Amy Lynn, of Not So Random Thoughts, used my post on my Black Canary shoes to make herself a fantastic pair of Spider-Man shoes. She went two steps past my shoes–she painted the soles and heels and relined the shoes. The results? Awesome! She’s thinking of doing another round with her Wonder Woman comics, and while I completely agree those would make badass shoes, I did suggest she attempt a bag of badass if she wanted something new.
Another Project Long Completed: The Oath!
I posted way way back when I cross stitched the first part of the Green Lantern Oath, and way back, I actually cross stitched the whole thing:
The alignment is obviously a little bit wonky, but I love it anyway. I’ve not yet gotten it framed (I have an idea for making a picture frame but haven’t tried it out yet). I’m proud of my stitching; I don’t cross stitch much, and I’ve never had the patience for those multi-colored-every-five-stitches-change thread projects, so I like coming up with ways to cross stitch words. I’ve got a list of quotes I want to cross stitch eventually, but they always seem to fall to the wayside.
Road Trip Skirt
In mid-September, The Husband and I began a cross-country road trip to move from Missouri to Oregon. Five days later, having not horribly murdered each other, we arrived. Along the way, I had a lot of things I could have done. I had books to read. I had ideas I could write. I had yarn. In a surprise to absolutely no one on this list, the yarn won over in a big way. In five days, I made most of a skirt. And here’s what it looks like:
Pardon the epic bitchface. I do not self-photograph well.
I made it over five day with Joann Sensations Boucle, an I-hook and no pattern. The only parts of it I completed once we got into Oregeon proper are the ruffle:
Ruffle!
which took entirely too much time, as I did three single crochet in every crochet around, then did a single crochet in each of those, and then did three single crochet in each single crochet, and then the final row was a single crochet in every single crochet.
Got that?
After the ruffle was complete, I added the buttons:
Buttons!
The gaping buttonhole on the bottom just proves that I haven’t yet mastered buttonholes. I have, at least, learned to sew a button on tightly. That is a valuable skill. Just ask The Husband and the slacks of his I have repaired a few times.
You might notice, looking at the button picture, that the buttonholes aren’t quite on the same level as the buttons. This is due to a) my aforementioned lack of buttonhole talent and b) my need to add a second button to the skirt. Turns out that Boucle, while working up in a pretty, striped pattern without my having to do anything, is a bit heavier than expected when it’s in skirt form, and I had to add a second button to keep the thing from literally falling off me.
Overall, I’m happy with the Road Trip skirt. It’s soft. It looks good, and every time I wear it, I’m reminded that The Husband and I made it across the country without horribly murderating one another. Victory on all counts!
It’s fall! Bring on the hooded shrug!
Mmm, cozy.
Please consider the picture to the left to be an example of why I do not usually pose for photos. I can hold still, but I always seem to bring the bitchface.
My bitchface (and photobomb by the goose) aside, I’m happy with the project. The shrug is you was made from Red Heart Light and Lofty. I made it with my Q-hook, and winged the pattern.
Winging a shrug pattern is pretty easy once you realize that shrugs are rectangles you sew together. Once I sewed the rectangle, I added the sleeves, hood, and cuffs. The red cuffs came to be because I ran out of green yarn. I like making shrugs from bulkier yarns because, a) they work up fast, and b) it’s easy to do shaping. With bulkier yarns, you’re usually working about three stitches per inch, so shaping by the inch can be done in a single row or round without getting the slightly triangular shape you get if you decrease too quickly with lighter yarn weights.
And now, a shot of the back:
From the back!
With the contrast from the flash, you can see the joining seam at the curve of my shoulder. You can also see the open stitch work that comes from working with a bulky yarn and a big hook. The open stitching makes the shrug easier to wear in chilly-but-not-too-chilly weather. It’s super comfy and has already been made useful in our new digs in Oregon. Turns out, it rains here at the drop of a hat and doesn’t get terribly cold when it does. (I’ve been informed that that will change. Oh , goody.)
