Category Archives: Historical Textile

Cable Needle Ring… Tute (I love mine!)

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This is another of those things that I found online several years ago. I made one and let it set in my knitting box for years.  I cannot tell you where I found because I really don’t remember.  If you have any idea who came up with this wonderful idea I would love to know and give them the credit they deserve.

I’ve used cotton yarns to knit dish cloths and face cloths for my nightly knitting to the point that I have about 30 stacked away in drawers.  I do love the plain garter stitch ones to use as face cloths.  They are so soft on my skin that I seldom use anything else.  However, there are only so many plain garter stitch ones a person really wants to do.. ;o/   I decided that these wonderful small projects would be good to try new things… hence the cables.  After losing my cable needle a of couple times down the side of my chair, I decided to dig out this little ring and see if it works.

I love it.  No more fear of cables.  Just wish I had pulled it out sooner.   The picture above shows how the ring is used.  Very practical and easy.

The picture on the left shows the finished dish cloth.  The beginning of the cloth is at the bottom.  This is the practice for  making the cables front to back.  The upper part of the cloth is practice making the cables front only.  I can’t believe how much this little ring made a difference in how I feel about knitting cables.

Making one is as easy as measuring your finger.  Mine is 2 ½ inches around.  I wanted the ring to  ½” across.  Here’s what I did.

1.  I cut a strip of fabric (I used cotton) about 2 ½” long by 1 ¾” wide.  This time I used fabric ribbon.  The selvages are tight and it’s woven closely.  The grosgrain ribbon would make a good ring, but for the purpose of this tute it didn’t work out very well.. ;o)

2 I folded the cut piece in half lengthwise and pressed it with my iron.

3. I opened it back out flat and then I folded the edges back to the fold line in the middle and pressed each side.

4.  For this ring, I used regular sewing thread to make my cord for the buttonhole.  Crochet thread, yarn or any other cord of the right size would also work for this.  I sewed the two ends of the cord together, placed them to the inside of the folded ring and sewed it very well to the end of the ring fabric.  Then I continued to sew along the end, the side and the other end to completely sew the ring together.  I did this with a needle and thread (please don’t look closely at the stitches..lol) because it seems the electric cord and foot pedal for my sewing machines decided to stay behind.. I guess they just didn’t want to leave!  This is much faster with a sewing machine.. ;o)

5.  Now I placed the ring around the finger that I wanted to use it with to decide the button placement.  I marked where I wanted the button with a pen.

6.  By sliding the needle with the thread still connected through the center of the fabric ring and coming out again at the mark I made for sizing, I continued bye sewing on the button with no cutting of my thread.  This step you may want to do differently.  You can certainly fasten your thread firmly, cut it and then come back to the mark to place your button.  Either way, the button needs to be very securely sewn on.  Voila’…

You now have a Cable Needle Ring…

If you decide to make one of these, please let me know.  It would be nice to see if anyone else finds these as useful as I do.. ;o)

Have a wonderful day.  The sun is shining here in North Texas and temps are in the low 50s.  Still not too bad for this time of year.   Thanksgiving is coming up soon and here’s wishes for everyone to have a lovely day with family and/or friends.. ;o)

Cross Stitch Fan? … Free Patterns

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I receive the email newsletter from the e-magazine  Cross-Stitching.com .   This is a great site for anyone who enjoys cross stitching and wants to keep up with what’s happening in the cross stitching community.  I’m always on the lookout for free patterns and believe me… they have some really wonderful ones.

This sampler is one I did for my son and his partner for Christmas one year.  It combines a verse from a card that I received in the mail and several small free patterns that were found in different places.

Let me say here that I am in no way associated with this e-mag.. ;o)   But I really do enjoy getting their newsletter and visiting their site.

Hope you day is filled with fun things to do..

A Little Frustration Goes a Long Way…

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I really like to weave on my Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom.  Since the move to the new house there has been little time.. so when I did get to sit down to it I was really frustrated with the edges being very loose and the center being the usual terrific weave.  There was no way I could get the tension to hold evenly across the 6″ scarf.  Finally in total frustration I cut the 6″x 11″ piece that I had been working on off the loom  and removed the yarn off the back beam.

Now I could see what was happening!  Flash back to last April.  Just before the move.

I was warping for a project and suddenly one of the braided strings on the back beam broke loose where it was melted together.  I cut barely an eighth of an inch off and re-melted it together.  Surely this tiny bit of difference in the length of the loop wouldn’t make ANY difference…   HAH!

This particular loop was in the center of my back beam… When I held the back dowel straight out and pulled to see the tension it was obvious that the center was short and would leave loose loops on the ends.  This is what was making the sides of my scarf droop.

 

If you notice the end of the weaving in the bottom right photo you can see that the looseness just got worse the further along I went.

