Tag Archives: Noreen Crone-Findlay

“Imagine” Banner Weave Along: PART TWO: How to embroider the narrow band

To see all the links for the ‘How To’ posts for the “Imagine” Banner Weave along, please go to L I N K S

To order the loom, book and extras kit for the Weave Along from Mirrix, please go to K I T

HOW TO EMBROIDER

THE WORD ‘IMAGINE’ ON THE NARROW BAND:

NOTE: The embroidery is done while the weaving is still on the loom and under tension.

1: Print out a copy of the ‘Imagine’ letters so they are approximately 1 inch/2.5 cm high by 7 in/17.5 cm or use 1/4 inch graph paper to draw them out.

2: Fold the paper so the edge of the letters can be placed right against the 1 inch/2.5 cm high white center section of the weaving.

3: Place the straight pins at the upright lines of the letters, ‘I’, ‘m’, ‘n’, and at the outside edges of the chubby ‘a’, ‘g’ and ‘e’.

4: Use the pins as guides to draw the letters onto the narrow band using a permanent felt tip marker.

5: Following the instructions on page 27 of “Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom”, embroider the letters with dark blue embroidery floss.

The photo on the lower left of page 27 shows how the running stitch is done.

FRINGE:

6: Lift the weaving off the loom and remove the 2 pieces of cardboard.

7: Cut the ends of the loops at the right hand side of the narrow band (it was at the top of the loom) open.

8: Trim the ends that were at the lower edge of the loom, now the left hand side of the band, to the same length as the warp ends at the other end of the narrow band.

9: Tie a knot (left over right and under, right over left and under) with each set of 4 strands of yarn across both ends of the narrow band.

10: FINISHING THE NARROW BAND:

Steam the narrow band on the wrong side with a steam iron, being sure to not touch the iron to the weaving.

Finger press the narrow band to make sure that the fringes behave themselves and line up politely.

Trim them again if necessary.

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Filed under frame loom weaving, gifts & easy to make gifts & presents, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, weaving & handwoven

“Imagine” Banner Weave Along: PART ONE: How to weave the narrow band

To see all the links for the ‘How To’ posts for the “Imagine” Banner Weave along, please go to L I N K S

To order the loom, book and extras kit for the Weave Along from Mirrix, please go to K I T

In order to weave the “Imagine” banner, you’ll need the following things:

Saffron Pocket Loom

Extender rod

Sandy Stand

Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom Book

HERE IS A LINK TO THE BOOK AND SAFFRON LOOM KIT that is available on the Mirrix website. LINK

Other things that are needed for the ‘Imagine’ banner:

Yarn: Less than an ounce of each of the following colors: white, grey, black, pale blue, brown, beige

Embroidery floss: 1 skein of navy or dark blue

2 small black ‘e’ beads for the eyes and needle and thread to sew them on

Scissors

cardboard

a plastic page protector

a ruler

transparent tape

felting needles,

6 rubber bands

paper

long straight pins

permanent felt tip pen

plastic or metal ring to hang the banner

1 Weaving Needle (5 1/2 inches or 6 inches long with a blunt tip)

1 Shed Stick: a second weaving needle or 6 inch Paddle style bamboo Cocktail Skewer or a short dpn knitting needle

1 craft needle (short metal tapestry needle approximately 2 3/4 inches long)

-1 crochet hook: 4.5 mm crochet hook works just fine

PART ONE:

THE WOVEN AND EMBROIDERED NARROW BAND:

The narrow band in Albert Einstein’s hands is woven (with a couple of small modifications) following the instructions on page 171 of “Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom” for the Alpaca Blanket. While it’s still on the loom, the word, ‘Imagine’, is embroidered using a simple running stitch.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1: SET UP THE LOOM so it is 11 1/2 inches / 29 cm from the lower set of pegs to the upper set. Lock it into the ‘Sandy Stand’.

2: WARP THE LOOM: Following the instructions for the Alpaca Blanket on page 171 of ‘Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom’, put on 10 sets of warp strands.

Use 2 strands of #4 Medium weight (Worsted or Sport weight) yarn held together as if it is a single strand.

