Tag Archives: dowel

Tutorial: Shawl Pins

2 Replies

I’ve got shawls on the brain. When I wear a shawl, especially if it’s a particularly oddly-shaped one, I like to break out a shawl pin.  You can find super fancy ones, but basically a shawl pin is a stick of some kind that you use to hold knitwear in place (I’ve been known to use pencils, chopsticks and knitting needles in a pinch). There are as many kinds of shawl pins as there are shawls, all gorgeous, most expensive.

So, in the name of DIY Cheapskate-y-ness, let’s make some functional, fashionable, and simple shawl pins.  An accessory for your accessory… what’s not to love?

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A ¼-inch dowel
  • Small hacksaw (or other dowel-cutting implement)
  • Pencil sharpener
  • Sandpaper (I used 120-grit)
  • Acrylic paint
  • Paintbrush

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAStart by cutting your dowel into pieces. I made my pins about 5 inches long, but you could go longer or shorter, depending on what you like.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen, sharpen one end of each pin with the pencil sharpener.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGrab a piece of sand paper and sand your shawl pin until it’s nice and smooth (get rid of anything that could catch on your shawl and make a hole. No bueno). Sand the point down a little bit so that it isn’t dangerously pointy, and don’t forget to smooth out any corners on the other end, too.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABrush off any sawdust, and break out the acrylic paints. I like how they look when they’re mostly wood with just a pop of color on the end, but feel free to experiment. How about stripes? Polka dots? Let the paint dry, and you’re ready to go.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGrab a shawl (or scarf, or cardigan) and pin away.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Wall Shawl

2 Replies

On Monday, I told you how I love making lace shawls.  You’ll notice that I didn’t say I love wearing lace shawls.  This is because I am a pretty big tomboy.  I love how lace shawls look, and I love making them, but I always feel like a monkey in a top-hat when I wear them.

So, I had a whole stack of gorgeous shawls that did nothing but sit in my closet, waiting for moths to show up and start munching.  Something had to be done.  How could I display them?  I tried hanging them over my closet door, but then I couldn’t open and shut the door without them falling all over the place. I tried putting one over a table lamp, but that looked like something from a palm-reader’s office (and I was paranoid about setting the whole place on fire).  And, so my lace shawls went back into the bottom of the closet again.

Until I realized something.  These lace shawls were basically great big art pieces.  And my house was full of empty walls, begging for art to be put up.

I grabbed my Panache shawl and a dowel I had laying around (because I am a pack rat and have dowels lying around, just in case.  You never know.)  I carefully sewed the flat edge of the shawl to the dowel using a little bit of matching scrap yarn, and tied a big loop from one end of the dowel to the other.  I pulled out a sticky hook, and I  had filled my wall with lacy, yarn-y goodness in no time.  (And yes, I know this is a terrible photo.  Apparently I have forgotten how to take a decent picture that isn’t a close-up…)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy Panache is a medium sized shawl (about a 40 inch wingspan), but my Aeolian shawl, is a monster.  It’s at least 60 inches from point to point, so sewing it to a yard-long dowel wouldn’t fly.  I thought about it for a long time, and then the perfect solution came to me while I was doing yard work.

I cut some long (6+ feet) switches from one of the trees in my yard, and lashed them together with twine.  I added a loop of twine and hung them from a nail in my knitting studio.  Then, I looped the Aeolian shawl over the ends.  I really like how it turned out.   It’s pretty, and rustic, and if I ever want to display another shawl (or scarf, or sweater, or blanket) I can switch them out easily.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA