Filet Crochet Bookmarks

I love purchasing craft supplies at thrift stores but this means that I usually have spools of crochet cotton with an unknown amount of yardage left. I recently discovered the meditative nature of filet crochet and have been making simple geometric patterns for use as bookmarks or ribbons.

Repeat pattern until finished piece measures 7-9 inches for bookmarks and anywhere from 12-52 inches for ribbon - depending on use.

Chain 21.

‘x’ - ‘closed’ filet crochet stitch

‘   ‘ - ‘open’ filet crochet stitch

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FREE Tatted Snowflake Pattern

I spent most of the early winter tatting Christmas ornaments in advance of my first ever local craft fair.

This 'Winter Flurries' Snowflake pattern is my first ever unique tatting design. It is available for free download HERE. 

I also created a 'Tatting Basics' zine which includes the basic instructions on tatting (with DIY tatting shuttle) as well as the written and diagrammed instructions for this snowflake.

Garbage Garden

I have become obsessed with planting literal garbage.

Sprouting garlic? Planted.
Sprouting onions? Planted!
Carrot tops? Hand me the soil!

While the seeds planted for the garden, get the benefit of grow lights this 'garbage garden' has to make due with the little natural sunlight that Yellowknife in March affords but, all things considered, they are doing pretty well.

I've taken to planting #garbage #onion #garlic #carrottops #spring #waiting

A post shared by Sarah (@sarahehoffman) on Mar 14, 2017 at 9:40am PDT

The end of my coffee table - the closest flat surface to the window - quickly became full of recycled milk containers and DIY newspaper pots filled with plants. I decided to double down on the 'garbage' in the 'garbage garden' and made a quick drip tray of reclaimed pallet wood lined with dog food bags!

My #garbage #garden got a #facelift by way of a #diy #recycled #dog #food #bag #drip #tray. #recycled #upcycle #stillgarbage #lolz

A post shared by Sarah (@sarahehoffman) on Mar 22, 2017 at 11:21am PDT

While not the most beautiful thing I've ever constructed, looking at my 'garbage garden' makes me very happy!

Why plant garbage?
I planted the garlic to eat garlic scapes.
I dream of collecting seeds from the onion bulbs.
The carrot tops make for a beautiful natural dye.

DIY Flower Press

I have been kind of obsessed with flowers lately (Exhibit A) so I decided to spend the afternoon making a flower press. I had one as a kid and always loved the idea behind them - preserving a bit of summer's beauty into the white winter.

Flower presses are nothing more than a bit of wood, a few bolts, and few pieces of cardboard so it did not take me long to finish this project. I enjoy every second of using my manual hand drill so a small project that required me to use boring drill bits was a bit of extra pleasure. I did use my electric sander to do the bulk of the sanding but found the noise distracting so I finished the project by hand sanding it. A project this small would not take very long to sand entirely by hand anyways so in the future I will forgo the use of the electric sander for small projects.  

#manualdrill #handdrill #woodworking #making #diy #fun #afternoonproject #thingstodo #done

A post shared by Sarah (@sarahehoffman) on Mar 7, 2017 at 4:39pm PST

The completion of this project reminds me how quickly farm related skills develop. Just a few months ago the construction of a bench was arduous and overwhelming but now I can complete a simple project in a few short hours and be relatively stress free while doing it!

And now to we wait until flowers bloom.

Lessons from a Newbie Woodworker

My first woodworking projects have taught me a lot --- here are a few things I've learned!

Friends are Your Best Resource: I was having a very difficult time removing 4 inch nails from the reclaimed wood I planned on using for the bench and I made a random Facebook post asking not-at-all seriously for advice and some seemingly unlikely folks offered some tremendously helpful advice.

Approach Every Project as an Opportunity to Learn: I am shocked at how much I learned from only a few successful wood projects. A lot of this 'learning' is abstract and non-tangible which means it is hard to qualify the lessons learned but your ability shows when you approach a new project. When I built my reclaimed wood bench I researched the project extensively and had a detailed plan to follow but when I built my second project (a dog leash organiser) I designed on the fly. To me, this depicts how much my woodworking knowledge has grown from a few simple projects.

Start Small to Build Confidence: Starting with small, easier projects is important to ensure success and each successful project accumulates into woodworking confidence! A bench is a bit much for a beginner project as a bench has to withstand use and weight. I would suggest smaller, decorating items for the absolute beginner woodworker.

Willow Wreath

We went exploring in the JEEP and found a road that is completely surrounded by willows. Willows will be an important part of life on our homestead as we plan to coppice willow for heat and cooking and I hope to weave willows into fences and baskets for functional use around the property. I decided to explore willows so we purchased some shears and went back the next day.

This unequal wreath was surprisingly easy to put together as willows are remarkably pliable!

DIY Reclaimed Wood Bench with Manual Hand Tools!

Construction skills are going to be an important part of life on the good ole homestead and my history with successful woodworking includes a failed MDF shelf project and a hammer that was used exclusively for hanging artwork so I really needed to improve my prowess with a hammer and nails.

We needed a bench for the front entryway of our apartment so I decided to give it a go!  

There is a well-established scavenging culture here in Yellowknife so I was able to get the majority of the wood for this project from free pallets. Free wood reduced the stress level of this project a lot because if it didn't work out I had not wasted money but only time. 

I decided to use manual hand tools (hammer, saw, sandpaper) instead of purchasing electric hand tools because the upfront costs of those tools is great and because we will be off-grid on the farm so I want to reduce my reliance on electricity for these types of projects. Manual hand tools are time and labour intensive but they are safer than electric tools. 

The bench turned out surprisingly sturdy which I think was due to the over-kill support but this bench can hold my husband and I and seems to be very stable! A success all around!  

I posted a lot of photo updates of the project on my instagram and I'll be including rough plans in the 2016 edition of Almanac 84.