Skip 6 pegs at each side of the loom and warp the following colors, or your choice of colors:

NOTE: A ‘set’ of warp strands in this case means tying around one peg from bottom to top of loom and snipping it after tying the knot at the lower edge. The 2 strands of warp yarn are held together while warping the loom.

1 set of warp strands Black

2 sets Light Blue

4 sets White

2 sets Light Blue

1 set Black

3: Slide 3 rubber bands over the lower set of pegs and 3 rubber bands over the upper set of pegs to help keep the warp strands from jumping off.

4: Cut 2 pieces of cardboard that are 2 inches/5 cm tall. The piece that will go into the lower edge of the warp strands should be 5 1/2 or 6 inches/15 cm wide. The piece that will go into the upper edge of the weaving once it’s done can be just 3 inches/7.5 cm wide.

5: Weave the shed stick under 2/over 2 across the warp strands at the top of the loom.

6: Weave the longer piece of cardboard into the warp strands – slide it into the shed formed by the shed stick and push it down to the lower edge of the loom. This will make the warp fringe at the first end.

7: WEAVING:

NOTE: The instructions in the book say to pull in on the weft strands while weaving. When using the Saffron loom, that is not necessary.

With 2 strands of white yarn and a weaving needle, following the instructions in the book, weave until the weaving is 7 1/2 inches/ 19 cm tall.

Fold the shorter piece of cardboard in half lengthwise and weave it into the warp strands, then open it up. This will keep the weaving taut while you embroider the word, ‘imagine’.

The 2 pieces of cardboard – 1 at each end of the weaving are essential to keep the weaving in place while embroidering the letters.

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“IMAGINE” Banner Weave Along

IMAGINE” BANNER

Woven on the Mirrix Saffron loom, using techniques fromInnovative Weaving on the Frame Loom”

A Weave Along by Noreen Crone-Findlay

The “Imagine” banner is a reminder about the power of creativity. Noreen Crone-Findlay, author of “Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom”, has designed this banner as a weave along, featuring the delightful Mirrix Saffron Loom.

Albert Einstein has been credited with saying that he valued imagination over knowledge.

Now is certainly the time for us all to imagine that we can make things better, so hurrah for creativity, resiliency and imagination!

The 3 components of the ‘Imagine’ banner are all based on techniques that are featured in ‘Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom’, with little tweaks so that you can make a unique and one of a kind celebration of creativity to inspire yourself and other people, too.

You will need the Mirrix Saffron Loom and ‘Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom’ by Noreen Crone-Findlay (that’s me, of course) to participate in the weave along.

Mirrix is offering a kit that includes both, as well as other tools that are used to create the ‘Imagine’ banner.

HERE IS A LINK TO THE BOOK AND SAFFRON LOOM KIT that is available on the Mirrix website. LINK

You can use whatever yarn (#4 Medium weight yarn) that you like to weave the banner.

I will be posting the instructions for the Weave Along in 6 separate posts here on Tottie Talks Crafts,

beginning on Sept 13, 2021 .

PART ONE: How to weave the narrow band L I N K

PART TWO: How to embroider the narrow band L I N K

PART THREE: How to weave the 2 small triangles L I N K

PART FOUR: How to make the cardboard backing board for doing freeform weaving L I N K

PART FIVE: How to weave the homage to Albert Einstein figure L I N K

PART SIX: Assembling the banner L I N K

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Taking the Scenic Route with My Carving

When my husband and I talk about ‘taking the scenic route’, what we are really saying is:

“Well, that certainly didn’t go the way I expected it to, but we/I/it  ~’got there’~  in the end!”.

Several of my carvings did that this past week.

For instance, I was convinced that one particular little piece of  upcycled birch wood

(‘upcycled’ because it came from a tree that died and was cut down, but didn’t go to the landfill, and this piece didn’t go into the fire)

wanted to be a Panda bear Spoon Doll.

I drew a Panda bear with a heart.

I sat down and started carving.

A Panda bear…..

which, after several hours of carving, finally pointed out to me that,

really, all it wanted was for me to finally twig to the fact that it is a Kitten.

Sigh.   She made herself heard… eventually!

And, so, she became a Ginger Kitten with Mittens, Thank you very much.

