Latest crafty doings:
-- Sewed a dog toy for Luna using a scrap of polar fleece.
I've made a few of these for her, and she enjoys them. They're as easy as can be-- especially if you have a sewing machine (though you could sew it by hand). For this one, I took a long strip of polar fleece (which is more durable against chewing than other fabrics I've tried), folded it together lengthwise (right sides together) and sewed along two sides, leaving one of the short ends open for stuffing. I stitched along those sides twice to make it extra sturdy, then turned it right side out. I stuffed the tube loosely, alternating wads of polyfil with a couple of plastic shopping bags (which make crunching sounds that dogs find interesting), then sewed the end shut (by hand, because it didn't want to fit under my sewing machine's presser foot).
Voilà! Stuffed dog toy on the cheap, and no eyes or noses for obsessive chewers to remove and eat.
(No photo, but it's not much to look at.)
-- Seamed the reworked Wham Bam cowl.
I frogged the original cowl because the yarn wasn't bulky enough to make it useful, then I knitted it again with two yarns held together-- the original yarn and another ball in dark grey. I finally got around to seaming it, this week. I like it much better now, though it's nowhere near cold enough to wear it, yet. (A high of 86°F yesterday, with high humidity! Funny, the calendar says it's November...)
-- Bound off the spider scarf.
I should've used a different bind-off, probably, because it could do with being a little looser... I wasn't in the mood to do a sewn bind-off (as suggested in pattern), so I just did the standard BO instead. I guess I could still go back, rip out that BO and try a different one... *sigh* We'll see.
I'm not feeling particularly excited about this project anymore, because I don't know when I'll ever wear it. It's also a bit short for a scarf (for my tastes), even after adding extra rows. Still, negativity aside, it was an interesting project, and I don't regret making it. I still have to weave in the ends and block it. Photos, after that!
-- Finished a doily.
I finished "Bewitching" this week. It was one of the first doily patterns that I looked at and really, really wanted to make, back before I had crocheted with thread. It became one of those "someday" patterns, put on a pedestal, behind glass, waiting for the day when I would finally be ready (i.e. good enough of a crocheter).
Then I started it to have it ready to work on during a vacation-- but I turned out not to feel like crocheting it then, after all, so it was put away for another couple of years.
Now that I've finished it, I'm not sure I see what "Newbie Me" was so excited about. It's a pretty doily, but it doesn't stand out to me now quite as much as it did, back then. Also, it was far from the most fun doily I've ever made. (Some doilies are just more fun to make than others!)
But I do still like "Bewitched", and it's good to know that I can make a whole doily in size 20 thread-- especially good to know since I have more balls of it bought at the same time! (I came across a sale on size 20 Cébélia a couple of years back, so I stocked up.)
As (almost) always, there are some goofs, but I don't think any of them are immediately obvious to the casual observer, so I left them in. (Ripping back multiple rows to fix an innocuous mistake? Life's too short!) Oh, and I didn't really follow the pattern on the last round, either. It's nice to be experienced enough as a crocheter to feel comfortable changing the pattern, when I want to. (For some people, that level of confidence probably comes early; for others of us, it may take years to reach that point.)
-- Blocked another doily.
Since the blocking supplies were already out, I blocked another doily that had been waiting for a while. Pattern: "Pretty Baby" by Elizabeth Hiddleson. Another not-favorite-to-make doily, but with a nice result. This one gets big when crocheted in size 10 thread. Mine measures about 26" in diameter.
(Luna sneaked into that photo... "Hey, watcha doin'? Is that thing for me?")
-- Cast-on for new knitting project.
Last night, I did the cast-on and first five rows of a modified "Newsprint Cowl". Today I'm trying to decide whether to keep on with it (adding in the second color of yarn!) or rip back and make it another 20 stitches bigger. I'm procrastinating because this is my first try at brioche knitting, and I'm a little nervous!
This is my yarn project for the weekend. It's supposed to be off-and-on rain this weekend-- perfect knitting weather! :o)
-- Sewed a dog toy for Luna using a scrap of polar fleece.
