baby hats on a plane

this labor day weekend i'm working on a long-anticipated baby project. yep the baby's already been born, but i don't want to give away the surprise gift, so i will *not* be blogging about that one just yet.
for now let me show you the baby hats i made on the plane ride back from oklahoma last month. these don't have a particular baby in mind, i just figure it's always good to be prepared with baby gifts - plus they're so fast to make = good plane project.
i actually only made 1 1/2 of these hats, since one of them was started during an impromptu crochet lesson involving marty's niece nia, his aunty linda, and... well, guess who knows how to crochet now?

mmhmm, that's right.

end-of-springtime sweater renewal

it feels like we're in the final throws of spring here in the bay area, and if you're like me you're itching to wear some summer clothes just to encourage the season along. but i'm learning that it's advisable - no matter how anxious you are for summer - to at least bring along a sweater or two to combat the ever-changing bay climate.
i've got a lot of sweaters, but honestly i've either worn them till i'm sick of them throughout the winter, or they have holes in them, and/or don't actually fit me anymore.
so in the spirit of march mending month, and always in the spirit of conserving resources in this economy (the above and below posters are courtesy of the u.k.'s wartime "make do and mend" campaign) i've collected some options for sprucing up your sweater wardrobe.


option 1: fix a snag


i'll admit that when i snag a sweater my usual response involves cursing rolling the loose end into a ball, tugging at the edges of the sweater, and praying it stays put. i can't say this technique has ever actually worked long-term, so i'm glad to provide you with a super easy tutorial on what you're really supposed to do when you snag your sweater.

option 2: mend a hole

if you've got a more substantial hole (rather than just a loose thread bit from the snag) you can easily mend it - knits are generally really forgiving; i've done many a sloppy i'm-on-the-train-to-work-and-i'm-determined-to-mend-this-hole type of mending jobs on sweaters and you really can't tell at all. so even if you don't consider yourself a seamster/seamstress i think this is a repair you can handle. here's a little video tutorial:

How to Sew a Hole -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

option 3: embellish over a hole


i like this idea of embellishing over a sweater hole because it both makes the item wearable again as well as adds a brand-new appeal. i still recommend mending your hole first before adding embellishments. plus this option will cover up any weirdness you may have created while mending that hole.

option 4: crochet a patch


i had to include this hole patching idea because i think it's so interesting. you're basically crocheting into the perimeter of the sweater hole - this method is for big holes - and crocheting a spiral into the middle. i like it.

option 5: let's be honest, you're never going to wear that again.


part of spring cleaning is a realistic assessment of what you're hanging onto despite knowing that you'll never really wear it. i've got several sweaters that fit into that category but i'm just unwilling to toss them. i just think it's a pity to get rid of something as potentially useful as a sweater.
i'm willing to be reasonable enough to admit that it's no longer useful as a sweater, so here are a couple projects you can make out of old sweaters:

recycled sweater animals


yes, this project is brought to you by martha stewart (don't judge me). aren't they cute? the pattern looks super easy; i love the idea of upcycling a well-loved sweater into a stuffed animal, and i'm always looking for gift ideas for friends' babies.
you'll need to felt a wool sweater to start off with for this project, and martha doesn't explain that part in her online pattern, so here's a tutorial on machine felting - basically you're just washing the sweater in hot water until the fibers mat together.

recycle that yarn!


i recently needed to buy enough yarn to knit a sweater - more on that in a minute - and i realized
a) that's a lot of yarn, and
b) it costs a ton of money
so now i'm looking at those sweaters in the back of my drawer in a whole new way. inthe way a hungry wolf looks at a wooly sheep, i suppose.
it is, in fact, possible to recycle old sweaters into reusable yarn - and they tell you the best way to go about it at craft leftovers.if you're not a knitter, but like to take things apart you can always give your plunder to a knitting friend - one thing about knitters, we can't seem to turn down free yarn.

option 6: make your own

i found this sweater pattern online and fell in love - i really like owls. so in typical fashion i got really excited and bought the yarn (ugh) and started knitting - and then my enthusiasm ran over a speedbump and i haven't picked it up since. the speedbump was gauge. testing gauge is recommended for anything you're knitting that has a pattern, to make sure what you're making is similar in size to what the person to created the pattern was making. gauge is created by the particular combination of the weight of yarn you're using, the size or your needles, and how tension you use while you're knitting. i've never really understood how gauge works in a pattern, and i have very little patience for knitting something that is not actually the sweater i'm so anxious to be making, so i rarely test my gauge. i did test the gauge on this one, and instead of knitting up a nice square, i made a long skinny rectangle. but then i didn't really know what to do about my gauge being off, so i just proceeded to try making the sweater and seeing how it turned out. it turned out small. really small.