Thank goodness there was just enough wood to make sure that she had a perfectly question mark shaped tail.

Now, every time I look at her and turn her over in my hand, where she fits so sweetly,

I feel very happy.

Another little carving – a Hug Sister Spoon Doll let me know that I had totally missed the boat on her face and hair.

I was puzzled and twitchy about what was going on with her.

The face that I had painted on her was just so NOT her!

I’m not going to post a pic of the ‘wrong’ face, because it was wrong.

I thought and thought about her, then had an ‘aha’ .

I  went to the studio did  something else entirely different than the ‘aha’ to give her the face she wanted.

Isn’t that often the way?

I did what felt right, though, and was thrilled that, indeed – it WAS right!

She finally looks like she is supposed to!

Yay!

I rushed off to show her to my husband

and did a little happy dance

and he joined me in the happy dance and

that made us both happy 🙂

(We are possibly the world’s WORST dancers, but that doesn’t stop us from doing little dances together in the kitchen

almost every day, and laughing and thanking goodness that no one can see us).

So, anyhow, this little Hug Sister Spoon Doll brought a little happiness into the world,

and that’s a good thing, I do believe.

And, the other day, I noticed that the ‘Kindness’ Spoon Doll had a problem.

I had written the words: ‘The Small Book of Kindness’ on her little book with permanent fine Sharpie,

and, oh, no! The walnut oil that I used to finish her had eaten the words…. they had faded from the cover of the book.

Eep.

So, with great trepidation, I used my wood burner to burn the words onto the cover, and was enormously relieved

that the whole thing didn’t explode or catch fire- what with all the coats of walnut oil soaked into her!

Unfortunately, it’s much messier than the  original words were. Sigh.

I also had been troubled by the heart looking more like a dagger than a kind and loving heart, so I re-carved it.

Now it’s softly rounded and kindly shaped heart. Whew. That’s better.

The Scenic Route.

Sometimes, it takes a few ‘goes’ to get to the place that feels just right.

Some people  think that getting it wrong is a disaster.

Nope.  It’s essential to be willing to take chances and see if something works.

If it doesn’t, then trying again

and again

until it does.

It’s a challenging and interesting path to follow, but it’s a good one.

Here’s to the Scenic Route!  It makes life so rich and interesting!

My week has been full of other ‘Scenic Route’ carving, but more about them, later.

Be well! Be safe, and be kind….

 

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Easy to knit comfort or pocket teddy bears

I love knitting and crocheting comfort/compassion/pocket bears.

Here’s Tottie Tomato with a batch of bears that I just knitted.

By the way, in the video, I explained a little about where ‘Tottie Tomato’ came from.

Back to Comfort or Pocket Bears…….

Over the years, I’ve made thousands of them and given them away.

Here’s my newest version… knitted, and then folded and stitched, and oh so sweet!

The pattern is: Knit 20 stitches for 22 rounds and then follow the instructions in this video:

Happy knitting!  And, may the little bears bring you delight in the making, and joy in the giving!

For more patterns for Comfort bears, please click:

Knitted comfort bears

Crocheted comfort bears

 

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Antique Teneriffe Lace Loom

I have been absent from the world of social media for quite awhile- I was working to deadline on a book.

It swallowed me completely, and I vanished for awhile.  (I met the deadline! Yay!  And my editor likes it! Yay!)

But then, I got sick (ugh) and have been taking naps to recover, and didn’t have the jam to deal with blogging or dealing with the interwebs, so I didn’t.

Now, I’m on the mend.  And, working on new projects.

And taking lots of naps.

Oh my… this afternoon, something delicious happened that has made me need to pop back into the world of bloggdom.

A gift….

Today, I received a wonderful little package in the mail.

It was from my sister.  ❤

In the box was this little, oh so magical wee box of delights.

I opened the tiny old box and squealed with joy-

Such loveliness!

A treasure that my sister’s dear mother in law had found at an antique sale, bless her heart!

My sister has been cherishing this precious little box of heaven and, (bless her heart, too),  decided that I would enjoy it, so she mailed it to me. ❤

Sigh…. so much happiness in a little package!

I love Teneriffe lace and was ecstatic to see the awesome little brass loom.

