Would you like to make Irresistible tiny Red Hats to wear on your finger –
cheering yourself up in these challenging times, or for reminding yourself that Hope is an antidote to despair and cynicism
OR maybe just for a moment of fun in putting on very small finger puppet shows?
OR, perhaps to wear on your lapel or pin to your bag or backpack as a sign of community and connection, OR to give as little gifts to friends and family and fellow travellers?
Okay, here’s a video that I made showing how to spool knit an Irresistible Tiny Red Hat with yarn or fabric strips if you can’t find red yarn. Previously, I have made video tutorials on how to spool knit in the round, as well as flat panels and also how to spool knit with fabric strips. All the links to the tutorials and so much more are at my blog tottietalkscrafts dot com.
Day 29 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Small is beautiful
I have been designing some spool knitting projects that are very small in scale and I am enjoying working with small spool knitters to make them.
So I have adapted some of the spool knitters that Jonathan @distinctivewoodworking and his son, Kieran, turned, to make Small But Mighty Spoolknitters that are ergonomically delightful for spool knitting small treasures.
I’ll be showing you more about Small But Mighty spool knitters and the oh so fun projects in the upcoming days.
A couple of days ago, I experienced wonderful synchronicities of messages of HOPE appearing like little green shoots bravely unfurling through grotty old snow. Brad Montague, artist, writer and hope-meister extraordinaire (follow him on The Enthusiast and @bradmontague) wrote a wonderful post on his Substack page that introduced me to Alexandra Rowland’s statement: “The opposite of grimdark is hopepunk,” which felt like an explosion of delight and yes-ness. (Thank you!!!)
And, the other wonderful uplifting thing was my brilliant niece, @josephinecrone being interviewed by Anita Vandenbeld for her podcast: New episode of Democracy in Conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EtrWeqXAso&t=10s . Josephine is a powerful advocate for the power of hope to change lives. She has survived Stage 4 Lymphoma and is in remission. She is adamant that hope drives action forward and that cynical behaviour is deadly. She gives me so much hope…. and I am so gratefu!
For me, living with chronic illness and a bunch of other challenges, means that hope is an absolute life line and is essential to my very being. That’s why I focus on invoking hope and beauty and sweetness in my work as an artist and a designer.
I had such an ‘aha’ about ‘Hope Punk’… that’s what I am aiming at with my whole spool knitting project and that, oh yes! Is what my Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls are absolutely ALL about.
Please stay hopeful! We need our Hope to light up the darkness!
The pattern for the Spool Knitted Well Well Well Dolls is available in my etsy shop:
Way back in 2008, an editor at Harlequin spotted it online and got in touch with me and asked if I would be okay with having it on the cover of one of their books. AND…. would I be willing to have it be part of a contest that their readers could participate in to win the heart.
I knew that my Mom would LOVE this, so of course, I cheerfully said yes indeed!
They paid me nicely and were a treat to work with. As well as a check, they also sent me a box of copies of the book (a pleasant read) which I happily shared with family and friends.
My work has been in a lot of books- ones that I have written, as well as books that I have designed projects for, but this one is certainly one of the quirkier experiences of co-creating with a publisher.
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 23 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- A video tutorial for making a tiny upcycled sketchbook and easy ways of drawing simple faces in it
I made a video tutorial that shows how to make an upcycled tiny sketch book and then how to draw simple faces in it as an ongoing daily practice.
That’s because I am going to be releasing a new pattern tomorrow for wonderful spool knitted dolls and I want people to be able to draw unique, one of a kind faces for their dolls.
I have found that using tiny upcycled sketchbooks to practice drawing faces is a lot like practising a musical instrument.
Daily drawing is the way to build creative stepping stones.
A little bit at a time, all the time.
Large gorgeous sketchbooks with expensive paper can be really hard to work with, but tiny ones that fit in a pocket and are humble paper make for carefree drawing.
About 30 years ago, I bought a small loom online and the seller tossed in an old spool knitter. Ooh! it had a face on it! My childhood spool knitters were spools with nails and NO faces. That little face on a faded old spool knitter inspired me. I thought: I could make dolls with spool knitting!
Ever since, I have been designing spool knitters and spool knitting. Hmm: Why only 4 nails? Can spool knitters be bigger? How can I use spool knitters in unexpected ways to make fun and useful things?
As a child, I loved spool knitting, and competed with my siblings to wheedle more yarn from our mother and grandmothers so we could furiously keep spool knitting. We would eye each other’s spool knitting to see who had the biggest ball of spool knitting and the longest cord. It never occurred to us that the spool knitting could actually become something useful!
Last summer, I wondered if my nephew, Kieran, (who is training in woodworking with his Dad) might be into turning spool knitters on the lathe. I suggested to my master woodworker brother Jonathan (@distinctivewoodworking), that we co-create some spool knitters. And, so we are working together (even though we live almost 4000 Km apart) to make wonderful, one of a kind spool knitters. (and small looms- but those are still in the ‘R&D’ stages).
I’ve made 3 tutorials showing to make papier mache spool knitters as well.
AND most important! I have been working on fun designs for things for people to MAKE with the spool knitted cords, because after all, you can infuriate your sibs by having a bigger, better, longer spool knitted cord than they do, but really- there’s a lot more fun to be had than just one upmanship in the realm of sibling rivalry. 🙂
And now, I’ll get back to work editing photos and finishing projects and writing instructions…. more will be unfolding as my 100 day project moves along.
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!
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