28 December 2017

Loom Love


A couple of years ago, a reader asked how much crochet thread I go through in a year. I took the above picture to illustrate how much crochet thread I'd gone through that year.

Other readers ask what I do with all those cardboard thread and yarn skeletons.

Well, I recycle and repurpose them, of course!


The cones, of course, go on to become Christmas trees or Pink October trees. Yes, I have a forest in the making.


While I was still volunteer teaching crafts on Tuesday nights, one of the girls' favorite activities was dyeing yarn with Easter egg dye and/or Kool-Aid. That meant I had to come up with a host of yarn-hungry crafts to teach the girls.


I thought I'd snapped photos of the girls building and then using their round looms, but I can't find the photos. All I could find is a photo of a circular loom that lost a tooth weeks later, and I showed the students how to combine the dropped loop onto an existing tooth and keep going if they were unable to glue the lost tooth back in place.


I also save yogurt lids, and we used them for circular weaving.


We did finger knitting. One of the girls later conducted a contest to see who could make the best clothing accessory with finger knitting, and I was surprised by how many of "my" girls jumped at the chance to enter! I took photos of some of the entries, but... must have been when my old iPhone was dying because I cannot find any of the photos of the girls with their yarn crafts.


We made flower looms from plastic canvas.


We crocheted. One of the girls made me a scrunchy with a crocheted flower. She came up with this idea all on her own. She just finished a full-sized afghan for her older sister for Christmas - without a pattern. It took her four months. She is still crocheting every day, years after I taught her! There is a joy beyond measure knowing at least one of the young girls I have taught throughout my life has taken the treasure given me by my grandmother and excelled in it.


I love to quilt, sew, weave, knit, embroider, bead, dye, draw, write, photograph, bicycle, and I love to repurpose everyday things into crafts. Crochet, however, seems to be my go-to project. It's calming. It's an explosion of creativity. It makes awesome gifts. It seems to bring smiles everywhere I turn.

It's wonderful to know my yarny craft(s) won't be gone from this earth when I climb that final mountain that hopefully leads to heaven.

Rainbow of Dragonfly Snowflakes




And now, for the pièce de résistance... Look what my sweet husband got me for Christmas! I cannot wait to use it!!! I wonder, could I do this on the commuter train?!? :)


Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

4 comments :

  1. Waste not want not sure applies with you. Always a creative way to use things indeed. Stinks the photos died with your old phone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Pat! I should have known better than to shoot with just the phone. Lesson learned...

      Delete
  2. Those are all wonderful yarn projects. Happy New Year! Found you on Whoop Whoop Friday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Carol! I’m hoping for a good snow so I can dye more...

      Delete


Dusty words lying under carpets,
seldom heard, well must you keep your secrets
locked inside, hidden deep from view?
You can talk to me... (Stevie Nicks)

All spam is promptly and cheerfully deleted without ever appearing in print.

If you are unable to leave a comment and need to contact me, please use the email address in the sidebar. Thank you!

Related Posts with Thumbnails