Otter's Recent Sewing Project

Otter learned to sew in school this year. She made several of these pouches as gifts for her friends. They turned out really well. She appliqued the decorations, each one was personalized for the girl it went to. One girl loves penguins, so hers had penguins, etc. They were really cute and very detailed. Unfortunately, Otter forgot to take pictures. She gets that from me, I guess!

Anyway, she made me one for my birthday last year. It's holding some of my many crochet hooks. I have a lot of crochet hooks!

Ignore the phone cord visible in the picture.

There is a hook in this picture for size comparison.

She was going to applique the decorations on mine, but I found these adorable felt Christmas ornaments in the clearance bin at WalMart and just thought that they were so cute. So Otter used them instead of making each individual flower. They don't really look like Christmas ornaments to me, but that's their intended purpose.

The pouches zip closed, she learned how to put in zippers - which is something I've never been able to do.

She was very sneaky about it. I knew about it in advance, I picked out the fabric for it. But she didn't tell me when she was going to make it. One day, I noticed that my picnic basket full of yarn had been moved but I thought that Bill had moved it out of his way. I should have figured it out, because Otter kept talking to me about yarn & suggesting I get some out of the basket. Which was kind of odd, but I didn't catch on. A day or so later, I got into my picnic basket and there it was! She's sneaky, but it was a fun surprise.

Bill's Woodwork

Bill is pretty handy, although we get nervous when he's around power tools. For a good reason!

Anyway, these are a couple of examples of things he's made.

This is not the best picture, the camera was going out when I took this and this was the best one I could get. The shelf is the object of the picture, not my Fenton pieces. Bill has a bunch of scrap wood, various sizes & shapes. He made me a shelf that is hanging over the stove, and he made this one for me last year for the Fenton. It's actually a sort of sage green color.

Bill collects shot glasses. He's not a big drinker, but he likes shot glasses. We refer to his collection as the Useless Collection. He is always in need of display places for the glasses, so he used some more of that scrap wood and came up with this. It's hanging over the window in the office, so you can ignore the green curtains underneath the shelf! He's got many, many more shot glasses with no place to put them so he's considering making a shelf that goes all the way around the office, or possibly on two of the walls. It might be like this shelf, or it might be totally different.

Bill creates the pattern for the shape, style & size and then he gets to put his Engineering skills to use. He's been building a frame for the pachinko machines, when it's at a further stage I'll take pictures.

And hopefully, he won't have any injuries. :)

Bill Sews!

All three of us sew to an extent, Bill had made kites and a few things like that and then a couple of years ago he decided he wanted to make a quilt. We had several large trash bags full of military surplus camo uniforms and we sold several on eBay as well as donated quite a bit of them to Goodwill, etc. But there were still a lot left over and he decided to use them as quilt fabric. That was just the start. Here are a few of the quilts he's made.

This one was made for Bill's step-mom, who we refer to on the blogs as Sweetie, for Christmas a couple of years ago. It's a little larger than a lap quilt. I'm not sure exactly what stage this picture was taken at, but I think it was completed here.

Here's a close-up, which includes a picture of the backing.

This is the one he made for me, it's big enough for our king-sized bed and we use it in the spring & summer. I just put it back on the bed a couple of weeks back. It's very warm, but Bill made another quilt (the first one with the camo fabric) and he wants equal time for it so it is our fall/winter bedding. This one was made with some of the fabric left from the two lap quits, some fabric that I had in my scrap bag including the left over fabric from the kitchen curtains I made and also quite a bit of it came from shirts we bought at an auction. We sold a lot of the shirts, kept some to wear, donated a bunch and then turned several into quilt scraps. Creative recycling at it's best!

This is my quilt, on our bed. The bed is king-sized, as I mentioned before, but it's a sleigh bed style and is very big. The quilt fits just perfectly on it.

This is the other lap quilt he made, this one is for his Mom (referred to as Nana on the blogs). This was her Christmas present the same year as Sweetie's, and it was almost impossible for me to keep the secret of what Bill was working on for his two moms that year! He started them several weeks in advance so I had to be quiet for a long time.



This is the backing and a close-up of Nana's lap quit.

