Taking Care of your Spinning Wheel

I bought some Wood Beams at PLY Away and I've been anxious to give Lucy (my spinning wheel) a good rubdown with it.

While I was at it, I also gave her a good checkup to make sure everything was tight and working smoothly. If you're not sure what you should do to keep your spinning wheel looking good and working good, download this care sheet. It gives you some good basic tips for keeping your wheel in good condition.

It's always nice to spin on a clean and polished spinning wheel!

Taking care of your spinning wheel

Click here to download a printable PDF to keep near your spinning wheel.

Happy Mother's Day

I've always loved this quote.  My mother died before I was married, so I used this quote on our wedding program.  I like it because it's not about sadness or regret, but about celebration and sweet memories!

Which is what I have.

I may a little printable notecard, because I thought there might be someone else whose mother isn't around anymore that you could give this card to.  

Click here to download the notecard printable.

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring : Printable Art

Spring is busting out all over in our part of the world!  How about yours?  I designed this to fit a 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper, so you can print it out.

For personal use only.  Please don't re-distribute the graphic, but you may link to this blog post if you feel like spreading the word. Thank you!

Printable March Calendar - Free!

Since I began planning my blog posts ahead of time, I've been using a printed monthly calendar page.  It's always sitting on or beside my desk where I can see it, work on it, edit it and generally be aware of it.

So, I thought maybe I should do something a little prettier than this :

That is my February page.  Not real pretty.  Functional, yes.  Inspiring, lovely, charming...no.  Since all I wanna do these days is draw, why not draw a better calendar?  Yep!

So, here's my little version of a March calendar.  Simple, but effective.

And since I like to share, you can download it here.

Kitchener Stitch : Simple Steps Card

Since I am a die-hard cuff-down sock knitter, I do a fair amount of grafting for my sock toes.  I've gotten pretty nimble at kitchener stitch, but it always makes me feel more confident to have a little reminder/cheat sheet card by me as I work the stitches.

I used to have just a plain typewritten note on a folded scrap of paper.  But then I thought, "Hey, I could make something cuter and better looking (and less shabby) than this.  And while I'm at it, why not make it a little more durable by laminating it?"  So I did.  And I want you to have some too, because really, it's a nifty little tool.  Bonus: it takes up almost no extra room in your knitting bag/kit/tin what-have-you.

Download your free copy of the Kitchener Stitch Simple Steps Card here.  It's a PDF file. And if you have access to a laminator, you can laminate a few of them and put one in every knitting bag, basket, pouch, tin, table, etc. you might ever use.  But even if you don't laminate it, you can simply print it out, fold it in half and stick it with your knitting notions, in your knitting bag, in your wallet.  Heck, you can even wallpaper your room.

Kitchener Stitch : Simple Steps Printable Card  (Download PDF File Here)

If you need full instructions on how to do the kitchener stitch- I've linked to a wonderful tutorial by The Purl Bee.

Go forth and kitchener without fear.

Handmade Care Instructions Card - Free Printable

Free Care Instructions Card - Click on the picture to download the PDF

Whenever I give a handmade gift (which is fairly often - yah!) I like to include care instructions.  It helps those who don't knit/crochet/sew/whatever know how to keep their gift looking its best.  A custom tag is wonderful, of course.  But if you run out of time, it can be 'handy dandy' to have a stack of these cards to just fill out and go.

Click on the picture to download the PDF file.  This is sized about postcard size.  I might do a smaller (business card) size if there is any interest.

Do you like to include care instructions with your handmade gifts?