Holiday projects

I've been busy designing baby hats for Bernat, so I've not had much time for personal knitting. However, before the holidays zipped on by, I wanted to post some pictures of some of the little items I've done on the side over the past month or so. Unfortunately, I don't have time to include pattern instructions, but perhaps you can look at them for your own loom knitting inspiration.

Santa face pin or fridgie

Every since I first spied these crocheted Santa face motifs a couple of years ago, I've wanted to make something similar on the knitting loom. Well, I finally sit down and figured one out. I used 12 pegs of the 24-peg Knifty Knitter large gauge round loom for the most part with one strand of Red Heart Super Saver yarn. The mini-pompoms for the hat and nose were completed using a four-prong fork.  These are so much fun to make!

Loom knitted snow flakes

The Yahoo Spoolknitter Group recently had a Snowflake Competition. There were some really creative snowflakes made mostly with I-cords. The following include some of my experiments:

Two more berets 

I did these berets back in late October. Both were done on the Knifty Knitter large gauge round loom using one strand of chunky Loops & Threads Charisma. The gray one is based on a DROPS design called Basque.

The red beret below is an original design for a basic beret. Both berets are made sideways using short rows, but the brims are made after adding the body of the completed hat back to the loom.  

Make your holidays be bright and joyful!!

Acorn tawashi

The late night TV programming has been intriguing lately: Deadly Women, Snapped, Who the [Bleep] Did I Marry?, Wicked Attraction, and my favorite - Tangled ......I know, I know, strange mix. So what has that got to do with knitting? Well, the kids are in bed, hubby is asleep in front of the computer, my is dog curled next to me so now I can knit and solve crimes at the same time while the rest of the household sleeps.

One of my recent fun projects was a loom knitted version of a needle knitted pattern, Acorn Tawashi by Marte Fagervik from Ravelry. I made mine in the round on the Knifty Knitter Long Loom without the loom clips. I've found that omitting the loom clips and just crossing over to the opposite side of the long loom works great for items such as a tawashi or a potholder and it helps the finished item to lay flat.

My loom knit version is actually a very loose translation of the original version and there are a number of things I would change if I made another one. What I want to do is create a similar acorn, but with different proportions (i.e., shorter body, bigger cap, etc.). Perhaps if I paid more attention to my knitting and less attention to the TV the acorn would have worked out right the first time.

May the bounty of the season fill your heart and home!

Indian Corn Hot Pad

Indian Corn Hot Pad or Potholder

Remember the Indian Corn project from last November, where I used the reverse side of the linen stitch to create the "Indian corn" look. Well, I liked this stitch so much that I decided to design a large (9 inches square) super thick Thanksgiving hot pad or potholder around it this year and I'm really pleased with the results.

The Indian Corn Hot Pad was designed for the 36-peg large gauge round loom, but could easily be adapted to any of the large gauge looms with an even number of pegs. Also, I used double worsted weight (8 ply) 100% cotton yarn by Peaches & Creme in Shaded Brown, which is the equivalent of using two strands of the regular 4 ply cotton yarn. The double worsted weight Peaches & Creme yarn is hard to find, but it is a joy to knit with on the large gauge looms.

Construction of this hot pad is a little different from any I've seen elsewhere. It is made in the round using the 36-peg large gauge round loom, but since the reverse side of the linen stitch was used for this project, I placed markers on pegs 18 & 36 and purled these pegs. When the hot pad was removed from the loom and turned inside out, the purled pegs formed a chained or braided stitch pattern along the sides which helps define and maintain the flat square shape. The tube is flattened and closed along the cast on and bind off edges using any form of grafting technique or slip stitch crochet. This is an easy way to create a super thick hot pad using a variety of stitch patterns that might otherwise be difficult to do a knitting board.

Indian Corn Hot Pad

Materials

• Large gauge round looms with even number of pegs & loom tool
• Yarn: 100% cotton worsted weight or double worsted weight in variegated shades of brown
• 2 stitch markers
• Other supplies: scissors, crochet hook, yarn needle

Gauge: 8 stitches X 16 rows = 4 inches

Finished Size: 9 inches (36-peg loom); 7 inches (30-peg loom) or 6 inches (24-peg loom)

Linen Stitch Sequence (Modified for this this pattern. A detailed explanation of this stitch, which is typically used on an odd number of pegs, can be found in the Indian Corn pattern.)

