Fiber Monday

 

In Which A Break Was Taken

Everyone who knows me knows, by now, that I am absolute garbage at remembering dates, holidays, and birthdays. I barely remember Christmas, Halloween, and my own birthday. So of course, I did what I always do.

I forgot it was Father's Day.

Thankfully I have an understanding father and a stockpile of yarn and the internet.

I sat around for an hour or two trying to figure out what to make and then I realized that a bag you can hang off of a horizontal board or pipe or whatnot would be useful for him. Mostly, he'd be able to toss the Roku & tv remotes, a tablet, maybe a netbook into it easily if it was looped around the arm of the wooden futon in the other room.

So then I went looking for something nice & masculine. I have a lot of masculine colors right now - black, red, dark green, etc. I chose a brown and green combo that wouldn't look too out of place while camping. Some of my best childhood memories are of camping with my family, dad teaching us axe, knife, and fire safety (no river stones in the fire pit!, say thank you when you have a grip on a bladed object that someone is passing you, point the front of an axe away from you), overboiled hot chocolate in little brown plastic cups that kind of smelled and tasted like detergent no matter how well you washed them, hamburger helper...

Rain literally every single time we set up and took down camp. Every single time. I don't think we ever struck camp on a dry day, not even when we were using the camper.

I also remember fishing trips where I never caught anything but logs and grass, but I got to enjoy sitting with my dad. I remember hiking and canoeing, though I was terrible at both.

What I'm saying is, when I was little, we were outdoors a LOT.

So I chose a pretty cabin pattern charted out on Ravelry by Abi McIntyre @ GetYerHookOn. If I were to make a suggestion to other crochet artists - don't do this pattern while tired and actually read what the pattern dictates. I just used the chart, but the actual pattern itself looks amazing when followed correctly.

Seriously, go download that pattern and follow it to a T, and you'll be so, so happy.

I'd say, though, that for doing everything in Single Crochet, carrying the colors through, and then making it into a bag (which I modified without a pattern!!!) it looks pretty great!

The shapes are pretty well-defined!!!

And the colors are pretty nice!

What you cannot see here is that I made the back of the bag by using the same yarn and the same hook and the same stitch tension and alternating 7 rows of brown and 7 rows of green until I had 49 rows (7 more than the front). Then I started row 50 with ch3, skipped the first stitch, dc in next 6 sts, turn, and repeat from ch3, placing the 6th dc in the top of the previous row's ch3. I did that for 25 rows, then slip stitched the end of the dc-based strap thingie onto the opposite side of the back from where it began (see above). Then I ran a row of sc around the outside of every flat surface, joining front to back.

If I were to do this again, I'd take a little more time making sure the seam looked nice. Maybe instead of an sc row, I'd sew the seam shut properly. I'd also ease my tension significantly on the front!

That being said, this came out really well, and if you put the body of the bag through the handle to secure it to a surface like a railing or a futon arm, it really does hold up to even a Dell Latitude laptop or an iPad in an Otterbox lol!

I'd like to make a few more bags in the future, too. I really enjoy doing mosaic work, and I adore doing filet crochet, so some fun character bags (there's a super cute pattern with a squirrel and an edging/insertion lace that could easily be used for handles that's all acorns and oak leaves!!!) might be in order.

Don't think I've been totally neglecting the Secret Project aka the Mushroom Bag, though! I worked a whole bunch on that strap...

It's just that slip stitch rows are... very very very thin. And that means building up to a proper strap width is taking quite a bit.

I might go the i-cord route for the hanging loop I'll make for the top... or do a single-loop slip stitch instead of the double-loop I'm doing for the should strap...

In any case, there you have it! A finished Father's Day gift that has been delivered and is, to the best of my knowledge, currently in use.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am Still Very Sleepy

Oh my god why.

Why did I stay up until 4AM.

Why am I like this.

I've been exhausted all day, which is pretty pathetic, considering I haven't even shoveled (my folks have an electric snowblower and they've been using that), and I barely even moved today.

Okay, that's not true. I ended up going up and down a few sets of stairs about 30 times today. Mostly because my memory has been truly garbage.

I kept forgetting what step I was on in the coffee-making process.

