Yarn Hearts

Six excuses I tell myself to get out of learning to knit:

1. It will give me carpel tunnel syndrome.
2. I already crochet and suck at it. Do I really need one more thing to suck at?
3. It will allow me to make custom sweaters for my cat. My cat already hates me and the last thing she needs is a legit excuse to get angry and pee on stuff.
4. It will distract me from learning to hand quilt. And macramé. And install faucets.And other stuff.
5. I will do it and I will get addicted and the yarn will suck all the moistness out of my hands and one day I will wake up and see a hand coming out of my sleeve and think OH CRAP, THE CRYPT KEEPER IS HERE!
6. I can make other stuff with yarn. Like, this...

As I mentioned last week, I’m not big on knitting. And I don’t crochet much either. But for whatever reason I can’t help but stroll through the yarn aisle every time I go to a craft store. It calls my name. I can’t turn away. On rare, rare occasions, I let myself buy something too. This time it was red and pink and orange.  It came home with me and said, GURL, you need to make something with me. What’s it going to be? – A scarf? – A hat? – Some badass granny square potholders?

I said, No Gurl, today we are making yarn hearts.

It doesn't get much easier than this.

This is about the easiest, laziest, fool-proof project on the planet. In fact, I am ripping this idea off a daycare craft I made in 1983 (shout out to all my peoples at Palisades Preschool!) as Christmas ornaments using bits of acrylic scrap yarn and paste made from flour and water. They were supposed to be stars but came out looking like spaghetti – that’s the charm, right? Preschool art. It's open for interpretation.

The only problem was that after the spaghetti stars dried and went home looking pretty, they fell apart and flopped over on the tree. I think the paste might have reconstituted when put in contact with the moist tree or something. That said, I am swapping out the old fashioned glue for Mod Podge – I trust it will last a long time. Did you see what it did to my Eastereggs? Twelve years and counting!

Note: Mix the glue solution in a disposable cup with a plastic fork, or similar.

If you have never worked with Mod Podge before, don’t worry, it’s pretty much works the same as regular liquid white glue but it dries to a sort of plastic-like finish. I used gloss finish because that’s what I have on hand, but I would have probably used the matte finish if I had been working with a nice wooly yarn.  

The heart on the far right was made with one yard of yarn and it dried in about 8 hours. The one in the middle was made with four yards of yarn and still has some damp spots after three days of drying! It also has some obvious looking glue flakes that don't show up in these photos – meh, not a big deal, they are easy enough to rub off with my fingers, but I would urge you, if you are going to pile up the yarn thick and such, wring it out thoroughly before you shape it into a heart.

The Valentine tree is coming along bit-by-bit. I can’t wait to show you guys the finished result!