First Paracord Braid

I love my 6 ft. leather leash, but sometimes it's just too bulky for training. So I tried out braiding a 3 1/2 ft. leash and a pull tab in para cord. I am very pleased with it. The red sorta matches Moss's service dog vest. I posted this on a group page on Facebook and someone already offered to buy one. That gives me ideas....

Plugging Along

Still working on the tapestry rug. I'm over half-way there.  This section has taken as long as the whole rest of the rug. I'll be staying away from symmetric patterns in the future.

Inkle Band

I finally dusted off the old inkle loom and made a strap for my hand-knitted treat pouch for dog training. The instructions called for a clip to attach it to your belt. I don't wear belts and having it hanging from one clip made it bunch up so it was difficult to use. I had attached a cord which worked a lot better, but didn't look all that nice. So-time to do some inkle weaving. Much better. And I can wear it under my t-shirts as a pocket when my pants are pocketless!

Bobbin Along

I'm still working on the tapestry rug. It's not perfect. I'm not to experienced in it but thought this would be a good chance to learn some tricks.

I did figure out how to make my own bobbins. At $20 a pop, I thought it would be worth it to make my own. I came up with this with dowels and beads. I love em. It only takes me five minutes to make one. I'm not so good at making the non-slip loop though.

Feeling Loomy

Now that I'm out of the hospital and in my new digs, I have the room to set up my looms. My little Dorset loom had a really long warp on it of ugly nylon. I decided to take the warp off and put it on the bigger loom so I could make some rugs with it. I had unwoven some rag rugs that were coming apart and within a day I was ready to weave. I finished the two rugs in record time and decided to try a tapestry rug with what warp was left.

Needle Felted Dorper Sheep

I decided to make a last minute present of a needle felted sheep. Dorpers are one of the favorite breeds of  sheep of people who keep sheep to train their border collies on. They are hair sheep - meaning they don't have usable fleece. They are very hardy, parasite resistant and easy keepers.They often have dark heads and white bodies although mixes come in all sorts of pretty spots and colors.

Mills and Snowmen

Here's the finished warping mill cut down to just fit on my folding table. It's not as small as the one online but I didn't want to cut too much. It actually works better than it did originally.

And here's the needle felting project.

Mini Warping Mill

One major obstacle to weaving in a camper is winding a warp.
Several years ago I had made a warping mill out of pvc pipe. It wasn't elegant, but it saved wear and tear on my arm trying to use a warping board.
When I moved to Texas and into a camper, I found the warping mill was just too big and I didn't have a table to set it on.

It also seems to be missing one cross piece.

While browsing online, I came across a teeny tiny warping mill. That started my brain cranking out ideas. What if I cut this warping mill down to fit my small folding table?  PVC is easy to cut and drill and I'd have something I could actually use. I won't be doing any large pieces for a while until I find a place where I can use my floor looms. Better to make small pieces and stitch them together than none at all.

I'll start on this as soon as I finish my needle felting projects.

Little loom.

I dragged my homemade table loom into the camper so I can work on the rugs. I have to move it to open the fridge or make the bed but otherwise it fits pretty well. Now I just need to get something for the warp. I'm thinking I'd like to get some nylon string that won't rot out, even though I hate working with it. It's slippery and a little harder to warp the loom. I'm better at warping now so it should be ok.

Re Rag Rug Experiment

I've heard about people taking a rag rug apart and re-weaving it, especially if it was a family heirloom that was coming apart. This isn't exactly a family heirloom, but it certainly was coming apart. The string warp was breaking, but the cloth weft was still in pretty good shape if somewhat faded. The fading seems to give it a softer look.
It came apart pretty easily, but I should have measured it before I started ripping it apart so I'd know how much rug I'll have to work with. I don't have a place to set up my bigger looms so I'm going to see what I can do with a table loom. I think I'll make smaller pieces and stitch them together.

More Lucets

I made these lucets after reading up on home made ones. The green one is made from polymer clay. It was old and somewhat dried out and I'm not good with clay either. I don't even have an oven, but I read that you could put it in a plastic container and cover it with water and harden it in the microwave! It worked! The yarn is a little thick and stiff and it doesn't slide very well. I have to fiddle with each knot to get the right tension. I think it's the yarn though. When I'm done with this one, I'll try a different yarn.
The fork one is slippery enough, but it's small and fiddly. I'm not a tiny and fiddly kind of person. I think it would work better if I hadn't bent the tines out.
I don't know if I'll be able to do any cord thick enough to be a dog leash (although my old dog only needs a thin cord just to keep him from wandering out into the road when we walk.)
I managed to get a scrap of wood from a woodworker friend. When I get the ambition, I'll see if I can made a wooden one.

The Lucet

I've always been intrigued with lucet cording. It's an ancient craft and looked to me like it would go fast. I've done inkle weaving but it's a production to warp up a loom to do something simple like a dog leash. (Besides, my inkle loom is in storage)

I've tried kumihimo cording which does beautiful cords, but it's a bit tedious. Great for meditating.

I read that you could make simple lucets out of a plastic spoon by breaking off the two middle tines. I realized I had just the thing to practice on - a wooden shuttle.

