Butterflies are starting to show up where I live, and my daughter and I are excited to volunteer this summer at the butterfly house at our local botanical garden. She already knows a lot about butterflies, but for the rest … Read More...
Review: Learn-a-Stitch Knit Dishcloths
Not too long ago I shared a collection of washcloth knitting patterns and noted that washcloths are great projects for learning new stitches and techniques because they are small and don’t have to come out perfect (they’ll still wash things … Read More...
Give Your Cross Stitch People the Right Skin Tone
One of the popular genres of cross stitching these days is cross stitching family portraits, or self-portraits, or cross stitched versions of famous people or made up people or any combination of the above.
There are whole books and websites … Read More...
T-Shirt Knitting Patterns
I feel like I share a lot of summer tops and tanks, even though surely I don’t share more of them than I do sweaters, for example. See: easy tops | lacy tops | more summer tops as a few … Read More...
Fun End of the School Year Activities for the Classroom
I’ve written a lot over the years about different ways to mark the end of the school year, from printable award ribbons to making books, writing memories on stars, counting down to the end of the year, and … Read More...
Seed Stitch vs. Moss Stitch and How to Tell the Difference
I was reading a knitting book the other day that made it sound like seed stitch and moss stitch were the same knitting stitch, but that’s not actually true. I feel like there’s a lot of confusion because the same … Read More...
A Shawl to Wear While You’re Reading and Knitting
I know there are a lot of knitters who have to really concentrate on what they are doing and can’t do anything else while they are knitting. In time you can probably graduate to watching TV while knitting, but I’m … Read More...
Designer Spotlight: The World in Stitches
The thing that drew me to The World in Stitches’ Etsy shop was all the bright and cheerful color. The shop, which is based in the UK, has a header (as of this writing anyway) that shows four different colorful … Read More...
Knit a Cozy Sweater Perfect for Lounging
In my world, sweaters are for all year, but if you don’t wear sweaters in the summer and are in the Northern Hemisphere, this might be one to save for the fall. Our Southern Hemisphere friends can stitch this one … Read More...
Beach Cross Stitch Patterns
This is the time of year when I start wishing it were time for a beach vacation (and my daughter has decided she doesn’t like the beach so the answer to that might be about five more years). Whether you … Read More...
Knit a Market Bag for Summer
I love the idea of knit market bags and string bags (and crocheted bags, for that matter) but I’m not sure I had ever really knit one before. I have knit tote bags and purses, but never a lacy bag … Read More...
Patriotic Crafts for Kids
With Memorial Day right around the corner, it feels like we are hitting patriotic crafting season in the United States. We happen to have lots of patriotic holidays during the summer, so anything red, white and blue fits right in. … Read More...
Knit a Scarf with Bold Circles
I had kind of stopped sharing scarf knitting patterns for the summer, even though our Southern Hemisphere friends can still use them, but I will make an exception for this one, which I think maybe everyone should knit right now, … Read More...
Review: Knitting Bag of Tricks
There are well more than two types of knitters in this world, but for the purposes of this post let’s say there’s two types of knitters: those who learn a technique and always do it the same way without question, … Read More...
How Do You Store Your Cross Stitch Supplies?
Even though I’ve literally written a book on cleaning out and organizing your craft supplies, I am not the best at storing things appropriately. Especially my cross stitch supplies.
I have all of my thread in a plastic zippered bag … Read More...
Strawberry Activities for Kids
Strawberry season has already come and gone where I live, but I still think of strawberries as being a transition between spring and summer. They’re fun to talk about and explore any time of year, but if strawberries are in … Read More...
Knitting Patterns for Your Summer Picnic
I was thinking about sharing some patriotic knitting patterns going into Memorial Day/Flag Day/Fourth of July, but I’ve done plenty of those in the past (see: patriotic knitting patterns, and more patriotic knits and some more here).
But … Read More...
Learn to Knit Cables with These Basic Patterns
Cable knitting is, to me, more of a winter project, but I don’t really know why. I guess I associate cables with big, warm sweaters covered in cable patterns (even though I’ve never knit one of those) so they feel … Read More...
America Cross Stitch Patterns
I feel like Memorial Day is the start of patriotic season in the United States. We have Memorial Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July in a three-month span, and it feels like it’s always appropriate to have summer … Read More...
Outdoor Learning Areas and Ideas
When my daughter was really young, she went to an at-home daycare with a great backyard full of fun things for the kids to do. They had water tables and a sand area, birdfeeders and a place to do sidewalk … Read More...