Sunday, August 26, 2012

COVET sweater knock-off ideas

i LOVE this sweater and want to make it mine! But i don't exactly have an extra $686 to spend on a ginormous cashmere sweater, so I'm going to try to break it down with some observations on how it might be done by hand.

INSPIRATION: Souchi Claudia Cashmere Cowl Neck Sweater
I've seen a few patterns on Ravelry that I think could work. This one looks good for the bottom of the sweater (everything but the cowl). I like the way it can go off the shoulders and has a wide neck opening. Plus, I'm pretty sure I have this particular magazine somewhere...
#21 Raglan Boatneck Sweater from Knit.1 Fall 2007
Next, the Multiplicity Sweater from Sensual Knits seems like a pretty close substitute as well, though many people who made the pattern themselves ended up frogging it or it came out weird. At least this person got it right!
Multiplicity Sweater

Lastly, this one seems like a dead ringer, though I'd want a much larger boatneck-like opening and longer sleeves to better match the inspiration.
Obsidian by Lisa Mutch
Observations about the original:
  • First of all, it's obviously got a lot of positive ease. The notes on the website say the model is even wearing a size larger than her normal size. 
  • It's got a waistband to adjust where the sweater hits the body.
  • Since the original is machine-knit, the cowl is knit side-to-side (might mimic the effect by knitting sideways ribbing--like a long scarf--and attach it to the collar).
I want it to be soft and airy like the original but not cost a fortune or take a lifetime to make. Lots of decisions and compromises to be made! It's all just in my head for now, but I would love to make something like this.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Mend It--> Mended!

On Monday, I went through my craft box looking for something (I don't remember what) and decided that it needed some serious organizing. Among the various bits of fabric, thread, yarn, needles, hooks, etc., I found some projects that need fixing that have been waiting to be mended for literally five years! The rainbow doily and granny washcloth are recent projects, but the pink doily, gold lame purse, mittens, and skirt all have followed me through several moves in their unfixed state. I set them aside in a mending pile and yesterday I actually mended them all. The "mending" for the doilies was only blocking, but the pink one especially looked like a crumpled up hankie before blocking, so it was useless before.

blocking: pinned and drying
blocked!
purse handle--fixed! you can't even see the stitches in this pic!
blocked--finally! it's so pretty! I wish I'd taken a before shot to show how ugly it was.

T's mittens--fixed!

a close-up of the stitches--invisible from the outside, can't feel them on the inside.

loose gauge granny dishcloth--weaved in the ends. waiting for a crocheted border.

skirt--finally sewed in the zipper by hand.

cute! it looks good with my revamped shoes too!
 It's such a good feeling that they are usable now. :)

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Quote of the Day #7

"The only real fault is not to change one's faults."

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

My Big A$$ Crochet Hook

hook in progress with small doily and the beginnings of my big-a$$ doily rug

Recently I came upon this wonderful doily rug, and I wanted to make my own version. After scouring the internet for the biggest yarn I could find, I finally settled on cotton piping as the best likely substitute. I got 100 yards of the 1/2" (16/32") kind off Amazon and then turned my sights on finding a giant crochet hook.... But there were NO giant crochet hooks to be found!* However, I did find a few resources on how to make my own. The first website I found gave me the confidence to give it a go, and the second really broke it down step by step.

* It was like 2:30am by this time; plus I'm really bad at searching the internet. Please don't take my word for it and conduct your own search before feeling the need to make your own hook.... unless you just want to! That's totally allowed.

After a trip to Home Depot, I came home with:
  •  3/4"x48" rod (cut into four 12" lengths--just ask and they will cut it for you for free)
  • 1/2"x48" rod (cut into four 12" lengths)
  • 10-piece wood file set
  • sandpaper--rough and fine (should've gotten but didn't--oops!)
What I had at home:
  • box cutter (NOT the kind with the snappable blades. If you use this kind, PLEASE be careful not to snap the blade while cutting.)
  • sandpaper--> emery board (desperate times...)
  • soft rag
  • oil (olive, canola, mineral, etc.--I used coconut. love that smell!)
  • wax paper

First I used the following photo to help me draw a line where I wanted the hooked part to be. I also grabbed my blue 10mm hook (the biggest one I have) as a guide to give me a 3-D image of what I was going for.

cut guide from Serendipity Crochet
I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but with a variety of files and a box cutter, I seem to be making progress. Top to Bottom: Serendipity Crochet tutorial, pencil, cutter, files, hook in progress, blue hook for guide.

I started with the 3/4" rod because I was pretty sure that 1/2" would be too small (which it is). I was kind of chicken to start with the knife, but I needed to get some kind of marks in the wood to control the filing, so I laid the knife on my pencil mark and rocked back and forth to make a shallow, controlled cut in the wood. This was good because it was so shallow that when I changed my mind about the placement of the hook (which happened no less than 3 times), the marks were easily sanded smooth later.

