Tottie Talks Crafts Blog

February 15, 2012 · 4:27 pm

Edward and Anastasia Bear announce

I am so delighted to be able to announce that Edward and Anastasia Bear have some thrilling news!

The stork has made a delivery!

The Stork prepares to fly to California with baby Brownie copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Baby Brownie Bear has arrived, safe and sound and you can see for yourself that baby is truly adorable!

Hope Brownie isn’t keeping Edward and Anastasia up all night…

here’s a sneak preview: -previews/stork-bear-mobile

Edward and Anastasia with baby Brownie copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

BTW, if you don’t know what I am talking about, Edward and Anastasia Bear are tiny knitted teddy bears that I designed for the magazine, ‘Your Knitting Life’, back when it was called, ‘Knitting Today’.
Every issue has a different set of outfits for Edward and Anastasia, including their wedding outfits.

My sister likes them best of anything that I have designed in the more than 40 years that I have been a professional designer. 🙂

So, that makes them extra special to me!
🙂

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Tagged as baby teddy bear, designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay, knitted teddy bears, knitted toy, knitting teddy bears, miniature teddy bear, Noreen Crone-Findlay, preview previews, teddy bears

February 8, 2012 · 8:44 pm

Video tutorial on how to pick up knitting stitches with crochet hook

Today, I was working on a new design for knitted clothes for Edward and Anastasia teddy bear.

It struck me that it might be a good idea to get a little bit more specific when I say: ‘pick up x number of stitches along this edge’.

So, I wrote out how I like to pick up stitches – which is with a crochet hook.

And, then it struck me that showing how to do this is probably even better than just writing about it.

So, I made a video tutorial, demonstrating on how I use a crochet hook to pick up the required stitches.

This technique works equally well for knitting flat or knitting in the round.

And, here’s the video tutorial:

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Tagged as knitting techniques, knitting tutorial, video tutorial

February 7, 2012 · 5:41 pm

Delightful dolls woven with 4 weaving sticks

Stick weaving looms are probably the easiest loom on earth to work with.

They are just little dowels with points on one end and holes in the other.
BUT this does NOT limit the incredible creative possibilities that they have!

See my Stick Weaving page on my website to order this pattern: LINK

I have designed 13 enchanting little dolls (they are about 5 inches tall) to weave with only 4 of the weaving sticks. They are adorable!
In this PDF pattern, (16 pages), you will also learn how to carve the neatest faces from avocado pits (really!) in a tutorial with step by step photos.
Another step by step photo tutorial shows how to make Cornstarch clay and carve simple but effective faces with it.

Avocado faces end up looking like carved wood, and both they, and the cornstarch clay faces are remarkably sturdy and durable.

There are also how to photos for faces made in unusual ways: using buttons, paper, wood veneer, found objects, stones and twig slices.

There are many different methods shown for how to finish the heads, and as always, with Noreen’s patterns, the step by step photos showing exactly how to do each step are comprehensive and clear.

These little woven dolls are delightful on their own, but are also great to use as embellishments on bags, pillows, throws and wall hangings.
They are a great way to use small amounts of treasured yarn, whether it’s handspun or not.
The pattern shows how to use fabric strips, handspun paper, jute, and even sewing machine thread to weave these dolls.
They are delightful!!!!
This pattern is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than the dolls woven with the 6 stick technique.

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Peg and Stick Loom weaving, peg looms and weaving sticks, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as doll pattern, doll pdf, hand woven dolls, handmade dolls, stick weaving, weaving sticks, woven dolls

February 7, 2012 · 4:45 pm

Wonderful woven dolls with 6 weaving sticks

I have fallen in love with weaving sticks (aka stick weaving looms), and am just releasing two new patterns for wonderful woven dolls that are made with weaving sticks. You can order them from my website: LINK

There are 2 NEW patterns. They are each quite different from each other.

The pattern that I am featuring in this post is for weaving dolls with 6 weaving sticks.

I have designed 7 marvelous dolls to weave with all 6 of the weaving sticks.

