Small gifts

On By CarynIn Cats
Photo description: Thor the gray tabby under the holiday tree

Our tree is up, and the cat is underneath. It is a small gift that he is not a climber. His 18 pounds could really be a problem stuck in the tree. He does look like he is contemplating mischief, though.

Small deviation

On By CarynIn Craft

Cat number three is complete on the Bucilla felt wreath kit.

Photo description: in process Bucilla felt wreath kit with three cats

I changed a couple small things on the brown cat, giving it three stripes of sequins on the forehead to break up the space, and making the eyes green rather than the pattern indicated white.

Photo description: pattern image of the brown cat’s head sewn as per instructions
Photo description: closeup of brown cat’s head as I stitched it, the lighter tan color was what came in my kit, which does have a caveat that the felt colors may differ from the picture

Two more cats to go, and I am feeling particularly rebellious.

Throwback Thursday: crocheted helmet

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

In March of 2016 I crocheted and embroidered a Roman military helmet with face guard for my sister, who teaches ancient history.

Photo description: yellow crocheted hat with face guard and red crest in the style of a ancient military helmet

I did not record my sources, so am not sure what specific style I was emulating, if any. It did amuse me greatly to make it.

Change of plan

On By CarynIn Craft

Ripping out knitting or crochet is just a matter of pulling. When I decide to undo a looped project, it isn’t that easy. I had started a new loop and twist bag, but then learned of a new-to-me ancient technique of looping around a core cord. That sounded much more interesting to try than continuing on a second iteration of the same bag I’ve made before. So I pulled out the knots, first the twist, then the knot, for each loop.

Photo description: one twist removed from the beginnings of a loop and twist net bag

The whole of the cord has to be pulled back through each twist and loop, and since I made the cord as I went, I had quite a lot of twined flax to pull through. Eventually it was too much and I kept dealing with tangles, so I cut the cord. I was able to recover a good bit of hand made twine, so it was worth the effort.

Photo description: small ball of recovered flax twine, with Izzy the calico cat as a background since she sat on my lap the whole time I was pulling out knots

This recovered twine will become the core for the loop around a core construction of the next project.

Two cats

On By CarynIn Craft

The felt wreath sewing kit now has two cats. I didn’t deviate from the instructions on this second cat like I did for the candy cane with the first cat. I sense more deviation coming in my future, though. The thought of finishing the wreath and it looking like the picture on the kit is disquieting. It won’t ever look exactly like the picture, a head tilt difference here, a slight color variation there, but I’d like to make it mine, specifically. I have lots of scrap felt. Hm.

Photo description: in progress Bucilla felt kit with a gray cat with a red scarf, and a cream striped cat in a Santa hat