When I was fairly sure about the hook placement, I used the same rocking method to make a deeper cut. Then I got out my files and tried to file away a notch before the hook. I'm sorry I have no idea what files I used when because I was just randomly grabbing them and trying to make it work! I did notice that I only used the smaller, flatter ones with success, so that might be a place to start.

After filing for ages with little results--there was just a smooth indentation, rather than a pronounced notch--I bit the bullet and grabbed for the knife! (I was so scared I put on rubber-coated gardening gloves just in case. Better safe than sorry!) First, I marked with my pencil more or less the shape I wanted to make on the hook using my actual hook as a guide. It made an acute angle with the hook mark when viewed from the side (see photo above). Then the cutting began.

I started shaving from the back of my mark toward the edge of the hook and was amazed at the beautiful curls of wood that came off! It looked just like what I'd seen on tv of someone whittling! Anyway, alternating with files and knife, I continued to shape the notch, being careful around the mark I had made for the hook. I mostly used files around the hook "beak" to keep more control in that most important of parts. The flatter file and the triangular file really helped to continue carving out the notch under the "beak," creating the hook itself.

After I was happy with the hooked beak part, I set about shaping the head. I used the knife to shave off the edge, so it looked something like this:
shaping the head--front view
(with 10mm blue hook for scale)
shaping the head--side view

Then I used the files to smooth it. (This was the easiest part--it took like 5 minutes tops.) After that I pulled out an emery board, since the USA-CAN women's soccer semi-final was on and there was no way I was missing that to go out and buy sandpaper! The emery board worked surprisingly well, but next time I will definitely buy sandpaper. It isn't quite as smooth as I'd like and the fibers from the cotton piping kind of got stuck in it before I oiled and waxed.

...Which brings us to the next (and last!) steps of oiling and waxing. You can see how the color deepened and it starts to look pretty professional, right?! I used coconut oil because it smells great and I've been obsessed with it lately. After furiously rubbing that in (it's so wrong, but you gotta do what you gotta do), take your wax paper and do the same. The warmer the paper (friction = warmth), the more wax will nicely coat your hook. The wax really smoothed out the last bit of roughness. I still want to go back over with a fine sandpaper, but overall I'm very satisfied. (I better be after all that rubbing!)

And the finished product: TA-DA!
My finished 3/4" crochet hook! clockwise from doily: doily made with 2mm hook, rag with coconut oil, wax paper for finishing, emery board (my mcgyver sandpaper!), 1.75 mm hook, 10mm hook, 3/4" hook (after), 3/4"x12" rod (before); you can also see the cotton piping in the box and in the lower right corner
Please drop me a comment if you have any questions! Happy Hooking! :D

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I'm officially a bad blogger...

I guess I can officially call myself a bad blogger, not to mention a bad friend, when I haven't blogged in (let's see... September '08 makes...) 9 months! Wow. Even I am shocked by my bad behavior.

Here's a brief summary of what's happened since then. In October, Tosh and I quit our jobs (during the beginning of the global decline in the job market of all times) and officially said November would be the last month in our apartment in Tokyo. Then I found out that I totally misunderstood Tosh's visa situation, which meant that we had to stay in Japan for 10 weeks AFTER leaving our apartment. So we moved in with Tosh's very generous parents in Kyoto for those 10 weeks, while getting Tosh's paperwork in order. It was an interesting two and a half months, but I loved living with my in-laws--they are great people--and eventually we got everything worked out. We came to California on February 9th with Oto and Leo in tow, and then proceeded to live with my (very generous) parents for the next three months. Then, after T got in touch with an old friend, he started a business and decided to make our new base camp in Long Beach, CA. Why Long Beach? Well, Tosh has always wanted to live by the beach again. I figure it's as good a reason as any. So here we are, a 5-minute walk from the beach. Too bad it's so dang cold here! (What can I say? I'm too used to Fresno summers.)

We've been in Long Beach for about 6 weeks now, and it's finally starting to turn into summer. I love the flowers and greenery here.

Last night I went to kendo practice here in Long Beach. I didn't take my bogu, so I just changed into my kendo-gi and hakama and did some stretches and suburi with the beginners. I felt kind of weird that I was with the beginners, but they worked hard! We worked hard. I think that was the best thing I could've done, though, because I haven't practiced in a year and a half and I needed to get back into the swing of things... gradually. I still ended up with a blister on my left thumb, one on the soft spot on my left big toe, and a nice, deep blister that I'm sure will pop at a future date on the pad of my left foot below the other blister. It's nice to have something to look forward to. But on the bright side, I really enjoyed practice and the people I talked to at the dojo. I'm looking forward to going to practice again.

If you want to see some posts that T and I did over the last six months or so, you can check Toshio's blog.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Janie's Quote of the Day #6

"You cannot see the lettuce and the dressing without suspecting a salad."

--Arthur Conan Doyle, The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard