Knitting, Sewing and Handcraft Projects, Now and Forever...

[Morris Zapp]

Yes.  I thought I was making a pillow but I'm thinking now it's a wall hanging, since I can't actually figure out how to attach the needlepoint to a pillow.  I'm good at embroidery and stuff, but not so good at sewing.  Also, no sewing machine.

[mamselle]

There's one site that has good directions (including, if you click on the links, the instructions for blocking that you were asking about upthread):

   https://www.needlepointteacher.com/finishing-the-project/finishing-a-pillow/

You can do the work without a machine (people used to, of course). I've sewn whole Renaissance dance gowns by hand on the subway going to work at times....made for some very interesting conversations! (But alas, no invitations to go dancing...)

;~}

M.

[nebo113]

Weaving kit arrived and loom now set up in living room.  Windy today so a good day to be inside and weave.

[Cheerful]

Who is sewing masks?  By hand or by machine?  A favorite pattern?

I might try the one below.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/04/health/how-to-make-your-own-mask-wellness-trnd/index.html

[mamselle]

Weaving kit arrived and loom now set up in living room.  Windy today so a good day to be inside and weave.

How big is your loom? Can you walk around it in the room, or does it take up the whole space?

M.

[nebo113]

Weaving kit arrived and loom now set up in living room.  Windy today so a good day to be inside and weave.

How big is your loom? Can you walk around it in the room, or does it take up the whole space?

M.

Small Dorset floor loom.  20 inch weaving width.  Folds for storage or transporting.  It's awkward to get in the car/up and down steps, but I can manage.  I've taken it cross country several times.  It's considered a studio loom, because it is portable and easy to learn on.  I also have a Nilus LeClerc at home.  36 inch weaving width.  My cousin tried to gift me a 45 inch Nilus but I convinced her to let me regift it to a local art center.  We put on a warp and people can try their hand at weaving.

[mamselle]

Cool, both that it's such a good size, and that the larger one went to a good location and gets used, too.

In knitting news, I got 5 more rows done on the mitts and started casting on for the thumbs.

M.

[AmLitHist]

Gosh, we must have all been busy with other things!  (Personally, I hate it when work interferes with my crocheting.)

I finally finished my gingham baby blanket on Saturday.  I don't have any online photo-posting place (suggestions for a good free site welcome), but if anyone's interested, PM me and I'll send you a couple of pictures.

After that one got finished, I jumped into the baby blanket for my other friend. It's a much quicker pattern, and I'm already halfway done with it--hope to have it finished by the weekend. 

Then, I need to do finish work on odds and ends from this past winter/spring:  putting pompoms on crocheted hats to donate, joining mile-a-minute afghan strips, etc.  After those are done, I want to start on some new things--rose-centered granny squares for an afghan, a couple more mile-a-minutes, etc. 

I also need to get in gear and figure out a good way to market "taking orders" for the things I've already done and have pictures of.  I've got my two summer sections all set up in Bb and just need to turn them on and grade, and I'll be mostly (hopefully fully) online for fall, so I'll have time to work on more things for the rest of this year.

What's everyone else working on or getting started on these days?

[mamselle]

The mitts kind of stalled out when I started having to do more Ppts for my music theory class (so, for a good cause) but they're still there (as in, they haven't unravelled, a problem some of my projects have come to after time left abandoned....)

S'cool that you've gotten so much done!

People used to just create a Photobucket account using their Forum username for anonymity, and post the links for pictures they wanted to share.

I think that's still possible, although I've forgotten my password for mine, so I'd have to search my emails (I mail myself an ecrypted form of my own passwords and usernames because I mix them up so thoroughly...).

What's a mile-a-minute afghan?

M.

[Parasaurolophus]

If the fabric ever arrives, I plan to re-upholster the dining room chairs soon after. It's only my second-ever upholstery project (the first was the shelf the kittens use to get into the loft), but I'm eager to start, and fairly confident I can do a half-decent job of it.

[notmycircus]

I am redesigning a jean jacket and sewing it by hand.  I'm awaiting WWII bomb group patches to also sew on.  My dad was a POW in Stalag Luft III, with the great escape occurring two months before he arrived. 

[wellfleet]

My mother is also quilting up a storm, as am I. We are incredibly well-stocked on fabric, etc., and our favorite fabric store is also open because they sell mask-making supplies & there's an exemption for that here. I picked up two more Dream Cotton batts and a new role of freezer paper yesterday (mom loves applique). I finished a baby quilt last week and am about to start in on machine quilting the UFO (unfinished object) pile over the holiday weekend, now that I've got that machine up and running. I have at least a week's vacation that I need to use in June, which I think will probably become a home quilting retreat.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I was thinking of making some more felt cat toys. The last one I made was a red stocking shape and before that a yellow crescent moon. They aren't embellished with anything (since kitties are known to eat anything), just stuffed with filler and catnip.

[nebo113]

Finished one weaving project on small loom.  Have another warp on larger loom and am playing with it.  Small loom needs some TLC before I put on new project.

[AmLitHist]

Here's a page with images of mile-a-minute afghans (posting it just because there are so many variations of the basic pattern!).  I usually do the basic one--dc in the center, surrounded by various combinations of dc, trc, and singles, then joined together.

I especially like these and variations of granny squares in the summer--it's not so hot to work on a strip or a square, as opposed to having a long afghan on your lap!