This blog post is a few miscellaneous thoughts and hints for yarnies like me. I hope one of them may help make your yarn crafting adventures more enjoyable.
The Knifty Knitter cord loom is a fun little gadget. It makes a nice cord with 5 pegs, but if you want a smaller cord you can use 3 pegs.
Jute or grass twine makes a lovely cord for trivets or even little baskets.
I find that alot of times my Martha Stewart loom pegs don’t want to stay put. It’s a major irritation.
I first tried yarn stuffed in the holes, then tried bits of paper, then masking tape, they worked but I wasn’t happy with them. Then I tried painter’s tape and I haven’t looked back.
I use a layer(or 2) of painter’s tape over the loom holes.
I use a toothpick to break the tape over the hole and then push the peg in.
This method works really well for me.
I had My first experience at rolling a ball of yarn that wasn’t end fed like the 4 ply skeins I usually use.
I got frustrated at first with the skein tumbling and capturing everything including the attention of (our dog) Sheli. He and I got into a bit of a kerfuffle for a few seconds.
I stuffed the skein into a plastic grocery bag and hung it on my arm. I quickly discovered that not only was it protected from Sheli, but it fed easy and rolled beautifully.
I do love accidental discoveries. 🙂
I bought my first couple skeins ever of bulky yarn. It’s Lion Brand Hometown USA
It’s a bulky yarn and is 81 yards long
I wanted to see how big a square made with 81 yards would be, so I crocheted a solid granny square. I used a size N crochet hook. The square came out to be about 12 inches x 12 inches
I decided to try a regular granny square and was amazed that it too came out to be about 12 inches x 12 inches… I would’ve thought that it would have been bigger.
Anyway, this was a pretty good experiment because now if I want to make an blanket of granny squares out of bulky yarn, I can better guess how much yarn I need.
I’m envisioning a big bulky blanket of 12 inch squares. I think it would be fun to try. I may make one sometime.
This is all my thoughts and hints for the moment.
I hope they’ll help make your yarn crafting more enjoyable.
You’re welcome to share your hints if you want too.
Here’s wishing you happy
adventures in crafting!
🙂
When I was but a girl I use to make cord looms out of cotton reels and panel pins, using crochet cotton yarn to make place mats, thanks for the memories
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You’re welcome Roma1912
Sounds like you were a creative child and you’ve grown into a creative adult as well. I like that. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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My grandmother taught my sister and me to knit and crochet. I didn’t do a whole lot with knitting, but I crocheted many things, including a very large afghan made from crocheted squares of pink, green, and brown I had forgotten about until we found it in mother’s things. I crocheted Christmas stockings, snowflakes and wreaths for the tree – about the size of a fifty cent piece. Finding these brought it all back. What a gift from our grandmother!
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Thanks Renee,
That’s a helpful and lovely legacy to have handed down to you & your sister. Your Grandmother sounds like she was my kind of people. It’s bittersweet to find artifacts of youth. Thanks for sharing your sweet memories with me. 🙂
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Hehehehe my daughter has just started learning to crochet and is now firmly hooked. Told her today she is now officially a hooker. Wish I was there to see her face. But its always fun when someone asks me what I do, my reply of course is I am a hooker. Priceless to see their faces! Enjoy your hooking. I am an old hand at crochet
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Hi Susanben
Welcome to my blog.
lol I guess it gave your daughter quite a giggle.
It’s great your and your daughter share the enjoyment of crochet.
Thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment.
I hope you’ll visit again sometime.
🙂
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E.C., love the hint for keeping the yarn in a bag. I’ve just wound some yarn into a ball after untangling it. What a mess it was!
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Thanks Charlotte
I wish I’d thought of the bag years ago, it would of saved me alot of time when balling up yarn.
I know how them yarn messes can be. Not very fun, but worth the effort most times.
🙂
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