I've made a few of these for her, and she enjoys them. They're as easy as can be-- especially if you have a sewing machine (though you could sew it by hand). For this one, I took a long strip of polar fleece (which is more durable against chewing than other fabrics I've tried), folded it together lengthwise (right sides together) and sewed along two sides, leaving one of the short ends open for stuffing. I stitched along those sides twice to make it extra sturdy, then turned it right side out. I stuffed the tube loosely, alternating wads of polyfil with a couple of plastic shopping bags (which make crunching sounds that dogs find interesting), then sewed the end shut (by hand, because it didn't want to fit under my sewing machine's presser foot).
Voilà! Stuffed dog toy on the cheap, and no eyes or noses for obsessive chewers to remove and eat.
(No photo, but it's not much to look at.)
-- Seamed the reworked Wham Bam cowl.
I frogged the original cowl because the yarn wasn't bulky enough to make it useful, then I knitted it again with two yarns held together-- the original yarn and another ball in dark grey. I finally got around to seaming it, this week. I like it much better now, though it's nowhere near cold enough to wear it, yet. (A high of 86°F yesterday, with high humidity! Funny, the calendar says it's November...)
-- Bound off the spider scarf.
I should've used a different bind-off, probably, because it could do with being a little looser... I wasn't in the mood to do a sewn bind-off (as suggested in pattern), so I just did the standard BO instead. I guess I could still go back, rip out that BO and try a different one... *sigh* We'll see.
I'm not feeling particularly excited about this project anymore, because I don't know when I'll ever wear it. It's also a bit short for a scarf (for my tastes), even after adding extra rows. Still, negativity aside, it was an interesting project, and I don't regret making it. I still have to weave in the ends and block it. Photos, after that!
-- Finished a doily.
I finished "Bewitching" this week. It was one of the first doily patterns that I looked at and really, really wanted to make, back before I had crocheted with thread. It became one of those "someday" patterns, put on a pedestal, behind glass, waiting for the day when I would finally be ready (i.e. good enough of a crocheter).
Then I started it to have it ready to work on during a vacation-- but I turned out not to feel like crocheting it then, after all, so it was put away for another couple of years.
Now that I've finished it, I'm not sure I see what "Newbie Me" was so excited about. It's a pretty doily, but it doesn't stand out to me now quite as much as it did, back then. Also, it was far from the most fun doily I've ever made. (Some doilies are just more fun to make than others!)
But I do still like "Bewitched", and it's good to know that I can make a whole doily in size 20 thread-- especially good to know since I have more balls of it bought at the same time! (I came across a sale on size 20 Cébélia a couple of years back, so I stocked up.)
As (almost) always, there are some goofs, but I don't think any of them are immediately obvious to the casual observer, so I left them in. (Ripping back multiple rows to fix an innocuous mistake? Life's too short!) Oh, and I didn't really follow the pattern on the last round, either. It's nice to be experienced enough as a crocheter to feel comfortable changing the pattern, when I want to. (For some people, that level of confidence probably comes early; for others of us, it may take years to reach that point.)
-- Blocked another doily.
Since the blocking supplies were already out, I blocked another doily that had been waiting for a while. Pattern: "Pretty Baby" by Elizabeth Hiddleson. Another not-favorite-to-make doily, but with a nice result. This one gets big when crocheted in size 10 thread. Mine measures about 26" in diameter.
(Luna sneaked into that photo... "Hey, watcha doin'? Is that thing for me?")
-- Cast-on for new knitting project.
Last night, I did the cast-on and first five rows of a modified "Newsprint Cowl". Today I'm trying to decide whether to keep on with it (adding in the second color of yarn!) or rip back and make it another 20 stitches bigger. I'm procrastinating because this is my first try at brioche knitting, and I'm a little nervous!
This is my yarn project for the weekend. It's supposed to be off-and-on rain this weekend-- perfect knitting weather! :o)