a curly-cue heart

woolly sweet-hearts pattern

Today's heart tutorial is one I call my curly-cue heart, for obvious reasons. I love this design! It is so easy to do but it looks so complicated. It is sure to get rave reviews with your family and friends.

The pink heart is the large folk-style design from my Woolly Sweet-Hearts pattern. Again, like with yesterday's heart, I only embellished the top side.

Materials needed for this design: an all-purpose (38-gauge) felting needle, fingering or sport weight yarn in a coordinating color to the heart, FireLine bead thread, fine beading needle and tiny seed beads (size 11 used in photo).

To begin the curly-cues, I cut several 4-inch lengths of yarn (fingering weight in photo). Fingering weight creates finer lines, and sport weight, slightly thicker. I took one length and created a small curl near the bottom of the heart. Then I used the felting needle and began poking the strand down atop the heart. I poked it lightly to slightly adhere it to the heart, holding the curl in position. I like to first baste all the curls down just in case I need to move one later if needed. Take another length and butt it up next to the first curl and form a second curl. Baste it into position.

Continue in this manner until the heart is covered in curls. I like to alternate the curls having a left facing curl butt up against right facing and so forth.

Once all the curls are in position, then I begin going over each of the curls again and again to permanently adhere them to the heart. As you continue to poke the yarn it will flatten and first seem like its getting wider. The more you poke the thinner it becomes, looking more like its original old self.

At the end of most of the curls, I added a little ball of pink, giving the curl further dimension. To create this look, cut a 1-inch length of pink yarn and pull the plies apart. Smoosh them between your fingers, creating a little bit of yarn fluff. Roll this fluff into a tiny ball and needle felt it down onto the curl's end, poking it into a round dot and then flattening it.

The final touch is the beads. I used size 11 seed beads in a pale pink color. I used FireLine clear beading thread because of its transparency. You can bead a top any color heart and it won't show. I sewed the beads randomly around the heart adding further texture and sparkle. I cut a length of bead thread long enough to sew on all the beads with one thread. The hardest part about beading is threading that darn needle, so work efficiently and use only one thread. For more detailed instructions on how to bead atop wool review my book, Whimsical Woollies or my Woolly Eggs or Woolly Holiday Ornaments patterns.

There you have it! Another fun and one-of-a-kind heart for your bowl of sweet hearts.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions. I appreciate the feedback.

Tune in tomorrow for my final tutorial, a crocheted-edge heart.

Happy knitting!