• Sequence A: k1, *sl1 wyif, k1; repeat from *
• Sequence B: sl1 wyif, *k1, sl1 wyif; repeat from *

Close-up: Linen stitch reverse side

Instructions for 36-peg large gauge round loom

1. Place markers on pegs 18 and 36.
2. Cast on all pegs in the round using one strand of double weight or two strands of regular worsted weight cotton yarn.
3. Round 1: Work stitch sequence A on pegs 1-17; p1 on peg-18; work stitch sequence A on pegs 19-35; p1 on peg-36.
4. Round 2: Work stitch sequence B on pegs 1-17; p1 on peg-18; work stitch sequence B on pegs 19-35; p1 on peg-36.
5. Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 until hot pad measures 9 inches (approximately 36 rows) from the cast on edge.
6. Bind off loosely and remove from loom.
7. Turn knitted tube inside out since the inside will be considered the right side.
8. Shape into a double flat square by folding along the purled side stitches.
9. Close the cast on and bind off edges by either stitching using a yarn needle or slip stitch with a crochet hook. 
10. Optional: Chain or I-cord a hanging loop in one of the top corners of the square.

 Enjoy and use when things are too hot to handle!

Fleur-de-lis Jack

 Happy Halloween

from Loom Lore!

My grandson's jack-o-lantern was carved as part of the local Boy Scout's Pumpkin Carving Contest - thus the "fleur de lis" face.

This is "Trixie", the little witch with a "magnetic" personality. She was knitted on a little spool loom as my contribution for the October Halloween Fridge Magnet Competition on the Yahoo Spoolknitter Group. 

Baby Gran Afghan

About a year ago I taught a class in Yahoo's LoomClass where the featured project was a motif I designed called the Baby Gran Squares. Today I want to share with you a beautiful afghan that Swapna Biswas, one of my star students, has recently completed. Swapna describes the afghan as follows:

• I used Brenda's Baby Gran Square for the 24-peg large gauge round loom
• Each completed motif was a 3.75 inches square
• 165 squares were used (11 squares wide X 15 squares long)
• With a crocheted border added, the afghan is 4 ft. wide X 6 ft. long

Here are additional pictures of Swapna's "loomchet" afghan:

Individual motifs ready for joining

Close-up view of afghan

 

 

 
Crocheted border

Great job, Swapna!! Thank you for sharing your project pictures.

Patriot Pin

The Patriot Pin is a quick-knit just in time for July 4th. So simple to make, but very festive! Here's how:

Size: 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter

Materials

• Knifty Knitter Flower Loom
• Loom pick
• Red Heart Super Saver yarn in red, white and blue
• Crochet hook or yarn needle to secure yarn tails
• Small sequin star or button for center

Note: Pin was worked in a counterclockwise direction in the round using one strand of yarn with the indicated colors and the 12-peg loom. The direction you work in really doesn't matter, but is stated here for clarification of the bind off explanation.

Instructions

• Cast on using the drawstring method (see Techniques in right sidebar).
• Rnd 1: Flat knit all pegs.
• Rnd 2-3: Change to white; flat knit both rounds.
• Rnd 4: Change to red; flat knit all pegs.
• BO using an I-cord Picot method as follows:
  1.) Bring the working yarn from the last peg knitted and wrap it across the next two pegs as pictured below.
  
  
  
  Flat knit the bottom loops over the working yarn on these two pegs.
  
  2.) Reach below the first peg knitted and lift the strand of yarn onto the peg; knit off. (This removes the gap between the last row and the picot bind off edge.)
  
  3.) Continue wrapping the working yarn across both pegs and knitting off three more times. After completing the last I-cord stitch, the working yarn will be at the second peg.
  
  4.) Lift the loop from the second peg, place it on the first peg and knit the bottom loop over the top loop. Return this loop to the second peg.
  
  (Note for peg-1 only: After binding off peg-1, reach down and lift the base of the I-cord stitch and place it back on peg-1. This will be used when knitting the last I-cord picot stitch at the end of the row.)
  
  5.) Bring the working yarn from behind the current peg, wrap across the current peg and the next peg.
  
  
  
  Flat knit the bottom loops over the working yarn on these two pegs.
  
  6.) Repeat steps 2-5 until one loop remains on peg-12. Cut the working yarn and pull the ending yarn tail through the last loop. Use a crochet hook to fasten the ending I-cord stitch into bind off edge.
  
