Crafts and Constructions

[Aglaya]

I, and my entire family of people who sew WAY more than I do, are fully pro-rotary cutter.  It's worth it.

[Bernard]

Do we have a new thread for this? I want to talk about how crochet makes the tendons in my ring fingers hurt.

[mixed cats]

I don't think there's a newer thread. Repetitive strain injuries are the bane of everything fun.

[Bernard]

I'm trying to make this: http://www.purlbee.com/little-urchin-crochet-covered/2010/7/18/margaret-oomens-little-urchin-crochet-covered-sea-stones.html#comments

and I've never crocheted before. This is a really bad idea, right?

[mixed cats]

I don't know! I am terrible at the crochet thing.

[Bernard]

I'll post a photo of how it's coming out. It is ... not like the photos.

[clare]

I don't think it's a bad idea. It's only single and double. Tension could be your issue though...I'm not an expert by any means.

[Bernard]

First attempt on left. Wrong size needle.
Second attempt on right. Wrong in a lot of ways, though I think the needle size is right, or close to right.

[clare]

Interesting though! What size needle are you using? The one in the tute is tiny.

[Bernard]

At first I used a 2.25mm, then I switched to 1.5. The 1.25 seems to be too small to actually grab and hold the thread.

[mixed cats]

Maybe practice on bigger yarn to get the hang of the catching/pulling motion with the hook? Then move down to the tiny stuff? That thread is awfully thin, but it still looks like the loops on the smaller piece are too loose. But again I am also crap at crochet so here is a salt cellar.

[Bernard]

Yeah, I was warned that getting the tension right would be an issue. I am trying to think back to my first knitting projects, or indeed even how my knitting looks now if I try to knit Swedish-style. I have plenty of little bits of leftover yarn, they would actually be perfect for practicing the technique.

Thanks for the encouragement, dudes!

[mixed cats]

You're definitely doing well for a beginner in that both of those look like crocheted things and not just knotted messes!

[clare]

It's true. I like the really loose one!

Accoriding to this handy chart the hook in the tute is 3.5mm, so maybe going smaller isn't the answer after all... :-/ I have perpetual tension problems so can't really help. Actually, this article has a really goood point about the shpae of the needle and tension in tip 2...

[Bernard]

Those are good tips -- especially about where on the hook you form the loop. The crochet hook numbers are confusing. Here's the info from a product description for Boye hooks:

9 (1.4mm),
I-9 (5.5mm)

There's also a really nice series of tutorials on youtube -- super clear, with everything described, then shown again in slow motion.

[mixed cats]

There's a fiber show I want to enter! I have to make new things - I imagine most entrants will, because of the size requirement. Sketches have begun! I'm about to stick some fabric in dyebaths, and I already have another bath going for other stuff just because I feel like it. Hooray for hands that smell horribly of rubber gloves.

(I know that website looks kind of iffy but I'm familiar with the people running it because of a mailing list I've been getting for a few years now)

[Bernard]

That sounds like fun. Reminds me, I have a bunch of stuff I have to finish for people who are entering things. Waaah, I just want to knit and sew. Did some 'angry shopping' over the weekend and have gotten partway through a wee linen coat for HT. So freaking cute. Tiny stuff is the best.

[Bernard]

Heartbreak! The wee coat is not wee enough. I was hoping she could wear it tomorrow.

[mixed cats]

Awww! but soon! And it will be exciting then!

My grandmother is making a quilt for my cousin, and she was trying to find OSU-themed fabrics to use, but there aren't a lot out there. My mom found some applique kits online, but they're the kind where you fuse all the fabrics down and then satin stitch or zigzag around the edges to make them look nicer. Grammom's machine is straight stitch only, so I volunteered to make them for her. Fused up two of them over the weekend, and now I'm doing the stitching, and IT IS SO GODDAMNED BORING SDKJGNFSKGJNF.

but a little more happily, I dyed a million things over the weekend, too.

3/6/11 by squishythings, on Flickr

Thank you, my supervisor, for cooing over one of the scarves when I wore it yesterday.

