Over the rainbow- Granny Style

Oh the Granny Square, that ever repetitive, frequently soothing,occasionally tedious staple of every crocheter. It seemed appropriate that I use my new favorite colorway in tandem with this old favorite.

Here's the results.

Yeah, I know it's not the best picture, but you get the idea. I added the two smaller granny's as kind of a faux pillow sham, and then made an two more as an actual pillow, which hasn't been stuffed so I"m not posting it just yet.

I have enough yarn for one more in this color way, probably round. (OOh big shocker there!) Then I think I'll have had enough for a while, all the color changes are a little annoying and I'm in dire need of some more practical items around the house.

Bright blessings all, have an awesome week!

Over the Rainbow Part 1

So... because I'm a huge proponent of equality. Not just marriage equality, mind you, just plain equality. And because I live in the land of the Equality Intolerant ( Sorry, folks, but it's true.) and am just plain tired of getting involved in all kinds of conversations where I have to point out that  A. The bible clearly states its not our place to judge, B. Jesus said jack squat about he stuff your saying he said stuff about and C. you really should worry about your own standing with Jesus as you're doing plenty of sinning yourself, I decided to put my angst and irritation at the topic to some good use and make something crafty and beautiful.

This is what happened.

I'm quite pleased with it.  Unfortunately, it's huge.  I had to take it outside to get the photo, where I accidentally angered a nest of red ants and then had to bribe them with honey. They took the honey, but I'm still not sure if I've been forgiven just yet.

This isn't intended to lie flat, The points have a little ripple in it that I think is unusual. It's for draping over a sofa or chair. It is for sale, if you're interested send me a message.

I like this color way so well, I think I'm going to do a series of rainbow blankets, or as my hubby calls them gayby blankets. Now I'm going to doctor my red ant bites and have a coffee.  

And.....She's back! Probably.

Well, hello again everyone!

Yes, I know it's been years, almost literally, since I posted anything. I'm dreadfully sorry.  The sad, honest truth is that after my Foot got better, I went back to work and then life started happening and well, I just plain forgot I had this blog until yesterday.

Lets see, I changed jobs. Twice, moved to Louisiana, bought a travel trailer (Who I've christened Beppina), got two budgies (Rose and Daisy), a dog (Milo) and sent the man back to North Carolina to get our stuff. (He's not allowed to come back without it.) and other assorted crazyness.

As I'm in a new place by myself and don't know anyone, I'm trying to get out and meet people. Blah. So, yesterday I went to the Celtic Fest at a local park and, as luck would have it, met an utterly delightful couple vending there.  We exchanged cards, something I haven't done in almost years either, and as I glanced down at mine noticed there were three lines of script. I remembered one of them was my Facebook but couldn't remember what the other was. When I got home I looked and made this face

So here I am playing catch up. I guess it doesn't matter. The two people who actually read my blog (Thanks Jenn and Sarah!) already know what sorts of craftyness I'm getting up to in my world.

 My Darling Hatter got me a drum carder for our Christmasverary last year. Much screaming and dancing in place over that little gem.  but it's really an outside activity as its fairly dirty and my Beppina is only so big. so I haven't really had a chance to get to use it. Right now I'm decorating my trailer in the best Romani fashion I can manage. I've never had my own place before, and while it's not much, I absolutely love it.

I like to call  it a Transitional Home. For people like me who are terrified of a house that actually sits on a foundation. (EEEKKKK!!!)

Despite that, I still manage to craft up a storm.  Tidily, of course.

Lately I've gotten into what I'm calling Mosaic or Tapestry blankets.

Here's my favorite so far. And as it's October, the most Haloweenee/ Samhainish one I've got.

Inspiration Picture

SO the picture on the left is the one I found on the internet. I don't know exactly where I found it so I can't give credit where credit is most due. As most of my friends know I have a thing for hares and rabbits and just fell in love with the picture. 

Completed Project

This is how it came out in crochet. It's fairly good sized and I'm so proud of it. I had to go back in and plump the rabbit outline some with a yarn needle, as the rabbit's feet were kinda low and frankly it looked more like he was sporting a woody than anything.

The color scheme really didn't match anything I have now so I ended up donating it to a benefit for a sick friend. I have no idea how it did at auction, I hope it at least went for what it cost to make it. (This was not an inexpensive project.)






Well, that's enough for now my friends. I should be posting again with some regularity, that's if I don't forget this is here again!

Weaving Success. Kinda.

Since my Weaving Fail, I've been a little skittish about the whole weaving thing. I enjoy the process, the under over thing is soothing but frankly, at this point, is boring. Since I'm still convalescing I am pretty much sick of all things yarn. And all things HGTV as well, incidentally.

Anyway, a friend sent me a blog entry about tapestry weaving. I thought was totally neat. Unfortunately, I didn't save it so I have no idea where it came from.  Since I already had one of my lap looms warped I decided to try it out with the ugly wool yarn they send me with the loom. That way I would get to feel virtuous about not wasting good, but unfortunate looking yarn. Plus, there's the relief of not using my pretty yarn for something that probably will come out hideously.