• Cinch the drawstring cast on tightly; knot to secure and trim.
• Add the sequined star or star shaped button to the center. (Note: I found my sequined stars near the scrapbook section at Michael's.)  

 Now you are ready to attach a pin to the back and wear with pride!! 

May you have an awesome 4th of July!!!

 

Quick can koozies

Whether you call it koozie, coozie, cozie, kozie, huggie or holder, this is the perfect warm weather project for the loom knitter. Made using Red Heart Super Saver Economy yarn on the 24-peg large gauge round loom (Blue Knifty Knitter), the basic project works up in about an hour or so from start to finish. While I used patriotic colors, any combination of colors, both variegated or solids could be used. These could also be embellished with duplicate stitch embroider to personalize or add a team logo.

Cotton is a wonderful absorbent fiber, but I prefer using 100% acrylic instead of cotton for the koozies. One of the reasons is the acrylic knit dries more quickly than cotton without the worry of mold or mildew. Also, wet circles on tables and other surfaces where cans/bottles are set results from condensation running down the sides to the bottom of the can. The knit can koozie hugs the can preventing the moisture from running to the bottom - instead it is disbursed through the knit stitches in the koozie and evaporates evenly around the side surfaces of the can. Cotton is absorbent and will not allow the moisture to evaporate as quickly as the acrylic, so the cotton will remain damp longer.

Anatomy of a can koozie

To reduce the bulk on the bottom of the koozie, a single stand of yarn is used for the drawstring cast on (see Loom Knitting Techniques in the right sidebar) and the first three rows. A second strand is added on row four and the remainder of the project is knitted using two strands as one. A garter stitch pattern is used in rows six to eleven to create the rim along the bottom of the can. After completing the bottom garter stitch rim, the body of the koozie is done completely in a flat knit stitch. I usually close the drawstring cast on edge sometime after row fifteen or sixteen. As you can see, the bottom begins to take shape:

To match the bottom rim, the top rim is finished using six more rows of garter stitch pattern and then a basic flat panel bind off is done along the top edge. Below is a bottom view of the completed can koozie:

 

This koozie will not only fit on a 12 ounce drink can, but it also fits many brands of water bottles. Below is a picture of the koozie on a 20 ounce Vitaminwater Zero bottle. 

 

Fresh off the press, the pattern can by accessed in the Pattern Box on the right or by clicking the link: Quick Can Koozie. 

Here's is a little trivia - just in case you are in doubt about the spelling of "koozie", which seems to be anybody's guess. I had seen it spelled so many different ways that I had to research this one before deciding on which spelling to use. I googled it four different ways: cozie, coozie, kozie & koozie. Here are the results:

• cozie: This resulted in assorted images, a few of the things like I made (beer bottle covers, toaster cover, etc.) but most relate to other topics as a derivative of the word "cozy". However, the most disturbing was how the Urban Dictionary defines cozie: "An underage girl who loves dressing like a ho (hozy) but her main focus is trying to get cozy with older men; they can usually be found in groups of 2 or 3 sitting at the bus stop but never catching the bus. Example: Check out those cozies sitting at the bus stop. They must be 13 years old!!"
• coozie: Google asked did I mean "koozie". However, this is a viable alternate spelling since the can & bottle covers come up in abundance in the images section.
• kozie: Kozie chrbty (Slovak, literally "goat ridges") are a mountainous area in Slovakia, part of the Carpathian Mountains, where uranium ore may be found. The images section show smiling goats, mountains, a few things I had rather not have seen, and only one can cover.
• koozie: Wikipedia actually has an entry for Beer koozie and there is a site dedicated just to the Beer Koozie.  Also, just about all the images for this spelling display the can & bottle covers, so, this is why I decided on the "koozie" spelling as the one of choice.

Who knew knitting can/bottle covers could be so educational?

Baby Gran hexagons

24-peg Baby Gran Hexagon Motif

Better late than never! Here are the Baby Gran Hexagon motifs that were originally offered in Yahoo's Loom Class Group about a year ago as a bonus pattern for those who completed the Baby Gran Squares. Of all the motifs I've designed, these are among my favorites. The hexagon shape is well suited to the simulated granny design and produce very symmetric motifs that fit together well.

