The Crafting Thread - Show Us What You've Made!

[BiBunny]

So many different crafts. I love and want to try them all! I need a cheaper hobby and maybe one that doesn't make me go blind lol.
These are what I've worked on recently. The one on the right is my favorite weave. It took me 3 tries to get the right size rings for it to work. Then, after starting with all silver, I changed to gold for the large rings and silver for the small. Now, if only I could complete an entire piece instead of jumping from one thing to another.
The last image is my cross-stitch Christmas stocking that I finally made last year (after making everyone else one).

Oh, that chainmail stuff is awesome! So's the stocking. You're miles ahead of me in the cross-stitch game! Thank you for sharing.

 

[NCGemini]

Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I've probably been doing cross-stitch longer than you've been alive. Let's seen, I'm almost 54 and been doing it since I was single digit age, so yeah, basically forever. You can do it. It's just like the Happy Valentine's Day one that you made, but with a lot more little x's.

 

[BiBunny]

So I started a bunch of St. Patrick's Day crafts (not because I really care about St. Patrick's Day, but because I really like rainbows and the color green) right after Valentine's Day. St. Patrick's Day will be here on Friday, I think, and I don't wanna finish any of the crafts I started, lol.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I've been thinking about my mom a lot these past few days. I made this shawl for her about two years ago. My parents live on a lake and the colors remind me of the water.

There are two pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/uhYJEMJ

It’s gorgeous and I love the colour!

 

[BiBunny]

Did you get them finished?

Haha, no. I failed. ADHD brain strikes again. I just started some Easter stuff instead because I never learn.

I've been thinking about my mom a lot these past few days. I made this shawl for her about two years ago. My parents live on a lake and the colors remind me of the water.

There are two pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/uhYJEMJ

I love that shawl! The colors are gorgeous, and I love the pattern, too.

I posted this yesterday in another thread but it fits very well here. Crochet top with shamrocks that I put on it. From last year. I make better fitting tops now haha.... a boob tube is easy to make but not the best fit.
View attachment 2219608

Awesome! I like it, even if it is easy to make. The ribbing creates visual interest, despite the simple shape of the top, and the shamrocks are just cute.


In Bunny crafting news, I've started making Peeps for Easter, both the bunnies and the chicks. They're both super-easy and require no sewing at all, which is good for me because I can't sew things on straight to save my life. Will share a little later tonight, when I finish the bunny I'm working on now.

 

[BiBunny]

My Peeps! The bunny is actually a prettier color in real life, but something about my phone camera washes out pastel shades and makes them look dull.

 

[clearcreek]

A month or so while I mentioned my fathers 64 Chevy pickup. Due to all the snow and rain, I skipped out of town for several weeks. Lately, the rain added to the weight of the snow before it washed away the snow away and this is what I came back home to. Yes, the truck is under what was a carport. It didn't seem to do too much damage to the truck, but tearing the carport down is likely to do some scratching and such. Another storm is coming and I will not have time before I can do anything about the mess.
View attachment 2219792

 

[BiBunny]

A month or so while I mentioned my fathers 64 Chevy pickup. Due to all the snow and rain, I skipped out of town for several weeks. Lately, the rain added to the weight of the snow before it washed away the snow away and this is what I came back home to. Yes, the truck is under what was a carport. It didn't seem to do too much damage to the truck, but tearing the carport down is likely to do some scratching and such. Another storm is coming and I will not have time before I can do anything about the mess.
View attachment 2219792

Oh, man. I'm sorry that happened! Maybe it won't be too awful to clean up and won't do too much damage to the truck, either.

 

[NCGemini]

My Peeps! The bunny is actually a prettier color in real life, but something about my phone camera washes out pastel shades and makes them look dull.

View attachment 2219786

So cute! They really do look like Peeps!

 

[NCGemini]

For the cat owners: a cardboard scratcher which is now a few inches bigger, little shithead couldn't wait to sit on it as soon as I turned my back, and a 4 1/2 foot tall scratching post made with a 4x4, 6" or 8" lag bolts (not sure how big, I just remember them taking forever to put in) and brackets because the chunky gray and white cat (big shithead) loosened the lag bolts

 

[BiBunny]

So cute! They really do look like Peeps!

Thank you!

