Craft Corner

[Former-Member]

Oh, wow that is superb @Mazarita the image finally came through, that was much faster than I've had happen previously. 

What patience you must have to do that so beautifully tensioned. The colour is truly lovely too. You must be so darned proud of yourself! (Rightfully so too):heart:

[Mazarita]

@Former-Member, you are very resourceful with the sources and ways you buy your materials. I had a giggle when you mentioned the iron, because the one I have has been in storage for about the past decade. It was bought in about 1990, so getting a bit long in the tooth at this point! The reason for this is: I just don't iron. I buy clothes that don't need it or wear things with the 'crushed' look. Knitting is one of the few domestic arts I have been able to get into. I admire your and others' creativity with it. 

Edit: just got your latest message. Thank you so much for your kind words! 

[Former-Member]

Oh, you made me laugh @Mazarita about the iron! Only some of my clothes need ironing, but I do use the iron regularly while sewing to straighten seams and set things straight etc. I have 2 now, one for sewing and one in the laundry, I hate not having things to hand when I want to do stuff. 

Wanting to do so many crafty things and not having the budget I'd like to have to do it with has made me look outside the box (and the country too) for better deals. It amazes me that postage from the UK to Australia is less than it is for me to get the same item from a store 100km away from me, not to mention that said item is usually half the price too at any given time. (These things make me frustrated.)

Heh, to make ironing easier, I do a weird thing, I iron the clothing straight out of the washing machine and hang the garments on clothes hangers out in the sun, then they just go straight in the wardrobe when dry. Easier to iron while still damp, not wet, and the ironing board has to air dry, not be locked up damp in a cupboard so it doesn't mould. 

@CheerBear how are the dragons going? and what do you do with wire? (if i may be so bold as to ask, since you're not really getting along so well ) I never got the hang of crocheting with wire. 

Happy crafting.

[CheerBear]

Morning crafters ☺

@Former-Member - my face looked like this 😮 when I saw your teeny tiny mushroom! That is so awesome! The idea of a 1.6mm hook alone is hard for me to imagine let alone the tiny thread and making it up yourself. Very, very clever! Are you planning on giving another one a go?

I had a bit of a giggle at the iron also @Mazarita. I call our iron one of my craft machines. It's used for melting crayons and playing, and therefore hasn't come out of the shed where I keep my not used often 'stuff' since we moved in to this house. My general rule is that if clothes can't go in dryer or they need ironing, they don't belong in our house 😂

It's funny you mentioned not being able to make pieces the same. It's probably my biggest hiccup (that and the sewing together) with the things I make. I struggle lots to get the second piece the same also. I'm getting better at it with the amigurumi things I make, but I think I am more comfortable with projects that are more forgiving of my sometimes wonky work.

One of my dragons is going well thanks ☺ I finished making all the pieces yesterday so now I am up to stitching it together. I'm looking forward to sharing it as it is making me smile a lot. The mega dragon project that I am not vibing with, uses wire armature which I haven't done properly before. It has big wings that need support to stand up and a ridged back and curved tail. The pattern is very tricky and takes concentration that I don't really have right now which is why it's been put to the side until I can play nicely with it again 😉

Off to see if I can sneak in some piecing together before littles wake up. Hope there's good/happy in the day for anyone reading 💗

(Ps "crocheting with wire" has me very interested! 😁)

[TheVorticon]

My project is very frustrating at the moment. 😕

Years ago, I started making this thing without a pattern. I got halfway through making a foot.

Last night I decided to try and make the other foot. I got the shape similar, but the stitches were different (too small, but somehow the part was larger around???). Aaand I managed to bend the hook so it's almost broken.

I unravelled it to try with a larger hook... Which just left big gaps and was disgusting, so I unravelled that and tried again with the smaller hook... And now it's completely wrong.

[Former-Member]

Goodness that is so frustrating for you @TheVorticon

I have bent and broken an aluminium hook in the past from holding it too tightly. Scared me when it snapped in two. 
When we're stressed we often crochet or knit with a tighter tension than when we're relaxed, so perhaps that was what happened, 'specially when you say you've bent the hook. 

