Sunday Stash Update #3 - Crochet Tool Kit!

I'm really pleased with this week's update! My crocheted-crochet-caddy turned out really well, and it's been so much fun to use so far. Plus, it's actually fully completed. Unlike any of my cloths.

If you remember, I was inspired to make a hook holder when I saw two amazing ones on Pinterest. So, I decided to make my own using some of my Sugar 'n Cream stash - and some embroidery floss!

The edges were straight until I had to use my special sewing skills to attach things...

Part 1. The Base

This was really just a practice holder, so I didn't get too fancy here. The base is made up solely from double crochet stitches. Plus, I went back and added a stripe of slip stitches because I thought all that blue looked a little plain.

(forgot a picture for this step... you can see the stripe I am talking about in one of the below pictures)

Part 2. The Hook Holder

Now for this piece I did follow the instructions from the OMG! caddy. It's just your basic shell stitch, done until it's the length of your base piece. Then, you sew it straight down the middle into your base. Sadly, any form of sewing is my great weakness, and I somehow sewed down my shell piece so it was too short, and now the whole thing kind of bunches a little. Oh well.

Once you are all finished with the holder, your hooks slide right into the natural holes in your shell strip. Oh and the scissors fit nicely too.

Part 3. The Needle Holder

Once again, it was straight until I attached it.

I had fun with this piece. After I finished sewing down the hook holder, I thought,

Hey, this embroidery floss would make a beautiful little crochet piece.

So I took out my B hook and got to work making a swatch of single crochets, using 4 of the 5 strands of floss. I used up the entire length of it, and it turned out to be about 2.25x1.5 inches. Then I just sewed down the edges to attach it, and it works perfectly for holding my tapestry needles!

Part 4. The Measuring Tape Pouch

I love this one. It turned out exactly as I imagined it. I took my hook holder yarn and made just a quick little rectangle of triple and single stitches. Then I sewed down all but the top edge. Next I made two rows of stitches, the last one being dc, dc, dc, sk 2, dc tc in same stitch, tc dtr tc in same stitch, tc dc in same stitch, sk 2, dc, dc, dc.

Oh look, I've learned enough about crocheting to accomplish something simple that I want without having a pattern to go off of. Hooray!

Anyway, then I sewed down just one edge (the starting chain), and it now functions as a little flap. I attached a button to the pouch, and it easily slips between my tc and dtr stitches to close up.

Part 5. The Stupid Front Button Closure

Remember how I mentioned sewing was my weakness? Yeah, this button is barely hanging on even though I used tons of thread, and managed to wind up in the wrong place. Plus, I couldn't keep anything on my piece that would grab onto the button and close everything up.

Finally, after multiple failed techniques, I just attached a string of yarn to one side of the base, and I wrap it around the button when I want it to close. Not the prettiest thing in the world, and the button is probably going to fall off soon, but it kind of works for now. At least the button is beautiful and square.

In Hindsight

Since this was just a field-tester tool case, I'm very pleased with how well it actually turned out. Though when I make my permanent one out of felted yarn, I'll definitely make it larger. Insanely larger. And the hook holding strip will be made out of a much finer yarn, because some of my hooks slip right through this worsted weight piece.

The spirit of the measuring tape pouch will stay the same, because I love how that is working. Same with my tapestry needles. I will probably have to figure out something else for the scissors when I use a finer yarn, but I don't know yet. Also, I'm going to eventually need a gauge checker, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

And, maybe I'll be better at sewing by then. Probably not.


Stash Update

Well, this project ended up using only 76g of yarn. Plus, I've added a whopping 50g onto my baby blanket. But then, Michael's had another Sugar 'n Cream sale, so... I bought 284g worth of new yarn. Whoops. That puts me at -158 for this week.

It feels nice to have one completed project though! All my dishcloths are still sitting around with their unwoven ends slithering about, and my blanket seems like it will never be large enough, so I appreciate this one finished piece of work.

Congratulations to everyone who seems to be actually working through their stash! I'll catch up with you at some point.

My Stained Glass Creation

Has anyone else just always loved glass? I know I sure have; glass dishes, glass sculptures, glass blowing, stained glass, etc.

This is the mini-story of how I was lucky enough as to create my own stained glass picture.

My Stained Glass Story

Opportunity struck when someone who bowls in my league was talking about his stained glass workshop. I mentioned my interest in all things glass, and he kindly offered to show me his shop and let me create my own piece. Hooray!

