For Day 18 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms I made a video showing how to spool knit a flat panel cord on a 5 or 6 or 7 or more pegs spool knitter.
This is a VERY useful spool knitting technique!
Happy Spool Knitting! ❤
Category Archives: Simple Little Things That Make Me Happy
Day 17 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Video tutorial- How to spool knit round cord on a 5 or 6 or 7 or more pegs spool knitter
For Day 17 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms
I made a video showing how to spool knit round cord on a 5 or 6 or 7 or more pegs spool knitter.
Day 15 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- My brother in a Bowler Hat, no a Bowl for a Hat
Day 15 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- My brother in a Bowler Hat, no a Bowl for a Hat
Our family had a lovely Sunday dinner together and then, our daughter, Chloe, said how much she loved the pic of Jonathan with a bowl on his head.
(First of all, there is this goofy thing that everyone in our family does, which is to try on all kinds of unusual things (bucket? Yup) as hats).
So, when she said that Jonathan had posted a pic of himself with a bowl on his noggin, I was surprised that somehow I hadn’t seen it (stupid algorithms! Of course I NEED to see a pic of my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) with a Bowler hat, no a Bowl as a Hat).
And, I was not disappointed.
It’s delightful. In fact, I think it’s one of my most favorite photos ever of my serious engineer/master woodworker brother. Hurrah for a little silliness! I am still chuckling!
Day 13 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Our Lady of the Starry Night with Dragonfly Spool knitter
Day 13 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Our Lady of the Starry Night with Dragonfly Spool knitter
I have a stack of sketchbooks that are designated as my ‘evening sketchbooks’.
Every night at bedtime, I do some quick sketches in the current sketchbook, and make design notes about things that are not working (which will often trigger the answer to the design question) as well as notes about what was delightful and worked well and also what I need to do the next day.
A couple of evenings ago, I did a quick sketch that I really liked. So, the next morning, I chose one of the small spool knitters that my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) and his son, Kieran, had turned for me on the lathe. I drew, burned and painted her on the spool knitter.
Here she is: Our Lady of the Starry Night with a Dragonfly.
I’ve been doing some spool knitting with her, and she’s quite enjoyable.
Day 12 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- How do we mend what’s broken?
Day 12 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- How do we mend what’s broken?
On Day 11, I showed how I upcycled a plastic bottle into my ‘Storyteller’ spool knitter. But, I didn’t talk much about needing to cut away part of the bottle that was cumbersome & clumsy. I had to lop off part of the top to get the spool knitter to work. Sometimes, we just have to cut away the unworkable part.
But sometimes the best way to fix something that’s broken is to find a way to stitch the edges together again… a radical mend may be needed.
I am enjoying upcycling ‘boink/busted’ bowls from my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking)
One of them had a crack up one side. He suggested a way to fix it. I tried it & it looked good, so I spent hours drawing & burning a bumble bee & a hexagon on it.
Alright- I drilled the center hole. Fine. Now- 5 holes for pegs. Fine. The 6th & final one- the bowl opened like the gates of dawn! My knees went blorp. I gazed at the Bee & held the bowl in my hands. No way was I going to toss it away. So.
Time for something different! Let’s sew this bowl together! I drilled holes on both sides of the crack & was sure it was going to fly apart-eek- the lines of little holes wobbled up the bowl!
I used waxed linen to sew the edges of the bowl together. Then glued the pegs in.
Yes! It’ worked! The stitching is Wabi Sabi, BUT my precious Bumble Bee spool knitter is a joy to work with.
The disruption of her rupture and the ‘freeform’ mending has completely endeared her to me.
Metaphors! I hope that we can find lots & lots of quirky & unique ways to mend our precious, wobbly & hurting planet (whether it’s snipping the things that don’t work or sewing the broken edges freely & trustingly together again) so we can all get back to work, creating beauty.
Hugs all round. With Love. And Hope. And Courage.
Day 11 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling plastic bottles into spool knitters-The Storyteller Spool knitter
Day 11 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling plastic bottles into spool knitters-The Storyteller Spool knitter
In my Day 9 post, I showed how I upcycled a sturdy cardboard tube into a spool knitter that I love as it’s an Homage to Jane Austen.
At the same time that I was making the Jane Austen spool knitter, I was experimenting with upcyling a plastic bottle to see if I could make a reasonable spool knitter with it for my #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms.
The bottle has to be fairly sturdy, so I chose an empty vitamin bottle.
I wanted to see if the sharpened end of 7 lolly pop sticks would work as the pegs.
They are okay, but I prefer the blunt ends, so I won’t use the sharp ends as pegs again.
I marked off 1 1/2 inches(4 cm) at the end of each.
Next- I put 3 rubber bands onto the bottle and one at a time, I slipped a lollypop stick into them
and hot glued them to the bottle.
Then, layers of papier mache,
and decorative paper – I love that I found a delightful image of a storyteller with some bouncy kids and also a few goddess images, a few hippos and some almost invisible elephants.
Now mod podge to seal.
I had cut a too small hole in the end of the bottle, so I carefully cut the excess plastic away
and the Storyteller spool knitter works just fine!
Happy upcycling! and happy spool knitting 🙂 ❤
Day 10 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling one of a kind bowls into spool knitters-A Butterfly sang to me
In my Day 7 post, I showed a gorgeous Paduak bowl that my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) turned and then, I upcycled into a spool knitter since the bowl had developed a hole in the base while being turned.
I have been working on getting set up for shooting a couple of how to videos for #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms, but I keep getting distracted by being inspired…
I started wondering about a walnut bowl (another one rescued from the firewood box – yay!) that he had sent me and so, instead of working on the videos, off I went to have a little visit with the drill press. I drilled a hole in the base that is larger than the rip out, then 8 holes for the pegs, and did a little sanding and glued in pegs.
