How to Block Cotton Dishcloths

Blocking is probably my favorite finishing technique so far.  Not only is it easy, but the change in the finished product is dramatic!

Equipment: pins; tape measure; blocking board (anything that's flat, you can stick pins into, and will dry).

Step 1: Wash your finished product.  (I added towels just to be a bit more eco-friendly.  Why run an empty washer?)

 

Step 2:  Place the still wet dishcloths on your blocking board.  Mine are from KnitPicks, but any flat surface that will dry in a reasonable amount of time will do.

 

Step 3: Pin the cloths in about the shape you want them to be in when you are finished.  I'm planning to sew these dishcloths together to make a baby book so I measured each one to make sure they were the same size.

Step 4: Allow to air dry.

Step 5: Remove the pins and stand in awe of how a little water changes your knitting and makes it look MUCH more professional.

before

after

Photography Class

Assignment #1: Take 6 photos of the same subject using different settings on your camera.
I did this with a little Canon point-and-shoot in manual mode. It's more of an experiment than a project.

Winter Tree Collage - My Sister's Christmas Present!

 I love the skyline when I'm driving home at night - royal blue sky with black silhouettes of trees.
My sister asked for some original art for Christmas and her favorite color is blue - opportunity!

Plan a composition on tracing paper. Use drafting tape to affix layout to a heavier paper.
I started with blue paper but changed my mind partway through . . . ah . . . hence the importance
of planning that composition. I cut it all out with an X-Acto knife.

Next I made a watercolor wash to simulate the rich blue evening sky.

I used some black acrylic paint and a coarse brush (for texture) and painted the whole thing black.
I don't really recommend this because the skinnier branches can rip when they get soggy.

Align the cutout over the background . . .

. . . and trim to fit into your frame.

Done!

(Don't forget to clean the glass in your frame.)

Scrap Yarn Rug / Hot Pad / Potholder

My sister made me a gorgeous crocheted throw out of this super soft hand spun yarn. I love it - but it sheds like crazy. She told me it was because of the tassels, and that if I took them off it wouldn't shed anymore. I removed the tassels and came up with this huge pile of beautiful, soft yarn, but my sister said she had no use for the little snips. I tied the yarn scraps together, but this was a mistake, because the plan was to braid them. The more I braided the more the ends tangled. Long story short, I re-cut all the yarn into snips and just added lengths about 1.5 feet at a time instead.

Once all the yarn was braided I started spiraling the yarn, stitching it in place with a regular needle and thread.

I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out, and now I'm toying with the idea of making one from old t-shirts, plastic shopping bags, fabric scraps I don't want to throw away, or a bunch of clothes (all the same color) from Goodwill cut into strips.

Quick and Pretty Bead Bracelets

These are really quick, really easy, and went over really well as Christmas gifts. Joanns Fabrics had a buy-one-get-one-free sale on beads, so I grabbed 3 strands of each color beads in different shapes and textures, a strand of tiny silver beads that could go with any color, and another strand of cool blue/green assorted beads. Like most beaders, I have a bunch of pretty beads sitting around waiting for just the right craft, so I filled in with some of those to add variety. I measured a length of clear elastic so it would go around my wrist 4 times (or could be long enough for a necklace). There really isn't much else to this project besides making sure to disperse distinct beads (like the biggest ones) evenly.

Growler Cozy Project (from sister #2)

For those of you unfamiliar with craft breweries, this is a German-style growler from Victory Brewing Co. It holds about 4 pints, and it's more cost efficient (and greener!) than buying bottles and cans. The following project is a way to make an insulated cozy for the growler so you can take your time enjoying your specialty beer without it getting warm - hooray! This is my first actual craft blog post, so I've learned a little something about taking more photos next time. Some things are just easier to show in pictures.

 STEP 1: Trace around the base of the growler on muslin, adding about 1/4" seam allowance. You should end up with a circle. Align the long, straight side of the muslin to the bottom of the growler and wrap it around the bottle to get an idea how wide your pattern should be, and trim. Cut some curves to overlap around the handle (check out the photos at the bottom to see what I mean.) Fold the fabric in half longways, then in half again, then in half again, and mark on seams. These even marks will be where you'll put the pleats to fit fabric to the round top of the bottle.

STEP 2: Choose some fabric. I chose a synthetic (so it would be quick drying) pattern fabric for the outside and one insulated liner fabric for the inside. 

STEP 3: Trace the muslin onto the good fabric and trim. Fold your pleats at the even marks measured earlier and sew them. Wrap this much of the project around your growler to be sure it fits, and to start getting an idea of how to overlap the S-curve edges around the handle.

STEP 4: Measure one length of ribbon to go around the top and two sides, and then a second 14" piece for a handle. On the handle, I folded each side in 1/2" for aesthetics. To prepare the ribbon for edging (A) lay a 2" ribbon flat (B) fold down about 1/2" at the top and pin (C) lay your fabric inside the ribbon, matched to the bottom edge of the folded ribbon (D) fold the top 1/2" down to encase the top 1/2" of fabric.

TIP: If the bottom raw edge of the ribbon sticks out juuuuust a little farther than the folded bit you can machine stitch along the folded edge and be sure you're catching the other side of the ribbon underneath.

STEP 5: Pin everything. I know it's a pain, but it's the best way to make sure everything ends up where it should be and nothing slips. Match right sides together and machine stitch the circular bottom pattern piece to the straight, un-edged side of your cozy. The sides of the upper will overlap leaving space to affix the velcro.

STEP 6: Slip your growler into your newly edged cozy and pin velcro where the side flaps overlap. Machine stitch velcro in place.

Fill with your favorite local craft brew and enjoy!

Liquid Nitrogen Ice-Cream

Just incase you were in any doubt - I am a geek.  A huge geek.  I even wear glasses and work in a science related field.  However, I've fully embraced my geekiness and accept it as part of what makes me who I am.

Also, geeks get to do REALLY fun stuff.... like make ice-cream using liquid nitrogen.

The recipe is from the book "Cooking for Geeks" by Jeff Potter and is really pretty easy.

Ingredients:

milk
heavy whipping cream
flavoring
we added a little sugar
And some liquid nitrogen that I'm sure all of you have sitting around at home.

Combine and blend.

We made chocolate (with Hershey's syrup); Oreo (tasted like cookies and cream); coffee; and pomegranate (using jelly).  All of the flavors were good, but the pomegranate was my favorite...although the Oreo was a very close second.