How to Tie the Perfect Bow - The Chilly Dog

The Chilly Dog site, which is owned and operated by Ellen and from Tucson, Arizona, recently posted a Tutorial on How To Tie The Perfect Bow.  I was so impressed with it that I thought that I would share it with my readers. 

All materials, ownership and proprietary rights are the Property of Ellen & The Chilly Dog.

 The original post can be found here

Materials

• 1 - spool of 2 1/2 inch (6.25 cm) wide wire edged holiday ribbon
• wire cutters
• 18 inches of 26 gauge wire
• straight pins
• ruler
• pliers
• scissors

Directions

 

 Remove the entire length of ribbon from the spool.

Lay it flat on your work surface and use a ruler and straight pins to mark 8 inch (20 cm) intervals down the ribbon.

Next you will thread your piece of wire down the center of the length of ribbon. Do this by poking the wire down into the ribbon at the first pin then up at the next, removing the pins as you go. Continue until you reach the end of the ribbon.

At this point your ribbon will be folded back and forth with the wire running through the center of the folds. 

Push the folds of ribbon together and use your pliers to twist the wire and secure the ribbon.

Now it's time to add some shape to your bow. Gently open up each loop and evenly arrange them into a bow.

Trim the two ends of the ribbon at an angle to form neat tails.

You can use the additional length of wire to attach your bow on whatever you decide to adorn with a little holiday cheer.

Finally, trim any excess wire.

You can use the same process to make bows with narrower lengths of ribbon. The only thing you have to adjust is the spacing of your pins. For example, if you use 1 inch wide ribbon, just place your pins about 6 inches apart instead of 8 inches.

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Free Pattern - Harmony Pullover Vest‏

We all know the male of our species likes to pretend that what he wears doesn't matter to him - but we also know that a well dressed man (or boy) exudes a certain confidence.  

Today's free pattern, courtesy of Naturally Yarns,  is for a stylish pullover vest that the man (big or little) in your life will look and feel fantastic in.

The vests can be knitted in an 8 or 10 Ply.  We are still uploading our wool shop to the new web site, and haven't got up to the 8 & 10 ply yet.  But drop in, leave a comment, ring or send an email and we can show you suitable yarns in the shop.
 
Please click here to view / print off your free pattern or download a copy from our web store.

Website: http://craftyfrog.com.au/
 
 Email: info@craftyfrog.com.au

Phone 02 6296 6240 (Australia)
 

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Right Angle Weave Instructions + 5 Free Right Angle Weave Patterns

Beading Daily has released a FREE instructional book, with 5 Free beading patterns for the Right Angle Weave.

Right-angle weave is a love-it-or-hate-it-beading stitch in the beading world. But it definitely has its advantages when it comes to creating durable and beautiful beaded jewelry. The thread path of right-angle weave is unique in that it goes in little circles as you work across each row or around in a tube. It’s this thread path that makes it such a strong and flexible bead-weaving stitch – you can even use it to create a right-angle weave beaded “fabric” that can be folded and stitched.

That thread path also gives right-angle weave more fluidity than other beading stitches making it an ultra-versatile stitch. Working in this stitch creates a beaded fabric that behaves a lot like a fabric woven with threads. It can be shaped easily without complicated increases and decreases in your stitching and it is just as easy to embellish for one-of-a-kind designs. This free eBook from Beading Daily will take you from the ordinary and refine your skills at this superhero of bead-weaving stitches so you can do just about anything with any kind of beads that you have handy!

	You can download a copy of this as a PDF file  from Beading Daily by clicking the PDF Button
	If you would like to receive it as an eBook, it is available at our Library, by clicking the green book

 

Milk jug cover - Free Pattern

Milk jug cover

This pattern was added by The Australian Women's Weekly on Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Beautiful crocheted jug covers and cloth edges never go out of style. As we receive so many requests from readers for this style of project we thought it was time to run a lovely tea story from our archives. There is even a crochet jug cover that comes complete with it’s own teacup decoration!

Materials One ball each Twilleys Twenty white crochet cotton and variegated crochet cotton
Twelve glass beads
One 0.75mm crochet hook
Craft Glue
Plastic thimble


Measurements
Approximately 20cm diameter (from point to point)


