Posted on 01/02/2022 6:45:01 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
The Monthly Fiber Arts Thread is a monthly gathering of people that love yarn and fabric of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first project, to experienced fiber artists and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
It is impossible to hijack the Monthly Fiber Arts Thread. Knitting, crochet, quilting, weaving, general crafting - there is no telling where it will go, and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our Fiber Arts Ping List.
NOTE: This is a once a Month Ping List. We do post to the thread during the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Fiber Arts fans are welcomed any time!
“Does fabric paint qualify?”
As an art form? Of course! We chat about anything and everything, ‘crafty.’
LOVE those Temperature Blankets - and scarves!
As always, I’ll recommend the book, ‘Knit The Sky’ by Lea Redmond:
https://www.amazon.com/Knit-Sky-Cultivate-Creativity-Knitting/dp/1612123333
Lots of fun knit/crochet projects inside!
Keep us up to date when you start a project with your knitting machine. I’d like to see how that works!
Thanks! I will!
My niece is an expert at everything she puts her hand to, like her mother was, so of course, she would have everything she needs. She’s even made mittens on the small one. Clever girl!
I posted that dog/booty pic on a family messenger group .... I don’t give them crochet/knitting any more (except for one person), but I mentioned I’d knitted 50 pairs of mittens .... maybe I should “diversify” this year?? That got a few LOLs, but I think some of them are going to hide their dogs when I’m around :-)
Currently, I am working on a pair of arm warmers for an elderly friend - I modified a pattern I’ve made once before. Lying in bed last night, I was thinking ‘knitting’ - I hate it when I’m knitting/crocheting in my head and can’t sleep. If I take yet another pattern, I can have the cable “coming out of” the ribbing on the cuff around the hand & it will go the length of the warmer & disappear into the cuff that is around the arm. I just looked at the arm warmer I did last night - wish I’d had this idea then. I could frog it back to the cuff, but maybe I’ll go ahead & knit a matching arm warmer. For the gift pair, I’d like to get a softer yarn - her favorite color is purple ... the yarn I have is Dusty Rose (Vanna’s Choice - not the softest yarn). A trip to Hobby Lobby is not possible today.
Here’s a link that shows the cable stitches coming out of the ribbing .... I can do this .... would only do one cable down the middle of the arm - not enough room for multiple rows of cable.
https://www.handylittleme.com/lallybroch-fingerless-mittens-knitting-pattern/
Original “plain” pattern that I’ve modified:
https://www.handylittleme.com/simple-knit-arm-warmers/
Do an image search for "antique woven hair jewelry"—it was a very big thing in Victorian times, especially for mourning.
Years ago I inherited a watch fob chain made of blond hair that I didn't recognize for what it was—probably a courtship gift from my grandmother to my grandfather, who always had a pocket watch—and thought it was "hairy" without realizing it was literally hair, and I tossed it. Could kick myself.
I believe those who made the jewelry for other than mourning collected their hair from their brushes. They used to make special containers for it to sit on the dressing table. Of course, all the women had very long hair in that era, done up in a loose bun on top of the head. I suppose they had to comb the loose hairs together the same way people do who weave sheep's wool to make yarn or fabric--I think they call it "carding."
One thing I noticed when doing the image search is that with the hair jewelry for mourning, you would expect most of the examples to be gray or white hair, but surprisingly many are of brown hair. One surmises that the deaths of younger people would hit the mourner harder and give more impetus for making the necklaces, brooches, or bracelets from their departed loved one's hair.
There is a tradition/superstition that knitting a strand of your hair into a work will tie the recipient to you. I think this was most common in Estonia, Latvia and Russia.
One of the reasons to collect your own loose hair was to make a hair bun stuffer for their pouf hairstyles.
I’ve been mostly doing knitted and/or crocheted tree ornaments. Most of them are lace, but I did a knitted death star for my sons in law and beaded hedgehogs for my daughters.
Now I’m addicted and can’t stop. Currently I’m making crochet Octopi ornaments. Pretty sure I am going to have to sign up to do a craft fair or two next year.
These are some of the needle point stockings, each brought, that my wife has made over the years for each grandchild. There was part of the family that was not there so this is only about two thirds but it give you an idea of some of her craft in that needle art form. She actually spends more time quilting, doing doll clothes and crafts and cross stitch than she does on needle point unless she has one of these to prepare for a grandchild.
I bet they could partner with the funeral home, have a couple of example pieces and a pamphlet in a corner, where people can see it but it’s not right in their face.
Those stockings are beautiful! What a labor of love! Thanks for sharing. :)
I am currently renovating an unheated, mid Atlantic zone house. I take old long socks with holes in heels, cut off the foot and use them as arm and leg warmers. Don’t care if I get paint, or caulk, etc. on them. When messed up enough I use them for cleaning rags, lots of really dirty floors and other spots in that 100 year old house.
Last night i was watching Antiques Roadshow. A woman had lovely filagree gold ring. One side lifted up on a hinge and there was a fine braid of human hair. The inside was engraved with the name and date of death of a famous woman author. I think it was one of the Bronte sisters, so the appraiser was pretty sure it was the deceased author’s hair and kept by one of her sisters. Sometimes when I am crocheting a hat I realize one of my long gray hairs has been crocheted into the hat, but I don’t think I will start saving hair for that purpose. ;-)
The Bronte Sisters were known to be a very productive group of writers. I think there were three or four of them.
If they had not been living in that isolated area of the English countryside, it’s likely there would not have been the drive to write and experiment with forms of prose as they did.
Sort of a Greenhouse effect; flowers blooming in a small terrarium made of bevelled glass and tempered steel.
The "Clara" pattern is very good and I used the Novita pattern for the little booties.
Gorgeous! I’m so jealous of all of you that can do this ‘fancy’ stuff.
I can crochet and sew in straight lines and that’s about it, LOL! Remind me again why *I* am in charge of this group? I just do the grunt work, then sit back and enjoy!
Absolutely LOVELY! Thanks so much for sharing. :)
Thanks so kindly. I have just hacked away at it.
My latest project has been a pair of arm warmers for my friend whose 86th birthday is the 15th. She's a "walker", which is how she stays healthy & strong. I planned on taking a very plain pattern & adding a cable to it from another pattern.
What attracted me to the particular cable I chose was the way the cable flows out of & back into the 2 x 2 ribbing on the cuff - I love that detail!
Here's a pic of the result .... I like the way it turned out. The arm warmers are straight off the needles, so once washed/blocked, the stitches will smooth out a good bit. I have them with hand/arm ends side by side. The arm end is a little bigger & slightly ruffled since I used a slightly stretch bind-off.
Links to the 2 "Handy Little Me" patterns used:
Je Suis Prest Arm Warmers Knitting Pattern
Lallybroch Fingerless Mittens Knitting Pattern
I think I'm going to make a Hobby Lobby 'run' this afternoon for more yarn. The Vanna's Choice Dusty Rose yarn used for the arm warmers was frogged from a project I was never going to finish. I'm not liking the feel of the yarn so much. My friend's favorite color is purple - I have the time to make another pair in purple & in a softer yarn like "I Love This Yarn". This pattern lends itself well to knitting 2-at-a-time so that's how I would do it. With more "weather" (3" is current forecast for more snow) on the way, this will be conducive to staying inside & knitting another pair. :-)
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