Tag Archives: Noreen Crone-Findlay

January 9, 2014 · 5:32 pm

New woven toys

I have a passion for weaving toys that are not just for children, but also to light up the heart of adults, too.

Over the last year, I have been designing and weaving all manner of woven wonderfuls for my booth in all the heaps of artisan’s markets and maker’s faires that I have been doing.

Which is why I have been rather remiss in blogging – it’s all about the weaving, these days 🙂

It’s been a pleasure to let my imagination run wild and create one of a kind pieces without worrying about having to make sure that I can repeat the process to make patterns.

Not to imply that I don’t like designing and making patterns- I really do!

BUT…. it’s delicious to simply let my hands fly and listen to what emerges…. and to respond to what WANTS to emerge! In which case, I have had to build a series of new little looms to keep up with those ‘wanting weavies’. 🙂

Here are a few of my latest pieces:

I never get tired of weaving homages to Albert Einstein 🙂

Everyone in our family really likes gargoyles, so I had to weave one (and I feel the need to weave more! LOL)

And, we all quite like frogs- in fact, the joyous uproar of frog song in springtime is one of our favorite things!

This fellow seems very affable to me….

This Debonaire Ginger Cat is actually based on one of my patterns that is available on my website LINK or on my etsy shop.

And, for that matter, the pattern for dragons woven on the potholder loom is also available on my website:

And now, back to ‘one of a kinds’ – This is Dumpling Darling:

Ahhhhhhhh, babies….. I love to weave babies of all descriptions, like baby piglets:

and baby hippos:

Oh, yes, a monster or two….

And, sometimes, a fairy toadstool wants me to weave it….

At Christmas, I wove a capybara for my son in law:

and a fox:

So, now you see why my blogging hasn’t been up to scratch in 2013…. 🙂 Too busy weaving….

But…. I do plan on being more active with my blog in 2014….

I have a lot of photos of pieces for my Woven Women show that I haven’t posted, so I need to get back to posting those. All in good time 🙂

I’ve been better at posting pictures to facebook, so if you would like to follow me on facebook, the link is:

facebook.com/NoreenCroneFindlayDesigns

14 Comments

Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, potholder loom, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as Noreen Crone-Findlay, potholder loom, woven Albert Einstein, woven capybara, woven cat, woven doll, woven dragon, woven fairy mushroom, woven fox, woven frog, woven gargoyle, woven hippo, woven hippopotamus, woven kitty, woven monster, woven toys

October 9, 2013 · 12:16 pm

Woven Women: Mother Holdfast

The last year and a half or so has been quite a roller coaster ride with worry/anguish/anxiety over our daughter’s health issues. I cannot even put into words what we’ve gone through, so I won’t….

But, things have resolved, and she’s come through surgery and now radiation, with flying colors, so we are all relieved beyond belief.

In the midst of dealing with our daughter’s healing process, our daughter in law suffered a miscarriage, which threw us into more grieving. Things were mighty, mighty rough.

I felt like I had to keep a very tight lid on the volcano of emotions- the worry, fear, uncertainty, sorrow, anguish, grief- you know – all that stuff that roils up when your beloved children are having a hard time.

Plus, we were all working our socks off all summer while dealing with all of this, and it just was so intense that it meant that I simply had to hold a very very tight focus, emotionally.

And, now that we have come through this harrowing passage, I am slowly releasing all that pent up stuff…

For me, the most healing way of doing that is in making art….

This is the direct result of the beginning of the process of transforming my volcano of emotion into a positive expression of beauty, while using all that energy in a directed way.

My husband and I took a break for a weekend at the beginning of September, and went to the west coast to visit sisters.

We came home with our suitcases full of driftwood, sea glass and seaweed- some of my most favorite raw materials, ever.

Three of the pieces of driftwood in particular called out to me.

So did a dried up kelp root, called, a ‘holdfast’, that one of my sisters gave to me- she has treasured it for a long time, and so it’s very precious.

The metaphor of ‘holdfast’, of roots holding a great kelp tree anchored in the ocean spoke so deeply to me as a symbol of what I, as the mother of young women and their loved ones in a time of troubles, was called to do in holding the energy for my family.

So, the name: Mother Holdfast rings true for me.

