‘A Starry Night’ in yarn

By | April 18th, 2021|Creative Inspiration, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Punch Needle, Yarn Addict|

Punch Needle: 'A Starry Night'

One of my favorite museums to visit was the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I traveled there on a solo trip a few years back and this was one of the things you must do when you’re in Amsterdam. 

Walking through the museum was like seeing the pages of your history book come to life. Well, it was better than that, but you know what I mean. His self-portrait, The Yellow House, The Bedroom, Sunflowers, and Irises were a few that I enjoyed. Of course my all-time favorites, The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum and A Starry Night were at a different location, but nonetheless, it was there in spirit. 

Punch Needle: 'A Starry Night'

It also inspired me to work on “A Starry Night” with the one thing I love: yarn. I found this starter kit on Etsy that came with just about everything you need to make this piece: punch needle, hoop, monk cloth, and a set of soft wooly yarn including shiny royal blue to make the village scenes pop. 

Punch Needle: 'A Starry Night'
This was indeed a fun piece to work on especially since I hear there is now an Immersive Van Gogh exhibit in San Francisco. The digital experience features some of his most iconic paintings across 300,000 cubic feet of space where you can lose yourself in an array of color, texture and light.

Punch Needle: A Starry Night

I can’t wait to check it out!

No better time to start a hobby

By | March 20th, 2020|Handmade, Punch Needle, Yarn Addict|

Punch Needle Starter Kit by Wool Queen

With the Covid-19 pandemic and the Shelter-in-Place order mandated by Mayor London Breed, there’s no better time to pick up a new hobby than now. Flipping through my Instagram feed inspired me to land on punch needle embroidery. 

Since Michael’s was closed, I ordered the Wool Queen punch needle starter kit on Amazon and it came with everything I needed to begin my first project. The kit includes an adjustable punch needle, two natural 11 by 11-inch monk’s cloth, two no slip 8.6-inch hoops,12 colors eight-strand coarse yarn, five inspirational drawings and basic skills introduction. While the instructions were very basic and it didn’t teach you how to thread a punch needle, it was easy enough to find a quick tutorial on YouTube. Once you’re able to thread the punch needle, you’re well on your way to start your project. 

Punch Needle Yarn Embroidery -- Sheep

I wasn’t a fan of some of the drawings it came with, I took matters into my own hands and decided to draw my own. I was going back and forth between doing an abstract or actually coming up with a scene, but since my kit includes two monk clothes and hoops, I could do both. For some reason, I was compelled to draw a sheep and this drawing, which was overly simplified, brought me back to art class in grade school. 

Punch Needle Yarn Embroidery -- Sheep

It’s important to keep these drawings basic and save the complexity layer in for my next project. The fun part is usually changing colors and seeing the progress. Since the Wool Queen yarn is pretty thick, each stitch took up a fair amount of space on the canvas, so you could imagine that progress was quick. In fact, I ended up finishing my first piece within two days. 

Punch Needle Yarn Embroidery -- Sheep

I’m thrilled that I was able to use this time and discover a new hobby. What are you doing to keep your inner creativity alive and well?

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