I have been holding onto this Etsy shop to share with you when we got a little closer to Christmas, because as of this writing 17 of the designer’s 39 cross stitch charts have a Christmas theme. I think we’re … Read More...
Play Battleship with a Hundreds Chart
Teachers are always coming up with fun ways to use Battleship in the classroom for teaching different concepts. My teen recently made a Battleship game in Google Sheets for her computing class, which used conditional formatting so when you guessed … Read More...
How to Keep Your Place in a Cross Stitch Chart
I love to help my fellow cross stitchers to make this craft easier and more enjoyable, so I love sharing tips when I come across them that will make it easier to have success.
When you’re working a small project, … Read More...
Book Review: Knitting with Dog Hair
If you’ve been around the knitting world as long as I have (or even longer!) you might remember the book Knitting with Dog Hair. First published in 1994, the book by Kendall Crolius is being reissued for its 30th … Read More...
Only Murders in the Building Cross Stitch Patterns
I don’t know why it sometimes still surprises me when I go to look for cross stitch patterns from a particular fandom and end up finding them. I should know by now that there are cross stitch designers who are … Read More...
Learning about Bosnia and Herzegovina for Kids
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes also known just as Bosnia, is a country in southeastern Europe that was part of the kingdom (and later the republic) of Yugoslavia. It declared its independence in 1992, which led to a war that ended… Read More... A Quick and Easy Baby Blanket to Knit
We had a bit of a fun surprise over the summer when a friend announced they were adopting a baby, with less than a month to go until the due date.
It’s never a good idea to spring a surprise … Read More...
Designer Spotlight: Ruby Red Thread Design
Calling all lovers of geeky and gamer cross stitch! I’d like to introduce you to Ruby Red Thread Design, a Canadian Etsy shop full of projects you’ll love if you’re into Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, Final Fantasy and other geeky genres.… Read More...
Knit a Flock of Flamingos Hat
Winter is coming for us in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s just a fact. But we don’t have to give up on bright colors and fun, whimsical, even summery feeling knitting projects while we’re waiting for it to warm up again.… Read More...
Using the Scientific Method with Kids
The scientific method is the basis for all research that’s done in science, and it’s how we go about doing experiments in the classroom or in the real world. You probably remember at least parts of it from your own … Read More...
How to Finish off Thread on a Cross Stitch Project
I’m usually not all that interested in making the back of my cross stitch projects very clean. I know it’s a nice thing to do, but I tie knots in my threads when I start stitching, and sometimes I’ll tie … Read More...
Turkey Themed Knitting Patterns
There aren’t a lot of knitting patterns out there that are specific to Thanksgiving. I’ve done a roundup of turkey knitting patterns before, and I checked in on Ravelry and didn’t find a lot that is new since then, but … Read More...
Dia de los Muertos for Kids
Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a holiday that honors people who have died and is mostly celebrated in Mexico. It can be fun to add a little bit of learning about Dia de los Muertos … Read More...
Candy Corn Math Activities
Last year I wrote a post of learning activities using candy corn (or related to candy corn) and as controversial as eating this candy is, it’s clearly a favorite of folks who make printables and learning activities for kids. So … Read More...
Cross Stitch Patterns to Show You’re Thankful
The whole meaning of Thanksgiving is to say and show that we are grateful for the positive things and people we have in our lives, so it makes sense that a lot of Thanksgiving cross stitch patterns would center on … Read More...
Are Free Patterns Worth It?
I’m a member of a lot of knitting groups online, and it’s always interesting to me to see people asking for help finding knitting patterns. Often they will specify that they only want to work with free knitting patterns.
There … Read More...
Halloween Dice Games for Kids
There are lots of different ways to incorporate dice games into your Halloween content at school or at home. Using dice is a great way for kids to practice one-to-one correspondence and counting, or for older kids it just adds … Read More...
Knit a Lavish Shawl with Lace and Bobbles
Full disclosure: I’m not much of a bobble person. I don’t love knitting them, and I don’t usually like the way they look on knit fabric. I’m not going to yuck anyone else’s yum, but they’re generally just not for … Read More...
Designer Spotlight: Mrs. Peggoty Arts
If you like your cross stitch projects with a literary twist, you’re sure to love the Etsy shop of Mrs. Peggoty Arts. This shop based in Italy describes itself as being “where art meets literature and other incredible things.” Let’s … Read More...
Book Review: Diwali
It may just be because I live in a part of the country with a lot of people from India, but I feel like Diwali has been gaining in awareness in the past few years and is becoming a holiday … Read More...