I removed all of the braided loops, re-cut them to the same size and melted the ends back together.  Now I have completely even tension all the way across my loom.

So… to sum up…just a little bit of difference in the length of the braided loops does make a difference…  check your tension all the way across your back beam before  you start your project… I’ve learned my lesson.. ;o)

Hope you have a wonderful day!

“Can’t you buy more perfect yarn at the store?”

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Have you ever had that question asked?  In fact… have you ever had it asked over and over?  I have. 

The thought behind that question is that homespun is thick and thin, not always perfect… Well.. here’s the answer in a photo.

This yarn is “I Love This Wool” .  It’s made for Hobby Lobby in Turkey.  While I do love this wool, I found many knots where the yarn had been tied together after a break.  The photo shows that purchased yarn is just as thick and thin as our home spun yarns…

When I spin there are unquestionably thick and thin spots.  But there are no knots.  In a production line they don’t take the time to felt the yarn together… they just tie a knot …

And… I can blend whatever I want into my spinning… a little silk here, a little alpaca there… maybe even a little camel.. ;o)

Have a great day!

Rug Hooking… (couldn’t wait… ;o)

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Well… are we surprised that I just couldn’t wait?  This hook is the only size I could find in our local Hobby Lobby and I bought one yard of fabric at the same time.  This could be a really fast and fun project if I could figure out some way to hold the hoop down firmly.  Will have to work on that.. ;o)

I cut my fabric so I could have one piece large enough for a rug and two pieces just the right size for pillows.  The yarns are homespun and I guess I’ll just have to spin some more so I can dye it black.  The pattern will be edged in black so it will look like stained glass.  Didn’t think of in time to do the center of the flower..duh

Loving this.. ;o)

Our friends have arrived from New Jersey.  What an absolute pleasure they have been!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and don’t forget…. A day without a hug is like a needle with no yarn!

Hooked… on Rug Hooking! Free video tute…

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I should never have opened my Halcyon Yarn email… sigh..  There is an article in there about rug hooking.  Now..a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away…  I needle punched a bedspread to fit my son’s crib.  We called it punch work and used a punch needle to make chenille but it is basically the same thing.  It was the cutest thing you have ever seen.  There was a carousel horse surrounded by a circle of color and ribbons that surrounded the edges. It was lovely.  This was used on the crib for all my babes..      Well.. it was one of those irreplaceable things lost in the tornado..  I have often wondered about taking that craft up again.  It’s only been 45 years… hmmm

This time I would  like to do a few rugs to put beside the beds since I really don’t want (and don’t have) any carpet in my house.   Take a look at the video.   Susan Stephenson  shows the basics of designing your own rugs.

Very tempting for me to run to Hobby Lobby and BEGIN!   lol    Will try to resist the urge for a bit.. at least until I finish a few of my many UFOs.. Or maybe not…

Have a wonderful day.. ;o)

How I Make a Pom Pom (Tutorial)

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When I put together my little baby cap, I used the first pom pom I have made in a long time.  I know there are little gadgets out in the commercial world that will help with this task.  But…what if don’t have one of those??? …..hmmm…

Years ago as a young stay at home mother, with only one income for the family,  there wasn’t much money for those little gadgets.  So I was taught to make them using only my fingers, yarn and a pair of scissors.

First… cut a piece of your yarn/string about 7 to 8 inches long and lay aside.

 

 

 

 

 

Begin by wrapping the yarn around your  3 middle fingers loosely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue to wrap until you have a pretty full “ball” on your fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slide the “ball” of yarn off your fingers gently .. keeping them aligned as closely as possible.  Using the piece of yarn/string that you cut earlier, wrap it around the center of the flattened “ball” and pull tightly… tie with a firm knot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It should look like this at this stage.  Do not clip off the string you used to tie it with.  This will be used later to attach the pom pom to your project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using sharp-pointed scissors, slide the scissors into the loops formed when  the “ball” was tied together and begin to clip them open… going completely around the circle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After going completely around you will find that there will be loops that have been missed.  Go around again looking for those missed loops and be sure that you have cut them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holding the thread you will use to attach the pom pom with as closely to the ball as you can, begin to clip the pile into a round ball.  Using the picture as a guide you can see that clipping will firm up the ball into a nice round shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue clipping until the pom pom is in the shape of a ball.  You will probably have made several “rounds”… clip the longer threads, fluff the ball to make any stragglers stand out, clip the stragglers then fluff again.  In the end you will have a lovely little pom pom.