Oh my word! It’s so beautiful! I couldn’t resist drawing and burning a butterfly on it, as I could see a whisper of a butterfly in the grain of the wood.
Lovely! Just lovely!!!
#100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms is making my heart very happy!
Butterflies make me feel hopeful. May we all live in hopeful times!
Day 9 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Jane Austen Spool Knitter – How to Upcycle a cardboard tube into a spool knitter
If you’d like to make a large spool knitter without woodworking tools, and have a few crafting tools, then you can make yourself a spool knitter that is uniquely yours and pleasing to work with.
You need a sturdy core for the body of the spool knitter. I wound off some jute string onto a bobbin to free up a cardboard tube.
It’s 1 1/2 inches/4 cm in diameter (yours can be any diameter that you happen to have) and 4 1/4 inches/10.5 cm tall.
I bought a little bag of bamboo lolly pop sticks in the candy making aisle of the grocery store (craft stores sell them too). They’re 1/4 inches/.5 cm in diameter and 5 inches/25 cm tall.
Mark 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) from the end of 6 (or however many you want) of them.
Line up the marks so they stick out from the end of the tube.
Glue the dowels to the outside of the tube with hot glue.
Now, mix up some wallpaper glue or thin some white glue.
Tear up paper and glue layers of it to the spool knitter.
My Homage to Jane Austen spool knitter is one of the unexpected delights that has unfolded for me because of my project, the #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up 4 old encyclopedias at the Re Use centre to use in papier mache projects.
What a thrill to find an article about Jane Austen in one of them. I immediately pulled her pages out and carefully tore them into sizes and shapes to fit the spool knitter. Then, I gleefully glued them on.
I waited overnight for the papier mache to dry and then added a little bit of color with water color pencil crayons and Mod Podged it.
I am absolutely delighted with my Homage to Jane Austen spool knitter!
#100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms has given me a lovely gift!
BTW- there are benefits of working with ‘larger than usual’ spool knitters and I will be showing those in upcoming posts.
Days 6 and 7 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling bowls into spool knitters
Day 6 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling thrift shop bowls into spool knitters
I have been working on a whole bunch of things for
#100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms all at once and have gotten all out of order on doing posts.
Back on Day 6 of #the100dayproject2026 I started working on a series of posts about upcycling to make spool knitters.
Last summer, when I was talking with my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) about co-creating different sizes and shapes of spool knitters, I mentioned that I often make larger than what people usually expect spool knitters to be by upcycling thrift shop bowls.
He and his son, Kieran turn a LOT of gorgeous bowls on the lathe.
Sometimes, there are ‘oops’ and a bowl goes boink and gets tossed into the firewood box.
Jonathan said: Do you want some of those to make into spool knitters?
YES yes yes, I shrieked.
So I showed him how I take an unloved bowl from the thrift shop
and sand off the varnish (because usually, the varnish on thrift shop bowls is in tough shape).
And, I drill a big hole in the base, then 6, 7 or 8 holes for pegs,
Then I glue in pegs and I draw & burn on it, paint it, varnish it and Voila!
Start spool knitting with it!
I remembered to take pics of the process with the first bowl, but doh, completely forgot to do that with the second one.
Hurrah for upcycling! I’ll be posting lots more about upcyling things to make spool knitters.
And, yes, lots of posts about what you can make with spool knitters. As I said to Jonathan today:
Context and content! Spool knitters are just shelf warmers if they don’t have a good project or 10 to inspire people to pick them up and start creating with them! So… yes…. lots of projects will be unfolding as I trundle forward with #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms
Day 7 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling one of a kind bowls into spool knitters
For the #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms, Jonathan sent me a box of spool knitter blanks and some bowls that were damaged when he and his son Kieran turned them on the lathe.
A Paduak pot pourri bowl has been singing to me since I opened the box, and finally, today, I drilled a hole in the base that is larger than the rip out, then 7 holes for the pegs, and did a little sanding and glued in pegs.
I was utterly gobsmacked by how freaking gorgeous it is, and there is no way that I am going to I draw or burn on it! I put a light coat of walnut oil on it, so I have to let it dry over night before I can start spool knitting with it!
I tore over to the computer and fired off a ‘WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’ message to Jonathan to tell him how I am absolutely swooning over this glorious spool knitter. Wow. Just wow….
I also informed Jonathan that he is a bad influence, because the two of us just keep whipping up more and more ideas and I can barely keep up! I love feeling inspired! and #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms is definitely doing that for me!
Day 5 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-what are you doing? she asked
Hmm, someone messaged me asking me what I was doing with my 100 day project andwhy?
Well, first- I have adored spool knitting since I was a little girl.
Spool knitters feel innocent and sweet and oh, my word! Those feelings are desperately needed nowadays!
And, second: Some Family stuff: My nephew, Kieran is autistic and is really good at doing woodwork with his Dad, my brother, Jonathan. (@distinctivewoodworking) who carefully mentors him with the lathe.
So, bringing those elements together: We decided to co-create some nifty stuff, and it’s kind of challenging but inspiring & wonderful, too!
(BTW I’m working on tutorials on how to make upcycled spool knitters, too, because that feels important).
I’m having a blast designing vunderbar goodies for spool knitters & exploring intriguing small looms!
The 1st spool knitter in this series is my wish for us all:
May you be well
May you live in Peace.
May you be happy,
May you be safe
I find her very comforting
.
Of course, this project is also about making stuff with spool knitters.
These Simple Tiny Spool Knitted Angels are quick & easy. I love them.
The pdf pattern is in my etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/48409301/pdf-pattern-for-tiny-spool-knitted-angel
So, here’s to joy, and to 100 days of spool knitters and spool knitting and little looms and to all good things!
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