By Hand
BY HAND
Switching to crochet for the summer months
I’m on a crocheting kick. This has been going on for a few weeks. It came about as the weather began to get warmer and I found myself staring with something akin to loathing at the Harris tweed sweater I have been working on all winter — with very little ...
BY HAND
Handmade items help demonstrate church group’s faith in action
Twenty years ago, the Deacons’ Wives Ministry got its start in Ja-net Cronkite’s home in Etna. The idea was to put faith in action. “We noticed that our senior women can’t do as much as they once could, and they don’t get noticed as much as they once did. So ...
BY HAND
Add a few craft books to your vacation plans
With the leisure time of summer almost at hand, it’s always a good idea to think about what books you might want to get to idle away the time on the porch swing or to carry along to the camp on the lake. Here are a few titles that offer ...
BY HAND
May Day is a good time to seek inspiration from Mother Nature
It’s May Day and that calls to mind many pleasant associations — from daffodils scenting the air and making yellow splashes of color in the garden to discovering patches of violets near a stand of pines where a breeze whispers in the treetops. But mostly, for me, it’s about wandering ...
Embroidery, household hints ruled women’s pages in 1913
In one of many successful attempts throughout its history to engage women readers, the Bangor Daily News in 1913 ran on Saturdays and sometimes Tuesdays, a feature page titled Our Magazine of Fashion. This was the era when skirts were narrow at the hem, fell to the ankles and were ...
Stitch for Cancer donates handmade caps, items for patients in Maine, Rhode Island
BAR HARBOR, Maine — Roseanna St. Germain of Bar Harbor learned in 2011 that her grandmother, Darlene, had been diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. Knowing of the treatment regimen that awaited her, Darlene asked St. Germain to crochet a cap for her to wear during the period ...
FAMILY TIES
Oldest child doesn’t always ‘know it all’ about family history
My brother once asked me the question that genealogists so often hear from family members: “How do you know all this stuff?” Research is only part of the answer. As I’ve been saying for years, oldest children often have an advantage in doing genealogy, because they’ve heard more and seen ...
BY HAND
Memories of a denim bedspread
Many years ago, when my sons were small, I stacked them, much to their delight, in one room — in bunk beds. But it quickly became very clear that changing the bedding on bunk beds was a chore. The bottom bunk was so low that it put a crimp in ...
BY HAND
Celebrate spring with Quilt Shop Hop
Spring is in the air and one of the surest signs of the season is the Quilt Shop Hop, marking its 10th year, now blooming across Maine. Besty Dorr, owner of Quiltessentials in Auburn, is one of the organizers for this year’s Shop Hop. “A lot of northern and eastern ...
BY HAND
Wrapped in the memory of a doll’s quilt
Of the many items my mother sewed for me, the one I most often wish I still had is a doll’s quilt she fashioned from scraps of fabric. When I visualize the quilt in my memory, I see 3-inch squares of print fabric sporting, here and there, figures in red ...
BY HAND
Factoring an e-reader into learning more about needlework history
Owning an e-reader had never made it to my meager list of “must-haves,” a list more likely to contain fabric, yarn and antique needlework tools than electronic gadgets. So recently when I had the opportunity to try out an e-reader thanks to the generosity of a friend, I wasn’t quite ...
BY HAND
Turn old greeting cards into little boxes
Several weeks ago, a reader from Etna called to ask if I had instructions for making boxes out of old greeting cards. She and a group of other women get together to make items to take to those who are dealing with illness or other life crises. She said her ...
BY HAND
Guild logs 20 years of sewing for good causes
Twenty years ago, a dozen women got together to form the Bangor Area Chapter of the American Sewing Guild. Since then, members have met to sew positioning pillows for residents of the Levinson Center in Bangor, wardrobes for premature infants, Christmas stockings and “bags of love” for foster children programs, ...
Knit a zombie, crochet a motif
Here are reviews of several books crocheters and knitters might find either useful or amusing: “Connect the Shapes” by Edie Eckman puts 101 motif designs at crocheters’ fingertips. These motifs have little in common with the well-known granny square, although some of them are, indeed, square. The motifs in the ...
New guild offers free knowledge in knitting, crocheting and other textile arts
Joyce O’Rourke, Jody Wheeler and Lourdes Tutaine-Garcia, who live in the Prospect, Sandy Point and Stockton Springs area, have a strong appreciation for handcrafted textiles. O’Rourke knits, crochets and quilts. Wheeler has a degree in textile design, spins and weaves. Tutaine-Garcia spins and dyes. The three women, all in their ...
BY HAND
Make a Valentine’s card for your sweetie
Valentine’s Day is when we set aside special time to let loved ones know how much they mean to us. In the days of yore, long before commercial valentine cards were available, lovers and sweethearts made valentines from whatever materials were at hand — paper, seashells, fabric, wood and other ...
BY HAND
How to make a tea wallet
Several weeks ago, I wrote about the shenanigans of my cat while I tried to sew tea wallets, but I neglected to say what a tea wallet is. That prompted several readers to call to inquire. A tea wallet is a tote for teabags. It has four pockets that will ...
BY HAND
BDN’s By Hand column marks 10 years
Monday, Jan. 21, marked the 10th anniversary of the By Hand column. How did all that time go by so quickly? When I began this column on Jan. 21, 2003, knitting was being rediscovered by a new generation and interest in sewing, crocheting, embroidery and other needle arts was on ...
By Hand
Afghan project designed to knit seven sisters more closely together
The seven Conley sisters, who grew up in Portland as part of a family of 11 children whose parents were Mike and Mary Conley, have a special way to keep themselves threaded together. Each year for the past 10 or so years, the sisters — Mary Folsom of Hampden, Dorothy ...
Cat finds some fun in sewing
After many weeks of never finding time to sew, I found an hour in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday. I set up my sewing machine on the kitchen table and commenced a tea wallet project for a friend who had requested a few. It wasn’t a lot ...
Former Bangor YMCA building sold to new dental technology school
LePage delivers instant veto after hospital debt, Medicaid bill passes Senate
‘Knife war’ led to fatal stabbing at Bangor apartments in April, witness says
Bangor man charged with murder, escape from psychiatric hospital found not competent to stand trial
After 27 years, a father continues to search for his daughter, presumed dead
Why is DHHS always asking for more money?
The scramble to fill the 2nd District seat if Mike Michaud runs for governor
Maine GOP disappoints on Medicaid
Goodwin steps down as Brewer High School boys basketball coach
University of Maine hockey job has been offered to former assistant Red Gendron
Bucksport’s Cassidy Adams strikes out 19 in single game
Live Updates: UMaine baseball vs. Binghamton in America East championship round
UMaine trails Binghamton 8-2 in suspended game at America East baseball tourney
Maine Democrats stooped to the governor’s level with TV complaint
Maine’s beer industry continues to brew double-digit growth
‘All That’ actress Amanda Bynes arrested after allegedly tossing bong out apartment window on 36th floor
Maine School of Science and Mathematics alumni drawn to give back to magnet school