[Bernard]

Those look fantastic! Man, you make me want to try dyeing. Want to describe your process a bit? And have you experimented much with 'natural' or low-tech, homebrewed dyes?

[mixed cats]

I've done natural dyeing.. I can scan some recipes we used in school if you want. My project involved buying all of the beets in a three town radius. Basically, you soak fabric in a mordant, then boil the shit out of some stuff until it makes colored water, remove the stuff, add the fabric, let it sit for a while.
The beet dyeing project ended up looking like this (it's from a picture of my face)

but it has since faded a lot and is just like, all the same shade of sad tan. I did not mordant my fabrics well, I suppose.

Usually I use fiber reactive dyes, which are best on plant-based fabrics, but also work on silk. I get them from www.dharmatrading.com - Dharma has a ton of recipes and tutorials. I learned with a complicated bit of math and having to use balance scales in order to get particular shades. But now I don't bother and just make educated guesses and dump stuff in (this is not recommended if you seek to replicate results!)

Things you need:
big bucket (cheap 5 gallon bucket from hardware store)
something to stir with (I use paint stirrers but they're not long enough, thick dowels are good)
measuring cups and spoons that will never touch food again
rubber gloves that reach to your elbows
dust mask and safety glasses
non-iodized salt
soda ash
dye powder
detergent (I use Synthrapol currently)

1. Start the tap running so it gets THE HOTTEST possible. Let it run on your fabric; it dyes better pre-soaked.
2. Fill bucket halfwayish
3. Throw in like half a container of salt and stir
4. Don your safety equipment
5. Use the biggest measuring cup to dip out some salted water
6. Use measuring spoons to drop dye powder into the cup; stir it in
7. Dunk the cup back in the bucket, stir to distribute
8. Add fabric. stir/agitate it periodically for even color absorption
9. After however long (at least 15 minutes, usually more because I forget and get distracted), pull out the fabric and squeeze out the excess liquid. put it in the sink or another bucket.
10. Add about a half cup of soda ash to the dye bath. Stir until dissolved.
11. Put the fabric back in. Stir/agitate periodically over at least 30 minutes (you can leave it overnight).
12. Remove fabric from bucket. Dump out dye bath.
13. Rinse fabric in cold water until it runs clear. (Or until your hands are too cold and you have to stop before they fall off.)
14. Put it in the washing machine with a glog of detergent, on the hot setting. You might want to rinse it twice just to make sure. Or wash it twice to make extra sure it won't run. (HINT: RED IS THE FUCKING WORST.)

Usually, I use a lot less water in the bucket and don't stir. Sometimes I'll make the bath one color, and then sprinkle another color over the top, just so it absorbs unevenly. That's what I did with most of the stuff in that pile: dye bath was grey, then I sprinkled hot pink on it (but spilled way more than I meant to use). After I rinsed that out, I squeezed and twisted all the pieces and put them in the bottom of a bucket, and slowly poured black dye over them, just until covered. This is how all the cotton turned out:

fabrics dyed this weekend by squishythings, on Flickr

The silk turned out a lot more hot pink, because silk thinks that blue dye should be pink too!

[Bernard]

Man, life is really too short to try every cool thing that exists. What is a mordant?

[Greg Nog]

Those look fantastic!

I just attended a sewing class last night, where I finally learned how to hem pants.  I shoulda picked up that skill like two decades ago.

[milesofsparks]

where did you take the class?

[mixed cats]

Man, life is really too short to try every cool thing that exists. What is a mordant?

Mordants are fixatives for natural dye. There's all kinds of stuff you can use. Some of them are DEATHLY DANGEROUS and that kind of defeats the (assumed) purpose of using a natural dye, but you can also use food grade alum and other stuff that's safer. The dangerous ones tend to impart deeper colors, though.

The other dye I use normally is acid dye, which is made for protein fibers (wool, silk) and it works on Nylon. But you have to use acetic acid - AKA white vinegar - and heat it on the stovetop. Bill has an instantaneous vomit reaction to vinegar smells so I don't use it very much anymore.

I've seen recipes for using Kool-Aid to dye stuff, but never tried it beyond my hair in 8th grade.