Harvesting Creativity: Crafting This Fall Season

sweetstitchingcrafts — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 00:43:13 +0000

Music: Passage by Jakob Ahlbom & Trust in You by AK Silla

Nature is my go-to source of inspiration, regardless of the season. However, I must admit that the changing colors of leaves, the bright autumn afternoon sun, and the pine needles covering the forest grounds rekindle my imagination. I have a strong desire to recreate the mood of comfort, stillness, and crispness that I experience during my woodland walks in the fall. What crafts am I gravitating towards this fall to reflect this change of pace?

Rug Hooking

My current rug hooking project is from an older Buttermilk Basin pattern called Patriotic Sheep. Using primitive cut wool strips (1/4 inch wide strips of wool) in rustic colours such as burgundy, mossy greens and burnt yellows. As you can see, I still have the main body to work on. I have a variety of creams and white wool fabric waiting to be felted and cut into strips. The final project will be a 3-dimensional sheep that will hopefully decorate my craft room.

Weaving

Weaving with my multicolored handspun using a crackle weaving structure. The pattern is called the French pattern, and it is from Marguerite Porter Davidson’s book, A Handweaver’s Pattern Book. This book has a great compilation of older weaving patterns, but using this pattern along with my multicolored handspun is giving this old pattern new life while preserving the vintage feel and look. I will admit my initial choice of a gray color was more subdued, but I am glad I changed my mind. This fall season is bursting with color, and I wanted my current projects to reflect this.

Knitting

Knitting socks during this time of year, I am obsessed with staying warm and what I can make that will keep me warm. Naturally, my feet are the first part of my body that get cold quickly, and it is not even below 0 degrees. I start rummaging through my yarn stash to find the perfect yarn that is sturdy and warm enough to start a new pair of socks. Then, I finish all the last year’s sock projects by closing the toes and weaving all the loose ends.

Punch needle

It is not a craft that I often work on, but I do enjoy it immensely when I do. This pattern is a Michelle Palmer original punch needle design, and of course, I was drawn to it because of the cute sheep design. It was featured in a summer 2019 issue of the Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine, but I felt the color selections in this design reminded me more of fall leaves that decorate the forest floor instead of summer flowers in full bloom. I have the pattern stretched on some wooden bars for increased accessibility while I am cuddled under some blankets and sipping on a hot cup of tea.

Quilting

I find binding quilts takes a long time when I make blankets. But it feels good to be under the blanket while doing it. I usually bind quilts in the fall, after piecing them together during the summer when there’s more daylight. It gets too hot to manoeuvre the blanket while hand-sewing the edges. I feel good when I finish because I have a new blanket to keep me cozy during the winter while I work on other crafts.

What crafts are you drawn to when there is a change of season, especially when the weather gets cooler? Please feel free to comment below!