weave with yarn on the potholder loom: LINK
16 squares warped with #194 Lime and woven with #126 Coffee
16 squares in #112 Raspberry
1 square in #153 Night Sky
12 squares in #126 Coffee
36 rectangles, warped vertically over 9 pegs or nails, and woven horizontally over 18 pegs or nails in #153 Night Sky, woven using Rectangle technique on https://youtu.be/K2X4nLRBBNs
16 squares in #123 Sand
4 small squares in #194 Lime, woven using instructions for how to weave small squares (9 pegs or nails by 9 pegs or nails) on p.10 of the Potholder Loom Weaving book or instructions that came with the small size potholder loom.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
Stitch all the squares and rectangles together, following the chart .
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