Last Sunday I lead a workshop at Studio 333 in Sausalito. I demonstrated how to make the yarn bird ornaments. The idea is based on a tutorial for similar birds which stood on wire feet. I created this ornament version because Studio 333 was looking for some unique handmade ornaments for the holidays. My students had a great time, and all succeeded in making some fantastic little birds! I will be teaching this workshop again. Click here to Like Studio 333 on Facebook and learn about more workshops they are hosting, from finger knitting blankets, to paint pouring. I'm available to do bird-making workshops at private parties too. Contact me for info.

I've always really loved drawing. When I was little I would draw ladies in fancy dresses and costumes. My skills evolved as I became a graphic designer and now I also love using my iPad Pro or Adobe Illustrator as drawing tools. This illustration of women in historic costumes is a project I'm working on: These images will be printed on fabric and stuffed to make a simple doll. There are so many other variations with this project, from little girl and boy dolls, to men, to costumes from around the world! The same designs could be converted a paper doll kit as well. I would love to know what you think of this idea - feel free to leave a comment!

I love beautiful, hand-dyed yarn. I've tried working with many different manufactured yarns, but so far nothing lives up to the subtle variegated colors created by the hand-dyeing process. If I could dye my own yarns, my crochet goods would be that much more original. So I watched a bunch of YouTube videos about how to dye yarn at home before I psyched myself up for trying it. Today I went with the only dye I had around, some black food coloring. Food coloring is perfectly acceptable and more or less not much different than using more 'professional' acid dyes. My color come out more chocolate than black, but I think it is because I didn't use enough dye to begin with. In my second pot, I decided to remove the skein before it soaked up all the dye. What dye remaining in the pot was blue; I put in a small wound ball of yarn to see what would happen. The result was the mottled purplish-blue-gray and white yarn on the right. I'm excited about how similar my dyed yarn looks compared to some of the yarns I was buying. I could easily get hooked...