Category Archives: video tutorial

Carving Wooden Spoons is delightful

Oh my goodness! Carving wooden spoons is just wonderful!

Hard work, yes. but…. ohhhh….

I have been a wood carver for decades, but have just discovered the joy of carving spoons.

The picture above is the first spoon I carved…. for our grandson.

My husband loved it, so I secretly carved one for him for Christmas, too.

I asked my family if they would like spoons, and the response was an enthusiastic yes!

So…

and

And, then….

I couldn’t resist combining one of my other great delights, which is carving wooden dolls, with spoon carving.

The inspiration that poured out kept me out of bed for a couple of nights as I had to sit and draw and draw and draw

all the ideas that were just pouring out….

I have tied in a few metaphors that have been weaving their way around in my heart…

On Facebook, I learned about  stardust that has been discovered in Antarctica and then having a long time friend

sent me a poem about how the trees are full of stardust (as we all are) just enchanted me!

I am now carving what I call: ‘Storyteller Spoons’ – hand carved spoons that are meant to stir up STORIES, not soup.

After, stories are food for the Soul 🙂

Oooh!  I had to carve a Star Baby spoon from walnut:

And, I have started a series of ‘Stardust Sisters Spoons’- articulated dolls with moving arms,

This one is carved from a blank that my son made for me from a birch tree that died and was cut down

in his neighbor’s yard:

I carved this Stardust Sister from the bass wood blank that came with the kit:

I love the metaphor of hearts and hands working together, so I went back to

the drawings that I did for the first scoop that I carved for my daughter.

But, I added a hand to the spoon, and carved out a bowl in the palm of the hand

as well as in the scoop of the heart.

While I was carving it, it came to me that spoons are meant to gather things,

but also to offer them, which is the perfect metaphor for this spoon:

I will be working with Hearts and Hands together a whole lot!

I made a video showing some of the carving that I have done over the last 30 odd years,

as well as the very very first beginnings of getting started in spoon carving.

These are just the first spoons that I have carved, and now that I have worked out

a pattern language for myself with this, there will be many, many more!

(I hope!)  😀

And, I hope that you are finding things that bring you joy, too!

Be kind, be safe, be well! ❤

Here’s the video:

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Tiny Woven Snowmen are so much fun

One of my most favorite things to do at Christmas time is to make ‘the ornament of the year’ to give to family and friends. I usually end up making a LOT of them and it’s totally delightful.

This year, I have been weaving up a ton of tiny Snowmen- I designed them last year and made a video so other people can make them too.

Here’s the link to the ‘how to’ video:

https://youtu.be/a-9cfTzd4QI

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Embroidering on Hand Woven Fabric

If you would like to embellish your hand woven (or knitted or crocheted) fabric with embroidery, but aren’t quite sure how to do it, then I have some suggestions for you.

I have made a video showing one of the ways that I have figured out how to embroider on hand woven fabric- this technique will work just as well on crocheted or knitted fabric. Here’s the link to the video:

Here’s how to embroider on pin loom weaving:

Here’s how to embroider on hand wovens using the tambour chain stitch crochet technique:

Here’s how to stitch lucet cord to the edges of a handwoven piece:

Here’s how to make loop embellishments with lucet cord:

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Quick and Easy Clip On Pouches to Weave on Potholder Looms

Our small dog inspired me to weave a clip on pouch to carry hand sanitizer.

She picked up a chicken bone when we were walking and I had to stick my fingers in her mouth to get it out.

Oh, so in need of getting my hand cleaned off quickly!

I decided that NOT having to stick a messy hand in my pocket was a great idea, so I came up with clip on pouches to carry hand sanitizer.

Then, I wove up a stack of potholder squares to play with different ways of exploring color and texture and also different kinds of hanging loops.

I also figured out different ways of connecting clips, toggles and clamps.

This is a quick and easy project and would make a great gift!

Here’s the how to video:

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How to Make a Tutu for Dolls Using Upcycled Cloth Tea Bags

For links to video on how to upcycle cloth tea bags into Teabag Yarn, and how to weave triangles with it,  please go to: LINK

I love finding fun and unique ways to upcycle things, and so I have had so much fun turning cloth tea bags into yarn and weaving with it, to make tutus for the Merrie Sunshine and Mermaid Minnie Moonbeam dolls.

For the main page about Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam dolls, please go to: LINK

Here is the video that shows how to make the Upcycled Tea Bag Tutu:

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How to Make a Simple Mermaid Doll with Yarn

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!

Here’s the video tutorial:

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Upcycling old crochet cotton with potholder looms

For many years, I have adopted all the stray balls of crochet cotton that I have found at the thrift shop.

I have happily been using them in many different ways, but now they are coming together to be upcycled into lovely kitchen cloths to use instead of paper towels.

They are a pleasure to weave on potholder looms and are lovely and soft.

While we are all holding the fort at home, let’s create some beauty, and enjoy the sweet pleasure of weaving on simple looms!

Here’s the video I made about this very satisfying form of upcycling.

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A Yarn Baby Doll that Hugs Your Finger

Today, I figured out how to make a Yarn Baby (Yarn Tassel Doll) that hugs your finger like the Comfort Bears.

We all need a little extra comfort these days, so having a small yarn doll in your pocket to give you a hug when ever you need it is a good idea!

Take good care of yourselves!

Here’s the how to video

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Color weaving on the potholder loom- Hounds Tooth Checks

Here’s another installment in my series of video tutorials on weaving with yarn  on the potholder loom, using colorwork techniques.  I hope that these videos will bring you some respite from the challenges of the pandemic!

The Houndstooth Check is a timeless classic pattern that can be woven on any size potholder loom.

I’ve figured out a way of warping the potholder loom that makes colorwork with yarn much easier- there are some tricks to it.  This video reveals them all 🙂

Houndstooth Check is woven slightly differently on the 18 and 36 peg potholder loom than on the 9 and 27 peg potholder looms.

Here’s the video tutorial:

 

Happy Weaving- stay well!

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Corrections for typo errors in the Potholder Loom Weaving book

Oh dear!  3 more errors in the Potholder Loom Weaving book have surfaced:

Page 51, lines 1 and 2 have typos.

Here’s the correction:

 

And:

Page 59, in the Diamond Twill pattern for the 18 peg potholder loom:

 

And:  The Dancing Lady chart for the 18 peg loom on page 53 has a typo:

 

I apologize for these typos.  😦

 

But, Happy Weaving, errors and all….

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