They are about 8 or 9 inches tall.

In this PDF pattern, (16 pages), you will also learn how to weave the circular skirts worn by some of the dolls in a tutorial with step by step photos.
Another step by step photo tutorial shows how to use the weaving sticks as a flower loom!

And there are photo instructions on how to make wire glasses.
There are also how to photos for faces that are woven and for dolls that have faces made from other things: paper, wood, walnut shells and twig slices.
There are many different methods shown for how to finish the heads, and the step by step photos showing exactly how to do each step are comprehensive and clear.

These little woven dolls are delightful on their own, but are also great to use as embellishments on bags, pillows, throws and wall hangings.
They are a great way to use small amounts of treasured yarn, whether it’s handspun or not.
The pattern shows how to weave with yarn, fabric strips and roving to weave these dolls, and how to make each doll unique with nifty hair style techniques.

In January, I released my first pattern in my new series of weaving stick patterns, the Mermaid: Link

It’s a treat to finally have finished these new patterns- Happy Weaving! 😀

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Peg and Stick Loom weaving, peg looms and weaving sticks, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as how to weave dolls, small loom weaving, stick weaving, weaving sticks, woven dolls

January 31, 2012 · 4:04 pm

Can Edward and Anastasia Bear be knitted with thicker yarn and larger needles?

Yes! They can!

Edward and Anastasia Bear are 2 little bears that I have designed for ‘Your Knitting Life’ magazine (formerly known as ‘Knitting Today’), and they’ve been in each issue of the magazine since it started.

They are small… they’re 6 inches tall, and are knitted on 2.75 mm needles using Regia sock yarn.

Recently, on Ravelry, someone asked if Edward and Anastasia could be made larger, and the answer is, ‘You betcha’!

The humungous Edward Bear in the photo is 18 inches tall. If you knit with 8 or 9 mm needles and super bulky yarn or 2 strands of medium weight yarn held together, you will get one very large Edward Bear! Stitch through the hips to make them bendable.

I am so sorry, but the Edward and Anastasia patterns are no longer being made available by the publisher, and since I don’t own the copyright on them, I can’t give the pattern out. 😦

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Filed under knitting, tutorial & how to

Tagged as Edward and Anastasia bears, Edward Bear, free pattern, knitted teddy bear, knitted toys, knitting pattern, Knitting Today, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Your Knitting Life

January 26, 2012 · 4:32 pm

Can you weave tapestry on potholder loom? why, yes!

One of my Ravelry buddies just shared photos of a lovely little tapestry loom that he’s built.

He then commented that Noreen would probably say that you can weave tapestries on her beloved potholder looms.

And, of course, I chirrupped up: “Funny you should mention that, but Y E S you can! ”

Last year, after the devastation of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, I was very upset, and sat down with my sketchbook.

I did a little drawing that made me sit up and say: “I could weave that!”

So, I whipped out my Harrisville potholder loom (Link to Harrisville) and cut a square of cardboard to fit inside it.

I made a cartoon of the basic elements of the drawing: A circle inside a square, and taped it to the cardboard.

I decided to use all Harrisville yarns and fibers in this piece, so I warped up with warp yarn from Harrisville.

I used a table fork to beat the weft strands:

When I was finished, I wove an inkle border on my Schacht Inkle loom

I saw how the circle could become a face, so I warped up, again, and wove this:

And, this face made me think of the sun, so of course, I had to weave a companion,

‘Song to the Moon’: woven with yarn from my stash

Normally, I dislike fringes, but this piece demanded them, so I faithfully added them.

I was intrigued by weaving the expressive little faces (remember, the potholder loom yields a woven piece that is 6 inches square)

so…. with handspun yarn and stash yarn, I wove this little tapestry:

I have been meaning to block these little tapestries, but have been busy with so many other things that I haven’t gotten around to it.

But, when Misha joked about me weaving tapestries on the potholder loom, I thought…

“Well, they’re not blocked, but so what! I’ll post a note about them anyhow!”

So, when my ‘to do’ list calms down a little, I ~~will~~, um…. I might get them blocked!

