A Flower Garden Afghan for N, Flower Garden CAL

I really enjoyed crocheting this afghan for my granddaughter. This was a CAL (crochet along) by The Knitting Network, and it's called Flower Garden Afghan, by Lynne Rowe.

I used Michael's yarns, mostly Colorwheel (Loops & Threads) and a size H hook (5.0). For the white, I used the larger balls of Michael’s Loops and Threads yarn in cream color.  The colors are these: mid pink, bright gold, deep purple, pool blue, lavender, purple, turquoise, fuchsia, and mid green.

I love the flower blocks in the center.  I added 2 extra to make the afghan more rectangular.

                                                          Flower Blocks

The other 2 blocks were Circle in a Square and Sunburst Squares. 

This was the first afghan I've pieced together from blocks.  I joined the squares together with single crochet in the back loops with wrong sides together (center loops).  There is a decorative ridge on the front of the afghan.  There are 6 flower blocks, 14 circle in squares blocks, and 22 sunburst squares.

I crocheted one round of single crochet in off white before doing the border. 3 single crochets in the corners, and one single crochet in every stitch and one single crochet in the chain 1 spaces. One single crochet in the corners between squares: (one single crochet, chain 1, one single crochet to join over squares.  I did 4 rounds of double crochet around the afghan and finished with a shell of 5 double crochets in purple. The corner shell was 5 double crochets (shell) chain 3, 5 double crochets (shell).  Finished size was about 42” by 50”.

Note about Sunburst square:  (Sunburst Granny) 4th round: Slip stitch in any chain space. Chain 3 (1 hdc) and 1 hdc in that space (2 hdc)
Next space: 3 DC, chain 3, 3 DC in this space for corner. Next space 2 hdc. 1 sc in top of next cluster, 1 sc in next chain space, 1 sc in top of next cluster. 2 hdc in next chain space.
Then next will be the corner again, and repeat around. It ends with the sc in the top of the next cluster and slip stitch into the 2nd chain of the first hdc.
This is more symmetrical than the original pattern directions.

I can't wait to give it to her!  

Natural Dyeing with Old Black Walnuts

Fresh green walnut husks are used for yarn dyeing for best results.  But, can you use old walnuts that you find lying on the ground in January?  Yes!  I got lovely colors from walnut dyeing this week in January.  The colors range from a light brown to a warm light/medium brown, to a reddish brown.  

On a nice January day while going for a walk, we found old black walnuts on the ground at the edge of our property by a creek.  They were brown and black, rotting, and broken.  I wondered if I could still get enough black walnut dye from the old walnuts, so we collected over half of a 5-gallon bucket.

I used a large canning pot and filled it with the black walnuts along with some leaves and water almost to cover the walnuts.  The water turned from clear to tan to brown pretty quickly.  After about an hour, it looked like this.

I cooked the black walnuts for 4 hours at just a very low simmer.  The black walnuts turned very dark, and the dye liquid turned almost black.

I soaked two skeins of Knit Picks bare worsted weight wool yarn in water overnight.  To the water in one bowl, I added about 3 tablespoons alum, and to the water in the other bowl, I added about 3 tablespoons of cream of tartar.  Walnut dyeing doesn't require a mordant, but the walnuts were so old so I thought I'd try using mordants.

Since the walnuts were so old, I didn't know if I'd get much color from them in the finished yarn.  Next year I'll collect the green husks and use those for walnut dyeing, but it was fun to experiment.

I removed each of the black walnuts from the dye bath the next day, and also put the dye through a fine sieve.  There were a lot of small walnut pieces and leaves that were collected in the sieve.

Next I put the yarn which was mordanted with Alum into the cooled dye bath.  I let the dye bath come to just a low simmer.  I simmered the yarn in the dye bath for 1 1/2 hours.


My granddaughter was my helper, and it was fun walnut dyeing together.  She loved it and wants to try dyeing with marigolds and Queen Anne's lace next summer.

The yarn looks so dark in the dye bath, but since the walnuts were so old, I assumed I would probably get a finished tan yarn, but I was hoping for more color.  I let the yarn cool in the dye bath for several hours.

The yarn was drained on a stick over the dye pot until it stopped dripping.  The weather was nice enough to later hang the skein outside to dry.

Here's how the skein that was mordanted in Alum turned out after rinsing it until the water was clear and letting it dry.  I am really happy with it.

                                  Wool Mordanted with Alum and Dyed with Walnuts

Next I dyed the skein of yarn that was mordanted with cream of tartar.  I placed it into the same dye pot, and I simmered it for 2 hours.  I let it cool for awhile in the dye before placing it on the stick over the dye pot to let the dye drain off. 

I hung the skein to dry.  Then I rinsed it until the water was clear and let it dry outside.
I love how this skein turned out.  I love the different shades of brown and reddish brown in it.

Wool Mordanted with Cream of Tartar and Dyed with Walnuts 

We really enjoyed experimenting with old walnuts for dyeing wool yarns.   Natural dyeing is so much fun because you really don't know exactly what color you'll end up with.

Christmas Bead loom Weaving

A bit more Christmas bead weaving, for 2 granddaughters.  These bracelets are fun to make. It can be difficult to find patterns for bead loom weaving for bracelets since I didn't want them to be too wide. 

Patterns that work for bead loom weaving include graphs for Perler Beads.  The beads for Perler beading line up like the beads for bead loom weaving.  Fair Isle knitting graphs also work.  I've heard cross stitch graphs work, too.  Peyote graphs do not work since the beads line up like bricks.  You can also use square stitch to make bracelets that look like bead loom weaving.

I used size 8 Toho round beads, One G thread, and a size 10 beading needle. I like One G thread much better than Nymo D because it shreds much less and is easier to thread the needle.  I decreased both bracelets to about 9 beads before adding the clasp. 

Beaded Thunderbird for Grandson

My grandson participates in Boy Scout ceremonies, so I beaded this Thunderbird wrist band for him.

I used size 8 Toho seed beads and Ultrasuede ends.  I wove with thread only for 3/8" at each end before gluing on the Ultrasuede ends. the Ultrasuede was 1 1/4" x 1 1/2" with the hole centered 1/4" from the fold.  I used Zap glue on the thread selvages and E6000 on the leather.  Let set for 24 hours. Leather string from Michael's. One G thread.

Christmas Bead Weaving: Minions

This Christmas bracelet is for my granddaughter who loves Minions.  I made it on my Northwest Bead Loom, and the beads are size 8 Toho beads.  Minion patterns are on Pinterest, and I added the Santa hats and made their overalls red.

 The Minions are Bob and Stuart.  :)  The beaded main portion is 4 1/2" x 1 1/2".  I decreased on the loom using 4 rows of decreases per side, which adds about 1" in length and finishes at about 3/4".

Notes: 36 rows plus center and end rows = 39 rows = 4 1/2". 5 1/2" before clasp.  New thread for clasp after weaving in all threads.  Lobster clasp and made adjustable chain. 7 or 8 beads to attach clasp.

Spinning Wheel Pic for FCFG Facebook Page

I love this picture of a spinning wheel that I used to update the Franklin County Fiber Guild Facebook page. 

The spinning wheel is a Jerry Jensen Traditional Production Wheel.  Photo by Jennifer Donovan.

Elissa Parish Demonstrating Tape Loom Weaving

This is Elissa Parish demonstrating tape loom weaving. "Tapes" (bands or straps) were widely used in Colonial America to tie clothing, tie grain bags closed, and many more uses. Tape looms were often made by the husband for his wife or a father for his children. The loom was made by Paul Parish.

I love my Paul Parish Tape Loom.