tutorial

When I was working on the Paperclay Leaves last week, I was absent-mindedly rolling some of the cut-away clay in my hands. Before I knew it, the blob was shaped into a peg form. Well, it took me about 3 seconds to decide to make some gnomes. What a shocker, right?

Anyway... I ran a copy of Wee Folk Art's Waldorf Style Gnomes, both the adult and the child patterns, pulled a couple wooden pegs out for sizing, and before I knew it, I had me a gaggle of gnomes. Well, actually, I had 2 gnomes with plans to create a gaggle :)

So, here are the directions to make your own Paperclay Gnomes. Note: I would not consider these to be children's toys. Although all the materials are non-toxic and child safe, they will break if played with in an exuberant manner... and I ask you... what child DOES NOT play exuberantly? BTW: You can use other clays to make this project, too.

It took a couple ounces of paperclay for each gnome.

Materials:

• paperclay
• water colors
• sealer Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish from Dick Blick
• copies of Waldorf Style Adult Gnome and Child Gnome patterns

To Shape:

Make copies of the adult gnome and child gnome. Cut out the hat and cloak for each gnome. When cutting out the hat, cut the hat so you leave only a 1/4" beyond the overlap line. You will not need the body wrap.

If you have wooden pegs, you can use them as models. If not, you can use the illustrations on pattern pages for sizing. Roll out a body and a head.

Break a toothpick in half. Rub water on the top of the tube where the head will rest. Insert the half of a toothpick half way down into the center of the tube top.

Place the head on top, pushing gently and turning slightly back and forth to help the two surfaces of the clay to bind. Stand the gnome up, making sure the bottom is flat so the gnome is not leaning. Note: both of my gnomes lean a bit and that is fine! Just make sure it stands without falling.

Pat a piece of clay in your hand and roll like a pie crust. Lay the cloak pattern piece on the clay, and cut around the edge with a sharp knife.

Put the cloak on the gnome, overlapping the neck a bit. Put water on your finger and smooth the front making sure the cloak has stuck to itself and the gnome.

Cut the hat out of clay in the same manner. You will need to cut away a little bit of the 1/4" overlap near the top or you won't be able to fold the hat near the point.

Run a wet finger along the 1/4" overlap. Wrap the clay forming the hat. Smooth the seam inside and out. You can give a jaunty bend to hat if you'd like.

Run a wet finger in the inside rim of the hat and position on the gnome's head. Push gently along the rim to make sure it is secure.

Let the gnomes dry thoroughly. It took 3 days for mine. When dried, you can leave white and seal, or paint.

To Paint:

To begin with, I collected all the supplies I would be needing. Although you can use any paint on these, I wanted a translucent quality to the colors, so I used my Stockmar Watercolor Paints.

BTW... It is a good idea when working with the clay, to make a flat cookie that you can try paint colors on. Make sure you let it dry completely.

I began by painting the face.

Then I painted the hat and coat the same color, including the inside of the cloak. Like the leaves, I started with watered down color, and added more intense color for shading. I then painted the body and accented in the same manner.

Finally, I made a strong coffee... some for me and some for the gnomies :) I wanted to give the gnomes an aged looked so I brush coffee over the whole gnome.

When the gnome was dried, I seal it.

All done! You know you want to try this, right? Can't you imagine them tucked hither and yon in your house? Enjoy!

Newbie Knitting Lesson Four : Making Pom-Poms

If you are following along with our Newbie Knitting series you will need to make two pom-poms to complete your Block-Work Hat.

There are a couple different ways you can make pom-poms. I've included a pattern and directions for using a cardboard homemade pom-pom maker or using the Susan Bates Easy Pom-pom tool. The homemade, cardboard version works ok if you just need to make one or two, if you want to make a lot of pom-poms I would suggest buying a tool.

First print out the Pom-pom pattern (I used the medium template) or draw a circle about 1/2" to 3/4" larger than your desired Pom-pom. Draw a 3/4" circle in the middle and create a cut-away notch. Cut out two matching disks in cardboard. I used a cereal box but if you want to make several pom-poms you might want to use a more durable cardboard. (If you use corrugated cardboard, you can get away with using only one disk).

Cut out two yarn pieces about 12" long and center them between the two disks.