Method
Using hook and white cotton, make 10ch, join with sl st to form ring.
1st row. 4ch, 35dtr into ring, join with sl st in 4th ch.
2nd row. 5ch *miss 1dtr, 1tr in next dtr, 2ch; rep from * to end, join with sl st in 3rd of 5ch.
3rd row. 1 sl st in first sp, 3ch, 4tr in same sp, drop lp from hook, insert hook into back of 3rd ch, draw dropped lp through firmly (Bbl formed); *5ch, 5tr in next 5 sp, drop loop from hook, insert hook into back of 1st tr, draw dropped lp through (another Bbl formed); rep from * ending with 2ch, 1tr into top of first Bbl.
4th row. *6ch, 1dc in next lp; rep from * ending with 3ch, 1tr into tr of previous row.
5th row. *7ch, 1dc in next lp; rep from * all around, edning with 3ch, 1dtr into tr of previous row.
6th row. *7ch, 1dc in next lp, 11dtr in next lp, 1dc in next lp; rep from *, omitting 1dc at end of last rep, 1sl st in dtr of previous row.
7th row. 1 sl st to centre of next lp, 1dc in same lp, *7ch, 1dc in next dtr, (2ch, miss 1dtr, 1dc in next dtr) 5 times, 7ch, 1dc in next lp; rep from * ending last rep with 3ch, 1dtr in first dc.
8th row. 7ch, 1dc in next lp, *7ch (1Bbl in next 2ch lp, 2ch) 4 times, 1Bbl in next 2ch lp, (7ch, 1dc in next lp) twice; rep from * omitting (7ch, 1dc) twice at end of last rep, 3ch, 1dtr in dtr of previous row.
9th and 10th rows. As 8th row, having 1Bbl less of each pineapple and 1 lp more between each row (3Bbls and 5 lps on 10th row).
11th row. *(7ch, 1dc) in next 4 lps, 4ch, 2dtr into 2ch lp, 4ch, 2dtr in next 2ch lp, 4ch, 1dc in next lp; rep from * to last 2dtr, 2ch, 1tr in the first 7ch lp.
12th row. *(7ch, 1dc) in next 5 lps, 3ch, 1dtr in top of each dtr of last row leaving last lp of each on needle, yarn over hook pull through to form GR, 3ch, 1 GR in middle 2ch of 4ch lp, 2ch, 1GR in next 2dtr, 3ch, 1dc in next lp; rep from * to last GR, 1tr in first 7ch lp.
13th row. *(7ch, 1dc) in next 5 lps, 7ch, 1dc in top of first GR, (5ch, 1dc) in each of next 2GR; rep from * to last 5ch, substitute for this 2ch, 1tr.
14th row. (7ch, 1dc) in each lp, ending 3ch, 1dtr in last lp.
15th row. 4ch, 5dtr in same lp, 1dc in next lp, *(7ch, 1dc) in next 2 lps, 11dtr in next lp, 1dc in next lp; rep from * to last lp, 5dtr in last lp, join with sl st to top of 4ch at beg.
Break off yarn and fasten off securely.
Join in variegated thread on which 12 beads have been threaded. Join should be at right of any fan.
16th row. *1dc in each of first 6dtr, 6ch, slide one bead over ch above 6th dtr, 1dc in same dtr, 1dc in each of next 5dtr, (1dc in dc, 7dc in lp) twice; rep from * to end, join with sl st, fasten off.

Saucer detail
1st row. Join variegated cotton into foundation ring, work (1dc, 1ch) into every 2nd st, Join with sl st.
2nd row. Sl st nto first ch sp, 4ch (as dtr), 1dtr into same sp, 2dtr into each sp to end. Join with sl st.
3rd row. 3ch, * miss next dtr, 1dc in next st, 2ch; rep from * to end, sl st to join. Fasten off securely.

Cup detail
1st row. Join variegated thread in foundation row, work 1dc in every 2nd st, join with sl st.
2nd row. 3ch as first tr, *2tr into next dc, 1tr into next dc; rep from * to end, sl st to join.
3rd row. 3ch as tr, 1tr in each tr; sl st to join.
4th and 5th rows. As 2nd and 3rd rows. Do not break off yarn.
Handle. 8ch, 1 sl st into side of Cup (2nd row), turn, 10dc into lp, sl st into 1st ch. Fasten off securely.
To finish. Coat Cup and Saucer with craft glue to stiffen and allow to dry using a plastic thimble to hold the cup to the desired shape.

General abbreviations
Bbl: bobble
beg: beginning
ch: chain
cont: continue
dc: double crochet
dtr: double treble
GR: group
lp: loop
rep: repeat
rnd: round
sl: slip
sp: space
st: stitch
tr: treble

Free Pattern - 12 Ply Mohair Cardigan

Mohair has made a large comeback in the knitting world and today's free pattern is for a fantastic cardigan designed and knitted using Mohair 12 Ply from our Naturally collection
- please click here to view / print off your pattern.

Mohair 12 Ply was introduced into our range last year and it has been met with great success; knitters love how nice it is to knit, how it doesn't "shed" like mohair yarns of old, and how cost effective it is, with most garments only using a few balls.   

Mohair 12 Ply has 161m/176yds per 50g ball, is composed of 57% Mohair, 38% Wool and 5% Nylon, and comes in 16 amazing colors.  We have a great range of leaflet patterns that have been designed using this yarn so look at the "Patterns" tab on the Mohair 12 Ply page on our website to view them.  If we don't have them in stock we can order them for you.

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• Facebook page; and 
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• for the latest news from the knitting world, free patterns, etc!