so now it's sitting on the needles waiting for me to figure out what to do.

raggedy rug hooking

i am racking up some successfully completed craft projects now.
i remember checking out a book in high school about hooked rag rugs and getting really excited about making one - and while that seems like it was just yesterday, um...it wasn't. and now i finally got around to doing it. i love crafts that utilize trash or bits and pieces of things you already have laying around to make something new, so this project was right up my alley. during my last visit to mom's house she let me go through her fabric boxes and pick out things i wanted to take home. i decided to take all her scraps and strips of fabric - both for this project and another one that i have yet to start (but it will surely make a blog appearance once i get around to it).


so the hooked rag rug project goes something like this: you have a piece of burlap (i cut up an old burlap bag we had kicking around the house, but you can also buy burlap and other loose-weave fabrics for this purpose), and you basically take strips of fabric and pull loops through to the front of the burlap to create the rug pile. so it's sort of like you're sewing the fabric into the burlap, but leaving big loops on one side, and not using a needle. here's what the back of the rug looks like when you're done:


supplies:

• piece of burlap the size of your anticipated rug
• sharpie or other marker to draw out design
• crochet hook (there are special rug hooks, but i found a crochet hook worked better for me - i think i used size j)
• fabric scraps, cut into strips about 1.5" wide, the longer the strips the easier to work with, but you can incorporate short strips as well

i think life would have been easier if i had a circular hoop frame to keep my burlap stretched out on, and if i had started from the middle of the piece and worked outward, but i didn't do that and may be on my way to developing early arthritis instead.
for this project, marty drew out the design for the rug, our first initials with arrows. i had a lot of random scraps to work in, with no real apparent color scheme, so i decided to start with the letters and outline them in dark colors and then fill in with a color gradient, greens for the "k" and yellows/reds/purples for the "m".


i recommend doubling over your edges of the burlap and stitching them before you start. i didn't do this and realized that they were starting to fray while i was working on the letter outlines. at that point i stitched an old quilt binding i had leftover from one of mom's quilt projects around the edge of my rug, but this was not really enough to keep it from fraying, you should really fold and stitch. i ended up having to hand sew the parts that were still coming apart on the edges at the end.


the process is remarkably easy and satisfying. this project validated my new obsession with the watch instantly feature on netflix for a week. meaning it's easy to do while watching movies and you can feel like you're still "doing something."


here's the back of the completed rug.
the feel of the rug is great - nice and squishy, and it takes a lot of fabric so it's got a great heft to it. the rug is now positioned in front of the sink, so my feet don't get so tired while i'm doing dishes. plus maybe it will be extra incentive to be doing the dishes with that bright beckonning rug there...

utilitarian crafts: plant sling

i like to make pretty things for other people. when it comes to making things for myself they either need to be weird, like the bacon cups, or utilitarian - which is why i have about 20 different reusable shopping bags. the latest utilitarian need arose from the variegated spider plant living on top of our refrigerator that has been looking a little sad and like it might want more sunlight and some suspension. i've been eyeing a hook that's already in our living room ceiling and thinking about pairing the two for a while. i found this pattern for a hanging plant sling and decided to whip out the crochet hook and give it a try.i've never done doily-type crochet work. mostly my crocheting has been focused on such utilitarian projects as dish scrubbies made of tutu tooling, and rugs and bags made of recycled plastic bags or old fabric. what i haven't done is any sort of granny-ish lacy work. and i was hesitant to crochet a plant sling based on some gaudy ones i've seen, but this pattern is a pretty basic net and doesn't look over the top, so i tried it out.it turns out that utilitarian projects are just not as exciting as pretty projects, so the plant sling has been sitting around in my purse and on the couch for moments when i'm focusing my attention elsewhere but could be doing something with my hands. i found time to finish it on the plane (my favorite place to knit and crochet) this weekend. i think if i were going to make it again i'd use some sort of twine or heavy string to crochet with - but i wanted to use up a ball of yarn i knew i'd never use for anything else. it worked fine it's just not as weight-bearing as it should be. so it turns out the variegated spider plant from the fridge is too heavy for it and its little spider plant cousin is going to get the seat of honor instead.