Author Archives: Margaret Ford

More Marled Wrap Magic

More than two years ago (in April 2020) I posted about making a Stephen West design called Marled Magic. I based its colours on a photograph and used yarns from my stash. I’ve done it again. This time I was … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing, Knitting, Scarf | 6 Comments

Crazy Diamond Wrap

I love to make the patterns of gifted knit artists/designers. The Crazy Diamond Wrap pattern of Australian designer Ambah O’Brien (https://www.ravelry.com/designers/ambah-obrien) intrigued me as it promised a complex-looking result from an “easy to work” pattern. This time I ordered her … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing, Knitting | Leave a comment

Grevillea Wrap: a knitted treasure

I like the knit designs of Ambah O’Brien. Her designs are on Ravelry. (https://www.ravelry.com/designers/ambah-obrien) So I bought her Grevillea Wrap pattern and also a kit of yarns for it produced by Koigu. It was not my preferred colourway but it … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing, Kits, Knitting | 3 Comments

Kicking the fast fashion habit

A friend alerted me to this absorbing and powerful book which I read before Christmas. First published in 2019 in the UK, it is packed with startling facts. For example: *100 billion garments are produced every year. *The average garment … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing, Design | 1 Comment

Tassels

I love making these. I made this one as a Secret Santa gift for a member of one of my sewing groups. It’s constructed using a variegated Perle 8 thread crocheted with beads into a tube then inserted into a … Continue reading

Posted in bead crochet, Design, freeform crocheting, tassels | 1 Comment

Venation Shawl

Today I sat down to start blogging another experiment.  I found lots of Covid-time blogs in my drafts!!! Here’s one below. Sometimes one eschews the pressure to create. One simply wants to “make”. Preferably while sitting on one’s front porch … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing, Knitting, Scarf | Leave a comment

Marled Magic Shawl by Stephen West

I like Stephen West’s designs (https://www.westknits.com). I have made them before. He backs the sale of his written patterns with videos which elaborate and demonstrate some details of his designs. Buying the pattern for Marled Magic Shawl, I was attracted … Continue reading

Posted in Clothing, Knitting, Stash-busting yarn | Leave a comment

Brown Onion Dip

A new blog is well overdue but I’m not very productive or innovative at the moment so I am sharing something I did two nights ago after seeing a new you tube video from “Rebecca from Chemknits“:   The first … Continue reading

Posted in brown onion as dye, Natural dyeing, Scarf | 2 Comments

Three-dimensional armatures

Recently I demonstrated simple techniques for wrapping a wire armature at my contemporary quilt group.  This is a summary:   Requirements Figure 1 Machine weight thread and decorative threads Figure 2 Wires, wire cutters and pliers for bending   Method Select … Continue reading

Posted in Hand embroidery, Three dimensional armatures | Leave a comment

Dyeing wool yarn in a slow cooker with food colouring

  In her book The Modern Natural Dyer (1), Kristine Vejar emphasises the importance of keeping baths for scouring, mordanting and dyeing at steady temperatures  suited to the dye material and the fibres being dyed.  I have often ignored this … Continue reading

Posted in food colours as dye, slow cooker dyeing, WAFTA | Leave a comment