Holding everything together start wrapping the disks with your yarn at one end. A little triangle of cardboard at each end will not be covered. Wrap the whole thing tightly... I like to wrap about 3 layers... at this size, with worsted weight yarn approximately 140 times.

Once it is completely wrapped, trim the wrapping yarn even with the outside edge of the disks. Then tie the center yarn pieces into a loose knot.

Carefully slide the tip of your scissors in between the two disks and snip the wrapped yarn. Go all the way around. Be careful not to trim you cardboard. Tighten and double knot the center pull yarns

Carefully remove the cardboard disks.

Trim up any yarn strands that are sticking out further than the rest.

You can use the center pull yarn strands to attach your pom-pom to your knitwear. (Note my pom-pom below is a little anemic... I should have wrapped it a bit more but I was more worried about taking photos than counting my wraps. But you get the idea).

These directions go with the Susan Bates Easy Wrap Pom-pom Maker set.

Obviously, I'm using the pinkish colored disks. What you need to do is take them apart so you have 4 pieces and then set them up so that you have two facing sets... bumps to smooth side with the feet sticking out as pictured below.

Hold one pair together and start wrapping the yarn around. It is awkward at first, but gets easier after a few times around. For this size I like to wrap the yarn around about 70 times.

When you have completely wrapped the first set, cut the yarn and do the same for the second.

Once you have both sides ready, flip them over and look at the feet.

You need to slide one set of feet into the other to make a complete circle. One side will slip into the folded opposite side as seen below. (Note mine is pictured off centered just so you can see how they fit together better. You will want yours to line up straight).

Carefully slide you scissors in the grove between the disks and cut the yarn.

Once you have gone all the way around, slide two 12" pieces of yarn in between the disks and tie them tightly with a double knot.

Carefully removed the plastic pieces.

Trim up any bits that are sticking out too far.

For one of our first projects in my Newbie Knitting class, I wanted something fairly simple, quick to finish and something the girls in my class could wear to show off their new skills. This Easy Headband fit the bill. Add the Easy Headband to your Ravelry Queue.

Materials
Size 8 needles
About 30 yards of worsted weight yarn.

Cast On 7 sts.
Work in garter stitch (which just means knit every row).
To determine the length needed, measure your head.
Subtract 2.5 inches to find the length you need (the garter stitch is very stretchy).
When you reach your length, bind off leaving a 12" tail.
Use a yarn needle and the tail of yarn to stitch the ends together.
Weave in ends.

Optional: You can add felt flowers, stars, etc and/or beads to add embellishments to your headband. Get creative.

To finish your Little Birdie that we started last week, you will need a yarn needle, scissors, and a softball size amount of batting.

Fold your birdie in half diagonally to make a triangle. Have your corner with the smaller tail (probably the cast on tail) meet at the right angle and the longer tail (left from binding off) be on one of the acute ends. You remember your geometry, right? ;) The acute ends will be along the fold.

Thread the yarn needle with the shorter tail. (The right angels on top.) Tip: It is easier to thread your needle if you fold the yarn first.

Use a slip stitch to catch the edge of a loop on either side to sew up the first seam. You will be working from the right angle to the acute angle that does not have the other yarn tail attached. Note: I'm using red yarn just so you can see what I'm doing. Your yarn tail will obviously be the same color as the rest of your bird and you will not be able to see it when you are done.

When you reach the end of the seam, create a loop by going through the tip and pull your yarn through the loop to knot it. You will want to pull this knot tighter than normal. We want the tip to curl down forming the head.

After you have shaped the head, thread the yarn back down the seam a bit. Then pull the yarn needle through the middle of the bird and cut the yarn. This will hide the end of your yarn inside the bird body. (Be careful not to catch the other side of the chick.)

Now thread the other tail onto your needle and work from the opposite end towards the right angle. Stop about one inch away from finishing the seam. Stuff the bird with batting... enough to fill it nicely, but not too full or it will show through your stitches.

Once stuffed, sew up the rest of the seam. This corner with the seams is your bird's belly. It is now time to shape your bird. Push your yarn needle from the belly out in the middle of the birds back, slightly off centered.

Run the needle under a few stitches and then push the yarn needle back through the bird's body to the belly.

Pull on the yarn slightly to curve the back. I like to do the same thing across the belly, and then once more across the back. Once you are back at the belly, knot off your yarn, run it through a few stitches and hide the yarn end inside the bird like we did with the other yarn tail.

