Combing Lotus fiber

On By CarynIn Craft

The lotus fiber I purchased had not been hackled. I do not have a hackle, but I do have wool combs, and one comb clamped to the table made a serviceable way to separate the long fibers in the bundles.

Photo description: two row wool comb clamped to the kitchen table in order to comb out the shorter pieces of lotus fiber

Combing out the fiber went well once I had the rhythm of it. I would comb out one side starting at the end, then flip the bundle around and comb out the other side.

Photo description: combed lotus fiber on the left, uncombed on the right

There were extremely long fibers, over five feet, and many, many shorter fibers. The shortest formed tangled knots in the comb. I was able to comb out a second round measuring up to about two feet, down to six inches.

Photo description: two stricts, twisted bundles, of lotus fiber, long line on the left, shorter on the right

The tow, or the pieces combed out shorter than six inches, I put in a bag. Maybe I can use it as stuffing. The lotus fiber feels more like jute, heavy and prickly.

More Liriope

On By CarynIn Garden

We purchased some more Liriope plants for the front garden bed.

Photo description: front garden bed with previous round of plants in the ground and the new plants in grower’s pots spaced out

The Liriope we planted in Spring has been doing fairly well, especially the variegated variety, but not so much for the gallon pots of Big Blue. These lifted out of the ground, so I broke them up and planted them deeper, spreading them out between the new plants. I much prefer planting the 4” pots versus the larger ones.

Photo description: newly planted and watered Liriope with a large Turks Cap at the right

The Turks Cap we planted has grown quite large and is filling the space we set out for it. We’ve seen hummingbirds in the area too!

Wheel chair bag

On By CarynIn Craft, Uncategorized

The pocket on the back of the wheelchair can only hold a pamphlet, anything thicker pokes the rider in the back. So I made a separate organizer type for long zoo trips where we need spaces for water bottles. My youngest requested space fabric, so we selected a print-on-demand pattern from Spoonflower on cotton denim fabric. I made three pouches by sewing a sleeve so none of the white backing shows.

Photo description: denim fabric sewn right-sides together, turned inside out and the seam pressed with a wood seam roller to lay flat

I put three sleeves on the backing fabric, and sewed down the center to make six pouches. I then made loops for the top corners to go over the handles and straps for the bottom to attach to the wheelchair frame. All of this sandwiched between another rectangle of denim. My Singer model 66 treadle handled the denim up to six layers, but eight was a struggle (a little extra oomph with the handwheel sometimes works, but you risk a bent needle). When I turned the entire assembly right side out I had to move the edge stitches in so I wasn’t sewing through 12 layers of denim (this organizer is hefty!)

Photo description: finished organizer installed on the back of a Drive brand wheelchair

I’m pleased with the flat construction, it doesn’t interfere knees when pushing and it folds up with the chair well.

I’m also trying to track my time on projects. This one took me 2.5 hours of active time.

Progress on napkin basket

On By CarynIn Craft

I have a car project for which I tear unbleached fast food napkins into one inch strips, twine the strips together, then add stitches to a loop and core basket. Well, I intended it to become a basket, but I am doing my stitches (button hole loop or Coptic stitch) upside down. It makes it hard to add the stitches because I’m going through a smaller loop.

Photo description: round loop and core base make from paper napkins
Photo description: close up of the stitches with the core twine marked in green, and two loops highlighted in purple

Opening up the smaller loop to add the next row of stitches weakens the twine at that point, and paper twine is not robust stuff to begin with. I will probably continue to the end of the core twine (there isn’t much left), and experiment with preservation methods with the finished object. The feel of the fabric is quite nice, flexible but firm with an interesting texture.

Cat in a bag

On By CarynIn Cats

This is the second year I’ve used the “Cat in a bag” carrier for Thor the cat’s vet visit, and I still think it is a brilliant invention.

Photo description: large gray tabby in a magenta bag buckled into a car seat

He is not happy to go to the vet, but he doesn’t bounce off the walls in a desperate bid for escape like he does in a traditional cat carrier. At the vet he never has to get out of the bag since there is a zipper at the back for access to his body. He does prefer to hide his head under my arm, but will sometimes peek out.

This is the brand I purchased.