For the cat owners: a cardboard scratcher which is now a few inches bigger, little shithead couldn't wait to sit on it as soon as I turned my back, and a 4 1/2 foot tall scratching post made with a 4x4, 6" or 8" lag bolts (not sure how big, I just remember them taking forever to put in) and brackets because the chunky gray and white cat (big shithead) loosened the lag bolts

Ooh, those are awesome! Pretty kitty, too, by the way.

 

[cascadiabound]

Just finished making a beautiful matching set with some local Ontario Rambouillet wool. I'm in love with the colours and it is super soft.
View attachment 2222251

Gorgeous job!

 

[rjr_1954]

Just finished making a beautiful matching set with some local Ontario Rambouillet wool. I'm in love with the colours and it is super soft.
View attachment 2222251

Very nice @MaggieTheUnicorn
Matching hand mitts, too!

 

[BiBunny]

Just finished making a beautiful matching set with some local Ontario Rambouillet wool. I'm in love with the colours and it is super soft.
View attachment 2222251

So pretty! Those are my two favorite colors. I used them, along with some white, to make myself a cat ear hat over the winter!

 

[seela]

I finished knitting the socks some time ago. They fit J and they’re not unraveling or have giant holes or anything like that. There are some wonky things there, but they’re perfectly functional socks, so I think they’re a good first attempt at knitting. I didn’t expect to finish so fast, or ever, really.

All in all a big personal W for me!

I’ve also started to crochet the blanket I’ve been planning for some time and I have about half of it made at the moment.

 

[seela]

And while I’m at it, I might as well post a picture of the blanket as well.

It’s going to be so warm! I found a place that was closing shop and sold all their yarn at half price. So I splurged for a lot more expensive yarn I has planned, but it’s so soft (Drops Wish). Alpaca!

 

[twister947]

And while I’m at it, I might as well post a picture of the blanket as well.

It’s going to be so warm! I found a place that was closing shop and sold all their yarn at half price. So I splurged for a lot more expensive yarn I has planned, but it’s so soft (Drops Wish). Alpaca!

I really like how the colors are random in that blanket. How do you overcome the human impulse to impose order?

 

[BiBunny]

I finished knitting the socks some time ago. They fit J and they’re not unraveling or have giant holes or anything like that. There are some wonky things there, but they’re perfectly functional socks, so I think they’re a good first attempt at knitting. I didn’t expect to finish so fast, or ever, really.

All in all a big personal W for me!

I’ve also started to crochet the blanket I’ve been planning for some time and I have about half of it made at the moment.

The socks look great! Better than any I've ever made, lol. Love the color, too.

And while I’m at it, I might as well post a picture of the blanket as well.

It’s going to be so warm! I found a place that was closing shop and sold all their yarn at half price. So I splurged for a lot more expensive yarn I has planned, but it’s so soft (Drops Wish). Alpaca!

Love the blanket, too! You're doing so well. I can't seem to finish big projects to save my life, lol. Like these colors as well.

 

[seela]

That's beautiful! Alpaca is super soft so I bet that blanket will feel luxurious!

It feels so soft and not the slightest bit itchy! I’m very happy with my choice of yarn.

I really like how the colors are random in that blanket. How do you overcome the human impulse to impose order?

There’s a very scientific method to it:

I store the yarn in a cabinet that’s next to J’s end of the couch. So I ask him to give me some yarn and then I crochet with that color until I get bored and then I ask him to give me another color. Like I said, it’s very scientific.

Of course now I’m running into trouble because I didn’t buy equal amounts of every color and now there’s a lot of some colors left and not so much of others, so I think I’ll have to start picking the colors a little more methodically now lest I end up with a big block of blue and white in one end because all the other colors have been used up.

The socks look great! Better than any I've ever made, lol. Love the color, too.



Love the blanket, too! You're doing so well. I can't seem to finish big projects to save my life, lol. Like these colors as well.

I’m very surprised by how good the socks turned out!

I got the tip that it’s easier to start with a lighter color because you can see the loops and things a little more clearly with a light color than with dark. It was easier to keep track if it was turning out like it was supposed to. It was a very helpful tip!

 

[seela]

Is this your first time using Alpaca? If it's natural Alpaca it will want a bit more specialized care. I work with animal fibers so if you want advice on washing and care please let me know!