Lucet YouTube Video

 This was my first practice piece with thick yarn. It was even easier than I thought and went fast. Now I really have to get a proper lucet.

How to Make a Lucet

 

Bass Cosy Part C

OK it's not pretty. But it has handles and padding. That's what counts. I DID say sewing wasn't my thing. I did add some buttons to keep it more or less closed. Turns out that with the padding and tufting, it came out smaller than I expected. I didn't want it too big so the bass would slide around, but too small isn't great either.

I can still add some tufting to keep the batts in place. I've done some but I'm easily bored.

Bass Cosy (Pt 2)

I took my stuff over to a friend's house to use her sewing machine. I got more done than I expected. I now have a fluffy case for my bass - almost. I still have to attach handles and do some tufting and attach velcro for closure. The thing is so fluffy, I decided it was a cosy instead of a gig bag. Well, it will keep my ubass nice and warm.

I was kind of winging it on this one. I'm not much for the sewing arts. I cut out the basic shape I wanted and sewed around the edges with the right sides together. I reached in and pulled right side out.  I had left an opening at one end to put the batts through. I had thought at first I would lay the batts down before sewing, but realized that would be a major mistake on this project. I had to sew up the top and bottom a bit. I didn't have a long zipper or even the money for a zipper so the two handles, one on each side will hold the bass in until I can get some Velcro to hold the sides shut.

Gig Bag (Bass Cosy Pt. 1)

I know I have been lax in the craft department. I just don't have the space right now to do much and I've been obsessed with playing music. See my music blog here.
I just finished making a music stand out of an old suitcase and my next project is to make a gig bag for my ubass. It is built on the body of a 3/4 size guitar so the bag will be guitar sized.
I didn't have any padding so I carded eight batts of fleece. I imagine that they will felt down over time, but if I put enough in there, it should be fine - if fluffy for a while. I'll be working on this at a friend's house tomorrow so I'll take some pictures as I go. For now, here's a picture of the instrument in need.

Slouch Hat

I just finished a new hat made from yarn scraps. I found the pattern on Ravelry and I absolutely love it. My other little cap made me look like a bag lady. This one does not slide down over my eyes like many of my other hats.
There are some other great patterns on there I'm going to try.

Toasty Toes

I know it has been a while, but I was suddenly motivated to start knitting some slippers. We had a cold snap and the floor gets very chilly on my bare feet.
I have several patterns for slippers and chose the quickest one. The author made these up in one day, but it took me two days. I found the pattern on one of my favorite DIY web sites -  Here.
I always am disappointed when I knit socks or slippers and within weeks the soles start to wear out. I wanted to make some that would last. I found one pattern that called for polar fleece yarn. I had no idea what that was, but finally it dawned on me that the yarn was actually made from Polar Fleece!!! I looked up the yarn and it wasn't terribly expensive, but a pair of slippers would have cost me $30 to $50. Now the whole purpose of knitting them myself is to use my own yarn or whatever so that it's CHEAP - as in FREE.

Well, duh. I had an old fleece jacket with a broken zipper that was in the give/throw away bag. I rushed to take it out and started cutting strips to make my own yarn. (I used to have a nice rotary cutter and mat but they vanished during the move. I had to use scissors and wear gloves to prevent blisters.)

I cut the strips the same way I do when I weave rag rugs. I folded it in half with the stretchy side on the fold and cut from the fold but not all the way through the open side. Then I open it up and cut every other slit on one side. I do the same on the other side but alternating with the first side. This leaves me with one long strip that I can roll into a ball. I round off the square edges as I roll.
Then I started knitting.

I did omit the pom-poms. I'm just not a pom-pom type of girl, and I added a small loop on the back of the heel so I could hand them up.

This is not the most flattering of footwear, but it is thick, soft and warm and it's machine washable. As usual, one of my slippers was considerably bigger than the other. I had to do some tucking in the heel section, but now that I know how homemade fleece yarn knits up, I can start with another pair from a nicer pattern. I'd like to try one with a hand spun wool top and a fleece sole. Later for that.

Gazebos and Fleece

I have a rule that every fleece has to be washed before it's stored. I don't always manage to do that, however. I was given several fleeces just before moving back to Texas. They came with me in plastic bags and stored in metal trash cans. Not the best environment for them.

I finally decided I had to do something with them - either wash them and use them or throw them out. Surprisingly, they were all in pretty good condition. I took advantage of a friend's gazebo for skirting and drying. Now that's the way to clean fleece!

One Mug Rug is Not a Set.

I gave up looking for the blue to go with the pink yarn. I rather like the way the tan looks. Now I can't find the rest of the tan yarn. I know I put it in a clear container to keep it clean, but where did it go?

OK Where's the Yarn?

I decided to do a couple of small projects on my little loom. I managed to find the loom and the heddle and some warp thread and got it warped. I found a shuttle with yarn on it that I could use. But needed another couple of shuttles so I can do stripes.

In the meantime, I took a ball of yarn that was the right color for a stripe. Put it on my desk.

It took several days to find the small shuttles that had fallen behind the desk. I was thrilled to find several the right size for the little loom. Now I can't find that ball of yarn.

I won't mention what my desk looks like....