As with the Baby Gran squares, the hexagons come in two sizes. The 24-peg Baby Gran Hexagon motif (pictured above) is made on the 24-peg Knifty Knitter round loom and measures approximately 5 inches at the widest point. The 12-peg Baby Gran Hexagon motif (pictured below) is made on the 12-peg Knifty Knitter flower loom and it is about 3.5 inches at the widest point.

12-peg Baby Gran Hexagon Motif

These little motifs are so versatile and portable, plus they are great stash busters.  Here are a few examples of projects made with the hexagon motifs:

• Pincushions
• Floral Hexagon Bag
• Tote Bag
• Hexagon Baby Ball
• Scarf
• Afghan
• Bag-Basket 
• Amigurumi Turtles: Taylor Turtle & Sea Turtle

Also, they a make great coaster! I would love to see your Baby Gran Hex projects!

Baby Gran squares

  12-peg Baby Gran Square (3 inches)

Here's another type of granny squares that I designed for the Knifty Knitter Looms and taught in Yahoo's Loom Class Group almost a year ago. I call these little squares, "Baby Gran" squares, because they are smaller than standard granny squares. Please note that these squares are made totally different from the original Granny-On-The-Loom Squares (GOTL).  The GOTL squares are actual crochet stitches that are produced using two pegs on the knitting loom instead of a crochet hook. The Baby Gran squares are made using knit stitches that simulate crochet and incorporate all the pegs on the loom.

24-peg Baby Gran Square (4.5 inches)

The Baby Gran squares include two designs, a Baby Gran Square12 and a Baby Grand Square24. The 12-peg square incorporates the Knifty Knitter 12-peg Flower Loom and produces a 3 inch square. The 24-peg square is made on the 24-peg Blue Knifty Knitter round loom, which produces a 4.5 inch square.  These can be made in solids or muliti-colors and assembled into afghans, blankets, bags, shawls or incorporated as trim on other projects. This is a fun, portable project, plus a great stash buster!

I did approximately 60 of these little motifs (coasters anyone) when I was designing this project and every one of them looks different from the others, because I was constantly making changes in stitches, yarn or improving techniques used in creating them. I promise that the more you make, the better they look, so don't give up on your first few attempts. 

Assorted Baby Gran Squares

My next blog post will feature the Baby Gran Hexagon motifs. So stay tuned!

Irish Washerwoman and other squares

Since St. Patrick's Day is around the corner and in honor of my Celtic heritage, I decided to knit a square using Sugar 'n Cream Lime Stripes. The results is the Irish Washerwoman square, named after the traditional Irish jig. This is a fast-paced little melody that you will most likely recognize when you hear the tune played: Irish Washerwoman.  

The Irish Washerwoman eight inch square was knit using two strands of yarn on eighteen pegs of the Knifty Knitter 24-peg blue loom and incorporating what I call the 2-peg stitch double flat knit stitch, which is a variation of the mock crochet stitch. Oddly enough, this square can be knit to the beat of its namesake, but I strongly advise a version with a little slower pace. The 2-peg stitch double flat knit stitch has become a favorite of mine over the past couple of years since it produces a nice stitch pattern with edges that don't roll. Since I use this stitch frequently, I also developed a special cast on and bind off that matches the stitch pattern. In addition to the Irish Washerwoman square, I used the same stitch pattern with one strand of Loops & Threads Charisma chunky yarn in Sunny Day. The square below is a 10 inch square made using all 24 pegs of the Knifty Knitter blue loom. This square will be part of my Caribbean Dreams afghan:

I had been on a "squares" kick for the past couple of weeks, prior to knitting the Irish Washerwoman cloth and the Caribbean Dreams square. This was triggered by Kelly Jones latest LoomClass offering, Andalusian Washcloth.  Although this pattern was recommended for a fine gauge loom, I had decided to try it out on a larger gauge loom, mainly because fine gauge knitting tends to cause numbness in my hands. The Andalusian results are pictured below:

The smaller sherbet colored cloth on the left was made on the CindWood 1/2" gauge loom with one strand of Sugar'n Cream Over-the-Rainbow yarn. Using one strand on the regular gauge loom probably accounts for it's distorted hour-glass shape. The larger cloth was made using all the pegs on the Knifty Knitter 24-peg blue loom and two strands of Sugar "n Cream. I added a one inch garter stitch border to the beginning and end of the cloth. I actually meant to do a garter stitch border along the sides, but I didn't think of it until I had knit about 10 rows, so it only has a slip stitch border on the sides.

