Bonjour! How To & Review - French Knitting Bee

Bonjour and welcome to the first luvfromamy product review :-)
Today I am going to share my thoughts and experiences with the French Knitting Bee



I often noticed the French Knitting Bee while shopping at my local craft store, the cuteness of the product caught my eye even though I wasn't really familiar with french knitting (That's right... I hadn't heard of French Knitting.. Ha and I call myself a crafter!). One day after "umming" and "ahhing" in the wool aisle for quite some time I decided to purchase this little Mr and give him a go.

If you're not familiar with this product or French Knitting

in general, here's a quick little run down! 

French knitting, or spool knitting as it's often called, is a fundamental knitting style that uses a spool and pegs (usually 4 - 5 pegs) to create a tube like, woven cord. Depending on the diameter of the spool, your cord will be very narrow with minimal elasticity or wide with a lot of stretch. Your "spool" can be anything from a purchase knitting bee like mine or an antique "dolly" spool of your grandmas!

The knitted cord can be used for a variety of accessories and home decor pieces such as bracelets and coasters - great huh?!

Now that you're in the know, let's continue on with the French Knitting Bee how to guide :-)

You can purchase your own French Knitting Bee in a variety of colours from your local craft and haberdashery store, such as Spotlight or Lincraft.

You will receive:

♥ The french knitting bee (FKB)

♥ The awl to assist with weaving/casting

♥ Bonus "Pom Pom Magic" pom pom maker (PPM)

The packet lists handy instructions on how to use the FKB and PPM, but I find learning from others to be quite helpful too. Hopefully the below instructions and pictures can assist you! :-)

(Please note: My method is a little different to the instructions on the packet, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! First difference is I cast on CLOCKWISE rather than anti-clockwise. As far as I am aware there is no difference with the finished product, I just find it a lot easier and far more natural to work in this pattern!)

1. Firstly, you must insert a thread of yarn into the top opening of the FKB. Continue the yarn through the "body" of the spool until a little length of yarn protrudes from the bottom (almost like a tail haha!)

TIP: If you are finding it hard to thread the yarn through the bottom opening, a crochet hook can be a handy "yarn grabber". Also, make sure you keep a light grip on the yarn "tail" as this is a very important part of spool knitting! :-)

2. While holding the tail, take the "top section" of yarn and loop it around the first peg in an "e" like shape (going clockwise around the peg). When done correctly you will naturally go to loop around the next peg, to your right, in the same fashion. Overall you are going in an ANTI-clockwise motion around the spool, but you will be wrapping the "e" shapes clockwise around the pegs. Keep looping these "e" shapes until you have looped all four pegs like the below image.

3. Take the "top section" of yarn anti-clockwise with your left hand and position it ABOVE your "e" loops on the first and second peg (pictured below). Now we begin to introduce the awl into French knitting :-)

4. With the awl, carefully pull the bottom thread of yarn ABOVE the newly wrapped thread, and then OVER the peg. You will notice the "stitch" has disappeared down into the spool hole. Gently tug on the yarn tail to make the stitch tight. Move onto the next peg to your right.

5. Continue this motion around each peg of the spool. If you talk yourself through the motions it will sound something like this "Position, above, over, tug. Position, above, over, tug..."

Note: Tugging the tail is not required after each thread but I find doing it every now and then keeps the cord nice and tight :-)

After a few minutes you will notice the cord starting to poke out of the bottom of the spool, keep French knitting until the cord has reached the desired length!

French knitting can sound rather confusing, so to make things a little easier here is a video to demonstrate Steps: 3* - 5. This video was taken on my FIRST ATTEMPT so please excuse my slight shakiness, but as you can see.. it's very simple even for a beginner :-)

6. To cast off you will need to snip your yarn from the ball and position the "top section" as you would normally. When you pull the bottom thread ABOVE and OVER the peg, continue to pull the remaining (that is on the peg) yarn's loose tail through the stitch so it is no longer on the peg. Do this for the remaining 3 pegs and you will have successfully cast off!

* Overall, how did you find French Knitting *

Initially, I found French Knitting to be a little daunting, I had to pay great attention to casting on and the knitting motion to make sure I was doing it correctly. Once I got in the "groove" my knitting became quite fluid and I increased greatly in speed. Although far more time intensive (in my opinion) than crochet I really like the end product; the woven cord is very pretty and the intricate design looks impressive.

* What were your thoughts on the "French Knitting Bee" product *

Very cute and eye catching! The French Knitting Bee is a little more fiddly than what I was used to, but it's all about PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. It does get easier and you will soon be watching TV while you French knit hehe, (plus there's no counting so feel free to chat away!!) The French Knitting Bee is very comfortable to handle and the rubber "bee stripes" make the spool easy to grip. The pegs are a very slippery so until you are a confident French knitting pay CLOSE attention to the "ABOVE the thread and OVER the peg" motion, as you don't want to un-thread all your hard work.

* Any suggestions? Improvements that could be made? *

If the pegs were shaped slightly different like this it would make the ABOVE and OVER step a lot easier as the yarn could catch and not slip off. The directions on the back of the packet assume you have knowledge on how to knit and list casting off as "cast off the same as knitting" - a little more detail would be very handy!

