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

Fiber Monday - One Day Make

 

In Which I Made My Mom A Gift

I should be finished with the stocking soon, but I took a wee break to make my mother a birthday gift, since today's the day, y'know?

I used this pattern and an old spool of American thread Co Gem Mercerized Cotton color 176 in size 30 with a 0.6mm hook, and I think it came out well! She certainly seemed to like it, since she put it on the windowsill where she'll see it every day :)

It's fairly small, only about as big as my hand, but it's cute as heck!

I'm pretty proud of the 3D effect of the central flower, and hopefully some day I'll actually be able to do the treble popcorn stitch, but I couldn't get it to work on this project. Instead, I substituted a three-treble-cluster stitch in place of the popcorns. It still looks great :)

I'll be working on the stocking the rest of this week and hope to have finished shots by next Monday!

For now, that's all I've got the energy for - I'm bushed :P

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday - Blizzard Watch 2020

 

The Leaves Have Fallen, Time To Think Chilly!

Somebody is typing this sleepily from their bed.

It me.

I meant to write this blog earlier today, but I've been busy with book stuff, brewing two separate pots of tea (more on that tomorrow lol), making Yakisoba, and crocheting up a storm. Almost literally.

See, as soon as the last leaf falls, I start to ease out of Autumn Mode and tumble slowly towards the Winter. Since it's the last week of November, that's fine.

Basically, what happens is this: I start crocheting my Christmas gifts for everyone right before Thanksgiving, they're finished (hopefully) by Christmas itself, and then I keep going past New Years with winter-themed items which usually find a home in one of my mom's decoration totes in the cellar until the next year.

This year, I've resolved to make snowflakes. A lot of snowflakes. As many as I have white thread for.

Since I realized last week that I'd utterly botched at least three early rows of that spiderweb doily, I'm going to frog it and cannibalize that thread for more snow. Here's what I've got so far (sans two, which had fallen out of the pile as I transferred it onto my coziest blanket for the photo op!):

This year's blizzard is coming along nicely!

Snowflakes are especially fun to work on when it's pouring rain outside (I'm being a tad sarcastic there), but it's a fairly mindless process once you have the first section of each round done. They tend to be the same pattern six to twelve times in a round. Thankfully, they're also one of the most common types of pattern on the internet and you can find dozens of varieties for free!

Next year, probably starting January 1, I plan to make at least 100 snowflakes throughout the year, and I hope to sell them come next November, so... keep your eyes peeled!

For now, though, this batch needs to be woven in, pressed, blocked, and starched. Then I can worry about the next batch :)

Wow, my eyes are really heavy right now - it's nearly midnight lol.

Go Enjoy Something, folks!

FC

Fiber Mon.... I Can Explain...

 

In Which I Keep Falling Asleep...

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it on here before, but... I have issues with sleep. Some nights, it doesn't happen at all. Other nights, I sleep like a rock the second I lay down.

Last night was the former. I was up past 7 and crashed for maybe 4 hours. Got up, showered, started my day with some yarn.

So here's a Trinity Stitch dish cloth with a fancy border because I felt like it lol

And a little Granite/Moss Stitch coaster to go with it!

Both of the above projects were completed using a 100% cotton worsted weight yarn and an H/5.00mm hook!

So since today was a day where I was constantly tired and distracted, I... missed my deadline. And now there's *another* Fiber Monday blog popping up on Tuesday.

In my defense, I stayed up until 7AM and took a nap until 11AM. I'm running on empty.

I also broke my phone charger because I move like a concussed hippopotamus and tripped over the cord the other day, so I had to keep my laptop on in order to even slightly charge my phone (it was at 15%)! So I was super sleepy today.

My eyes burn as I type this.

Hopefully I'll have something up before 1AM for Talk About Tuesday - maybe I'll give y'all an update on my novel? That'd be fun!

Whatever you guys are working on, I hope it's going great!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday 311: One Day Crochet

In Which I Oopsed Another Birthday

So yesterday was my mother's birthday. I had forgotten. I always forget. I have a major problem with annual dates. I literally only remember my birthday, my partner's birthday, Christmas, New Year and Halloween. That's it. I remember literally nothing else.

I needed a quick gift for her.

After about two hours of rapidly skimming the Thread-Weight Free Patterns on Ravelry, I found this pattern. While it was technically an afghan square and therefore any-weight yarn or thread, I decided I'd give it a go with some dusty rose thread and a 1mm hook:

I think it came out really well!

My only alteration is a row of sc all around the square with ch3 at each corner (to maintain cornery-ness). I clipped the thread and wove it in with an embroidery needle, and I was finished just in time to deliver it in person!

It seemed like a happy birthday, to me :)

All told, this project probably took anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour (I was not paying attention to the time :| ).

So yes, if you're looking for a quick project to make for an occasion (or you'd like to make yourself a cool looking afghan), then definitely try the pattern!

Go Enjoy Something
FC