July 1, 2016 · 3:38 pm

Woven Women- Essence

For the last few months, I have been working on a very large mixed media tapestry in my series of ‘Woven Women’.

This one is called: ‘Essence’.

Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

She’s over 6 feet tall, and has about 2 feet of warp strands hanging below the lower edge, so she’s about 8 feet tall in total.

I used many different looms to weave her…. beginning with my ‘Story Loom’ (designed by Susan Barret Merrill of

Weaving a Life LINK)

"Essence" on the Story Loom (c) Noreen Crone-Findlay

“Essence” on the Story Loom (c) Noreen Crone-Findlay

I also used:  A rigid heddle loom, a narrow band weaving loom,  peg loom, weaving sticks, Star Loom, tatting and wire work.

I posted links to 3 videos that I made about various looms and techniques I used in weaving ‘Woven Woman: Essence” here: LINK

And, made a video so you can see her a little more clearly:

Happy Weaving, and here’s to Essence, however it reveals itself (or in this case: Herself).

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July 1, 2016 · 1:35 pm

Weaving the Flower of Life Pattern on a Hexagon Loom

I’ve just finished weaving a new Woven Woman mixed media tapestry.  LINK

Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

I’ve made 3 video tutorials to show how I wove various aspects of her:

Peg Loom Circle with outside band (c)

How I wove the ‘Galaxy’ circle at her heart: LINK  using the Peg Loom

weaving with wire on weaving sticks

weaving with wire on weaving sticks

How I wove the narrow copper band around her face, using Weaving Sticks: LINK

And, the third video shows how I used a Lily Speed o Weave loom to weave a hexagon, using the ‘Flower of Life’ pattern, with spool knitted cord.

I spent several days shooting a video, showing how to weave the Flower of Life with wire, but the wire just doesn’t show up in the video.  Sigh.

So back to the drawing board, and several more days, but this time, using spool knitted cord, because it shows up well in the video.

Flower of Life pattern woven on the hexagon loom by Noreen Crone-Findlay

Flower of Life pattern woven on the hexagon loom by Noreen Crone-Findlay

You can use all kinds of things to weave this pattern that is a celebration of geometry- Lucet cords, wire, thread, yarn, art yarn, roving (use thread or embroidery floss or yarn to tie the intersections), t shirt yarn, fabric strips…. no limits!

 

 

By the way:  In my etsy shop, there’s a great eBook:

LINK

(Lily Speed o Weave patterns and designs)

Another YouTube video for a different  Lily Speed o Weave tutorial :

Happy weaving!

 

 

 

 

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May 28, 2016 · 7:54 pm

Knitted armchairs for Findlay Bear and Flora Panda

My grandson has been getting very impatient with me because poor Findlay Bear and Flora Panda don’t have anywhere comfortable to sit in their little house.

For more than a month, I have been telling him that I am working on a pattern for knitted armchairs.

He just raises his eyebrow now.  He’s not sure that I really am on it.

BUT….

Findlay and Flora finally have comfie armchairs!

Findlay and Flora finally have comfie armchairs!

They celebrated by sipping a cup of tea together and basking in their new chairs.

While they were sipping their tea, they heard a snuffling sort of a sound….

eeek! Chihuahua alert!

eeek! Chihuahua alert!

Suddenly, an interested Chihuahua loomed up on the horizon!

Findlay and Flora raced into their house and slammed the Fairy door behind them.

Tea is getting cold....

Tea is getting cold….

They peeked out and saw that the coast was clear.

They huffed and puffed, and hefted their lovely new chairs up into their house….

Safe and cozy!

Safe and cozy!

If you would like to knit little armchairs for the small bears and dolls in your house, the pattern is available in my etsy shop:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/397997845/tiny-knitted-armchair-for-teddy-bears?ref=shop_home_active_1

I think that my grandson will be pleased.

🙂

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April 4, 2016 · 3:56 pm

Knitted Sweater and Pants for Findlay Bear and Flora Panda

Findlay & Flora love flowers

Findlay Bear and Flora Panda are celebrating springtime by searching for flower buds that are just coming up.

Sweaters 2 (c)

It’s so exciting to see the new leaves popping up,

Sweaters 3 (c)

Some of the flowers are absolutely tiny!

Springtime can be a chilly time of year, so Findlay and Flora are happy to wear their new sweaters and pants while they are questing for flowers.

Sweaters 4 (c)

The pattern for the sweater and pants  is available in my etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/275065922/findlay-and-flora-teddy-bear-knitted?ref=shop_home_active_1

and for Findlay Bear and Flora Panda:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/274302708/knitted-teddy-bear-pdf-pattern-findlay?ref=listing-shop-header-1

Happy springtime, happy flowers, happy knitting, and happy bears!

 

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March 29, 2016 · 8:59 pm

Introducing Findlay Bear and Flora Panda Knitted teddy bears

For several years, I designed teddy bears (Edward and Anastasia) for a knitting magazine that is no longer being published.

People have been asking me for the patterns for Edward and Anastasia, but I can’t share them, as I don’t own the copyright on them  😦

So…..instead…..