A nook for my Nook
Way back in February, before prices dropped on eReaders like nobody’s business, I went out and bought the Barnes & Noble Nook. I did not, at the time, buy a cover for it because, a) it’d be an extra $30 I wouldn’t be able to spend on books, and b) I had a stack of yarn at home aching to be used in some project.
Sometime in April, tired of wrapping my Nook in a variety of scarves, I finally sat down and crocheted a bag for my new toy. I used a 100% cotton yarn, light worsted weight, in a really pretty denim blue. I (of course) don’t recall the name of the yarn, but I know it’s been discontinued because I picked it up off the discontinued shelf at my local yarn shop. The results were rather lovely, I think:
Nook Cozy -- Closed
I absolutely love the buttons with that denim blue, and the Nook fits into the cozy exactly. To get the measurements right, I started with a double-base chain the length of the Nook’s short side and then worked in the round to make the bag. I kept slipping the Nook in and out of the bag like you’d try on a toe-down sock for fit. You can see how well it fits in the next two images:
Nook Cozy -- Size Comparison from the side
Nook Cozy -- Size Comparison with Nook in cozy
There’s enough extra space in the design of the bag to get the Nook in and out easily, but the bag is still small enough that the Nook doesn’t jostle around.
And now, let us pause for a quick bit of button porn:
Nook Cozy -- Button close-up
I picked up the buttons at Hobby Lobby ages ago, and I was so happy to finally find a yarn and a project where they worked so well. The buttons are from Dill Buttons, and are made–the website informs me–of tin. I had assumed they were silver because, well, they’re silver, so I learned something today.
My only complaint on the whole project is that I got overzealous with the strap, so the bag hits me under my hip, but I tend to do that with bags, so I’m not terribly surprised.
On a final, pre-poll note, I highly recommend the Nook. All the ereaders on the market are basically the same in regards to software, so do your research on which feels the most comfortable to interact with, and pick one up now. They’ve dropped $100 off the price across the board.
And now, the poll:
Prototype: Mushroom Hat
My general design set-up works as follows: I sit down with some yarn and a hook and decide I’m going to make something. Sometimes it’s a purse. Sometimes it’s a shawl. Sometimes it’s a hat. When I do this, I wing it. I used patterns early on to figure out how to make things, but once I figure out the basics of how to make something, I usually throw patterns to the wind and throw myself headlong into whatever project I’m making. There’s a lot you can learn from a good pattern, but I learn really well by screwing up and back tracking, so that’s my general way of doing things.
The Mushroom Hat is one of those projects. I had an I-hook, some red heart acrylic, and I wanted to make a slouchy little hat that I could tuck my hair into (as we’re offically in the season of 95 in the shade on a cool day). Thus, this:
Mushroom Hat -- Side View
Super cute, right? Of course it is! I worked from the top down, and I made the hat in a spiral (meaning no turns at the ends of rounds), and I alternated between half-double and double-crochet stitches. I think the basic shape of it is really good. I can get my hair into it, and it has a place to stay. The brim is a bit wider than I had intended, but that’s an easy fix if I make the hat again. I like the little shell stitches on the final round, but I’m very partial to shell stitches anyway. A couple of more shots:
Mushroom Hat -- Back View
It’s interesting to me that from the back, the hat looks a little floppier than it actually is. Red Heart acrylic is not a soft yarn when you first use it, so it tends to keep its shape pretty stoutly. If I wash this hat, I know it’ll soften up a bit and probably be about as malleable as it looks in this picture, but for now, it’s a pretty structured hat.
Mushroom Hat -- Brim Detail
Last but not least, a close-up on the brim. Like I said above, this brim is a bit too wide for my tastes, but that’s easily fixable for the next time I make the hat. I can either take out a round or two of the half-double stitches, or I can switch the entire brim to single crochet, so the brim has the same number of rounds as it does now, but it’ll be a little smaller.