This is the first one he made. It's not really a standard size, it's actually bigger than our bed (a lot bigger). It's a heavier weight fabric than it looks, and it is extremely warm. Which is why it's the fall & winter quilt! He got the pieces sewn together to a point, then he realized he needed a backing fabric so he went to our favorite fabric store. And he made a few older ladies day, because they got to "take him under their wing" and help him find fabric! The backing is a green leafy pattern and is very pretty.

If she didn't have on socks, you wouldn't be able to see Otter in this picture! She's holding a sign that says "I'm invisible" in front of her face. She's wearing her own camo clothing, she has a pair of camo pants that she wears pretty often and one of the shirts that were in the surplus that the quilt is made from.

Crochet Scarves

I have made several crocheted scarves. They are fairly easy, it starts with a foundation chain (which is pretty standard for crochet) and then the next rows are triple stitch. I like the triple stitch, it goes fast and it's a nice size for this project. I usually make 5 rows because that way the scarf is wide enough. Length varies, depending on the person - Otter likes hers to be really long so she can wrap them around herself 2 or 3 times. She calls those her Dr. Who scarves. Why they are called that will be obvious to any Who fans!

This is one of Otter's Dr. Who scarves. It's a chenille yarn which is lovely and very warm. But it is probably my least-favorite to work with. It's a very warm scarf, it was just not fun to make it. The yarn is stiff but mostly the problem I had with it was the gauge. It was big enough that it was hard to find the correct placement for the crochet hook in each stitch. But it turned out great and I'll probably use it again. Just not anytime soon! The scarf wasn't quite finished here, it didn't have the fringe on it yet. But it was a cold, icy day and Otter wanted to wear it so it didn't get the fringe added until later on.

This is a closer picture of it, the camera was in the process of breaking so the picture isn't too clear.

This is one I made for my Secret Sister in my Sunday School class a couple of years ago. With this yarn, the stitches are more open but they are also more visible than the chenille yarn.

This is one I made for a friend of Froggy's. It turned out well, but the yarn was very problematic. The color is Lipstick, and it looked great. But the yarn knotted up a lot and just was not easy to work with.

This is Froggy's. She's an Aggie Mom, so it's Texas A & M colors. Even though I'm a loyal Texas Longhorn fan, I have to admit that this color combination works well.

I've made other scarves, but I don't have pictures of them. I have a tendency to forget to take pictures. I need to start getting pictures! I made a bright red one for Sweetie (Otter's Oklahoma grandmother), a lavender one for KN#3 (Froggy's daughter), a couple of others for Otter and myself and I've also made several which were donated.

What a Well Dressed Pirate Wears

This is actually from 2008. Otter went to a costume party and being the Johnny Depp fan she is (rabid is the word that comes to mind!), she decided to go as a pirate.

The reason this is on the craft blog is because it was a sewing project. It's not the best picture, but we made the pants. They are a brown, velour type fabric and they turned out nicely. The pattern we used was for pajamas, and once the party was over the pants became pajama pants.

Otter took sewing class at school this year, and she really enjoys it. The pants were made before the class, but she did help me quite a bit with the sewing process. She's sewn a few things that will eventually make it here.

The picture isn't the best, but the only other picture I have of her in the costume shows her face. But you can get an idea of what the pants look like.

A Little Bit of Crochet

These pictures have been posted before, on the main blog. But here they are again!



Tools of the trade.

Crochet hooks are made from assorted materials such as plastic, steel, aluminum, wood, bamboo. I prefer aluminum, as it wears well and stays pretty smooth. You don't want a hook that is rough or splinters, the hook needs to slide through the yarn. This one is the one I use the most, I think it's a size G but I can't remember. I'll eventually check the gauge. The purple thing in the middle of it is a cover that is actually designed to go on the end of knitting needles to protect the points. I snipped the end off of it and slid it down onto the hook because it makes it more comfortable on my fingers. The yarn pictured is acrylic, which is the most common yarn around and probably the least expensive. It comes in a wide variety of colors and I use quite a bit of it. I am very allergic to wool, so I am somewhat limited in my yarn choices at least if I want to stay below a certain price range. Price ranges are not always a big consideration, it depends on what I'm making and also how strong I want the yarn to be. Acyrlic yarn, as well as polyester, wear very well and both are tough, strong yarns.

