This is one of my favorite crochet textures. I’ve heard it called many names, but orange or lemon peel is what sticks in my head. It is an alternating pattern of single and double crochet stitches across, the on row two the single crochets go in the previous double crochet, and the double crochets go in the previous row’s single crochet. It takes a little time to recognize which stitch is which, but the finished project is very forgiving.
Making kerfs, small straight cuts, in thin plywood allows the wood to bend without breaking. Those kerfs can also be decorative. I found free patterns on an Instructables post, downloaded them, and used the basic building blocks to make an SVG file for a round dice cup. The SVG file was built with sections of the rounded pattern, which resulted in incomplete cuts only a fiber width thick, but enough that many of the cutouts had to be manually ejected (dental tools or long thin carving tools work well for this).
I mentioned that I don’t like butt joints, so I added lace holes along the edge and secured the join by lacing with leather cord. I then measured the diameter of my cup and cut a circle of wood to fit inside the bottom. This is a different kind of butt joint, so I also cut a piece of recycled leather (thank you old recliner) with holes spaced to line up with the gaps in the sides. I glued the leather to the wood and used the same leather lace to sew around the edge of the base.
I used my go-to finish, Howard’s Feed-N-Wax, which was problematic. The wax became wedged in the small decorative curves and was very difficult to rub into the surface. Some time in the oven on low melted the wax, but I think for the next project I’ll use light coats of a spray finish.
This was an interesting project that resulted in an unusual object, but not one I think I’ll repeat. I will take elements of this piece and apply them to other ideas.
Experiments continue.
I’ve been cutting yarn bobbins out of waste plastic, as my grandmother did.
I’m not as precise as my grandma, or I don’t take as much time, but I wondered if my new laser cutter could do a precise job for me. I read that the kind of plastic matters. PVC, for example, lets off chorine when heated, which can degrade the laser.
I designed an SVG file of the outline and hole, but left the slit to be cut by hand. The slit needs to be tight to hold the yarn back. I did my first try on a Tide pod container, which is PET (polyethylene terephthalate).
The plastic melted and cooled, resealing the cut, but not releasing the piece from the base material. The cut the nearly made it through showed bad burn marks on the back where the label was adhered. I attempted to remove the label, but it was firmly attached.
The labels on the Tide container have a shiny component, and I wonder if this is why it failed. Hm. Experiments will continue.
Kerfs are slits cut into wood. The right application of kerfs allows the wood to bend. I’m beyond excited about the possibilities combining laser cut kerfs and thin plywood. I found a box calculator website where you plug in dimensions and it outputs SVG files. I entered a 3” diameter and 6” height and downloaded files that easily went into my laser cutter software. I cut the box from thin plywood and glued it together.
The dimensions I entered were not the finished dimensions. It was 6” tall, but had a diameter over 3.5”, which turned out to be an awkward size, too big for pens or a dice cup, but OK for paintbrushes. I finished the wood with Howard’s Feed-N-Wax. I’m not a fan of butt end joints, which is what the seam on this cup is, where the edges of the wood come together without interlocking, but this was a very informative first kerf project.
This is my Dad’s favorite seed jar, and my folks sent me one. I absolutely concur with my Dad’s assessment; this is neat. It is basically a jar with a built in hook and a stand so the jar can hang upside down to drain. The lid is metal mesh to allow the water through. A few times a day, you rinse the seeds and hang it back up to drain. I have my set on the back of the sink, so it is easy to remember. When the sprouts fill the jar, I put them in the fridge and start a new round. It has been a very good way to encourage me to eat salads.
I don’t have an Amazon affiliate (I should probably look into that), but here are the links to the jar and seeds I’ve been using.
Seed jar: https://a.co/d/8tJRb5s
Salad seed mix: https://a.co/d/7gnsriQ
Critters and Craft 