I kept leaving cupboard doors and drawers open.

I forgot to close the bathroom door (thankfully no one else was home).

I was in the basement for a while, set my phone down while I cleaned up a pc case, and when I was done, I started to go back upstairs.

But then I had to go back down because I'd forgotten my used cotton balls, the rubbing alcohol, my phone, and the scraper.

When I headed back up with the rubbing alcohol and trash, I had to leave the alcohol on the counter after throwing out the trash and go back downstairs. I'd forgotten the scraper and phone. Again.

I came up with the scraper. 

Headed back down for the phone.

Came up with the phone, put the scraper away, and started happily heading back up to my bedroom to finally rest and write this blog entry.

I'd left the rubbing alcohol on the counter. Ugh.

Headed back for the alcohol and put it away, setting my phone on the sink while I stuck the bottle of isopropyl in the closet.

I started to head back upstairs and thankfully finally remembered the damn phone.

Went back for the phone, then came upstairs, and now...

It's 8:30 and all I want is sleep.

Wah wah wah. I'm just whining.

So here's my plans that will probably fall through because I'm a lazy sleepypotamus.

Thursday: Art!

Weekend: Maybe tea if I remember?

Monday: Crochet!

Next Tuesday: More blathering. Hopefully more about the weather and my writing than about how stupid I am when I'm tired lol.

I hope you're all holding up better than my poor stupid koala brain!

Go Enjoy Something

FC

Survival Sunday 243: Living Off The Loaf

In Which I Have Again Forgotten To Cook...

It's a busy world, boys and girls. A busy world in which, occasionally, you cannot find the time and/or energy required to cook.

So what do you do when all you have is a few minutes to slam something together, but it's cold, and you want something filling?

Toast.

You make toast.

I've talked about a few variations on toast in this blog - garlic toast, specifically.

You can, in fact, make an entire meal of toast if you're clever!

Need a quick breakfast?

1. Toast some bread - Oatmeal, White, Potato, or Butter work best here
2. Slather on some peanut butter (or peanut butter alternative) while it's still really, really hot
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (or sugar alternative)

There, you've had breakfast. Add more slices if you're more hungry, only eat one if you're not. Either way, the peanut butter (or alternative) acts as your morning protein and the sugar and cinnamon make you feel like you were just naughty.

Need some lunch?

1. Toast more bread - any kind works here
2. Slather with a large quantity of cream cheese
3. Add veggies and/or spices to your taste

OR

1. Toast some bread (again, any kind)
2. Get you some avocado
3. Slice that avocado and lay it on your toast
4. Avocado toast.

I hate avocado, but if you love it, this fatty little jungle bomb is perfect for keeping you going throughout the day!

Dinner?

1. Get you some bread (the loaf kind, not the money kind, though if you have money, just order a pizza or something lol)
2. Lay your bread out and smear it with butter/margarine/whatever you use instead of either of those
3. Sprinkle it with garlic, onion, a little black pepper, some paprika
4. Sprinkle that with cheese (whatever you think would go well with garlic and onion, I've had great success with both Pepperjack and taco cheese, though mozzarella is also tasty!)
5. Toast that bread in a toaster oven NOT A VERTICAL TOASTER JESUS DON'T DO THAT
6. Wait for that cheese to be bubbly and lovely
7. Take that tasty concoction out
8. If you'd like, you can slice the toast into sticks with a pizza cutter and dip the sticks in marinara

OR!

1. Get you some bread - the firmer the better, so go with stuff that's just about to go stale for this, and white or whole wheat are your best bets here
2. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on your bread
3. You see where I'm going here
4. We're making pizza toast
5. Cheese, fixin's like pepperoni or olives or whatever go on top
6. Toast that sucker in the toaster oven (again, DO NOT USE IN VERTICAL TOASTER EVER)
7. Again with the bubbly cheese!
8. Remove, and now you have a pizza toast to nom.

Heck, you can even use toast for dessert by slathering it with ice cream or nutella or cookie butter or fruit and jam or whatever!

So yeah.

Toast is basically perfect for every meal.

Can you tell I haven't cooked in a while?

:P

Go Enjoy something, guys!

FC