Now I won't tell you everything he taught me - can't go around blogging trade secrets! - but I'll show you some pictures and tell you the basics.

1. Draw your Pattern

This is a sun rising over some hills

Pick whatever it is you want your finished piece to be and draw it out. This is called a "cartoon," and you will be using this to trace and cut your glass on. Remember, tiny pieces and really round pieces are the easiest to mess up!

2. Cut the Glass

Took me about 3 hours to get all ten pieces cut

With just a simple glass cutter, trace along your cartoon and cut up all your pieces. This was the hardest part for me, as I didn't seem to be strong enough to cut through the glass sheets. It's all about finding your pressure angle though, and eventually my trusty helper got me to succeed.

Once they are all cut, lie them out on your cartoon and be sure they mostly fit together.

3. Tape it Up

You have to cover the edges of your glass in copper tape in order to make the really fun step work!

Line everything with copper tape...

Ta-daa!

4. Solder Everything!

Man, this was my favourite part. Cutting the glass should have been, but that blade gave me blisters... and cutting wasn't nearly as fun as soldering.

My phone's camera couldn't be expected to capture the beauty of these drops

Soldering is just so pretty! The tool slides right through the metal wire you use, even easier than a knife cutting butter. And then you are left looking down upon this beautiful little molten droplet of metal. You can drag the soldering iron along to "draw" with it, and get the metal anywhere you need it to be (which is all across every break in the picture). Then it dries almost instantaneously, and just like magic your glass pieces are held together.

5. Spruce and Shine

After you've soldered all the pieces together and into the frame, it's time to clean up your piece. Cut and peel off any copper tape that is still showing, buff with a stained glass polish, and finish with your chosen glass cleaner.

Then display your creation somewhere!

Mine is still smudged up because we ran out of time.

The End

And that's all! Together, it took me about 5-6 hours to complete. But if stained glass were something I did consistently, then this very simple piece probably would have only taken 1-2 hours.

The fun part is, anyone can do this at home if they exercise caution! I was surprised at how few tools it actually requires. If you just wanted the very basics, you would need:

• Paper and marker
• Glass cutter
• Glass pieces
• Copper tape
• Lead framing
• Soldering iron
• Metal wire for soldering
• A couple different oils

None of those even take up space! You can work in as big or as small an area as you want- preferably on a hard floor and table, as sprinkles of glass may find themselves traveling around.

I'm considering making some pieces on my own this summer in the garage. I really want to make a peacock feather, even though it would take me about eight years and forty blisters to cut all those pieces of glass... but it would be worth it once I was soldering again. Oh how I wish I could solder more in every day life! I've been trying to think of a way to combine crochet with soldering, but I'm pretty sure that kind of world just doesn't exist. At least not for very long after you start.

Alright I'll see you all on Sunday for my next Stash update! Plus I've got an exciting post for the coming week, the end of which will either detail utter disaster or extraordinary success. We'll see.

Sunday Stash Update #2

Hello again everyone!

Sadly, I did not get much crocheting done this week at all, so I don't really have anything to show you. I can say that:

1. my blanket is a couple inches bigger
2. one of my washcloths is completely weaved in and ready to be tested
3. my yellow washcloth with the baubles has all its stitches and is half weaved in (I had a lot of ends there)
4. I'm starting on a crochet hook holder.

I'm really excited for the hook holder. I have taken inspiration from two different sources, and I'll be combining them to make something that I think will work well for me. I'll be using my stashed Sugar 'n Cream yarn for this one, but in the future I'm going to make it out of a more... elegant yarn.

Here are the two holders that I really like:

OMG! Heart

klubka.net

The one from OMG! Heart is just beautiful in my opinion. It's also felted crochet, and I have no idea how I feel about that because I don't know anything about it - yet.

The one from klubka is brilliant with all its different little holders and pouches. I'm definitely going to incorporate the swatch for holding needles, as I can't seem to keep track of my loose containers of needles.

So that's it for my update this week. Not terribly exciting just yet, but if you need more, go check out the other bloggers participating in the Stash-Busting Challenge by just following that link on my sidebar! Here are just three blogs that I have been enjoying so far:

Random Wooliness - Ali's got some pretty scarves going on there!
Apple Blossom Dreams - Dishcloths!
Petals to Picots - There are some cute Valentine's projects to look at!