Archive for the ‘Other Crafty Projects’ Category

Next Two Gift Bags

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

by Nancy

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Here are my next two fabric gift bags. I made the larger one Thanksgiving weekend with the expert assistance of Marty and Ann. They taught me how to put corners on the bottom of the bag, similar to a grocery sack, so that the bag can accommodate a gift that is not flat. Last night I made the smaller bag, using what I remembered and Marty’s drawing to do it on my own. And it worked! Both bags are just slightly shorter than I would like for the gifts enclosed in them, but they work. I’m working on a formula for how high to cut the fabric in order for it to be tall enough to tie the bag easily. For the smaller one, I used a height of 2.5 times the height of the gift. I think I will try 3 times the gift height on my next one and see how that turns out. Of course, how thick the gift is affects the formula, but I have quite a few items that are about 3″ thick, so I am working on a formula for this thickness first. The larger bag is for my nephew and the smaller one will get mailed to Germany soon for Friedrich.
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NaBloPoMo +1

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

by Nancy

I didn’t quite have my act together enough to post this on the last day of NaBloPoMo, but here it is today.
Crochet hamburger

This was a very Crackpotty month for me, complete with a new crackpot activity – crochet! I think this cheeseburger pretty much sums it all up.

Bathroom Curtain

Monday, November 30th, 2009

by Ann

bathroom curtain

Tah dah!! The curtain for the newly redecorated bathroom at the Cute Little House has been completed and hung. I like it! (And this post comes just in time for the finish of NoBloPoMo.)

That was easy!

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

by Nancy

Here are my first two fabric bags. I followed an instruction sheet that I had from Fields and kept it simple by not inserting a ribbon or other tie. They came together quite quickly, and I’m pleased with the results!

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New Levels of Crackpottiness

Friday, November 20th, 2009

by Nancy

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more crackpotty, there’s a crochet pattern for making a Barack Obama finger puppet!!!

No, I’m not trying to make it! 🙂

(In an effort to be bi-partisan, John McCain is available, too. )

If you give a Crackpot a crochet hook…

Monday, November 16th, 2009

by Nancy

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…she’s likely to get carried away!

Modified Melinda

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

By Ann

Last Saturday I took an apron-making workshop at the living history site that is familiar to all of you. We were making 1920s period aprons, and made the simplest pattern available, the “Melinda.” I knew from previous experience with a Melinda apron that the standard one-size-fits-all pattern which has a one-piece yoke going around the neck, would be too long from the shoulders to the waist for me, so, with the help of the woman leading the workshop, I shortened the yoke. The first step in making the apron is to bind the inside edge of the yoke and attach it to the body of the apron. As soon as I started to pin the yoke to the body, I realized that the finished apron would never go over my head. Oooops! After much laughter and all sorts of suggestions from my fellow seamstresses, some of which I found totally incomprehensible, I decided that the simplest Plan B was to convert the yoke to ties. Hence the “Modified Melinda” below:

Melinda apron

As you can see, it really is simple! I do plan to add pockets, but that will come after the next step in the process. Now that I have a lovely new apron, all I need is the dress to go with it. I found a lovely blue tone-on-tone at Joann’s when I bought the apron fabric, but I can’t buy the fabric for the dress until I alter the pattern to fit me. I found the pattern I want to use – it’s a 1920s pattern – and although it is labeled as medium, it is HUGE. I tried altering it myself, but it is definitely not a one-person job, so I plan to bring the pattern to the forthcoming holiday extravaganza and get some help from Marty before proceeding. (You have been forewarned, Marty!) And this time I plan to make a muslin before proceeding with the real fabric. The dress I have now, for which Marty and I altered the pattern, is still a bit looser than I would like across the shoulders, so I hope to do a bit better the second time around.

Flannel Baby Blanket

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

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by Nancy
This is a flannel baby blanket I made this past spring for a friend’s new baby girl. It’s just two different squares of flannel sewn together with rick-rack in the seam. It was quite easy to make, but I did have a little trouble getting the rick-rack positioned where I wanted it while sewing the two

flannel pieces together. I think if I did it again I would either use larger rick-rack (I used medium, and I think jumbo would have been easier to catch in the seam) or baste the rick-rack first. But, overall, I was pleased with the results. It’s very soft and cozy!

Crochet Samples

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Well, finally I’ve been able to take a picture of my first few attempts at crochet. These actually are not my very first attempts – those were a bit too messy to post. But after switching from a baby-weight yarn which was both small and slippery, to a regular worsted weight cotton, and after some initial practice, I got a lot better. These are, from top to bottom, single crochet, half double crochet, and double crochet.
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I started feeling more confident, so I tried doing a triangle by increasing and by decreasing. The last one is my first attempt at working in the round. It’s supposed to be a triangle, too, but it looks kind of circular to me.
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My initial thoughts on crochet: It seems harder to me than knitting but also more interesting, and I think it’s for the same reason. There are more variations and different shapes you can make, which makes it tougher, but I like the variety of results you can achieve. Of course, it may seem harder and more interesting just because it’s new to me. It is a good thing to do when you’re very low on energy and stuck on the couch watching boring TV. I was hoping to get back to some work on the vehicles quilt today but I’m feeling very tired out at the moment, so I may stick to the couch and crochet today.

Big Blankie v3.0 – the end is in sight

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

I’ve been working on this project for a while, between knitting projects. Because the yarn for the next sweater I want to make has been on back-order since the end of August, I’ve had more concentrated time to spend on it.

A little history: Big Blankie v1.0 is the blankie that my mom knitted long ago (while she was pregnant with my brother, I think). It’s huge, acrylic, and I have fond memories of sitting on the sofa on cold mornings, wrapped up in it. It’s probably not in such great shape anymore (I think my mom banished it to the top shelf of the closet on multiple occasions when company was expected), but I remember it as a testament to the durability of petroleum-based products.

My original inspiration for learning to knit while I was in college was the realization that I would have a home of my own and would not have the big blankie to keep me warm. My first large project was my own big blankie (v2.0) – and since I wanted machine-washability, indestructability, was unaware of the wonders of natural fibers, and had the limited budget of a college student, it’s made of cheap acrylic yarn in red, green and blue. I’m sure I’ve regained the price of the yarn several times over in energy savings.

Fast-forward several years to home-ownership and a desire to have a coordinated living room. Now that I have a lot more yarnly experience (and yarn snobbishness) and a job that allows me to buy yarn that costs more than the cheapest acrylic, I’ve upgraded the yarn selection to superwash wool. I’ve also learned to crochet semi-competently. This is the Babette Blanket from Interweave Crochet. The yarn is the lovely Cascade 220 Superwash, in a variety of colors.

Big Blankie-the end is in sight

I still need to knit six more squares in the largest sizes (indicated by the red outline), then arrange and sew all the squares together and crochet on a border using whatever yarn is left. I should be able to finish the squares in the next week, but organizing and sewing together well over 100 pieces doesn’t sound like the most exciting task ever, so if my sweater yarn arrives during the extended assembly process, further delays could ensue. I’ve worried alternately about the blankie not being adequately large and about running out of yarn, but I now think it’ll be big enough for optimal snuggling and I have plenty of yarn to finish and do multiple rows of border.