I have made several pouches, the pattern I have calls them jewelry roll pouches and they are basically a flat piece consisting of the foundation chain, which is the first row and then the rest of the rows are single stitches. Single stitches are a tight stitch and also a fast one.

The original pattern called for a ribbon to be attached about middle of the piece, it would overlap at the top and bottom and then the piece would be rolled up & tied with the ribbon. But because I like to do my own thing, I changed it around slightly. I fold the pouches about 1/3 of the way and sew it closed at the sides. Then it's turned inside out - with crochet, and especially this stitch, there is no right or wrong side because each row goes the opposite direction from the previous row.

The top piece has not been sewed down and can be folded down to make a flap. Although it's not in this picture, I usually attach a 1/2" (more or less) round button and then make a chain stitch loop on the edge of the top flap in the middle so it can be closed. This was originally going to be a holder for my glasses, but it was a lot bigger than I needed and it was too bright to go with the quilt that Bill was making for me at the time. So it is now a nail kit, it is in the bathroom in one of the drawers and it works great. I made another one for an eyeglasses holder. I've also made several of these as gifts, in various colors.

Crochet is a fairly old art, it's believed that it originated at sea with sailors being the inventors. A lot of the stitches and the process of making the stitches are very similar to the way that fishing nets are made and repaired. In all probability, the crochet hook is was originally a fish hook that was broken into a shorter piece and then used to hook the rope that the nets were made of.

Lace making is a type of crochet, but it's one I have no interest in. You've probably seen lacey doilies, probably most of our mothers & grandmothers had/have them! They are crochet, made with a very thin gauge yarn called thread. It's not the same as sewing thread. I've given it a try, and decided to stick with something a little larger. The hooks are impossibly tiny and the thread is very small.

I mentioned being allergic to wool. Usually, it's not too bad because I try to avoid coming into contact with it. Bill wears wool socks and I can put them up when I'm doing laundry, but I am fast at it. Today, Otter and I stopped at a fabric store and of course I had to go check out the yarn department. I picked up a skein that I liked and held it for a few minutes. Then I realized that the palm of my hand was tickling. That was my first clue! I looked at the ingredient list and it was pure wool yarn. I usually look at the fiber content first, but I didn't think about it for some reason this time. I wasn't where I could wash my hand, but I did use my anti-bacterial lotion since it was all I had. It helped some, but my hand was red for a very long time.

There are several types of yarn, even acrylic & polyester come in different gauges or strand sizes as well as different processes to make the yarn so it doesn't all look the same. I just have to be careful with wool. I have some yarn made from bamboo, it's very soft, but I haven't found a project for it yet. I do have some that could be a problem for me - it's made from alpaca wool (think llamas) but I'm not sure if it will set my allergy off like sheep or lamb wool. I won't actually attempt to use it yet, my skin has to be perfect before I'll be brave enough to try.

Introduction

Anyone who follows my other blog (ottermomramblings.blogspot.com) will know that I am a crafter at heart. I always have been, my mother started me out on crafting at a very young age and I'm still at it! I have mentioned quite a bit about crochet, which is probably my main interest, OK it's more of an obsession than an interest. I also love to cook and have a blog devoted to that (ottermomcooking.blogspot.com) and love to experiment. Anybody that is around me for long will hear me say that "measurements don't happen here." It refers to being taught to cook by the world's best, my mom. My crafting follows that credo somewhat, it's fun to trace crochet back to the original stitch for example.

This blog was created with the intent of showcasing my family's crafting, which includes me, Otter (our daughter), and Bill (my husband who is an engineer - engineers are not normal people so consider yourself warned).

We all have varied interests, we all love to take things apart and put them back together (I'm not allowed to take things apart to fix them anymore). We all love to create, make things new & better, and have a lot of fun doing it. This blog will have pictures of various projects as well as instructions and diagrams. I might have links to instruction pages.

While crochet is my preferred art form, we have several other things we do. All 3 of us sew to some extent, Otter repurposes My Little Pony toys and a few other things, we do a lot of painting - not portrait style, tole painting is what I mean. Bill builds things and is currently deeply involved in refurbishing pachinko machines - Japanese pinball. He and Otter both have some drawing skills, hers are very good and she does a lot of it. All three of us love to cook, but cooking will probably not be on this blog much because of the cooking blog I have.

Check back frequently, and I hope you enjoy this.