Squee! I ordered a femto spindle from Turtle Made on Etsy, which is a 3D printed Turkish style spindle that is teeny tiny!
Photo description: 3D printed spindle with dark green shaft and neon green arms sitting on my hand
With a spindle this tiny, the obvious choice is to spin as thin as possible. I have some green dyed Corridale mix wool from AnnieWhere that I used to get started.
Photo description: same spindle, wrapped with single spun green wool thread
The spindle works amazingly well for something so small. I plan on finding a case for it and have it be my emergency spinning kit. The emergency would be if I am out and about without a project! Or need to meditatively spin anytime, anywhere.
This is a Texas “snow” drift. My weather app says we received 10 inches of snow. I think that maybe, if this were small fluffy flakes instead of ice pellets, it might be 10”, but it is not. We have maybe 2 inches overall of hard pack. Yuck.
Photo description: looking out the front door at a small white mound in the entryway
Yes, that is a solid mound of ice, after I took the picture, I tested.
Photo description: large gray tabby in a blanket lined basket tucked into the closet
I deliberately put a basket in the closet as a cat bed. I found Thor the cat in the basket and he looked like I caught his paw in the cookie jar. Silly kitty.
We are hunkered down for the storm. It has been raining ice. Yuck.
To make the poncho that I made from a free blanket wearable, I used inexpensive acrylic yarn to do a blanket stitch around the neckline, then crocheted into the blanket stitch.
Photo description: single crochet into a blanket stitch, video here
I then alternated rows of shell stitches, 3 on the first row, two on the second, and decreased at the V on each side.
Photo description: crochet added to the neckline of a 2 rectangle poncho
I don’t know why one side has more stitches than the other, but I didn’t count, so that is probably the cause of the error. The crochet did help keep the poncho on, but I still hate wearing it. I even tried wearing it sideways with a “V” on each shoulder. That was better, but the corners on my hands were annoying.
Photo description: same poncho, but turned 90 degrees with the V neck on the shoulders
I’m very glad I did this trial with inexpensive materials, and did not put in hours knitting something that I would hate wearing.
The idea of making a poncho with two rectangles intrigues me. I like the pictures I’ve been seeing on online searches and I wanted to give it a go without a big investment of time, so I cut up a free plush blanket.
Photo description: plush blanket on the floor folded in half lengthwise, then the corners folded in to assess appropriate length
I cut the freebie blanket in half lengthwise. After consulting several measurements in different instructions, which say to take the length from shoulder to wrist and add the neck length for the long edge of the rectangle, I cut the blanket and sewed one short edge to the other long edge.
Photo description: sewing plush material with a model 66 Singer sewing machine
The internet lies. Not that this is a surprise, and after as many times as I’ve seen the same wording repeated across multiple sites you would think I’d be prepared for “tutorials” that are parroted from other “tutorials” and never actually tested, but it still made me mad. I have at least learned to be cautious. Rather than sewing the final seam, I pinned it and tried it on. Massive fail. The neck hole was big enough to completely step through. I looked closer at the pictures I was seeing and noticed that the ponchos on the models were pulled up in the front to give the illusion that the neck-hole wasn’t a gaping chasm. Humph. I cut some of the length off my rectangles until I had a two to one ratio: the long side was twice as long as the short side. The neck hole still seemed big, but I decided to sew. I finished the second seam, and hemmed all the raw edges and wore it around the house. I hate it. The opening for my head is still way too big and it is awkward to wear. What is going on?
I decided to go smaller and make some paper models.
Photo description: paper models of two rectangle ponchos showing a 3:1 ratio (top), 2:1 ratio (middle), and a 1.5:1 ratio (bottom)
After doing the paper models, I believe a rectangle that is 1.5 times longer than it is wide will give a head opening that is more reasonable, especially with stretchy fabric, like a knit. The next step is to test this to scale. Stay tuned!
Critters and Craft 