Loom Knit a Beanie for left handed beginners.

After having a mini break from blogging because of a 'little' surgery on my leg, it is time to let you know what's been happening in my creative world.

The title of this blog is a little bit of a fib. I'm not going to teach left handers how to loom knit because. Well, I'm right handed! How this came about is I happen to have an 8 yo granddaughter who has been hassling me to teach her to knit or crochet.

Problem no 1. I am right handed and she is left.
Problem no 2. My knitting skills are pretty hopeless.
Problem no 3. At this point in time she has the attention span of a goldfish and not the best fine motor skills.

Mikala age 4

She's only 4 in the above pic, but still sports the most glorious auburn hair and big cheesy grin!

Back to teaching her some form of fiber craft skill. (Her Mum was never interested in the finer arts of knitting/crochet)

We tried first with finger knitting with one finger. Nah! You should give this a go (as in teach someone), even with finger knitting you have 3 fingers on one hand doing different things. Let alone the other hand winding and pulling the yarn over! Fail! (totally forget trying to using two knitting needles at this point)

We tried crochet - but then you not only have the right hand/left hand issue, you have the controlling the hook, holding tension and both hands are going at the same time. Fail!

What to do? I then remembered my father had purchased a round loom knitting gadget for my mum when she had her first stroke. She had been an amazing knitter before but unfortunately, dementia was accompanying her in her older age and she had short term memory loss. So knitting was out for her and the loom sat in a box.

The loom pictured was found on Ebay, but you can pick them up anywhere like Spotlight in Australia for under $20.00
I knew I had to keep it simple with Mikala at this point, so decided to give loom knitting a go.

I'm not going to attempt to teach you how to loom knit as there is a plethora of great videos and information out there already. I did find this great little utube video created by what looks like a little girl not much older that my baby. Perfect!

So sitting with the smallest round loom and some red yarn in front of my computer, I created this.

Loom knitted newborn baby hat.

Now, not too bad for a rank beginner! Shame about the pom pom though. Its a shocker! :-)

So then I went and found some pink chunky yarn and started another, but this time left handed. Its actually pretty easy as there is not a lot involved and if I start it off and finish it for her then all she has to do for starters in get the hang of weaving in the same direction with the yarn going from inside to out. I'll let you know how she goes.

But in the meantime, I thought I would have a go at an adult size slouchy beanie for myself. I have to admit crocheting is a lot easier on my hands and this is a bit boring to do. But I will chip away at it!

Loom knitting an adult slouch beanie.

A little hint though, It creates a loosish weave, so to make a warmer hat double the yarn or use a chunky yarn. I am using an 8 ply wool blend here. Plus the special hook provided (which I'm sure makes the job easier) was missing, so I improvised with the handle end of a 2.50mm crochet hook.

I'll pop up a pic when I'm finished.

Have you got creative with knitting looms?

Just a little poppy or two

It was time to get back to painting. Time to really get stuck in with fingers and toes. Well not maybe the toes, but maybe a finger or two!

Red Poppies Acrylic Painting

A nice bright, cheery little canvas with lots of layers. She sits at the front entry of our home welcoming those that wonder through the door. :-)

Silk Painted Hibiscus

Tropical Hibiscus Flower

I love flowers. Can't get enough of them really! 

We are establishing a garden in our new home and eight months ago started planting cuttings of plants propogated from our previous home. Most of the successful cuttings were hibiscus shrubs, which it seems all have started growing successfully! At last count we have 15 hibiscus plants in about 6 different varieties all starting to flower! This time next year, it should be an absolute riot of colour! 

Just my style really!

Most of my art is inspired by flowers and when this little hibiscus flower popped up, I had to get out the silk paints and play!

Hand painted Silk Scarf

Not quite as apricot as the above flower. But still nice and bright I think. :-) Perfect for summer.

Floral Silk Scarf

The dyepot is brewing.

Hand dyed organic cotton scarf

My dye pot has been cranking this weekend! 

The above scarf was some fantastic organic, unbleached muslin that was wanting to become a scarf! I love how the immersion method I chose has created a great mottled look. Very earthy looking. 

I'm liking these scarves so much I may have to grab some more cotton for different colours!

And a special commission for hand dyed silk strings for a felting friend was made in four separate batches to create yummy reds, silvers, purples and browns.

Hand dyed rolled silk string

 And now its off to the workbench to paint a silk chiffon scarf. I have been inspired by one of our hibiscus flowers in a lemony, apricoty colour with pink centre. (very technical description of colour, I know!). Very pretty indeed!

What I'm 'supposed' to be doing is potting up two new hanging baskets and cooking for our Australia Day celebrations , which is tomorrow. 
But I want to play first! The other stuff is playing as well but not quite as high on the 'fun' priority list. :-/

Tea Cup Pin Cushion

I love teacups! Especially old teacups and saucers, which I have been collecting for a few years now.

Lovely old teacups

There is nothing better than tea in a bone china cup!

Anyhoo, there I was making myself a cuppa when I noticed hiding in the back of the drawer a lone cup. No saucer. Just this poor little cup that had managed to lose its partner during our latest shift. Now we all know that it is fine to have tea or coffee in a mug or cup and saucer, but it is not politically correct to have said beverage in just a cup. It just doesn't work! Its all in the balance you see?

So no one had used this little cup in the 12 months that we have been in our house, so the time had come to shift it to the 'useful' pile in my studio. Maybe to become part of a mosaic - or something.....

But then, there I was perusing Pinterest when I came across tea cup pin cushions. What a good idea I did think to myself! 

Tea cup pin cushion

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pics as I was going. But it really is a simple affair.

I have used some felt that I had already created, but you can use any fabric that you have floating around.

I cut out a circle of the felt about 2 inches larger in diameter that the opening of the cup.

Rolled up a wad of wool fleece that I had left over from separating Leicester wool locks for my store. This stuff is really good because it still has some lanolin left over from the cleaning process and it helps protect the pins.

You can use quilting or cushion filler though quite happily! You will need to add a little cover of some batting or felt though to get a smoother surface.

I then made a tacking stitch around the circumference of the outer layer and pulled it in a little to gather around the wad of filling.

This was tightened to make a ball and then the edges were stitched together to hold it in place.

A layer of glue ( I used mosaic glue, as normal craft glue didn't want to hold the fabric in place - but you could try hot glue?) was placed about an inch down the inside of the cup and the fabric ball sat in place.

I then put a book on top of it to hold it in place overnight.

And there you have it. I am now going op shopping to see if I can find a matching saucer. Something in gold I am thinking? Maybe a pink floral? What about spots!