Cosplay

On May 19, 2021May 13, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

My eldest and I collaborated on a little cosplay project. She needed a crown for an English project (they are reading Julius Caesar by Shakespeare), but wanted to do the diamond circlet from Zelda Breath of the Wild so she could use it again at Halloween. She did not want to do it all in wire and have it get caught in her hair, so we raided the craft room for parts. We found non-woven colored fabric that I originally purchased to make mask filters. Surprisingly, this stuff does not take glue well. We ended up layering Modge Podge with leaf cutouts with a wire in the middle of the sandwich, and leaving it to dry on wax paper; when dry it held together and we could trim the extra dried glue.

Leaf set made of wire, non-woven fabric, and lots of Modge Podge

I did order clear tear drop rhinestones, but the frames are made of yellow Playdoh because it dries hard after a couple days. The “berries” are wood beads (that were in my stash) painted with yellow acrylic paint. It makes painting beads easier if you put them on a wooden skewer first, by the way. The crown is gold colored aluminum wire (yup, from the stash). I did use the crafter’s panacea, hot glue, very sparingly (so as to not catch hair) to keep everything in place.

Not a perfect replica, but it is light and easy to wear.

Screen shot of the back of the real circlet from the game

Darning egg

On May 17, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

I have an ancient (probably vintage, possible antique, not ancient, but it has been handed down a few times) darning egg with a handle that sits in the bottom of my sewing box. I am making my youngest a new set of masks since she has grown and the old ones are getting a bit snug. She likes the gaiter style, but with a frame sewn in to make it easier to breathe. I use swim material because it dries quickly, and I double layer it. This time she requested material that was “pink and blue”, she is quite fond of the rainbow mermaid fabric I obtained! Because I didn’t want rainbow sparkles against her skin, I made the lining with plain blue fabric.

Here is where the darning egg comes in. Sewing the frame to the fabric is a bit tricky, but the smooth wooden tool fits nicely under the fabric and frame and makes it much easier to stitch. First I use the sewing machine with a jersey stitch to secure the top edge, then I hand sew in in the frame before machine sewing the bottom edge. I turn the mask right side out and sew the back seam.

Random lace

On May 13, 2021May 10, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

I saw instructions for random lace awhile ago. Loved it, wanted to try it, picked up needles and yarn to start it, then remembered how much I hated decrease stitches. Getting the needles in is tight, it is fiddly, it takes longer than a simple knit stitch, and I often drop the stitch instead of decreasing. I abandoned the project, going so far as to throw the printed version into the recycle bin.

Then I found the Prym needles (this totally sounds like an advertisement, but I am not getting kick back, I genuinely appreciate this product). The little nub on the end of the needle gives me just enough advantage to tackle the decreases with less frustration. It probably also helps that I am using a fingering weight merino wool yarn (small diameter) with larger than recommended needles (US size 8), so the stitches are not super tight and difficult to manipulate. Plus, since it is a random pattern, if it is too hard to make a decrease, I don’t! Rather than struggle and swear, I knit the stitch (or purl if I’m on the back side) and put the decrease in where it is easier.

Now here is the magic part. When knitting random lace, the fabric is interesting, but more like crumpled paper. When it is blocked, it completely changes to a light airy organic lace!

I blocked my sample by getting it wet, squeezing out most of the water (never wringing), and pinning it to nylon netting stretched over a PVC frame. Oh how it opened up! And when it was dry, it maintained it’s shape.

Structured lace patterns are lovely, but I always miss a stitch in the instructions (usually by getting distracted, imagine that). I can see that imperfection like a lightning bolt at night, but only after it is too far to go back (I know some will, but if I have to rip out half a project I will never pick it up again). I am pleasantly surprised that when gazing at this type of lace I see the surprise structure; the swoop here, the cluster of bubbles there; rather than seeing imperfections, I see order in the chaos.

How cool is this?!

On May 11, 2021May 7, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

How awesome to open up my mailbox and be greeted by a picture of a kaleidoscope of lovely hand spun yarn?!? And it isn’t even my spinning magazine, but from the monthly electric co-op publication! (My sister gifted me with a subscription of Spin-off magazine that I LOVE, and selfishly stretch out by only reading an article or two at a time.) Bonus spinning info, hurray! Here is the link to the digital version, if you are interested. It talks about a enterprising group of spinners that co-op their own herd of sheep, goats, and alpacas. A little too far away for me, which is a bummer, but I have local sources for alpaca, buffalo down, and mohair, so I feel pretty darn lucky.

Oh, and that is Sophie doing a photobomb and looking scary. I caught her in the middle of a yawn and stretch.

Marled ripple lace scarf

On May 3, 2021April 29, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

The lace scarf is done! It isn’t very long, but I used up all my fiber, with only a short segment remaining.

I won at yarn roulette, only a few inches of yarn left over

The total weight of the scarf is 103 grams (3.6 oz). I used two colors of pink merino roving, pre-drafted the colors together without blending, spun with a hand carved drop spindle, then made a two-ply yarn. Lace stitch was done with size 8 Prym needles (which may have just changed my feelings about knitting and especially lace knitting). I blocked and dried the scarf.

Interestingly, the pictures of the scarf are much more striped than it appears in person.

Critters and Craft

Category: Craft