Thread a 6 inch piece of orange yarn onto your yarn needle. Run it through the point of your bird's head. Double knot the yarn and trim the ends to be about 1/2 inch long. This forms your bird's beak.

You can gently form your bird by adjusting the batting with your hands. Tada, you have now just completed your first knitting project. Congrats! You are now a knitter! I will have a few more knit only projects available before I teach the purl stitch. Keep practicing what you have learned so far.

Lesson Three : Binding Off

Binding off is how we get those live stitches off of our needles in a way that they will no longer unravel. Since it is one of those things that you only do occasionally it can be easy to forget... there is a good chance you will be back again to look this up... but it is not difficult to do.

I think I should put a note here so that you make sure you have enough yarn left to bind off. I have had friends bring me their knit pieces where they have knit every bit of yarn. They hand me their pieces with only 3-4 inches of yarn left and we have had to take out a row in order to bind off. This happens frequently if you are knitting a scarf or something similar when you just keep knitting until you run out of yarn. It takes about 3x the width of your piece to knit a row (maybe a little more). So if you are making 4 inch square you will need at least 12 inches of yarn left just to bind off... plus you need extra for a tail.

You start by knitting two stitches.

Then you use the left needle to go down into the first stitch you just made, the bottom one (in this case the green stitch).

Catch the first stitch on the left needle and flip it up over the second or top stitch (the blue stitch) and off the needle. Be sure the keep the second stitch on your needle (the blue one).

What you have done is wrapped the first loop around the second which creates a chain along your finished edge. The picture shows what it looks like after you have bound off two stitches so you can start to see the chain.

Knit another stitch so that you have two stitches on your right needle again. These pictures are taken towards the end of the row, at the next color change... it is the same concept all the way across the row.

Again flip the bottom stitch (the green one) over the top stitch (the orange one) and off the needle.

Knit another stitch and repeat. Keep working 2 stitches at a time in this manner.

Work this way until you have gotten to that very last stitch on your right needle. All the other stitches should now be bound off in a chain.

Cut your live yarn. The length you want to leave will depend on if you need to use the tail to sew up a seam or just weave it in. If you are working on the birdie project, leave yourself about 12-18 inches since we will need to sew with our ends. If you are finishing a blanket or scarf about 8 inches will be enough. Do not cut it too close to the end. You will want some tail to work with regardless of what you have made.

Slide that last stitch off the need and pull the end of the yarn through the last loop, then tighten. This will lock that last loop in place and your piece is now safe from unraveling.

See the nice neat, chain on the end. If you bind off too tightly it can cause the end of your piece to pull in. You will often read patterns that tell you to bind off loosely so that doesn't happen. The easiest way to do that is to use a needle one size up from what you knit piece with... ie if you knit your piece on size 8s, use a size 9 needle on the right side during the bind off row. You should be left with several inches of tail that we will work with later.

Just for fun, here is a little story I've heard told before to help jog people's memories when binding off. How many of each animal did Noah collect? 2 at a time. Well Noah was doing just fine until he came to the frogs. He got two frogs on the ark (knit two stitches), but the first frog jumped right over the other frog and off the ark (flip that first stitch off). So Noah went back and got another frog (knit another stitch). But when he put the new frog in with the other, the one waiting jump over them and off the ark (flip the next stitch off). And so on. Hehe, this is just a little, silly way to remember to work in twos when binding off and to "jump" the first stitch over the second.

Ok so here is a bit more about binding off. Yes there are other ways to bind off, but you will use the way I just taught you most of the time and it might be the only binding off you ever learn. If you do get into more advanced patterns you will encounter other techniques, especially in highly shaped pieces. These other techniques can require the use of a 3rd needle or a yarn needle. Binding off can sometimes be calling casting off. It means the same thing. In general though, more modern patterns use the binding off terminology just because when you abbreviate it BO in a pattern it is less confusing then CO... which we generally associate with Casting On.

Binding off is usually abbreviated BO in a pattern.

Ok, for those of you following along, bind off your Little Birdie square. Our next lesson will cover how to sew up and finish your birdie or how to weave in your ends if you are working a flat piece. You can either just wait or better yet, cast on another bird. Feel free to play with the size of your bird. If you cast on a few more stitches you can make a mommy bird... or a few less to make a baby bird, etc. Just work the length until you have a square.