Crafts

Modern calligraphy is such a common thing in Blogland. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go… there’s calligraphy. I’ve gone into shops looking for calligraphy kits before, but most of them taught the old school western style. Over the weekend, however, I had the chance to try out an amazing Calligraphy Starter Kit by Diva Pyari from Uncommon Goods.

Uncommon Goods is a privately owned company based in Brooklyn, New York that specializes in providing creative and handcrafted gifts for all types of people. What I love most about them is that they are very socially and environmentally aware. Most products are made in the United States and about half are made by hand. Uncommon Goods partners with four non-profits and even reaches out to the community, hosting product design and art challenges. And I could go on… I’m loving everything I’ve learned about them so far! Finding out about retailers that care for the earth and humanity gives me so much hope.

So, about this Calligraphy Starter Kit. I was really nervous that I would try it out and fail and not be able to blog about it. But it wasn’t so bad! I mean, it was really bad at first but I slowly started to get the hang of it. It turned out to be really addicting! I am already planning to go out and buy some different supplies (colorful ink perhaps!).

In the spirit of keeping it real, here is my first attempt at writing some letters. Yikes.

I experimented with different ways of holding the pen before I was comfortable with it. The instructions advised to hold the nib over a flame for a few seconds and that made a huge difference in the inkflow. This next picture is still a little rough but better right? Pretty sure modern calligraphy is allowed to be messy. 🙂

If you’re looking for gifts for friends, family, or yourself (treat yo’self!), Uncommon Goods has a plethora of unique choices. Here is the calligraphy kit if you’re interested. You can also check out the gifts for women here and gifts for men here. Oh and there are tons of cute gifts for little ones here! I’m a true fan. I’ll be back next week with another review of their products because I couldn’t stop with just one.

Have you done any calligraphy? Any suggestions on fancy ink or nib brands?

This is the first of what I hope will be many shared crochet patterns. Whether you are a beginner or an expert in the crochet language, this tiny flower pattern should be pretty simple. If you’re not into the fiber arts, I’ll be back tomorrow with something totally unrelated to old lady crafts. 😉

I love using this pattern because it only requires one round. You can either begin with a magic circle or chain 4 and slip stitch to the first chain, to create a regular circle. I prefer using a magic circle because it gives you more control over how big or small you’d like the beginning circle to be. It will allow you to close the circle and get rid of the remaining hole in the center of the flower. A great tutorial can be found here.

Tiny Flowers Crochet Pattern

Skill Level: Easy
Materials: Yarn, Hook (any size), and Yarn Needle
Special Stitch: dc2tog – (yarn over, insert hook into designated space and pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two loops) x 2, yarn over, pull through last three loops.

1. Begin with a magic circle (alternatively, chain 4 and slipstitch to the first chain, forming a loop).
2. *ch 2, dc2tog, ch 2, slip stitch into center of circle; repeat from * 5 times to create five petals.
3. Slip stitch to the first chain you made in Step 2. Fasten off, pull beginning tail of the magic circle to tighten the center and weave in the edges.

Go on and make a garden. Tiny flowers on everything!

ps. While I will be sharing many free patterns here on the blog, I’m also dipping my feet in the world of selling patterns. Before I list any patterns to sell, I would love to have each one tested by one or two crocheters. You would receive the pattern for free, crochet the item, and give me your honest feedback about the pattern structure. Email me if you’re interested! 🙂

Happy Tuesday! Here’s a little dreamcatcher DIY for those of you feeling crafty. I have been making dreamcatchers and not finishing them for way too long, but I finally finished one yesterday! Hooray! Here is what my process looked like:

First, gather the necessary supplies. You can choose many things to embellish your dreamcatchers with. I decided to stick with the basic beads and feathers.

Tie your yarn onto the hoop, leaving a little extra on the end (to hang it up with). Tightly wrap the yarn around the hoop. When you get to the end, tie a knot onto the extra yarn you left in the beginning.

This is the fun part! To create the netted part of the dream catcher, I used the crochet thread and looked at this tutorial. It’s easy and super relaxing. Feel free to add beads here and there. Or feathers. Or…anything, really.

Next, tie some pieces of crochet thread onto the bottom half of the hoop and embellish away! I strung the beads onto the string, tied a bunch of knots so they wouldn’t fall off, and then stuck feathers through the beads.

And ta-da! I’m seriously about to make a wall of dreamcatchers. I think they are so pretty. 🙂