Today, I figured out how to make a Yarn Baby (Yarn Tassel Doll) that hugs your finger like the Comfort Bears.
We all need a little extra comfort these days, so having a small yarn doll in your pocket to give you a hug when ever you need it is a good idea!
Take good care of yourselves!
Here’s the how to video
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:
In my previous post, LINK, I introduced the wonderful Latchet Lucet that I designed and Dewberry Ridge looms is building and selling.
A lady asked me if it’s possible to make lucet cord with just one hand when using the Latchet Lucet.
My first response was- Of course!
Then then, I thought: Oh! I should try it…
And I did, and it works great!
I made a little video showing how to do the One Handed Lucet Cord (very Zen 🙂  )
I am so pleased that people who have an injury or a challenge of some other sort will be able to create beauty with the Latchet Lucet! Â Yay!
My Celtic Interlace necklace pattern in my etsy shop works great with Lucet cord: LINK
All the lucet cord projects on my youtube video channel LINK work beautifully with the Latchet Lucet cords.
Here’s the link to buy the Latchet Lucet: LINK
Happy cords!
Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, jewelry, Lucet
I am just over the moon 🙂
I love working with Lucet cords, and sometimes, I work with miles of them.
So, I wanted to be able to make oodles of lucet cords more quickly.
After a LOT of tinkering around, and much experimenting and many different iterations, Â I was happy with the prototype for the Latchet Lucet.
I talked to Donna and Gary McFarland at Dewberry Ridge Looms to see if they were interested in making it.
Yes!
Yay!
Gary is a master craftsman and excellent designer.
He took my design and fine tuned and honed it and here is the result:
This glorious piece of work:
Here it is, attached to the table with the spiffy clamp that Gary found after a lot of research:
It is a very happy tool for co-creating with  the Thumbelina, Mollie Whuppie, Vasilisa  and Star looms.
(well…. any and all looms, really).
Here’s a video of it in action:
Here’s the link to order one:
The projects made with Lucet cords in the following videos work perfectly with the cords made with the Latchet Lucet:
It’s just sooooooooooooooo much fun!
Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, Lucet, video tutorial
Butterflies are the symbol of transformation, and since everyone I know seems to be experiencing some kind of transformative experience or another, it seems to me to be a good time to make some little butterflies.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
They are very quick and easy to make, using a Lucet – although you can also use spool knitted cord, if you prefer.
They can be used to embellish anything that you can think of, or can be stitched to a ribbon for a book mark, or have a pin sewn to the back so they can be worn on a hat, bag, scarf or lapel. They can be attached to a key ring.
They can be used in scrapbooking or card making.
It’s lovely to have one in your pocket to give to a friend who just needs a little comfort…..
Here’s the video for how to make the butterflies:
We are in deep, cold, snowy mid winter in Western Canada, so it’s lovely to have butterflies flittering about the studio, even if I had to make them myself! 🙂
That just reminded me of something that I hadn’t thought of in years….
My mother used to give us ‘Butterfly Kisses’, which were a quick little flutter of her eyelashes on our cheeks.
That’s a dear memory to suddenly pop up…Â sweet!
Butterfly kisses all round! ❤
I am hopping up and down with delight!
For the last couple of years, I have been working on the designs for 2 new small looms: A Star and a Dragonfly.
I’ve done dozens and dozens of variations and iterations, and now, they are the Bee’s Knees. Poifeck.
I took my designs to Donna and Gary McFarland of Dewberry Ridge looms and asked if they were interested in making them as part of their ‘Lil Weavers’ series, and they said, ‘Yes, indeed’.
Gary is working magic with his CNC machine and I love how he is building them.
We’ve decided to not show the front, working part of the loom, because, to be perfectly honest, we’ve worked so incredibly hard on them that we don’t want to be ‘scooped’ on them. It’s happened in the past with other designs, so we’ve chosen to be more circumspect about these ones.
Instead, I’ll show you the back of the looms and the dragonflies and stars that you can weave with them.
You can use yarn OR wire to make the niftiest dragonflies and stars:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
The stars and dragonflies are somewhat challenging to weave, so I have made really detailed step by step instructions with full photographs.
To order the looms, please send Donna an email: donna@dewberryridge.com
The looms aren’t quite up on Donna and Gary’s website, but when their internet issues are up to speed, the looms will be on:
http://www.dewberryridge.com/collections/lil-weaver-looms
I am thrilled… I hope that you’ll love them, too!
