My name is Kristina and I am a practicing bicraftual living in Toronto. (actually, a lapsed multicraftual, but that’s another story for another day).

What, you may ask, is “bicraftuality”? Well, let me answer that with another question (did I mention that I practice law to support my craft habits? I really should have warned you up front). Have you ever looked at a piece of art and thought “I wish I could do that, but I can’t draw/sculpt?” Or perhaps you’ve yearned to try your hand at a different craft but talked yourself out of it because you’re too busy knitting?

I know, I know – that was actually two questions. However, if the answer to either was “yes”, there is a strong chance that you are a latent bicraftual. If so, fear not. There are other crafts out there that you can combine with knitting in order to make fancy, shiny and unique works of non-wearable art (and, unlike your knitted gifts of scarves, mittens, and gloves, suitable to all-season use and not all that easy to lose!).

Today’s example: mosaic art. The art of mosaic involve sticking objects to surfaces to create art. Combining mosaic with knitting can yield this type of result: in far less time than you might think and with little to no experience in either mosaic or knitting. This piece, by the way, is called Serendipity at Sunset.

Or, perhaps you’d like to try something like my 3-D Eastern Promise using freeform crochet or knitting:

“I can’t do that!”, you may be thinking. Aw, come on - sure you can! Although I’m experienced in both mosaic art and knitting, the techniques used in this piece are basic level in both crafts.

Why would you take up mosaic? Because • it’s very easy to do • the start up cost is low, as is ongoing materials costs (much can be found at the local dollar store or hardware store • mosaic stash takes up far less space than knitting stash (at least, than my knitting stash… and I have a sizeable mosaic stash as well) • with the right materials, it is kid-friendly • the average mosaic project is far less time intensive than the average knitting project (example: the project showed above constitutes approximately 14 hours of knitting and 6 hours or so of assembly) • (most importantly) it’s FUN!

Why mosaic and knitting together? Because: • the textural and tonal differences between yarn and plates/tiles/glass make for very interesting finished pieces • the colour ranges are seemingly limitless • it’s a great way to combine flash and stash without a lot of cash

So, without further ado, here is Brouhaha’s 10 Step Plan to Bicraftual Bliss:
Get Tools and Materials: Here’s what you need in order to create something like the pieces above.

1. Tile/Glass Nippers – available at any large hardware store for $10-$20. They come either with a straight or circular cutting edge. If buying only one, get the straight ones.
2. Stained Glass- available at some craft shops or a local stained glass outlet. Varies in cost from $6 to $20 per square foot. One square foot will cover up to two square feet of surface. Or, most stained glass shops sell remnants by weight, which is quite cheap.
3. Tile Grout: available at any hardware store. You can also buy premixed tubs in several colours.
4. Tile Adhesive: available at any hardware store.
5. Glass Mosaic Tiles: available at some craft stores or a mosaic-specific shop. It’s worth a trip to your local shop to source some as they are very easy to work with. You could also use small ceramic tiles from the local large hardware or tile shop.
6. Artist’s Pigments: available at art shops and some stationers’ shops. You can use these to tint white grout to just about any colour you want.
7. If planning to cut stained glass, you might also want to pick up some safety goggles.

Find a canvas or surface for the Serendipity at Sunset piece above, I used an artist’s canvas – 24” by 36”. These are sold in various sizes at any art store. However, for a firmer surface which will be easier to work with if you’re a novice, here are some other ideas:

• a picture frame with glass insert (which is what I used for the Eastern Promise) • mosaic frames (typically a wooden picture frame with one pane of glass) • a sheet of PVC • unpainted plaques (available at craft shops) • old IKEA furniture (e.g. side tables) • Other interesting “surfaces” can be found at yard sales, Goodwill, etc. Please note that the tiles, glass and grout could make your piece quite heavy, depending upon how large it is. Keep this in mind if you wish to hang the finished item.