Until then, keep on weaving! I am…. 😀

Please remember that this post is copyright protected, so please don’t copy the images etc! Thanks so much~!

28 Comments

Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, potholder loom, tutorial & how to, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as how to weave a tapestry on the potholder loom, how to weave small tapestries, how to weave tapestry, Noreen Crone-Findlay, potholder loom weaving, small loom, tapestry

January 19, 2012 · 3:34 pm

etsy love

I love etsy.

Oh the goodies you can find there! Oh my!

Look what just arrived in my mailbox:

Isn’t this a gorgeous shawl pin? I bought it in Kate Heck’s etsy shop. LINK

Kate and I found out about each other’s work when we were chatting about looms and weaving, courtesy of one of the online weaving groups we both belong to.

Ah, the wonders of the internet! We looked at each other’s links, and ahem, pretty quickly, some shopping ensued! LOL!

She made it from Cocobolo wood, which I love.

It’s beautifully made and the craftsmanship is just superb.

Here it is on my pink stole that I made for my Lily Speed-O-Weave loom book: LINK Poifeck!

By the way, I have an etsy shop, too…. Link

etsy is amazing and wonderful…. and sooooooooo much fun, especially when you find gorgeous handmade treasures that you just would not find anywhere else!

Minoan Goddess of the Bees Knitted pattern is now a pdf

Poor little Minoan Goddess of the Bees! She wasn’t being at all well served!

This morning, I received an email, and a pm, from someone who was right ticked off with a terrible photo that was up on my website.

It was a tiny photo of my knitted Minoan Goddess of the Bees.

OOPS!

So, I spent the day, not only re-doing the photo, but building a beautiful new pdf of the knitting pattern for the Minoan Goddess of the Bees.

She looks lovely now!

Many years ago, I was reading a book about ancient Greece.

There were a couple of tiny drawings of little figures that were engraved on pottery and furniture from Crete about 1700 BCE.

I fell in love with the tiny images and have been working with them ever since.

They were called, ‘Minoan Dewdrop or Bee Goddesses’ sacred to the goddess, Persephone.

They are known as ‘Melisae’.

The pattern for the knitted Minoan Goddess of the Bees is available at: http://www.crone-findlay.com/knitteddollpatterns.html

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, knitting

Tagged as Crete, goddesses, greek goddess, knit doll, knitted doll pattern, knitted dolls, knitted goddess doll, knitting, knitting goddess, Knossos, Minoan Goddess of the Bees, Persephone

January 16, 2012 · 7:56 pm

Free pattern for a woven elephant

The pattern has gone live for the
Woven Elephant that I designed for Lion Brand on the Martha Stewart loom
HERE’S THE LINK TO IT

She’s a cutie!

I love elephants…..

happy weaving! 😀

6 Comments

Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tutorial & how to, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as free pattern, hand woven toy elephant, how to weave an elephant, Lion Brand, Martha Stewart loom, woven toy

January 14, 2012 · 12:24 pm

More little looms from recycled stuff part 2

If you are teaching a child to weave, or just want an impromptu, no cost small loom for sampling yarns and colorways, this little loom is very handy.

The project on the foam food tray loom is a bookmark, but you can weave amulet bags, rug mugs, small dolls and toys, doll house rugs or squares that you stitch together to make larger projects.

It’s great for traveling, as it’s light, and if you use a plastic darning needle for weaving, it’s fine to take through airport security.

Yesterday, I posted part one of the recycled and upcycled looms: Here’s the link: PART ONE

I think that one of the most accessible looms for beginning weavers is the weaving stick loom.

I am doing a lot of designing for it – here’s my post about the mermaid to weave on the stick weaving loom: LINK

Happy Weaving!!!!

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Filed under eco crafts & green projects, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tutorial & how to, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as children weaving, easy weaving, free patterns, how to make a loom from recycled materials, how to teach a child to weave, how to teach weaving, kids crafts, kids weaving, no cost weaving, recycling, small looms, teaching kids to weave, weaving with children