For Day 21 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- I made a video tutorial showing how to make a spool knitter from upcycled cardboard and bamboo skewers, finished with papier mache whimsy.
It’s a lovely and sturdy little spool knitter that is a delight to work with. For more information, please go to http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
Day 20 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- What does joy look like even when things go splat?
Oh crikey, today was one of those incredibly frustrating days when the gremlins seem to get into all the technical stuff and one thing after another goes splat.
GAH! I found myself crumbling and I stopped and thought- Time to change the channels… So?
What would joy look like right now?
I immediately grabbed one of the spool knitters that my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) and his son, Kieran turned for me, and I drew the sweetest little face that I could summon, and a flower, and for good luck, a Lady Bug, too.
And, it made me feel so much better.
May a Lady Bug land on your shoulder and may sweetness rise up to cheer you up!
Big hugs all round!
For Day 19 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms I made a video of hints and tips for spool knitting with fabric strips on large spool knitters.
There are so many creative possibilities and I will be showing more of them during my 100 day project.
Spool knitting with fabric strips is a fun spool knitting technique that is an excellent way to upcycle worn out clothing or scraps of fabric.
For Day 18 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms I made a video showing how to spool knit a flat panel cord on a 5 or 6 or 7 or more pegs spool knitter.
This is a VERY useful spool knitting technique!
Happy Spool Knitting! ❤
For Day 17 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms
I made a video showing how to spool knit round cord on a 5 or 6 or 7 or more pegs spool knitter.
Day 16 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- A video tutorial for making square 2 peg cord on almost any spool knitter
For Day 16 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms I made a video showing how to use any size of spool knitter (with any number of pegs) like a lucet to make square cord by using only 2 pegs of the spool knitter.
The pattern for the Tiny Spool Knitted Angel is available at https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/48409301/pdf-pattern-for-tiny-spool-knitted-angel
And here’s the video:
Day 15 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- My brother in a Bowler Hat, no a Bowl for a Hat
Our family had a lovely Sunday dinner together and then, our daughter, Chloe, said how much she loved the pic of Jonathan with a bowl on his head.
(First of all, there is this goofy thing that everyone in our family does, which is to try on all kinds of unusual things (bucket? Yup) as hats).
So, when she said that Jonathan had posted a pic of himself with a bowl on his noggin, I was surprised that somehow I hadn’t seen it (stupid algorithms! Of course I NEED to see a pic of my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) with a Bowler hat, no a Bowl as a Hat).
And, I was not disappointed.
It’s delightful. In fact, I think it’s one of my most favorite photos ever of my serious engineer/master woodworker brother. Hurrah for a little silliness! I am still chuckling!
Day 14 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- When Spool knitters aren’t spool knitting they talk to rocks
Several years ago, a friend saw a spool knitter that I had made by upcycling, drawing and painting on a wooden bowl. He loved it and bought it- not to spool knit with, but to place a beautiful geode on. It’s a winning combination.
I told my brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking) about it and he thought that that was neat, so I took some pictures of bowls that he and his son Kieran had turned and I had made into spool knitters.
Jonathan wanted to see what I was talking about, so I had fun balancing random rocks and crystals on my spool knitters. Pardon the pun, but, they rock.
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.
Hugs all round. With Love. And Hope. And Courage.
Noreen Crone-Findlay, designer and author
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 