Here is the holdfast, being held fast in ‘Mother Holdfast’s hands…. which I made from wire.

One of the pieces of driftwood became the head of ‘Mother Holdfast’:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.crone-findlay.com

Another piece of driftwood became her shoulders, and the third one became part of her upper arm:

As soon as I drew, then burned the face onto the ‘head’ piece of driftwood, Mother Holdfast let me know exactly what colors and textures she wanted me to weave.

So, I warped up and wove at a feverish, furious pace…..

And, then, I started layering, stitching, layering more, weaving more….

Until Mother Holdfast was complete….

She is TALL! She is almost 6 feet 6 inches tall….

As well as my woven fabrics and inkle bands, I have also stitched and woven in antique and vintage lace fragments, tatting (tatting goes with me everywhere, and keeps me sane when I am having to wait or watch or…), smaller fragments of driftwood and seaweed, and spool knitted wire cords that I filled with sea glass.

Here’s the lower part of her dress:

‘Mother Holdfast’ has been a powerful healing experience for me to create.

One of my dear friends was looking at her, and then turned and asked me:

‘So, my dear, what does she want you to do next? Where will she lead you?’

An interesting question, indeed…..

27 Comments

Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Uncategorized, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as 'mother holdfast', hand weaving, hand woven, multimedia tapestry by Noreen Crone-Findlay, Noreen Crone-Findlay, weaving as a healing art, Woven Women

October 5, 2013 · 11:39 am

Geometric Butterfly Motif to weave on the potholder loom

For the last couple of years, I have been working on a new design for the potholder loom.

It’s for a Geometric Butterfly motif- and I have finally finished the pattern for it, and for a bag and wrap made using it.

I have listed the pdf pattern on my website on the potholder loom page LINK

The Geometric Butterfly motif is wonderful for bags:

and wraps

It would also make beautiful prayer flags, pillows, afghans, vests, throws, wall hangings, table runners and whatever else your heart desires.

It’s a great way to showcase handspun yarns, but commercial yarns work just fine with it.

Tarn, or t shirt yarn is also great in the Geometric Butterfly pattern.

The pattern has full color step by step photos and diagrams, and comes with links to helpful videos.

There is a separate pdf that has all the step by step photos and instructions for how to weave all the different shapes on the potholder loom.

Isn’t it amazing what you can do on the simple potholder loom? 🙂

10 Comments

Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, potholder loom, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as butterfly motif, Butterfly pattern, Geometric Butterfly motif, hand weaving, hand woven, Noreen Crone-Findlay, pdf pattern, potholder loom, small loom weaving, woven accessories, woven bag, woven shawl, woven stole, woven wrap

August 28, 2013 · 5:43 pm

Sock Monkey Finger Puppet pattern

It’s been a wildly busy summer, as my daughter and daughter-in-law and I have been doing a TON of maker’s faires and craft shows.

I have built and re-built, and re-built again, my booth…. and now I am happy with it.

I’ve been working my chops off, producing new and delicious things for the booth, and my designer mode has been in overdrive.

One of the things that has become very clear to me this summer, is how much I love designing and making finger puppets:

One of the lovely serendipitous things that came together for me was when I was thinking about my grandmother and her pleasure in making sock monkeys- she made hundreds of them throughout my childhood, and I loved helping her with them- and then twigging that I should design Sock Monkey Finger Puppets in homage to her.

It has taken a lot of figuring, tweaking, refining and crochet, crochet, crochet to get to the place that is just right with them.

And, now that I have got the pattern all polished up, and edited and in a very happy place, I have put it up on my etsy shop: LINK

and on my website: LINK

Because they are so little, they are great for using up bits of precious yarn like handspun or even silk.

And, you don’t have to stick with browns:

They make me smile…. and I hope that you will enjoy them, too! 😀

6 Comments

Filed under crochet, gifts & easy to make gifts & presents, Uncategorized

Tagged as crochet, crocheted finger puppet, crocheted sock monkey, crocheted sock monkey finger puppet, finger puppet, Noreen Crone-Findlay, pdf pattern, sock monkey

April 30, 2013 · 10:41 am

I’ve been weaving bracelets

I am participating in all kinds of craft fairs and maker’s markets this summer in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

I’ve been weaving up all kinds of bracelets for the upcoming shows:

The bracelets are a combination of paper yarn, t shirt yarn, vintage buttons and charms and other embellishments, as well as copper and brass findings and embellishments that I have made.