I have been working on a pair of tiny knitted teddy bears that will have all manner of adventures.

And, I would like to introduce:

Findlay Bear and Flora Panda:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Findlay Bear and Flora Panda are 4 inches tall.

Findlay Bear How to 1

They are really fun and easy to knit.

Findlay Bear How to 2

Here is the link to their pattern in my etsy shop: PATTERN

Because they are small, they can travel easily in a pocket:

Findlay Bear How to 3

Findlay Bear and Flora live in a Tree House.

Findlay bear house 11

Findlay bear house 12

They have just moved in, so the inside isn’t decorated yet.

They have to make up their minds how that will go….

Their house began as a thrift shop find that I did a whole lot of renovation to.

Here’s a little slide show that I made, showing how I made their house:

Findlay Bear and Flora Panda have all kinds of thoughts about the adventures that they would like to have.

I hope that you will knit your own version of Findlay Bear and Flora Panda and join us!

The pdf pattern for Findlay Bear and Flora Panda is available in my etsy shop: PATTERN

 

 

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March 24, 2016 · 4:31 pm

Woven Women- The Stories We Tell

This is the latest in my series of Woven Women mixed media tapestries: “The Stories We Tell”.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Here’s the video that explains it:

I wove the center galaxy section on a 15 inch peg loom from Dewberry Ridge looms. The dragonflies and star were also woven on looms that I designed for Dewberry Ridge.

I wove the words on my double slotted rigid heddle.

I worked the hand in Teneriffe lace and lucet cords.

It’s 20 inches/50 cm wide and 21 inches/52.5 cm tall.

It took more than 8 weeks of intensive weaving for me to complete this piece.

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February 10, 2016 · 1:31 pm

Woven Word Tapestries by Noreen Crone-Findlay

I am working on a series of woven tapestries and mixed media woven works that have prayers, poems and blessings woven into them.

The light hasn’t been good enough to photograph my latest piece: ‘Thank You’, so I have made a short video showing her and a few other ‘Woven Word’ pieces in the series.

I am working on several new pieces at once, and when they are done, I’ll post videos and photos of them, too.

 

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January 20, 2016 · 9:07 pm

A Butterfly to make on the Lucet

Butterflies are the symbol of transformation, and since everyone I know seems to be experiencing some kind of transformative experience or another,  it seems to me to be a good time to make some little butterflies.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

They are very quick and easy to make, using a Lucet – although you can also use spool knitted cord, if you prefer.

They can be used to embellish anything that you can think of, or can be stitched to a ribbon for a book mark, or have a pin sewn to the back so they can be worn on a hat, bag, scarf or lapel.  They can be attached to a key ring.

They can be used in scrapbooking or card making.

It’s lovely to have one in your pocket to give to a friend who just needs a little comfort…..

Here’s the video for how to make the butterflies:

We are in deep, cold, snowy mid winter in Western Canada, so it’s lovely to have butterflies flittering about the studio, even if I had to make them myself!  🙂

That just reminded me of something that I hadn’t thought of in years….

My mother used to give us ‘Butterfly Kisses’, which were a quick little flutter of her eyelashes on our cheeks.

That’s a dear memory to suddenly pop up…  sweet!

Butterfly kisses all round! ❤

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January 18, 2016 · 12:46 pm

Knitted Goddess Artemis pattern

I am catching up on all kinds of things that have gotten set aside for one reason or another.

One of those things is to finally get my pattern for the Goddess Artemis and her animal companions posted to my etsy shop.

The Knitted Artemis doll and her animal companions (resting rabbit, mouse and beaver) pdf pattern has complete charts with instructions for how to knit the Goddess Artemis.

I based the design on a painting on a clay pot that has been dated as 7th century BC. It was discovered in Boetia, which was part of Greece in that time.

The Goddess Artemis is the protector of the wild spaces and is always accompanied by animal companions, which is why she has them with her in this pattern.  Because the wild places on the planet are so precious, inviting Artemis energy to protect them is a very good idea.

The finished size of the Artemis doll and her animals is determined by the thickness of the yarns that you use and the size of the needles that you knit with.

The doll in the photo was knitted with sock yarn and 2.5 mm knitting needles.

Here’s the LINK to the pattern:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/264519152/knitted-artemis-doll-and-her-companion

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January 11, 2016 · 10:58 pm

Memory Bears

Last summer, Marie,  a member of our extended family (through marriage and love) died.

I asked her daughter for one of Marie’s sweaters so I could upcycle it to make little bears for Marie’s close kin with it.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

I unraveled the sleeves of the sweater and used the  Comfort Bear pattern LINK to pattern

It’s taken awhile, because, I think that I needed to design the Comfort Bears first.

I was so pleased when I had an ‘AHA!’ that I could use the Comfort Bear pattern  to make the Memory Bears for Marie’s daughter and her partner, her son and grandson and her grandson’s Mum.

They’ll be able to cuddle a little of their Mum and Grandma whenever they need a small bit of comfort…..

I am finding the Comfort Bears to be very inspiring…  They have many aspects, and more keep being revealed.

Tiny bears, made with love.  ❤

 

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