Prepare your workspace: This is as simple as clearing off your living room or dining room table. I do mosaic sitting on my living room floor – but if you have back problems, this is not really recommended! Put something protective down (old newspapers or vinyl tablecloths from the dollar store work for me).

Plan your pattern: Give a bit of thought to the pattern and colours you wish to use. If putting in a knitted piece, trace the rough shape of it onto your surface using marker or pencil, leaving ¼” or so around.

Place and glue your tiles: The bonus of mosaic for me is that you don’t have to commit to colour or placement choices right away. Fool around with your tiles and place them without gluing at first. When you’re happy, open up your tile adhesive and smear a little bit on the back of each tile before you place it. Press down firmly after placing. If you want to move or remove any tiles, you have about ½ hour to do so.

If using tiles, you may either leave 1/8” or so space in between them if you want them to have grout around them, or squarely next to each other if you don’t want to grout them. (the tiles in Serendipity at Sunset are not grouted). You may need to cut one tile in each row if your size of tiles doesn’t fit or leaves gaps at an end. You can do so with the tile nippers. Do not fret if you have a couple of tiles break on you – just make sure you have some extra tiles to fit your pattern.

Cut, place and glue your tiles: This, for me, is the really fun part. Use the tile nippers to cut off pieces of random shapes and sizes from your piece/s of stained glass. Then fit them into the space you’ve allotted for this like a puzzle, leaving a good ¼ inch or so around each piece for the grout. Do this with or without glue at first, depending upon your comfort level. The only rule is to leave some room for the grouting, which serves both as a further stabiliser and a decorative “border”. Leave the piece to sit for at least 8 hours and preferably overnight before grouting.

Grout your piece: Before grouting, scrape off any adhesive which might have gotten onto some of your tiles or glass at the top, using a dull knife. Don’t worry – this will not scratch the surface. You will need about 30 to 45 minutes for this stage.

If using premixed grout, take an old spatula or scraper and just go for it! Apply the grout in gobs to your surface, smoothing it in with the spatula. Make sure all the grooves get grout in them and press down to avoid bubbles. Smooth off the surface. Don’t worry about getting all the grout off the surface just yet.

If mixing your own grout, get an old or disposable bowl and mix water and grout powder according to the package directions (approximately eight ounces or 180 grams of powder to ½ cup COLD water – the consistency should be something like muffin dough without the lumps). If you wish to tint the grout, add some powdered artist’s pigment. Please note that the grout will fade slightly when drying. After grouting, let sit for 20 minutes, then take a damp cloth and wipe off any excess grout. If the surface still appears a bit cloudy, don’t worry. It will take 4-6 hours to harden thoroughly.

CAUTION: DO NOT PUT ANY GROUT DOWN YOUR DRAINS. Your landlord will not thank you for this, and/or you won’t like the size of the plumbing bill. This is not intended by any means to be a complete guide to mosaic – there are great books available in the crafts section of your local bookshop for that!

Place your knitted piece: Affix your knitted piece in the space you’ve left for it now, if you’d like. There is nothing that stops you from doing this at the beginning, by the way (I did when I made my Sunset piece – it is affixed with staples and glue). However, if you do this, consider using painter’s tape (the green stuff that looks like regular masking tape) at the edges of the piece nearest where you are gluing and grouting to avoid – er – sticky knitting.

Polish your piece: Take a dry cloth and buff your piece like a car, removing any residual grout until she shines and gleams! And there you have it – a successful mosaic piece with knitting involved!

Oops – almost forgot: Knit something to put into your piece: This, of course, does not need to be step 10. In fact, it should come somewhere near the top. I’m partial to the idea of using UFOs (as I did in the Sunset), but also of course you can come up with something new!

About the maker: Kristina Brousalis is a craft-daft hyphenated greek-canadian boygirl who lives and crafts next to a forest in central Toronto, Canada. She has been knitting for over 25 years and making mosaics for five or so. She practices law to support her Handmaiden silk, smalti and other craft habits. Her latest obsession is blogging, and she tries to blog something humorous every single day. Read on for a biographical essay on crafting.

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