So, I was stressed and felt like I couldn’t keep my head on straight, so what did I do? Spliced together two previously private videos (made them for some friends on Facebook) and posted them to You Tube. lol Check out the warning! Yes, I use foul language on a regular basis and I had originally made these videos for friends. But, I wanted to show all of you how my brain works and didn’t want to shoot new videos, so here you go! Consider yourself warned.
I have wanted to build a wool picker ever since I saw photos of them on the internet and learned what they did. A wool picker is a machine that pulls wool apart to make it more open. This helps clean the wool, and makes it easier to card, (or even spin). It opens the wool with the aid of sharp, smooth nails that hold and pull the wool. It is a very dangerous piece of equipment, with some having over 400 nails.
I have not been able to build one because I could not find nails that were smooth. Normal nails would snag and tear the wool. Well, a couple of weeks ago I found nails for a nail gun and they seemed perfect. They may not be as sharp as the nails used in a wool picker, but I think that is okay.
Once I had the nails…
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I got this beautiful jewelry box from my sister (I love it when she cleans out her closets … it’s like Christmas). I loved the wood but as you can see, there are spaces for pictures on top. I don’t know about you but the idea of having to dust off pictures in tiny recesses (not to mention there was nothing to protect the pictures from dust and cleaning anyway) really disturbs me.
So, this popped in my head. Basically, pin cushions!
I took a piece of thin cardboard (well, it was the bottom flap on an envelope for Avery address labels). I cut it to the size of the photo area, then traced each hole with a pen. I then cut bits of fabric, roughly one inch larger than the hole.
I then used fabric glue (I’m sure someone could think of a less messy way to do this) to glue and gather the fabric pieces so they were just outside the traced shapes, leaving one end open so I could insert the stuffing.
Let it dry, then fill. I used some polyfill I’ve had for years. I just left the open end open, inserted the cushions into the holes, then secured with the wood locking plate. My initial idea was this would be great for lapel pins, hat pins, brooches, etc. I looked for anything to use to display in the picture but I didn’t even have something ugly to stick in there! I’m obviously not a brooch kind of person. 🙂
Well, this is a much prettier version of the one I’m making! Learn to knit different patterns while making one item (and the pattern is free)!
http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/mystery-afghan-knit-along.html
I have been teaching myself to knit. So far, I have knitted two hats (this way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hnGiE2tuts), two cowls,
and then decided to add knitting to my patchwork afghan/blanket/whatever you want to call it (here are the crochet/tunisian crochet panels I did a few years ago … finally went back to this now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HevK-AQPdvU&list=UUJ6WgGiNiMDC34VxEMKRBSg). I will do another video on my progress (it’s easier for me to babble on video than to type it) but in the mean time, I will just tell you what knitting I am adding to this work in progress.
I did one strip of seed stitch (knit 1, purl 1), then attached it to one end using this method (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpRJzMBXjqY). It’s not as pretty as I would like, even though I did not pull it tight (even ripped that out and tried it again).
The second strip I did was a basket weave. I tried doing versions I found on You Tube (my favorite resource for learning anything new) but I did not like the way it looked. So, I found a book called, “Just Stitches: 54 Knitting Stitch Patterns” by Tara Cousins. Her basket weave pattern is simple and well defined. I really enjoy how simple the patterns are (I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share one pattern of the 54 included in the book but I’m going to anyway).
The third panel I’m working on is for one of the longer edges. This is why I’m writing this blog post. I cannot find this exact stitch anywhere online. I found this one in book “Knitting and Sewing: How to Make Seventy Useful Articles for Men in the Army and Navy” by Maud Churchill Nicoll, copyright 1918. It’s called a Triangle Stitch. In the book, it is a “fancy stitch for mufflers”. I will give you the original pattern here but put my notes in parenthesis. She suggest using “2 12-inch long bone needles with tips at one end, size 7 with 1-lb. 4-ply double knitting wool in khaki colour or navy blue.” I am using worsted weight (4-ply) acrylic yarn on 5 mm needles.
For a muffler:
Cast on 72 stitches (Multiples of 9)
1st Row: Slip first stitch (knit wise), Knit until the end.
2nd Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 7, *Knit 1, Purl 8 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 1
3rd Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 1, *Knit 7, Purl 2 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 7
4th Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 5, *Knit 3, Purl 6 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 3
5th Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 3, *Knit 5, Purl 4 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 5
6th Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 3, *Knit 5, Purl 4 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 5
7th Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 5, *Knit 3, Purl 6 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 3
8th Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 1, *Knit 7, Purl 2 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 7
9th Row: Slip first stitch (purl wise), Purl 7, *Knit 1, Purl 8 and repeat from * to end of row, Knit 1
Repeat rows 2 through 9 until desired length.
