I haven’t read the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie books in decades, but a happy memory that lives on is the image of women crafting, their hands busy with making things both beautiful and useful. The women are seated around a table, enjoying a break from regular routines as they engage in…
Category: How-to
Playing Dress-Up with DIY Ombre
Welcome to my new bathroom! Thanks to the straightforward DIY instructions in a recent West Elm catalog, walls that were once a neutral beige are no longer. Hello, fun factor! Here’s the how to do it yourself from West Elm: 1. Pick your palette. Choose three shades of one color. (I chose the two lightest…
Memoir Comes Full Circle at Vogue Knitting Live
Smack-dab in the heart of New York City’s Times Square thousands of knitters and fiber enthusiasts converged for this year’s Vogue Knitting Live 3-day event. There were free lectures, like this one with Debbie Bliss, who described how to create flattering knitwear for all body shapes. To be honest, since my bust inflated from menopause’s…
My Interpretation of the Gypsy Rose Blanket
Remember this garden-inspired basket of yarn stash? The transformation into a very different kind of flower bed has begun — one that will keep me warm and cozy while snuggling on the sofa with a good book this winter. The Gypsy Rose Blanket made by British crafter Adaliza is constructed with crocheted squares, but I…
There’s a Blanket in the Garden
Since the moment I laid eyes on Adaliza‘s crocheted wonder, Gypsy Rose, in Kristin Nicholas’ blog post, I was full-on in love, but working with wool in the heat and humidity of summer is not what I do, so I went a little wild and ordered a mountain of Kristin’s Julia yarn (discontinued but recently reissued as…
Anatomy of a Craft Idea
Did you know that gladiolas are August’s flower? Perfect segue to today’s post. The handwoven shawl in the photos below all began with a single one of these, in a deep fuschia. The technical details are: the shawl is an 8-harness twill, woven with three different tones of pink warp threads (those vertical and threaded…
3 Lessons from My Etsy Journey
The pictures on the Etsy home page are sumptuous, the success stories of featured artisan sellers guarantee pure inspiration. “Dreamers Into Doers,” another of Martha Stewart’s ventures, has been a virtual cheerleader. And at the root of my own dream are the expensive lessons from my experience with an old-fashioned brick-and-mortar store front. When I first…
How to Make Miniature Wattle Fencing for your Fairy Garden
Ingredients: willow branches, wide tape, heavy duty scissors, string (I used the strings from a tea bag) How-to: 1. Remove all leaves from the branches. 2. Posts: Cut 6″ lengths of the willow branch; for this garden, I worked in a 7-stalk panel. 3. For the weft, as we call the horizontal fibers that weave…