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This one is crochet! And it’s for meeeeeeee or maybe that nebulous gift bin I keep talking about since it sort of makes me look huge on top. Anyway.
Pattern: Cold Shoulders from the Stitch ‘N Bitch crochet book
Yarn: Trendsetter Repunzel, four skeins
Hook: I/5.5 and K/6.5, the former for the yoke and the latter for the shells
Mods: I did some extra shell rows and some extra collar rows. I also omitted the pompoms.
According to the Ravelry stash entry, I bought the yarn for this in October 2012. I got it at Tuesday Morning shortly after I moved up to DC. The intent, I think, was to make a sweater or a tutu, but I don’t think I would have had enough for that, even on huge needles, so capelet it is. I love a good capelet. I wear my Red Riding Hood capelet all the time and I keep meaning to make another similar one, perhaps sans hood. I’m not sure how keen I am on this one (the mohair halo makes me look huge and it’s not the softest yarn ever). Right now it’s keeping Elizabeth warm, which is a fine place for it to stay until I figure out if I want to keep it or not. It looks excellent on Elizabeth, as everything does, and decidedly less so on me. Hrmph.
I did really like making it though. Crochet was the first craft I learned, the thing that started this whole crazy rabbit hole to several looms, a soon-to-be tax-refund-funded new spinning wheel, and literally thousands of dollars spent on yarn, and I don’t do it nearly enough. Mostly because I generally prefer knitting, as I don’t have to look at it to do it, unlike crochet, where if I don’t look, I end up poking the hook somewhere weird and not the next stitch, but still. There are some applications where crochet really shines, and I should seek out more of them. (For one thing, crochet is excellent for quickly working through what some (not me) would argue is a slightly ridiculous yarn stash).
Crochet was my entry to crafts, and it will always be my first love. Maybe not my truest, but always my longest. Maybe I’ll start another granny square blanket. I do love a good granny square.
Sooo I’ve started swapping again. I signed up for an Alice in Wonderland swap and I’m doing ows again. I claimed A2K for some plarn and an ewok pin cushion.
Plarn is a portmanteau of plastic bag yarn. I used this tutorial to make yarn from the collection of plastic bags I’ve got kicking around.
I got a total of 202 yards in two skeins. I used my rotary cutter to slice the strips and it actually went pretty quickly. I keep forgetting to bring my reusable bags when I go grocery shopping, so I’ve got quite the collection of plastic bags. I might make some of this yarn myself and use it in weaving.
The other thing I made for the swap is an Ewok.
Pattern: Wicket the Ewok but I mostly just winged it
Yarn: Scraps. Cascade Eco and wool recycled from a sweater with a bit of colorwork.
Hook: 3.75 mm
Mods: I mostly made things up as I went, so there are a lot. Plus I used fabric for the hood and stitched it in place.
Once I finished all the pieces and stitched him together (mostly just the arms since I made the legs, body, and head all in one piece), I used a hand carder to brush out the yarn and make him fuzzy. He’s stuffed with yarn scraps from weaving, so he’s wool all the way through.
I’m particularly pleased with the hood. I played with the fabric and draping for a while before I stitched it down. I tried to crochet the hood, but I kept running out of whatever color I started it in. I guess it takes way more than I was allocating. Oh well. The fabric hood came out really nicely.
There’s a good chance that by the time this posts, the little ewok and the plarn will have made it to their destination. I hope A2K likes them!
Here is the second thing I made for the Yarnies/Hoopers swap. It’s crochet because sometimes I do that too.
Pattern: Hello Kitty Scarf from Made by K
Yarn: Wool Ease (white and pink), recycled acrylic/wool (pink and black), a tiiiiny bit of recycled shetland held triple (yellow)
Hook: H/8, 5mm
Mods: Oh so many. I followed the directions for the kitty faces sort of but I know how to make a granny square. I didn’t do the oblong ones, I just made regular ones. I also added an extra square behind the kitty face squares.
This is what the back of the Hello Kitty squares look like. I made two more squares but with one fewer round. Then I sewed them on and tucked all the ends behind it. That way I didn’t have to worry if my embroidery was messy or ends weren’t woven in perfectly.
There’s a picot edge all around the outside which was probably the most time-consuming part. I like how it came out though. I gave the scarf a quick steam block before I sent it out to help everything lie flat.
Here’s a close up of the Kitty square that isn’t awful. It’s the flower I think. The other one is sort of misshapen but it looks more or less like Hello Kitty.
This project made me remember how much I enjoy crochet and granny squares. Might have to make something with that soon.