There may be some of you reading this who find the idea of making a hat just to figure out how to fix a hat really annoying. I like the trial and error process, because frogging can sometimes teach you just as much as following someone else’s directions. It’s all personal preference, which just reflects the whole point of making things yourself. You can make what you like, even if it takes a second try.
Confession Time
I am utterly terrible at craft blogging.
I know you’re shocked. But wait! There’s more!
I’m not just bad at craft blogging, but also bad at all the pieces of craft blogging. I forget to get in-progress pictures, and I forget to get finalized images, and even if I do get either of those, I sometimes forget to post things for months and months.
In short: I’m one of those bloggers, and while I try to remember to post, things happen, and then I forget. And when I remember again, I can’t find my camera or can’t remember what project I finished, and I find myself back where I started, with no posts, and huge gaps between new posts.
This is not a promise to try harder. This is a statement of the facts. I’ll post as I remember, and I hope anyone who wanders by is sufficiently entertained. And let it be known that while I may forget to blog, I do read and respond to comments as quickly as possible.
Better Late Than Never: Projects Long Completed
That I forgot to post because I’m a bum.
If you’ve been checking back with my very inconsistent posting, you might recall my super-awesome mod podge Black Canary shoes. Awhile back, I decided I was tired of the flat-out terrible that was the Winick “Green Arrow/Black Canary” run and chopped it up for parts:
Such pretty art from such a terrible, terrible comic.
There’s a lot of Dinah on the top of the pile, but there’s also a lot of Ollie, Mia, Connor, and a few shots of Hal Jordan (used for another project). If you’re not a comic book fan, all those names are characters in the book. They’re awesome. When not written by Judd Winick (zing!).
I then went and grabbed a giant red bag I’d bought at Hobby Lobby weeks before this project because it was giant, red, and I was certain I could find it useful. I did! However, there was quite a bit of red in the background of the panels I wanted to use (and Mia (Speedy 2) was wearing the classic red costume), so I wanted to tone down the very bright red. I grabbed some black acrylic paint to paint up the bag.
The paint takes the forefront, while the Mod Podge waits patiently for its turn.
I then took the black paint and brushed it all over the purse, which looked pretty neat when I finished up:
Bag, post-painting, pre-awesome.
I then laid out the different pictures on each of the different panels of the bag, deciding to set up an ass-kicking scene for Dinah (aka Black Canary, aka my favorite superhero EVER). I used the back side of the bag to showcase the different characters in the comic, including Green Arrow (Ollie), Speedy (Mia), Green Arrow II (Connor), Black Canary (Dinah), and Red Arrow (Roy–the three pictures there were of him). Once I had the whole thing planned out, I put the mod podge to work and created the Bag of Badass:
Front of Bag
Back of bag
I’ve taken it out a few times since I finished it, and it’s held up well. I accidentally tore a panel, but I managed to line it back up and mod podge it back together. Super fun, though a touch time-consuming (lots of tiny pieces to cut out), but I swear mod podge gets more fun every time I use it.
Close up of bag panels:
Front of bag, panel 1
Front of bag, panel 2
Front of bag, panel 3
Back of bag, panel 1
Back of bag, panel 2
Back of bag, panel 3
Crochet on the Internet
Tension Magazine has just launched the start of their latest issue and looking at their absolutely lovely site has made me stop and think about where I spend my time looking at crochet on the Internet. And so, for your perusal, a short list:
Craftster: I don’t post here nearly as much as I should (the same could be said for this blog (ba-zing)). What I enjoy about Craftster as a site is its inclusion of all crafts. I’m usually there for the crochet boards, which are usually a nice illustration into the variety of things one can do with crochet, but I’ve also posted on the clothing boards with my Mod Podge shoes, and I’ve spent a lot of time simply milling around and looking at crafts I’ve either never attempted (jewelry making) or attempted and failed repeatedly (knitting). I like seeing that much creativity housed in one place, and the all-inclusive feel of the place makes it fun to surf.