* Overall rating *

I really like this product and will continue to use it :-) I definitely recommend it to anyone who is wanting to learn a new skill. The woven cord looks really pretty and I have already incorporated it into a few of my upcoming store products. With a few little improvements the French Knitting Bee could move from a good product to a GREAT product.

3 acorns out of 5

Hope you enjoyed this review and please feel free to post your experiences with the French Knitting Bee and any feedback :-)

To my dearest... Diy Greeting Card

Last weekend the lovely Laura (from Learn 2 Screen-print) and I caught up for a quiet afternoon tea and craft session. Gaining inspiration from Laura's plentiful supplies we created this cute deer greeting card. Using just a few materials and easy print making techniques you can make your own handmade cards for friends and family!

Let's get started shall we...

What you'll need:

♥ Card stock , A5 to be folded in half

♥ Patterned rubber stamp larger than your card face (you can buy these at your local craft store). We used the "Chevron" Darkroom Door background stamp

♥ Stamping ink - we used Tim Holtz "Antique Linen"

♥ Acrylic paint in a bold contrasting colour

♥ Metallic detail paint

♥ Craft knife/stanley knife

♥ Skewer

♥ Crafter roller

♥ Stencil cut from ezi cut stencil paper

Step 1: Take your rubber stamp and cover with your stamping ink. Pat repetitively over your stamp making sure the whole surface is evenly coated.

Step 2: With your inked stamp, line up the fold of the card with the edge of your stamp, then press it gently down onto the card. Apply pressure with your palms all over the back of the stamp. With a bit of force hold your palms down for at least 3 seconds in each spot, make sure you are not "rolling" or moving the stamp, as we don't want the print to be smudged.

Step 3: Once you've pressed the bejeebers out of your stamp, lift it up to reveal the print! :-) Looks great doesn't it?

Step 4: Take your animal stencil that you carefully cut out with a craft knife (you can use various clip art or pre-designed silhouettes if you're not comfortable drawing your own animals) and place it in the center of your card front - don't worry if it's not exact! Keep it in place by taping the corners down with masking tape.

Step 5: Load your roller with the contrasting acrylic paint. Lightly start to roll over your stencil to apply the colour, continue to roll until you are happy with the coverage.

Step 6: Remove your stencil to reveal your animal silhouette! I love how the pattern slightly peeks through the deer - adds a little character I think ;-) We are almost there!

Step 7: Using a skewer and your metallic detail paint, spot three small dots on the rear of the deer (or anywhere that suits your animal of choice..) Let dry. Fold in half then sit back and admire your work! :-)

Ta-dah the end result! :-) Handmade cards are perfect for any occasion (special or "not") and add a personalised and heart-filled touch to your gifts.  

Laura and I had a great time preparing, creating and photographing this project for you today! Hope it not only is inspiring but also demonstrates how easy it can be to make your own DIY greeting cards!

If you'd like to learn more about Laura and her Learn 2 Screen-print classes check out her website, class descriptions or add her on facebook... Laura is super lovely and such a inspiration!

Note: Please, please excuse my horrible nails!! I often pick at my nail polish and I was not expecting to star in a photo DIY - haha how embarrassing!

DIY Galaxy nails {video post}

This trend if everywhere at the moment...so why not have the galaxy at your fingertips ;-) 

This is my first video tutorial so it's a little blurry, a little awkward but I'm really excited to share this with you!  If you have any questions/feedback or future hints/tips please don't hesitate to leave your thoughts in the comment section :-) 

For those who would like written step-by-step instructions please see below :-)

What you'll need ♥:

♥ Selection of 'cosmic' colours:

I'm using Avon "Twilight Blue", China Glaze "Flying High", Zoya "Morgan" and Kit Cosmetic "Dive in"

♥ Craft or make-up sponge - I bought my sponge from my local Target (Pack of 32 for $5 GREAT PRICE!)

♥ Plastic lid or something similar to dot your lighter cosmic colours onto.

Step 1:

Paint your Galaxy background, I used my darkest shade, "Twilight blue"

Step 2:

Once your background colour is dry we can start applying the lighter cosmic colours - I started with the "Flyin' High" and gently dabbed the corner of my make up sponge in the nail polish.

Using the corner of the sponge, lightly dab against your nail to apply the nail polish. Do not cover the whole nail in this colour :-) Repeat on each nail, remember we don't want each nail to look the same so feel free to mix up the location. Keep dabbing until you are happy with the coverage. Don't worry if the nail polish is applying too thick, this will be fixed later on down the track by the constant dabbing.

Apply the remaining two colours in the same fashion as above ^ but use different corners of your make up sponge. I followed "Flying High" with "Morgan" and then used "Dive in" as the finishing colour - they look great together! 

Tip: Use the base of your make up sponge to thin out the polish - I found this to be very helpful. Let dry.

Step 3:

Add a little sparkle to your galaxy with glitter nail polishes! I used Chi Chi "Paparazzi Princess" and BYS "Silver moon" (how appropriate!) I love the mix of fine glitter from "Paparazzi Princess" and the large glitter chunks from "Silver Moon"

Ta-dah!! You now have galaxy nails :-)

Video info: I used a Canon PowerShot G12 to record and Adobe After Effects CS5 to compile (there's probably easier programs but I know how to use After Effects haha!) Music: Katy Perry E.T