And now, a fannish aside which will probably contain vague spoilers to last night’s Doctor Who fall season finale:
So who else watched it? Because MY FEELINGS. For one brief, shiny moment near the end I thought everything was going to be okay and then Moffat was like “lol NOPE.” But I wasn’t crying yet so I figured I’d be okay AND THEN THERE WAS THE AFTERWORD. And there were tears. Because AMY. I’m barely coherent about it. I’m going to miss those two SO MUCH. Because Rory. RORY.
Anyway. Next time on the blog will be some Doctor Who stuff from the Doctor Who swap. What I sent has been received for a while so I’m going to finally get around to posting pictures of what I made.
Hello from my apartment in Northern Virginia where I am all moved in. I want to show you pictures of the place but it’s kind of a disaster area at the moment. Lots of organizing to do. Anyway, in between that, I made a bathmat:
Pattern: By Your Bed/Bathmat/Doormat
Yarn: Navy (it’s darker than the picture shows) t-shirt yarn/tarn I got in a swap on Craftster a while ago. I used 7/8 balls. (The last might become a dishcloth if I ever find it.)
Hook: GIGANTIC plastic 15mm hook
Mods: I added an extra row of shells/3dc in ch1 sp.
Woo! Pretty simple project; went by super quickly. And now we have a pretty bathmat.
This next week will likely be spent cleaning and organizing and a little bit of job hunting. I’m applying to the Fairfax school system, which I likely won’t get but would be awesome if I did. Cheers!
I received a package from my Futurama swap today! It is completely awesome and you should all be totally jealous.
Bender-inspired chapstick cozy!
With bonus chapstick! How did she know I am completely and hopelessly addicted to chapstick?
Two AMAZING ATCs. One has Fry’s/the Devil’s opera written on it (part of it anyway) and the other has URL and “Mama said Spock you out” which is one of my favorite lines and I keep meaning to cross stitch it.
Hypnotoad painting! Ahh, I love it! It’s already up on my wall, so Hynotoad can silently judge me while I’m hanging out in my room.
And finally, a completely bitchin’ cross stitch of the crew. Clearly we were on the same brain page with the xstitching. : ) Here’s a closer picture:
It’s completely awesome and I have it set up on a book case. My room is seriously not big enough for all the fantastic art I want to display.
THANK YOU SO MUCH TWISTEDTRUTH. You rock. You completely rock.
So I have this habit of cycling through sci fi franchises. The good ones I watch obsessively and welcome to the fold of my fandoms. It is these shows which I continue to rave about, craft about, and obsess about. Among these franchises are SG1 and SGA (oh, how I love SGA), BSG, Harry Potter (of course) and Sanctuary (still ongoing but despite the protests of my inner biologist, I love that show to death. Mostly because of Amanda Tapping).
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve welcomed a new franchise into the fold. Doctor Who. Oh, Doctor Who. I protested for so long even though my college friends were nuts about it. I saw part of 9/Rose episode on TV once and part of a Tom Baker ep at college and I didn’t care for it. It was odd, the special effects were terrible, the writing was disappointing.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, I watched Blink.
And there I fell, head over heels for the doctor and the TARDIS and the many companions (I even liked Donna in the end). I’m currently on episode 10 of season five (I went back to the beginning and pretty much marathoned what was on Netflix, which is 1-5). I’m completely obsessed. I’m planning Tardis socks, setting an alarm for the Christmas special, and crocheting this:
Pattern: Weeping Angel Statue
Yarn: Left overs from some sharks
Hook: 3.75
Mods: Worked the base attached to the body instead of separately.
Not that I particularly have the space for things without a use, but this worked up so quickly and was a nice break between shark mittens. And once I craft about a fandom, you know my love is official. (See Chuck Palaniuk, Futurama, Battlestar Galactica, SG1)
I made some things for a swap. They are not particularly ground-breaking, but I quite like how they turned out. : ) I claimed Craftster user SciFunk for felted nesting bowls and something else I had yet to determine. Here are the felted bowls:
I used Lamb’s Pride, Lion Wool, and some orange wool (I think Cascade 220?). And another color of Cascade 220. I like making these little bowls. They’re super quick and a great way to use up small bits of wool. Crochet a bowl, throw in the washer and dryer and hit it with some steam and an ironing and you have cute bowls.