I've thought of another little project I would like to do for St. Patrick's Day, but as the old Irish saying goes:

“You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind!”

Pansies

 Pansies

~ Sarah Doudney (1843-1926), English Novelist ~

I send thee pansies while the year is young,
Yellow as sunshine, purple as the night;
Flowers of remembrance, ever fondly sung
By all the chiefest of the Sons of Light;
And if in recollection lives regret
For wasted days and dreams that were not true,
I tell thee that the "pansy freak'd with jet"
Is still the heart's ease that the poets knew
Take all the sweetness of a gift unsought,
And for the pansies send me back a thought.

I had intended on posting this pattern almost a year ago. However, I wrote the pattern for the pansies about the time I lost Shandy, my Maltese, and little did I know that would be one of several other personal loses during the year. I was so grieve-stricken that I didn't blog much until fall and that didn't seem like a good time to blog about pansies. So now, with spring just around the corner, I decided to do the "pansy" post. 

These bright little flowers are made of five individual petals, two large and three small, all knitted as flat panels on the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom. They are a little fiddly to make, but the biggest obstacle to overcome is mastering the color changes which is explained in the Pansies pattern. Designing these colorful little flowers, also called Heartsease, has brought me much happiness through those who have enjoyed making them.

If you have an inquiring mind, you can learn a little pansy history from these sites:

•  Pansy Flower Photos
• The bloom of the Pansies: curiosities, insights and photos
• Viola Music: Pansies and Violets 
• Pansy

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I have. Remember, comments are always welcome!

Spool Knitted Valentine

 Spool knitted Bunny Valentine

The Yahoo Spoolknitting Group recently had a Two-in-One competition in celebration of their fourth year as a group and Valentine's Day. To join the competition, group members had to create a group Anniversary/Valentine card that incorporated some type of spool knitting. I'm elated to announce that out of all the wonderful entries, my Bunny Valentine (pictured above) was the winning entry and this is what I won (isn't she gorgeous?):

Elodie Rouge French Knitter

Components of The Bunny Valentine were created by manipulating I-cords knitted on the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom and using fabric adhesive to attach them to decorative card stock. Here is a breakdown of the yarn and the number of pegs used for each component:

• Celtic hearts border: sports weight yarn in rose knitted on four pegs.
• Bunny: white bouclé yarn; body & head done on five pegs using combination e-wrap & flat knit; legs, arms & ears were done on two pegs. Eyes & heart were embroidered with a French Knot nose added.
• Rose bud: red worsted weight knit as a flat panel on four pegs.
• Rose leaves: green worsted weight wool knit as flat panel using four pegs & decreasing to one peg.
• Rose stem & Violet stem: green worsted weight wool on two pegs.
• Violets: worsted weight yarn in blue/purple done on three pegs, knitted for 3 inches, joined in a "doughnut" circle, gathered in the center of the circle and add a yellow French knot in the center.

I would like to take a moment to thank two special ladies who promote the art of spool knitting. First of all, a big "thank you" to Marion Clark (aka Maz), our fearless group leader, for organizing the competitions and maintaining the Yahoo Spoolknitting Group. Be sure and drop by Maz's blog, Spool Knitter for more information on spool knitting. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank Noreen Crone-Findlay, a renown fiber artist (Tottie Talks Crafts & Crone-Findlay Creations), and owner of the Yahoo Spoolknitting Group. Noreen, whose creativity is boundless, has been instrumental in reviving an interest in spool knitting over the years. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Now give someone you love a hug!

Love is in the air

After having fun with the Lovebugs, here are a few more Double Hearts projects for Valentine's Day. The first super simple project (actually more of an idea than a project) features two of the medium-sized Double Hearts attached to an I-cord. Doing this allows you to use a Lark's Head Knot and attach them wherever you like. A full explanation of the the medium-sized Double Hearts, I-cord and Lark's Head Knot are included in a modified pattern call Heartstrings.

My good friend Althea Burger sent me two more Valentine projects that she created using the Double Hearts pattern, too. The first isn't a new pattern at all, but a modification of two previous patterns, the Double Hearts and Ghost Angel.  Here the Valentine Angel is knitted in pink and features the matching pink Double Hearts for her wings and a red heart for the heart in her hands. 

