Day 24 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls
I designed the Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls as a wish that everyone, everywhere, would feel well, and that our precious planet would feel well, and that anyone who makes these dolls will feel well, and happy, and safe and hopeful and live in peace, and equanimity.
As I made them, I asked myself: What does JOY look like today? What does peace and safety look like today? What does this doll want me to know? How can this doll feel like hope or sweetness today?
I invite the doll makers to play with drawing their own unique, one of a kind faces for their Well Well Well dolls and have made a video tutorial to help them do this.
I hope that these joyful, playful, happy dolls will bring all good things to the people who make them, and if the Well Well Well dolls are meant as a gift that they will bring love, light, laughter and hope to those who receive them.
The pattern includes links to 3 video tutorials for how to make your own larger spool knitters as well as videos on how to spool knit in the round, and how to spool knit flat panels as well as spool knitting 2 peg/nail cords.
The pattern has complete step by step instructions for making the Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls with yarn and with fabric strips too.
Day 13 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Our Lady of the Starry Night with Dragonfly Spool knitter
I have a stack of sketchbooks that are designated as my ‘evening sketchbooks’.
Every night at bedtime, I do some quick sketches in the current sketchbook, and make design notes about things that are not working (which will often trigger the answer to the design question) as well as notes about what was delightful and worked well and also what I need to do the next day.
A couple of evenings ago, I did a quick sketch that I really liked. So, the next morning, I chose one of the small spool knitters that my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) and his son, Kieran, had turned for me on the lathe. I drew, burned and painted her on the spool knitter.
Here she is: Our Lady of the Starry Night with a Dragonfly.
I’ve been doing some spool knitting with her, and she’s quite enjoyable.
Day 12 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- How do we mend what’s broken?
On Day 11, I showed how I upcycled a plastic bottle into my ‘Storyteller’ spool knitter. But, I didn’t talk much about needing to cut away part of the bottle that was cumbersome & clumsy. I had to lop off part of the top to get the spool knitter to work. Sometimes, we just have to cut away the unworkable part.
But sometimes the best way to fix something that’s broken is to find a way to stitch the edges together again… a radical mend may be needed.
I am enjoying upcycling ‘boink/busted’ bowls from my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking)
One of them had a crack up one side. He suggested a way to fix it. I tried it & it looked good, so I spent hours drawing & burning a bumble bee & a hexagon on it.
Alright- I drilled the center hole. Fine. Now- 5 holes for pegs. Fine. The 6th & final one- the bowl opened like the gates of dawn! My knees went blorp. I gazed at the Bee & held the bowl in my hands. No way was I going to toss it away. So.
Time for something different! Let’s sew this bowl together! I drilled holes on both sides of the crack & was sure it was going to fly apart-eek- the lines of little holes wobbled up the bowl!
I used waxed linen to sew the edges of the bowl together. Then glued the pegs in.
Yes! It’ worked! The stitching is Wabi Sabi, BUT my precious Bumble Bee spool knitter is a joy to work with.
The disruption of her rupture and the ‘freeform’ mending has completely endeared her to me.
Metaphors! I hope that we can find lots & lots of quirky & unique ways to mend our precious, wobbly & hurting planet (whether it’s snipping the things that don’t work or sewing the broken edges freely & trustingly together again) so we can all get back to work, creating beauty.
Day 6 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling thrift shop bowls into spool knitters
I have been working on a whole bunch of things for #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms all at once and have gotten all out of order on doing posts.
Back on Day 6 of #the100dayproject2026 I started working on a series of posts about upcycling to make spool knitters.
Last summer, when I was talking with my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) about co-creating different sizes and shapes of spool knitters, I mentioned that I often make larger than what people usually expect spool knitters to be by upcycling thrift shop bowls.
He and his son, Kieran turn a LOT of gorgeous bowls on the lathe.
Sometimes, there are ‘oops’ and a bowl goes boink and gets tossed into the firewood box.
Jonathan said: Do you want some of those to make into spool knitters?
YES yes yes, I shrieked.
So I showed him how I take an unloved bowl from the thrift shop
and sand off the varnish (because usually, the varnish on thrift shop bowls is in tough shape).
And, I drill a big hole in the base, then 6, 7 or 8 holes for pegs,
Then I glue in pegs and I draw & burn on it, paint it, varnish it and Voila!
Start spool knitting with it!
I remembered to take pics of the process with the first bowl, but doh, completely forgot to do that with the second one.
Hurrah for upcycling! I’ll be posting lots more about upcyling things to make spool knitters.
And, yes, lots of posts about what you can make with spool knitters. As I said to Jonathan today:
Context and content! Spool knitters are just shelf warmers if they don’t have a good project or 10 to inspire people to pick them up and start creating with them! So… yes…. lots of projects will be unfolding as I trundle forward with #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms
Day 7 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms-Upcycling one of a kind bowls into spool knitters
For the #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms, Jonathan sent me a box of spool knitter blanks and some bowls that were damaged when he and his son Kieran turned them on the lathe.
A Paduak pot pourri bowl has been singing to me since I opened the box, and finally, today, I drilled a hole in the base that is larger than the rip out, then 7 holes for the pegs, and did a little sanding and glued in pegs.
I was utterly gobsmacked by how freaking gorgeous it is, and there is no way that I am going to I draw or burn on it! I put a light coat of walnut oil on it, so I have to let it dry over night before I can start spool knitting with it!
I tore over to the computer and fired off a ‘WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’ message to Jonathan to tell him how I am absolutely swooning over this glorious spool knitter. Wow. Just wow….
I also informed Jonathan that he is a bad influence, because the two of us just keep whipping up more and more ideas and I can barely keep up! I love feeling inspired! and #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms is definitely doing that for me!
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