About the only thing I can suggest (please forgive me if problem solving suggestions weren't what you're wanting ) is to do a few test swatches to find out which hook will match the gauge of your finished piece, if you haven't already. These days I have a notebook with the name I've given my project and a few relevant details about it, like the size of the hook I'm using for it. Some people leave their hook in the same bag as their projects, but I have too many projects on the go and not enough hooks to do that. 

I hope you get it sorted soon, I'm interested in seeing your project too, it sounds intriguing! 

[Former-Member]

I wish I could have seen your face @CheerBear Thank you for your kind words, I don't think it is very good, but that's cos I'm really hard on myself. I didnt' stuff it and now I'm wondering if I should have. I migth try pulling a tiny bit of dacron into it with a hook. 

I still cannot imagine doing the macro with a 0.4 hook!!!!!!! 

Ah, armature wire, now I understand, that is a challenging thing to do too. I can imagine it would need concentration to get right. Would love to see if when you're done if that's okay. 

Yeah, with the 2 piece thing, I just don't even try anymore, I decided i didn't have to be able to do everything, especially if it's going to be too frustrating and won't end well. I just figure out a way to get around it if there's something I truly want to make.

I've done the base section of my bath mat (yes, decide it will be a bath mat lol) and am now doing the first part of the edging to make it larger and more mat-like. I'm liking how it looks so far with the colour changes to match the bathroom. 

Good luck with your piecing together, may every stitch fit perfectly. 

Happy crafting everyone! 

[CheerBear]

The dreaded trying to match up to get symmetry @TheVorticon :face_with_rolling_eyes: It's often tricky for me too, and that can be day to day! My mood very much influences my tension as you touched on @Former-Member. Very frustrating when things don't go to plan sometimes. Are you using a pattern? Sometimes I have to make more than two of something to find the pair that match the best 😐

I'll definitely upload mega dragon if/when I finish it @Former-Member ☺ Are you using anything to back your mat? Hope you're enjoying it. 

I finished a baby dragon this morning and thought I'd share here.

She has kind of a punk look to her scales I think, which I really like and she has wings which were missing from the first pattern!

I took two patterns for a test run for when @Phoenix_Rising is ready for dragon making so now I have two baby dragons. They're both bigger than the little fit-in-my-palm/hand sized creatures I have made over the last while, so they sit on the top of my desk which is right next to my bed. I like the idea of friendly dragons watching over me while I'm (trying to be) asleep ☺

@Former-Member you asked recently whether I have a favourite yarn. I think Moda Vera anything is my probably it. It's a treat to get to use it, which I can only do when I score a big bargain as it's not affordable otherwise. This dragon is made in Moda Vera "lillium" which was left over from the sparkly silver shells border, and the contrast colour is made in Moda Vera "bouvardia" which I have used for a few projects and it's so beautiful! It's a 70% acrylic 30% wool blend which makes it really soft and snuggly. It's recently been discontinued though 🙁 but I scored a few leftover skeins hugely discounted because of it. I'll miss this one when I can't get it anymore.

Here's a closer photo of the yarns for you which are just 😍 (I think).

Hope the afternoon is treating everyone well.

[TheVorticon]

This will be the 3rd hook that I break @Former-Member. You'd think I'd learn my lesson 🙂
Thanks for the suggestions about why they might be different @Former-Member and @CheerBear.
I ended up just undoing the 'good' one to start both over again. It was meant to be the larger hook (I've only got 2) but I just couldn't match the shape so made a different shape instead. No pattern, just muddling through.
Now I have 1.5 feet done. It's definitely not as neat as the dragon.

Hope the bath mat's going well SunShower, and good luck with the mega dragon CheerBear.

[Bubbles3]

Your dragon looks so cool @CheerBear i love it

It reminds me of when my mum use to make us things like that. Iv actually still got one that my mum made way back maybe over 20 years ago