And, now, I must get back to my looms! 😀

10 Comments

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

Tagged as brass findings, copper and brass, handwoven bracelet, Noreen Crone-Findlay, paper yarn, t shirt yarn, Tarn, upcycling, vintage buttons, woven bracelets

April 18, 2013 · 4:23 pm

DIY How to turn a computer desk into a loom stand with treadles

A couple of months ago, I bought the neatest loom on Kijiji.

It’s a 2 harness Leclerc table loom, with a weaving width of 20 inches.

It’s a joy to weave on, but my tendons were grousing about the side levers and my back was honking at me.

I figured that there had to be a cheap and cheerful way to build a stand with treadles for it….

and VOILA!!!!! (happy dance)

I have just figured out how to do it! Wheeeeeeeee!

Several years ago, we bought a metal Ikea computer desk at the thrift store.

I didn’t like having half of the top attached at an angle.

So my beloved DH, Jim and I drilled some holes, took the angled section off and re-attached it so it was nice and flat.

I had passed the desk along to my daughter and her husband, and when they gave it back to me last week, I was inspired.

First, to make the desk a comfortable height for weaving, I cut 3 inches off the legs with a pipe cutter- whew!

That was HARD work!

I mulled over how to attach the loom to the top of the desk, as it was just a hare’s breath away from fitting properly.

I took the top apart and played with the sections to see if I could come up with a workable solution- and then- woohoo!

I discovered that the chanels for a sliding mouse pad section that were supposed to be on the under side of the desk top, fitted the crosspiece of the loom perfectly! Jubilation!

I zip tied the sides of the loom to the desk and was happy as a clam…..

except…. for the pesky owees of the tendons grizzling about the side levels, and my back spazzing out on me.

Hmmmmm…..

Inspiration! add lamms and treadles!

I started by cutting a support piece at the side, and bolting it to the side of the stand.

I used 2 angle brackets as the support for the lamms (with a little block to fill in excess space).

Then, I drilled holes in the lamms for cords to the levers and to the treadles.

I tied the lamms to the levers and was verrrrrrrry pleased! Things were moving along quite nicely!

There had to be a way of supporting and securing the treadles, so I used a board from an old pallet, and drilled 2 holes for the legs. Poifeck.

I had a 6 inch length of threaded 1/4 inch steel rod, which I ran through the treadles (which I had cut out of scrap lumber).

The treadles were too wide at first, so I cut dippsy doodles into them to make them fit better.

The most frustrating part of the whole process was finding nuts that would go onto the threaded rod. Grrrrrrrrr!

I finally ended up filing the ends of the rod, as I just couldn’t get anything to thread onto the rod. Once I did that, zip! on went 2 nuts, happy as can be.

I screwed the whole treadle mechanism to the crossboard on the floor, and tied the treadles to the lamms…..

and held my breath…… what if it didn’t work? eep….. that would have been 3 hours down the tubes….

BUT! Joy! and whee and halleujah! It works like a dream!

So, if you would like to have a floor loom, but don’t have the ca$h, watch for a table loom on the various online places, and convert a desk into a stand for it.

You’ll need to have some basic carpentry skills, and I couldn’t have managed drilling the holes through the sides of the treadles without a drill press, but I bet you could do it if you had to.

Here’s the video that I made about how to convert a computer desk into a loom stand with treadles:

Here are some notes to keep in mind if you would like to adapt my project for your table loom:

Things to look for in a desk or table that you want to use for a loom stand:
1: Being able to bolt or screw the lamm support piece along the left hand side of the table/desk legs is essential.
2: Being able to shorten the legs to drop the height of the table to a comfortable ergonomic height is also essential.
3: Being able to attach the loom to the table is one more essential. (Clamps? Zip ties? A channel like the one on mine was a piece of beautiful serendipity)

7 Comments

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

Tagged as diy, eco project, green project, hand woven, how to hack an old Ikea desk into a loom stand, how to turn a computer desk into a loom stand, Leclerc table loom, loom stand, Noreen Crone-Findlay, treadles, video tutorial, weaving

March 29, 2013 · 10:12 am

A new woven shirt to celebrate springtime

Springtime has been hopelessly late here in Alberta, so I decided to go ahead and celebrate it anyhow, by making myself a new shirt.