Ravelry: Home to any knitters or crocheters who want to keep track of their projects and stash, Ravelry has been hugely useful to me in the last couple of years. While I don’t use the stash function (you can log all the yarn you have, and how much, and where you bought it), I can appreciate the advantage of having the chance to track your yarn usage. My use of Ravelry comes down to being able to see my completed projects in one easy place. I’ve had more than one occasion where I couldn’t remember if I’d completed a project, or started and frogged it, or perhaps only sketched out the basic idea. Ravelry lets me log in, look at my own pictures, and be certain of what I’ve finished. There’s also a major community aspect on the site with groups to join, but I can’t speak to them, as I’ve never jumped in that particular sandbox.
Tension Magazine: Yes, I mentioned it above, but I want to give it a proper explanation as I have the other sites. Tension Magazine is what CrochetMe planned to be back when CrochetMe put out patterns like this gorgeous sweater vest and before the whole thing devolved into a series of amigurumi and scarves that I’d seen everywhere else on the internet. Tension offers interesting patterns and editorials, and I want it to stick around for a very long time because I think it can really and truly be the crocheters’ answer to Knitty, and I’ve been waiting for that for years.
Prototype of a new bag
This bag is especially exciting for me for two reasons. First, I wrote the pattern as I went, so I have a starting place when I want to play with it again (most of my bags get made up on the fly with nothing written down to assist me later). Second, I sewed in the zipper; I have never sewn a zipper in my life, and while I’m certain it shows a bit, I’m okay with that. Because now I have sewn a zipper, and that means that I can do it again. I like learning new things like that.
The bag was done up with some leftover Red Heart acrylic in yellow and black and my trusty I-hook. I like the I-hook for Red Heart worsted weight because it gives the yarn enough leeway that it doesn’t curl into itself quite as easily.
I worked the body of the bag (the yellow) in a single rectangle, with the openings for the straps worked into the pattern:
From the front
The black stripe you see along the edges of the bag is the back of the stitches that make up the side panel. I crocheted directly onto the yellow rather than create a separate side panel that would then have to be seamed in on three sides rather than one. I’m going to get a picture of the side panels before I stitch them the next time I make the bag so that it’s clear how I do it.
Side panel (slightly blurry)
The result is a nice splash of black on the side panels and a bag that has some room to actually store things. The strap was made very easily; I crocheted straps the width of the loops, threaded the loops through, and then seamed together the ends of the straps.
Now, for that tricky zipper. As I mentioned, I’ve never sewn a zipper before, so the first thing I did was fire up google and get some ideas on how to do it. I would link to a good tutorial, but I didn’t find one. Most instructions I got involved a sewing machine, and I simply tried to match my hand stitching to the way the stitching looked in the machine-stitched pictures. I also realized, as I sat down to pin in the zipper, that my box of straight pins has gone missing, so I was forced to improvise. It turns out, in case you find yourself in a similar situation, that bobby pins will do in a pinch:
When it doubt, use hairpins!
The bobby pins worked exceptionally well because I could slide them into the stitches on the purse to hold everything into place, so it was easy to space them evenly. I had the bonus of not jabbing myself in the finger because the bobby pins don’t have a sharp point at the end of them.
It took about an hour to sew in the zipper properly, and the final result was slightly uneven, but I’m still pleased with it because I did it. The next zipper will go in smoother, I’m certain, and I’m ready to try it again:
zipper from the top
Like I said, it’s not perfect, but it’s in there, and that’s an accomplishment. You’ll notice the end of the zipper is curled up and sewn over with black thread. I learned that you shorten a zipper by cutting off to the length you need, fold the end of the zipper over, then zig-zag stitch to keep the zipper from splitting open from the back end. I accidentally sewed the end facing up rather than facing down. I will not do that next time.
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