 Spool
knitting is the process of making knitted cord with spool knitters
(also called "knitting spools" or "French knitters"), tools that are
essentially very small round knitting looms usually with 4 to 6 pegs.
It's an easy way to make cord, and the resulting cord (similar to
i-cord) can be used for various embellisments and projects. Author and
designer Noreen Crone-Findlay is an expert on crafting and embellishing
with spool-knit cord, and she joins us to share her thoughts on this
easy and fun craft.
Spool knitting is one of my favorite ways of working with yarn. It's
a very meditative and contemplative process, and it also triggers
flights of creative fancy for me. Readers of the Lion Brand blogs might
remember the spool knitting blog that I had on the Lion Brand website
for several years, several years ago.
Over the years, I have designed hundreds of spool knitted dolls,
toys and pieces of jewelry. Spool knitting is wonderful for making
Celtic Interlace necklaces. I hope that you will enjoy making the
necklace (pictured right; click
here for the pattern) that I have designed for the readers of the
Lion Brand newsletter!
I love using spool knitting to embellish bags, and find that it is
particularly harmonious with small loom weaving. This is why you'll see
so much spool knitting in my new book, The Woven Bag. (Click
here to see more info about the book.)
If you look at the bags on the cover, the white bag in the photo is
a backpack that is elegant and understated, with a spool knitted Celtic
interlace knot on the flap, and spool knitted edging around the flap.
The drawstring is also spool knitted. (Spool knitting is perfect for
drawstrings!)
At the other end of the spectrum are stand-alone spool-knit pieces
like the necklaces shown in the pattern above.
I also really enjoy finding new ways of working with spool knitters,
and have shared this delight by making lots of video tutorials. I have
listed their links on this
page on my website.
If you have questions about The
Woven Bag or about spool knitting, feel free to ask them on my
blog, www.tottietalkscrafts.com!
I'll be happy to answer them!
Happy weaving and happy spool-knitting,
Noreen |