It was a bit touch and go since I didn’t have any real instructions to work with. I don’t know if this is really weaving. It felt more like needlework actually. I used a variety of needles to get the curves I wanted. Lap looms are pretty needle friendly, though you can do the shuttle thing with them as well. I’m still really inexperienced so I stuck with the needles. The wool was hard to work with as it kept breaking, it gave the piece a kind of a frayed texture.

The loom is a medium lap loom from Harrisville. It was very inexpensive on amazon and comes with instructions on warping the loom and how to weave simple projects. I’ve got several smaller lap looms and some potholder looms which are surprisingly versatile. I am really looking forward to exploring these options further. 

I kind of like the way this Curious project came out. It’s different looking. I think I shall frame and call it some artsy fartsy name like Landscape of Mars on a Midsummer Eve.

Sardines!

Hello everyone, sorry it’s been so long since my last blog. I’ve spent January working on several projects and just haven’t finished them yet. I shall post when I get them done.

   

Todays Curious Project was actually made for a friend. He has a very popular blog called Mouth Full of Sardines (http://mouth-full-of-sardines.blogspot.com/) which is about, you guessed it, sardines!

I, myself, have never much cared for the sardine. However, this pungent fish in a can has a huge following. I shan't pretend to not be jealous of the sardine blog. As I am, viciously. He gets mail from all around the world. Ya'll, people send him cans of smelly, oily fish to eat.... erm... maybe I'm not so jealous now that I think of it.

 Anyhoo. Drew actually read my Poinsettia blanket post and sent me a pic of crochet sardines in a can. To which I said “Omg!” Followed by a frantic search of said crochet project with directions other than French. Happily, the search was short as I found the pattern on the Lion Brand Yarn site.

This was soooooo easy to do! The can isn't as boxy as I would like it to be but I still think it's cute. The  yarn is left over from the spiral blanket project . Its Annie's Attic in Gray 100% acrylic. The sardines are in Red Heart Blue Suede which is for was for another curious project. It really just takes scraps of yarn.

I am hoping this starts a trend of non edible sardine themed gifts to my friend. I just feel his life will be more complete with a house (and not just a mouth) full of sardines!

The TARDIS Bag!

I like Dr Who. I always have, in fact, Tom Baker was one of my little girl crushes. It was one of the few shows Mother let us watch, given that it was science fiction, which in her mind equated to not demonic, and on PBS which made it educational somehow.

Anyway, I was delighted when they resumed the show. Unfortunately, I haven't kept up with all the seasons. I shall, at some point actually sit and watch them, but right now, I don't have BBC America and I can't steal them off the internet, as this would be morally incorrect.... O_O

I've been wanting to do something Whoish for a while, the problem is that there's lots to choose from and nothing really rang my bell. Plus, I'm not really the sort of girl that's comfortable with cosplay, even in its mildest form. I do have friends that are rabid fans, however, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to make stuff I would never actually use, but think are super cool. So, after months of looking, I found the pattern for this bag. People, the heavens opened up and a chorus of weeping angels descended singing the glory on high!

My friends, I give you The TARDIS Bag.

A TARDIS, for the three people on the planet who don't know, is the machine that Dr. Who uses to travel through time. Well, she's much more than that, but I won't give away all the deets. Apparently she got stuck in the shape of a mid century British police box and has remained this way till this day. It's rather iconic In my opinion.

http://www.crochetdynamite.com/2012/09/the-tardis-bag-love-story-in-3-parts.html

I LOVE this bag. I am making myself a non TARDIS one as soon as possible. It's super easy and big enough to be a really nice tote. I love the strap length and I love, love the button. My fez is totally off to the designer!

I used four skeins of Redheart super-saver. Two in the blue, one each of white and black. I wouldn't use a softer spun acrylic like Caron's Simply Soft because you want the hand to be a bit stiff. It might work up nice in cotton as well. I used a little over 1 Skein of the blue so you'll have lots of leftovers. I also lined the bag for a little more support. I hand stitched the lining in and then went over it again with the machine to minimize stretching. I'm leaving out the total cost as I made this for a gift.

I didn't take any pictures of the construction because the tutorial is so well written. It's an intermediate pattern, mostly because of the strap. Those little words gave me a run for my money. The single crochet would be fine, I think if I'd used two strands of white yarn instead of the one. I had to go over them again with a wipstitch as well as outline them with a slipstitch to get them to stand out properly.

I hope the person I made this for enjoys it. I know I enjoyed making it despite the unfortunate misspelling incident. I might per persuaded to make another for some other Whovian. If I really like them, that is!

Weaving Fail

Sometimes learning new things is frustrating. It's true of almost everything, but I've found this especially true with textiles. I bought a book called The Woven Bag by Noreen Crone-Findlay. I love this book. It's got lots of projects that a body actually wants to do, (or at least this body). So,  I started my second weaving project full of hope and enthusiasm. And as I wove I had grand ideas of my project turning out like this:

 

 

What I got is this:

 

Obviously, something went terribly wrong. I don't know what. And that's the frustrating part. Weaving isn't like crochet or knitting or even sewing. It is nearly impossible to Frog or rip the piece apart. So here we are, stuck with another square bag. On the bright side, I really like the texture of the fabric. The  loom used is chained off with a crochet slip stitch and that leaves the project with a nice decorative seam. I will be trying this bag again. And I am so hoping I am not doomed to repeat the square bag again.