I’m such a newbie with everything related to crafts, so I don’t really know anything about yarns or how to care for them beyond what I can read from the producer’s website. It’s definitely the first time I’m touching alpaca, as far as I know. I mean, the pics I’ve posted here are pretty close to absolutely everything I’ve ever made. Besides what I’ve shown here, I’ve only crocheted two potholders and one nipple shield (it was supposed to become a coaster but I screwed it up so it looks like a nipple shield). That’s the full extent of my crafting.

The yarn I’m using is Drops Wish. If you have any special tips, they’re all much appreciated!

 

[seela]

Thanks for linking it, that helps me give a better answer. I'm pretty new to crochet myself, but have fallen in love with local natural wool and nerded out about animal fibers. It is a blend, which is great news for you! The wool and cotton content will make it more durable and I think more resistant to pilling. Alpaca is super soft, but needs to be handled with great care! It's softer than even the French Merino I just used, but also more delicate.

I'm hoping you already knew this, but that will want hand washing. There is a chance putting it in the washing machine could ruin it. And before you run away scared, I have the secret sauce for hand washing: no-rinse soap. It's a thing. It will change your life for hand washing anything.

The most popular brand of no-rinse soap is Eucalan and that is what I use. It can be hard to find, but I have seen yarn shops and specialty lingerie stores carrying it. Check online too, but the price is jacked up on Amazon, at least in Canada. I've seen small bottles in the drugstore near the braces, and I've heard baby stores carry it. You can find it if you know where to look, basically.

I use an old cooler as my wash basin for large items, it's easy to put it in the bathtub, then pull the plug to drain afterward. Or if it's really big, just use your whole bathtub. Small stuff can be done in the sink or any old plastic bin you have.

Add your soap, add your water, and gently submerge the item. You can squish it down in the water gently, and try to make sure it's sitting fairly flat, not scrunched up on itself. Let it soak however long it says on the soap's label, or longer. Squish a bit again if you like. Drain the water. I like to fill the basin again as a quick rinse because it makes me feel better but you do not need to rinse.

Then, as tempting as it is to wring it - resist that urge. Folding and squishing is ok, folding and rolling loosely should be ok, just try to avoid stretching it or handling it roughly because wool relaxes when wet, and alpaca is alpaca wool. The cotton content should help here, but the overall idea is to get the water out gently without distorting your beautiful work. A blanket will be heavy when wet. You should be able to feel a difference in stretchiness when it is wet vs dry, the amount of difference will tell you how careful you need to be.

Now you're going to make a sandwich. A towel sandwich, that is. Do it on the floor, and step on it. Get someone else involved and have some fun with it. Up and down steps, squish squish, avoid rubbing. Imagine you're stomping grapes or something.

Then lay it out flat to dry somewhere, ideally not in direct sunlight.

Handwashing with no-rinse soap is also great if you own pricey bras, or if you have delicate lingerie. Non-crochet/knit items can be scrubbed while soaking. But maybe don't step on a bra with underwire.

Hope this helps!

Thanks! This was really thorough and I’m sure someone else will benefit from your post as well.

I knew it’s hand wash only when I bought it. And I was okay with it, because there’s a big basin in the laundry room of my building and a special drying room where I can leave it to dry. And in winter I suspect snow washing is a good option to freshen things up, that’s what I do with wool carpets/rugs.

A friend of mine who taught me to knit has told me a lot about different kinds of blends and what they’re good for, but this yarn I bought without her guidance because it has to be bought so quickly. It did get her blessing, though. And I’m really loving how the blanket feels so far! I can’t wait cuddling under it in winter. It’ll go straight in storage after it’s finished, because it’s way too warm for summer use.

I’ll look up no rinse soap, that sounds really good!

 

[seela]

The third sock I’ve ever made is ready and I did it all by myself without asking for any help. Which lead to problems which lead to some wonky weirdness here and there, but it’s okay. I made it by myself!

Now I just have to make a pair. It likely won’t match because I’m hoping to avoid some problems I had with this sock…

I still have some difficulty keeping the tension even when I move from one needle to another. Hence the looser stitch in the middle of some of those squares. Oh well, I’ll learn.

I also want to learn to make the toe differently. I’ve been taught the easiest possible way and it works fine, but with this pattern I made up, a different kind of toe would look a little better.