 

 

 

Using this technique you can make them any size you would like.  You don’t need to buy several sizes of gadgets. These little pom poms can be made into almost anything you can imagine.  Make a basketful and then attach them all together in the shape of a doll..  or maybe a puppy… Use tiny ones for buttons.  If you use cotton yarn to make them, they are completely washable and safe for baby.  ;o)

I hope you find this tutorial useful and as much fun to use as I had putting it together for you.  ;o)

We are so enjoying the cooler weather that has been with us for the last few days.  It looks like the 100° days will be back, but at least we’ve had a breather.  ;o)

Have a wonderful day…

 

Red River Fiber Arts and Kool Aid Dyeing

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Yesterday a few of “us girls” from the RRFA  gathered at my house and we had a “Dye In”… ;o) I had some Blue Faced Leicester spun up and some mystery wool roving so we proceeded to dye it. What a fun day! Here’s pics…

I put some vinegar in about 4 gallons of warm water and put the yarn in to soak about 30 minutes before everyone arrived.  I found out later from Pat that I really didn’t need to do that since the Kool Aid has citric acid in it already… Good to know…

 

 

 

Pat B., Barbara and Sonia arrived and we got started.  I had a piece of mystery wool moorit roving that was about 7 feet long.  I decided to try my hand at dyeing roving only because Pat was here to bail me out if I tried something really dumb… ;o)  We had some lemon-lime Kool Aid and I really wanted to see if I could come up with a heather look roving.  So we tried it…

 

 

I thought it turned out fairly well.  I did find out that one should put some of the dye into the bottom of the microwaveable container before the roving is placed in it.  The bottom of the roving did not take up much of the dye.  As a result the colors are staggered throughout the roving.  I think it will be more of a tweed look when it is spun.  I think I will like it!

 

 

 

And this is the finished BFL yarn.  I was trying for a golden yellow and ended up with a lovely, lovely golden/orange.  Very nice… not brassy.

 

All in all a very lovely, productive day.  Nothing better than good  friends, warm brownies and large pot of Mandarin tea to make the day wonderful.  ♥

Have a wonderful day!  ♥

Sticka till Barbie… Merry Christmas! 1000 free patterns….

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I seem to have missed an entire month.  But… there is much going on.  We are building a new home and believe it or not, it is taking some time.. ;o)

For those of you who are Barbie fans, or have daughters or granddaughters who are… Here is a site I KNOW you will love.  Over 1000… that’s ONE THOUSAND…. patterns for a cool Barbie and Ken, Abba, or other wardrobe.

Amazing… Have a look…

Apple Leef Farm… Second Saturday Spin-In Day! (free patterns)

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This time last Saturday I was on my way to Van Alstyne, TX with my friend Pat.  It was my first time to attend a spin-in and the first time to Apple Leef Farm.  What a lovely day!  I had no idea there was such a well stocked spinning shop anywhere in the vicinity.  Leef hosts a spin-in the second Saturday of every month.  There were 4 spinners and Leef already spinning when we got there and the number grew as the time went on.  (That’s my friend Pat over in the  left center of the picture in the salmon shirt.  Thanks again, Pat.  I loved this.)

We had a spinning good time for a couple of hours or so…everyone had something to talk about… and  talk we did..lol  It was so much fun watching everyone with their different wheels and the different ways they had of spinning.  One young lady was a new spinner and walked around asking questions.  Everyone was friendly and encouraging, helping in any way they could. 

Around 1pm or so everyone adjourned outside to the picnic tables…to the never ending joy of the canine buddies.  Leef has one such buddy that looks exactly like the dog my grandfather had that could ride a bicycle and pull the wood sled….and is even named “Sandy”.

I still think food eaten outside tastes better than any other food.   Leef is the lovely lady  in the green t-shirt with the lovely shoulder length white hair.

I was truly excited to see that she has many colors and kinds of dye stuffs.  While I love my kool aid, sometimes I would like to have a more intense color or an in between color that I find it hard to mix with the colors of kool aid.  I bought 3 colors of the Jacquard dyes to see if I can come up with a graduated blend for a scarf or shawl that I plan to do later this year.

See that ball winder there on the edge of the table in the pic to the left … I have it earmarked in my brain for my next purchase..lol  But this time I found some absolutely gorgeous, silky, I want to lay and squirm around in it  60% Merino 20% Cashmere 20% Angora roving that I could not leave alone.  I bought 8 oz. of it.   (Having a fit here trying to get everything spun up that is on my wheels so I can get to it..lol )

She also has a tahkli that I really, really want.  It would be wonderful to be able to sit back in a chair and spin with a supported spindle.  There was something about spinning that tahkli… it was mesmerizing.

Amazingly, I actually got a lot of spinning done while having such a good time.   This is definitely a good time that I will repeat every 2nd Saturday that I can.. ;o)

P.S.  Leef has really nice free patterns  and tips/info on her site.   Have a look… ;o)