All posts by Jackie E-S

Jackie E-S is the owner of HeartStrings FiberArts, a showcase for her growing roster of original pattern designs. As a certified master knitter and teacher, Jackie continues to share her love of knitting and knowledge through design and publication of skill-building pattern instructions, and conducting workshops, programs and demonstrations. Her interest in the fiber arts extends beyond knitting and spinning to include weaving, dyeing and all needle arts. She also enjoys contract bridge and music.
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Capture the Magic – Purple Hyacinth Bean Vine Seeds Special Offer for Spring Planting

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Last year’s Jackie and the Beanstalk Seed Packets were such a hit. I am pleased to be able to offer them again this year. And now through April 30, 2013 you can get a FREE packet of seeds with your U.S. shipped order of any Kits or Supplies in the HeartStrings catalogs at Shopatron. Just enter the words “Jackie and the Beanstalk Seeds” in the comments field of your order.

Purple Hyacinth Bean

Or course, there’s a story about how the special Jackie and the Beanstalk magic seeds came about. But now that I know more about this plant, I can tell you that they also go by the name “Egyptian Bean Vine” or “Purple Hyacinth Bean Vine”. These seeds produce lovely pink flowers as shown in the photo above.

purple hyacinth bean vine seeds and pods
purple hyacinth bean vine seeds and pods

To receive a free packet of real seed pods with your U.S. shipped order of any Kits or Supplies in the HeartStrings catalogs at Shopatron, just enter the words “Jackie and the Beanstalk Seeds” in the comments field of your order. One gift packet per customer. Offer is good through April 30, 2013 midnight CST. (Note: e-Patterns do not qualify for receiving a packet of seeds since I haven’t figured out how to download seeds, lol).

Capture the magic. Happy spring planting! Happy all-year-long knitting!

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Friends of HeartStrings Gallery

Alice Scherp and her Flared Lace Smoke Ring extraordinaire

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I am blessed with the many friends I have met along the way on my fiber arts journey. Today I want to showcase Hon (Alice) Scherp, a native of Alaska and all-around expert spinner and lace knitter. I first “met” Alice on the “Successful Lace Knitting” book collaboration to celebrate the work of Dorothy Reade.

We’ve kept in touch since then, especially as Alice fell in love with making my Flared Lace Smoke Ring pattern in her hand-spun qiviut yarn, lending her own creative touches which I can’t wait to show you.

Alice Scherp qiviut smoke ring

Continue reading Alice Scherp and her Flared Lace Smoke Ring extraordinaire →

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Spinning

A different take on making lemonade out of lemons

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Have you heard the saying “making lemonade out of lemons”. It means to make a bad situation seem better.

Here’s my take on it when dealing with rough, dry hands that can plague those of us who love to spin and knit with silk.

Even the barest little roughness can snag the silk fiber, making an otherwise pleasant experience into a irritatingly bad situation.

Lemons to the rescue.


Simply grab a lemon and cut it in half. Rub the piece of lemon on your hands, then dry your hands on a paper towel.

The lemon juice will leave your hands feeling silky soft and smooth without any oily residue that oftentimes is left by hand lotions attempting to smooth the skin. Also, of course, your hands will smell lemony fresh!

Keep the piece of lemon handy for rubbing on your hands again as needed. It’s a quick and effective way to turn an unpleasant silk spinning or knitting session into a pleasurable, snag-free one.

Oh … and with the rest of the lemons, you can make lemonade!

p.s. If you don’t have a fresh lemon, bottled lemon juice like ReaLemon works just as well.

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