After much dithering and pouring over SciFunk’s list, I finally decided what else to make for her. Dog toys was on her list, so I whipped up three rope toys:
I used strips of t-shirt fabric from some left-over sleeves (from the university shirt-quilt I’m making and will show pictures of eventually). Cut off the hem, cut the sleeve open, and cut across for a straight strip. Tie a knot in the top, braid, and tie a knot in the bottom. Voila!
The thicker ones used both sleeves of each shirt (so there were six strips) and the thinner one used one sleeve (three strips). They took about 10 minutes to make all of them and that’s only because the bottom knots in the thicker ones were a little difficult to tie. If my dog actually enjoyed this sort of thing, I’d make some for him, but he doesn’t.
So I finished a thing for OWS. I actually finished several things but like a dummy forgot to take pictures and this one I haven’t sent off yet (so if you’re Quaggy on Craftster, you should probably not look).
Anyway, I made a totebag, based off of this one on her wists. I tried to copy it at least in spirit, though I’m pretty pleased with what I came up with:
Pattern: I made it up as I went. Might put together a pattern. Might not. It’s pretty simple. Make hexagons. Sew them together. Make handle.
Yarn: Acrylic from an estate sale (which I suspect to be Red Heart Super Saver). The purple multi is Jo Ann Sensations Rainbow Boucle, which I actually bought at Jo Ann’s a few years ago. Cause I’m classy.
Hook: (yep, this is crochet! Gasp!) I/9 5.5 mm. I crochet kind of loosely though.
So I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve got going on here. It was pretty quick to make (I made up a couple of hexagons per day in between other things and crocheted them together as I went). I haven’t made any large-scale crochet projects in a while (and I don’t usually, as I prefer knitting). It was nice to use different hand muscles, though I must admit I overdid it on a couple of days and make my hand sore. : /
I lightly steamed the body of the bag to make it less stiff, but the gauge is tight enough that I don’t think it needs a lining. I didn’t steam the handle because I wanted it to be stiffer/more sturdy, and I think I accomplished that.
I also finished another thing, knitted this time. I made a shorter version of my Leah vest to work out the shaping (and also cause I wanted it). I still have to take proper pictures of it, so I’ll leave that for another post. In the mean time, I’ve cast on for a hat with a nice big brim for shading my face from the sun.
Also, there’s that graduation thing happening on Saturday. You know, no big. : )
So Thursday was my friend Jon’s birthday. He is obsessed with the ewoks from Star Wars and is definitely craft-worthy, so this is what I made him for his birthday present:
Pattern: Wicket the Ewok, mostly.
Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool (brown), cream wool from a thrift store sweater, and red-orange vintage wool that never ends.
Hook: 3.75mm (f) and 4 mm when I misplaced the f hook.
Mods: I didn’t really follow the pattern for the body or the arms and I didn’t use it at all for the head or ears (though the pictures were instrumental in my figuring it out). I followed the pattern for the hood, but I had to modify it so it fit my Wicket (it would have come out WAY too big).
I happen to think he’s adorable, even though my embroidering on yarn skills are… somewhat sub-par. But Jon loves him, and that’s what really matters. : )
So my first week at school has been pretty busy, hence the lack of posting. That isn’t to say I haven’t been crafting–I have definitely been crafting. And organizing. My craft area sort of looks organized (which if you know me at all is something of an accomplishment). I’ve been busy knitting for swaps (and as I mentioned before, I started a sweater for me). I recently finished two items for an OWS claim:
Pattern: Mary Jane Slippers for what seems like the hundreth time.
Yarn: Vintage wool, which I’m trying desperately to use up since I’m not crazy about it.
Hook: 3.75 mm (f)
Mods: I don’t think any.
I’ve made this pattern so many times I sometimes forgot it’s not my pattern. I don’t usually repeat patterns and certainly not to the degree of this one, so I sometimes forget I’m not just makin’ it up. : )
Pattern: None; I knit the brim flat and picked up stitches for the top part of the hat.
Yarn: More of that vintage wool. I’m down to less than 50g I think.
Needle: US 7/4.5 mm
This yarn frustrates me (nothing wrong with it; I just don’t like the color and I had a lot of it), but I like how the hat came out. It’s cute. I love seed stitch. : ) Not much to say about it; it was pretty easy to make.
In other crafting news, I recently received a crap ton of fabric from an OWS claim, but I’m waiting on one more OWS package, so I’ll just show you all at once. I’m also knitting up some swatches for a WWYF swap (one in linen stitch ❤ and one in stockinette) for which I received a lovely shawl pin. I'll show you that when I show you the OWS stuff. I also recently finished a thing for a friend's birthday, which I will try to show you on Monday. It's super cute.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 