Now, this is really simple (and that’s coming from a very new knitter) as long as you keep count. I did not want this strip that wide (it no longer lies flat once you add more triangles per row), so I cast on 9 stitches and slipped the first stitch, did the purls and the first amount of knit stitches. This is the result so far (I need this to be long and want to use the same yarn for both edges):
I started this project and, once realizing how long it was going to take me, my A.D.D. brain wouldn’t let me finish. BUT I wanted to share this with everyone because I love the way it looks and how it will turn out. The problem I had with it was the video. There are no written instructions and no audio describing what is being done. So, I ended up downloading the video to my computer (since, for some reason, my internet connection and/or You Tube have been buggers and decide not to cooperate a couple of times per day). Watching it on my computer allowed me to pause so I could count how many times to macrame this section or that one and how many times to repeat a sequence. I will post the notes I made once I am finished. Once you watch the video, if you see any errors with what I noted, please let me know.
First, here’s the video:
Now for the notes I’ve taken so far (for definitions and pictures of knots, check out this web page: http://www.stonebrashcreative.com/MacrameTutorial.html):
The following knots are used in this pattern:
For the flat area just after the buckle:
Lark’s Head Knot (for attaching your cord to the belt buckle)
Square Knots
Half Hitch
For the design:
Square Knots
And, my results so far (one thing I didn’t take into account when starting was the different weight of the yarns. The white yard is thinner, so I had to adjust by adding how many macrame stitches I did to maintain the proper look):
Well, after much trial and error (mostly me thinking I was smarter than most others and not having it work at all) I am finally weaving something!
I think I posted this link before but this was basically what I did:
http://www.theloomybin.com/doc/cwloom/
And, of course, I can’t choose something simple for my first project. This is the pattern (well, it’s supposed to be … now that I have pictures, I’m not sure I’m doing it right but I don’t care!):
http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/birkarcp.html
I’m using just yarn … normal Red Heart (still don’t know the difference between the yarns) and it’s really wide … don’t know what the heck I’ll do with it but I don’t care! I’m weaving!
And here’s the result:
See the cards on the left? I made those! I had an old accordion file and the stiff cardboard on either end was about the same width as the cards I was given. To make the holes, I made a punch out of the metal nozzle off a large rodent water bottle (we used it when we had a rabbit) like this: 
I just pulled the metal part out and sharpened it with some files used to sharpen chain saws. Then, hit it against the cardboard with a hammer and poof! Perfectly round holes! 🙂
That is a door to a small cabinet that we removed, 2 C-clamps, 1 Knitting needle, a TV tray, a chair, a large bottle of 409, a paint stirrer, bungee cord and paper clamps. 🙂
Well, I promised a post on macrame. Since I ended up NOT doing this with my plant hangers (I ended up just knotting the cords), I’ll just post a blog I found. It’s ALL about macrame! If you know nothing about it, go ahead and start on this page:
http://www.macramelovers.com/blog/how-to-macrame/macrame-2/
If you know a little, here’s a pretty basic plant hanger design I was going to use:
http://www.macramelovers.com/blog/macrame-patterns/macrame-patterns-plant-hanger-2-tiers/
There are many, many (too many to list) resources out there (including some You Tube videos … my favorite) to list. Just do a search and you will spend days looking through all there is to know (and learn) about macrame!
So, I’m “THIS CLOSE” to finishing my woman cave (well, as finished as it can be until I can make some looms and such). The last thing I need to do is make some plant hangers so I have room on the desk. I have two skeins of some funky, fuzzy yarn and thought that would be fantastic, macramed into some plant hangers (yes, think 1970’s child here). My problem is this isn’t the strongest yarn. Although the pots aren’t huge and heavy, I don’t want to take the chance of them snapping and raining dirt all over my work. So, while trying to figure that out, I thought, “Well, I’ll just read up on card weaving.” That’s when I stumbled onto Lucets. Take a look at this:
That tool … aside from the sanding, I could whip one of those up really quick. What do you think about making cordage with that, THEN macrameing that into a plant hanger?
Then, I have a friend. She scares me sometimes. I hadn’t posted anything about lucets at all yesterday. That’s when she posts this:
http://www.historicum.eu/product/flettehjul-3045/
Of course, I don’t speak (nor read) Danish but did a search for “flettehjul”.
That’s when this page pops up (with a lucet on it)!
It’s all about cordage!
And, here’s how to use that handy little gadget:
I found this pattern for making the lucet forks:
http://lildog-blog.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/lucet-patterns.html?m=1
All I have to say is, thank goodness I’m not doing this to make money! They are ugly but they work! I used a Rotozip (because I couldn’t find the blades to my scroll saw) and boy oh boy, does that thing like to go everywhere! But they are sanded and I’m finally making my cordage. So, perhaps some time tomorrow, I can make my plant hangers?