Every year for Christmas, I make our family and friends a new Christmas ornament.
This year, I’ll be weaving stars and dragonflies for them! 🙂
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
I absolutely love Lucets.
I have designed and made a very small lucet that is my all time favorite.
It’s only 2 inches by 2 inches, and so it’s so easy to take with you wherever you go.
I am selling them in my etsy shop, here:
I’ve made 4 video tutorials that show how to use the Lucet to make cords, and then some wonderful things to make with them.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
The first video shows the basics of cordmaking on a Lucet:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
The second video shows how to add buttons, beads, charms and found objects to lucet cord – great way to make a wrap bracelet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtw1U22wuo4
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
The third video tutorial shows 3 different ways of making button closures using Lucet cords:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vlus76Owqc&noredirect=1
The 4th video shows how to make knots and Celtic interlaces to make beautiful embellishments and jewelry:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF73AXpGa2k&noredirect=1
Here’s the template for the 4 loop Celtic interlace knot:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
All my spool knitted patterns and designs will work beautifully with Lucet cords, so please check out my etsy shop for those, too: Link
Filed under buttons, jewelry, Lucet, tutorial & how to, video tutorial
Today, Tuesday March 3, is a day to celebrate little girls and to wish them hope and protection.
In Japan, today is the day that elaborate displays of precious dolls are created….
Paper dolls symbolizing things that are unhappy are placed into boats and set afire, to take away the unhappiness…
And, little girls are invited to have marvelous teaparties with their friends and their dolls.
I wish I had known about this when my daughter was little, because we would have teapartied heartily!
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood, so I say:
Get out your dolls and have a teaparty!
Make some paper dolls that symbolize some kind of unhappiness that you are ready to let go of, and then burn ’em.
I am going to celebrate by sharing a picture of one of the new dolls that is in my just about to be released book:
‘Spooligarumi: Cute & Easy Spool Knitted Dolls & Toys’
Here’s the Fluffy Bunny Spooligarumi Doll – Perfect for celebrating Doll Festival Day:
My new downloadable pdf book:Â Spooligarumi: Cute & Easy Spool Knitted Dolls & Toys
is now available from my website .
All text and images on this site are copyright protected and not to be copied or shared without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission
When I am feeling sad and upset, I find it really helps if I make some Angel dolls.
This week has been a corker, with the death of our beloved old horse, among other challenges.
We have done a whole lot of soul searching, and have decided that we just can’t handle having horses anymore. So our dear little girl horse that we adopted a year and a half ago is going to go back to live with her momma and birth brother. She’s going to be well and truly loved and cared for.
This has been one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make in a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time, so believe me, I really have been needing to find comfort. (And yes, I certainly do pray, and meditate, so those are the source of great comfort, but making angels is also a HUGE comfort.)
So, in the interests of invoking Angel Energy for ourselves and for everyone else, too…
I have designed these sweet little, easy to make spool knitted angels.
I began with a design that I had developed a few years back and have re-fined and polished it. I am really happy with it now.
You can make the little angels very quickly and easily and can make them truly one of a kind by changing the yarn (handspun would be perfect)
and whether or not you add buttons for the face,
or add loops or other kinds of hair…..
I also like to stitch a pin to the back of the Angel, so I can pin it on my lapel, or scarf, or shawl, or bag, or hat….
I need to make a bunch more so I can send them and give them to friends and relations….
The more Angels there are, in every way, the better it is!
You can order the pdf for the pattern for the charming Tiny Spool Knitted Angel from:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/48409301/pdf-pattern-for-tiny-spool-knitted-angel?ref=shop_home_active_3
Please note that the images on this blog are copyright protected
and are NOT to be copied without permission.
Thank you.
I am inviting people to a Green Challenge of making a handmade book that has big envelopes or plastic sleeves to hold their sketches, notes, clippings, pdf’s etc.
See: Challenge posting
Just for fun, I thought that I would post a few pics of some of the handmade books I’ve made over the years:
Here are some handmade books that I made and then glued origami angels to. (yes, I made the angels)
The angels are all very eco friendly and ‘green’ as they are recycled and upcycled, as they are all made from junk mail or magazine photos
I’ll post more pics soon.
All images are copyright protected and not to be copied without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission
Noreen Crone-Findlay, designer and author
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 