Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Dalle de Verre – Kitengela Glass Studios

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Dalle de Verre in a bank in Nairobi by Kitengela
Dalle de Verre in a bank in Nairobi by Kitengela

My good friend and glass goddess Leigh Adams just returned from Kitengela Glass Studios in Kenya. What an adventure. The day before yesterday I was fortunate enough to get a look at half of the pictures she took while there. This coming week I’ll see the rest. I’ll also get some copies form her to share with you. One of the glass techniques that was all over Kitengela is dalle de verre which is a cross between mosaic and stained glass. It’s really beautiful. It’s used for windows quite a bit. Leigh said it was all over her house she stayed in while at Kitengela. She has the pictures to prove it.

Dalle de Verre at Kitengela
Dalle de Verre at Kitengela

Dalle de verre is created with cast glass…blocks of glass…sometimes almost like billets. The various pieces are connected together with cement or epoxy depending on the creator of the piece. This is a technique I’m very curious to learn about. In my search around the internets I even found that Blenko Glass sells dalle de verre glass.

Dalle de Verre glass from Blenko Glass
Dalle de Verre glass from Blenko Glass

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Small Halloween Knitting Patterns

If you’re looking for cute and quick Halloween knitting patterns, you’ve come to the right place. This collection of small patterns is perfect for last minute decor or when you want to make a bunch of the same thing, or you’re just looking for some quick gratification. 

These little treat bags from Dolly Time are so cute, and the little appliques of a pumpkin, cat, witch and owl could also be used on other projects. They call for DK weight yarn to make 5 by 4.5 inch/13 by 11 cm bags; use thicker yarn to make bags that are a little bigger if you want. All the knitting is done flat. 

This Halloween collection from Milla Mia (available as a free download on Ravelry) includes a cute knit bat (shown here) and spider, as well as candle wrappers featuring bats, cats and spiders. They all use DK weight yarn. To make the bat you’ll need a tennis ball or a foam ball to make the body. 

Another creepy cute free download from Ravelry is this knit eyeball pattern from Mary Jane Mucklestone. These would be fun to make into backpack charms or earrings, or to hide around the house as a funny Halloween prank. I’m sure you can come up with lots of other ways to use them, too. The ones shown were worked with fingering weight yarn, but again you can change up the yarn to make them bigger. How about a blanket yarn eye shaped pillow?

The Halloween hangers from Lorraine Pistorio are just cute. These designs are worked in DK weight yarn and include a ghost, candy corn, pumpkin, Frankenstein’s monster and witch, all with cute little faces. They are worked in the round and considered intermediate patterns. You can find them on Ravelry.

Speaking of backpack charms, Gathered has a set of four little Halloween charms that are perfect for backpacks, keyrings, or to make into a garland. The free pattern includes a bat, cat, Frankenstein’s monster and witch’s hat. They use DK weight yarn. 

Ruby and the Foxes has a few Halloween themed bunting patterns that would also be cute to stitch on washcloths or other projects. The graveyard set is shown here, but there are also black cats and other images to choose from. The patterns use DK weight yarn and include tips on how to make the project into a bunting. 

If you want to knit actual washcloths for Halloween, I like this pumpkin shaped one that’s a free pattern from Colour it Green. The original uses DK yarn but worsted weight cotton is easier to find and will just make it a little bigger.