I wove the fabric last year:

I wove the fabric on my Saori loom:

This became a sleeve:

I used my ‘standard’ shirt pattern, Simplicity 2741 LINK

And shortened the sleeves, as I have short arms.

BUT… I blythely cut it out and sewed it up in, ahem, my husband’s size, oops…. so it is too big for me.

Ah well, I guess that’s better than being too small, isn’t it? 🙂

I did all kinds of clasped weft and inlay on body of the shirt.

These are techniques that are used a lot in Saori weaving.

Saori is weaving based on the philosophy of creative self discovery through free form weaving.

See Saori Japan LINK

At times, when I was weaving the little squares, I had up to 8 extra shuttles in the row.

Doing inlaid sections slows down the weaving process, but it is really worth it.

Here’s the other sleeve:

I used inkle woven bands for the collar and cuffs.

I am not going to put buttons on it, as I don’t think that I would ever wear it buttoned up.

So, this is my celebration of Spring…. hope you are celebrating merrily, too!

Happy Springtime! 🙂

8 Comments

Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as clasped weft, handwoven shirt, inlay weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Saori weaving, weaving techniques, woven garments, woven shirt

February 20, 2013 · 8:52 pm

Finished my eBook on Woven Jewelry (Happy Dancing)

Do you hear that skippetty thump thump?

That’s me, happy dancing!

I’ve been working on a new eBook for more than 6 months and I have FINALLY finished it!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! and Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 😀

What’s it about?

Jewelry Woven on weaving sticks: LINK TO MY WEBSITE to see lotsa pics and order it, too 🙂

I’ve designed a slew of wonderful necklaces, bracelets and pins that are just sooooooooooo neat!

Some of them, like this bracelet, are woven with t shirt yarn, so woots!

You can be super eco friendly and upcycle and recycle at the same time as weaving and wearing fab jewelry!

Speaking of being eco-friendly, I show you how to make funky, cheap and cheerful embellishments and nifty closures for necklaces and bracelets:

You can use all kinds of yarns, cords, threads, fabric strips, paper ribbon- you name it….

I love weaving jewelry, and hope that you will, too!

So scoot on over to my website, and see more pics and order the book, and start weaving!

Happy weaving! 🙂

8 Comments

Filed under eco crafts & green projects, jewelry, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Peg and Stick Loom weaving, peg looms and weaving sticks, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as fashion, how to weave jewelry, Noreen Crone-Findlay, paper ribbon, small loom weaving, stick loom weaving, style, weaving stick loom, woven jewelry

February 17, 2013 · 5:54 pm

Woven Women – Blythe Spirit

This week’s tapestry is a love song to my beloved cousin who died from a brain tumor.

She was a total sweetheart and I miss her so much.

She was a gifted photographer, and I based this tapestry on a self portrait that she took of herself not long before she died.

I’ve named it, ‘Blythe Spirit’, because that’s what she is….. a lovely soul!

6 Comments

Filed under tapestry, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as arts, creativity, Noreen Crone-Findlay, tapestry, woven images, Woven Women tapestries

February 15, 2013 · 7:50 pm

How to weave a hexagon using continuous warping and weaving techniques on the Lily Speed O Weave loom

A couple of years ago, when I was working on the designs for The Lily Speed O Weave design book LINK,

I figured out how to weave a hexagon on the loom, using continuous weaving methods.

The method is slightly tricky (it took me a LOT of experimenting to figure it out!) and has one disadvantage….

You have to use quite bulky yarn or else the hexagon is really loopy and open meshy (aka ‘sleazy’).

I decided that this made it not worthwhile to share the technique, as the knotting technique that was traditional for the Lily Speed O Weave loom allowed you to use absolutely any weight of yarn or thread.

Besides, I had figured out a way of speeding up and streamlining the knotting process, so I decided to just go with that.

But, a few days ago, a lady on Ravelry asked if anyone knew how to weave continuously on the hex loom and wasn’t into the knotting technique.

So, I figured…. okay…. I’ll make a video showing how to do this….