 

[BiBunny]

The third sock I’ve ever made is ready and I did it all by myself without asking for any help. Which lead to problems which lead to some wonky weirdness here and there, but it’s okay. I made it by myself!

Now I just have to make a pair. It likely won’t match because I’m hoping to avoid some problems I had with this sock…

I still have some difficulty keeping the tension even when I move from one needle to another. Hence the looser stitch in the middle of some of those squares. Oh well, I’ll learn.

I also want to learn to make the toe differently. I’ve been taught the easiest possible way and it works fine, but with this pattern I made up, a different kind of toe would look a littlediverting!

You have officially knitted more socks than me! I've made one pair so far, lol. But I'm in awe of anyone who can knit on needles because I simply can't do it right. So you're doing fantastic in my book!

Currently, I'm back to working on my shrug. I'm only about 11 rows in, so it's going to be awhile before I have anything to show for it!

 

[seela]

You have officially knitted more socks than me! I've made one pair so far, lol. But I'm in awe of anyone who can knit on needles because I simply can't do it right. So you're doing fantastic in my book!

Currently, I'm back to working on my shrug. I'm only about 11 rows in, so it's going to be awhile before I have anything to show for it!

The sock turned out better than I expected! I ran into trouble many times but I didn’t want to ask for help so there are some rather interesting spots there where I got creative in how to solve the problem… At one point I had a different amount of rows on the needles because I had forgotten to do a thing and that lead to me being on the “wrong side” of the piece and I had to knit in the other direction a little bit to be able to get back to the “right side”. I’m not sure if it would have been a problem in the long run to have the row count be uneven or not, but somehow I managed to even things out eventually.

Have you tried knitting on needles the European way or the American way? Not sure what the actual terms are… But when I see Americans knitting on TV, they always do some loopy thing with their hand, like they move the yarn somewhere somehow… It looks complicated to me, but it really probably is just a question of what you’re used to, so maybe trying both ways might be a good idea before you decide that knitting on needles is something you can’t figure out?

For me the key definitely was having a good teacher who was able to explain things and keep me calm when I thought I had fucked up royally. It’s become painfully obvious to me that my mom is not a good teacher, so no wonder I didn’t learn anything and hated knitting when she first tried to teach me when I was a kid.

And another helpful thing at the very beginning was to use the kind of needles that are attached by a cable. That way you have only one end where you can accidentally drop the stitches off the needles.

 

[BiBunny]

The sock turned out better than I expected! I ran into trouble many times but I didn’t want to ask for help so there are some rather interesting spots there where I got creative in how to solve the problem… At one point I had a different amount of rows on the needles because I had forgotten to do a thing and that lead to me being on the “wrong side” of the piece and I had to knit in the other direction a little bit to be able to get back to the “right side”. I’m not sure if it would have been a problem in the long run to have the row count be uneven or not, but somehow I managed to even things out eventually.

Have you tried knitting on needles the European way or the American way? Not sure what the actual terms are… But when I see Americans knitting on TV, they always do some loopy thing with their hand, like they move the yarn somewhere somehow… It looks complicated to me, but it really probably is just a question of what you’re used to, so maybe trying both ways might be a good idea before you decide that knitting on needles is something you can’t figure out?

For me the key definitely was having a good teacher who was able to explain things and keep me calm when I thought I had fucked up royally. It’s become painfully obvious to me that my mom is not a good teacher, so no wonder I didn’t learn anything and hated knitting when she first tried to teach me when I was a kid.

And another helpful thing at the very beginning was to use the kind of needles that are attached by a cable. That way you have only one end where you can accidentally drop the stitches off the needles.

I'm glad the sock turned out better than you thought it would! It's always nice when that happens.

They call the European way the continental method here, and I haven't tried it. I've only done it the American way. I may very well give the continental way a try because it can't be any harder than the way I've been doing it. And, yes, you're absolutely right about using the needles with the cable--it keeps you from dropping stitches off both ends!

I actually enjoy knitting with the looms, but it does limit you in some ways. You can only make, say, blankets as wide as your loom is. If you want them any wider, you have to make them in pieces and sew them together, which I am horrible at. So I may try knitting on needles the European way, next time I decide I want to knit something. Can't hurt, at any rate!