And, a hairpin lace loom and some bone tools that will be lovely to use in small loom weaving.

I had to warp up the Teneriffe loom- how could I resist?

The little Teneriffe motif is wonky as all get out, but I think I should send it to my sister, doncha think?

PS:  (added the day after I originally posted about the Teneriffe Loom) I’ve been working with the Teneriffe Lace Loom, and have polished up my technique as I am working on a video to show how to do this technique with upcycled materials.

Here’s today’s version: 😀

Teneriffe lace loom 8-c

 

 

 

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Butterfly Woman Spreads Her Wings Tapestry

In 2012, I wove a tapestry that was quietly part of a series of tapestries that I have been working on for many years:

In the last few weeks, she has let me know that she wanted to really spread her wings….

So, I wove her a face on my hexagon loom from Dewberry Ridge looms: LINK

I built a little loom to weave hands for her, and stitched on butterflies that I had designed and crocheted many years ago.

I used really thick wire to make and armature for one of the larger butterflies.

And, then, she had wings!

I am so pleased with her, and she is very pleased with me, too!

She’s about 39 inches/100 cm  tall and her wingspan is about 22 inches (55 cm).

Here’s a little video that I made about her:

My book, Peg Looms and Weaving Sticks LINK shows you how to weave tapestries on the peg loom.

If you’d like to know how to weave tapestries on the hexagon loom, here’s a how to video:

 

After a very long, very cold and very snowy and icy winter, I do believe that Spring and Butterflies on their way!

 

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Catching up- Group show with my tapestries

Oops… I have been working so hard on a whole bunch of things that I kept getting to the end of my day without having taken time to play catch up on my blog.

So, I am going to do that now.

I am so happy that 15 of my tapestries are part of a one year long show at the gorgeous Legislative Assembly of Alberta gallery that is part of  the gift shop, ‘Alberta Branded’ in the Edmonton Federal Building, across the plaza from the Legislature building in Edmonton AB.

Here’s the link:

http://www.assembly.ab.ca/visitorcentre/abBranded.html

The show, ‘Faconner’ is up until the end of January 2019.

10 artists from Alberta, Canada, were chosen to have their work be part of the show, and I am hugely honoured to have been chosen to be one of them.

The gallery space is small, but beautifully curated, so not all 15 tapestries will be up for viewing at the same time.

They’ll rotate throughout the year.

Happy dancing!

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Projects in Peg Looms and Weaving Sticks- Part 3- Baskets


Peg Looms and Weaving Sticks are great for weaving baskets.

Because I had already designed a collection of weaving stick baskets for my etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/111292892/pdf-pattern-for-all-kinds-of-baskets?ref=shop_home_active_4)

I wanted to do something completely different for the book.

I was really happy about figuring out how to weave squares on the peg loom and weaving sticks, so it was natural to weave baskets using squares.

I also thought that it made sense to make round baskets for the book, as well, so I came up with a very simple little round basket that I call the Blessing Bowls.

The size of the baskets is determined by the thickness of yarn, cord, t shirt yarn, string or what ever you decide to use, as well as the thickness of the weaving sticks or peg looms.

Baskets are such a useful thing, and they are so much fun to weave. I hope that you will enjoy weaving them on peg looms and weaving sticks!

The book can be ordered  from your local bookstore, or from any of the usual online sellers or from the National Book Depository, (new to me!).
Here’s the link for it:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Peg-Looms-and-Weaving-Sticks/9780811716123

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Projects in Peg Looms and Weaving Sticks Book- Part 2- Wearables

I was very surprised the other day, when a friend in England sent me a photo of herself, holding ‘Peg Looms and Weaving Sticks’!

I haven’t received my copy yet, so I was amazed to see that it has made it’s way to England before it’s official release date.

It was neat to see what the final version of the front cover looks like.

I still don’t know what the back cover looks like 🙂

So, this video, which I had planned to be a ‘Sneak Peek’ at the book, isn’t really a sneak peek since some people already have it (even if I don’t!)

In this video, I am focusing on the wearables in the book.

The book can be ordered from the Book Depository- I’d never heard of them until my editor told me about them, but I think it’s great that they ship worldwide,  free.  LINK 

Happy weaving!

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