Althea's other creation using the Double hearts is called Love Birds. Below are pictures of two different versions of the Love Birds, along with Althea's directions for making them.

Lovebirds on the Loom

Materials:

• Pink or red "Double Heart"
• 2 plastic eggs 2.35 inches
• Knifty Knitter Flower Loom 12 pegs
• Small amount of white 4 ply yarn (the yarn I used with silver thread though it does not stretch well on the loom and I don't recommend it, but it's pretty)
• Small amount of gold or yellow 4 ply yarn for beak.
• Small amount of black 4 ply yarn for eyes.
• 2 Styrofoam balls 1 inch (25 mm)
• Yarn Needle

Body

• Use flower loom and drawstring cast on. Knit for 10 rows and cinch the CO edge closed. Hide ends.
• Knit for 18 more rows leave 12 inch tail. Use yarn needle to remove from loom and place the plastic egg and a Styrofoam ball inside piece before drawing up the end. The Styrofoam ball for the head should rest on top the larger end of the egg. Do not cut yarn.

Head

Use the tail of yarn from the body and yarn needle to thread yarn through piece, up and under ball and around it to make the neck. Draw it up tight and tie off.

Tail

• Cut 15 inch piece of yarn (if using yarn with silver thread though it, remove silver strand first). Fold the yarn in half twice. 
• Use small amount of yarn to tie the folded pieces in the center. 
• Sew this to the smaller end of egg for the tail. Cut the loops. 
• Use needle to separate yarn strands to make them fluff. Trim to whatever length you want. 
• Do the same with a smaller piece of yarn for the top of the head. Fluff that too.

Beak

Use gold or yellow and just sew a few stitches on bird's face and then using same piece of yarn sew other bird's beak (so they are attached and look like they are kissing). Tie off.

Eyes

Use a small piece of black yarn, separate it into 2 ply strands and make French knots or you can leave the faces blank or even make eyes with a black marker. I found I can hide my yarn ends by pushing the yarn needle right through the Styrofoam ball and cut off excess yarn.

Heart

Make red or pink Double Heart from pattern and add to front of birds. You could attach it with yarn or glue it. It should also help the birds to stand up.

May your Valentine's Day be filled with lots of crafty love!

Lovebugs

Sparky Lovebug

When a Valentine project was needed for Loom Class, I was asked to do the Double Hearts pattern. Originally, the Double Hearts pattern was intended to be a springboard for other projects, so I suggested some of the projects that incorporate the Double Hearts instead. One of these projects from my design book was a little amigurumi lovebug, "Sparky", pictured above. He is actually version 2 of his somewhat fatter cousin, "Lotsa", pictured below.

Lotsa Lovebug, front & back

"Sparky" Lovebug is four inches tall and the original "Lotsa" Lovebug (above) is just a bit taller at five inches. The main difference in the two is Lotsa's body was made as a continuation of the head on the 12-peg Knifty Knitter Flower Loom. Sparky's head is made identical to Lotsa's, but his smaller body was made on the 8-peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom and included an extra stripe. Both versions use the Double Heart pattern completed using 5 pairs of pegs on the Knifty Knitter Long Loom.

The Lovebugs pattern, which includes both versions, is located in the Pattern Box on the right or by clicking the link at the beginning of the sentence. Hope you can join us next week in Loom Class (Jan 31-Feb 5, 2011)!

Postcard from the loom

Front of the postcard

Look what I got in the mail - a beautiful loom knitted postcard from my loomy friend, Vanessa Soto in Florida. Vanessa is one of those rare people that has the ability to see beyond the boundaries imposed by mainstream thinking and instead of asking "why", she proceeds with a "why not" attitude. This postcard is just one example of her creative fiber artwork.

The background of the postcard is knitted with a garter stitch using Michael's Loops & Threads Charisma yarn. The basic design is needle felted with worsted weight and textured yarns. Other related multimedia items are glued in place and chipboard is added to the reverse side to create a writing surface. Due to the dimensional nature of the postcard and the possibility of it being damaged in the mail, the card was mailed in a small brown envelope.

Currently, Vanessa is developing a tutorial for making loom knitted postcards. The tutorial will be offered through the Yahoo Loom Class Group in early spring. In the meantime, my lovely fiber postcard will reside in a special shadowbox for all to admire.

Back of the postcard