Yarn Stash Issues and Possible Solution

My yarn stash is all over this archaeological dig I call my home. I really must get it organized and under control. The only thing I do know for sure is which yarn is mine and which yarn is yarn donated for the charity projects. But both stashes are spread all over in here.

I did take one positive approach about a week ago. I decided that it made sense to begin using up the charity yarn by bulk. I figure if I use up the bulky and super bulky first (scarves for the homeless), the piles would noticeably dwindle and I could slowly deal with the rest.

My only problem is that because it is not corralled by weight, I have to search bags for matching weights. So, if I pick up some super bulky and begin a scarf but it’s not enough for a long enough scarf, I must root through a few bags looking for another ball/skein of the same weight.

My goal for the end of this year is to at least have it all into two groups: mine and theirs. And then have those groups in groups: fingering, sport, worsted, etc., etc., etc.

We shall see how that works out...

My All-Time Fave Crochet Stitch Marker

I recently worked in a pattern that required me to mark the end (or beginning?) of each round. I grabbed my all-time fave stitch marker - the simple but effective rubber-tipped bobby pin!

For crochet work, it is great. The ridges inside the pin grip the stitch tightly, whether worsted weight, fingering or thread.

I’ve tried paper clips - they slide off at times.

I used to have a ton of those little plastic circles that are split and slide onto the stitch. Those are good, too. 

However, I think I’ve lost them all and I keep forgetting to buy more.

For now, though, I still have a ton of bobby pins in a container. I’m a happy camper - I mean, a happy crocheter!  

2 Tips for Working with Chenille Stems

Chenille Stem

I am thoroughly disappointed in myself regarding my Craft posts. I just looked back and I posted once in April, once in June, once in July and once in August. Nothing since. For several years, I posted almost daily. I hope to remedy this.

For years, also, my blog posts focused on two things: prayers/faith and crafts/crochet. I have worked on craft projects daily but have neglected to post things I've learned or things I want to share with you. I plan to get back into that mode.

Meanwhile, this Christmas season, I found myself working a lot with chenille stems. I'll write more about those projects in a future post. For now, I want to share some things I've learned the hard way.

First, chenille stems have sharp ends. Never allow your little ones to work with them unless you are around to instruct in some safe ways to handle them. If you need to cut them, again, the ends are sharp because of the wire center cores. Even if they are simply being bent into a shape, when twisting to secure them, crafters should be careful to hide/cover/secure the sharp ends.

Second, when working with the tinsel-variety of chenille stems, if there are pets in the home, try to work on a flat surface on something like opened sheets of newspaper. The tinsel "sheds" tiny flakes. These are metallic. If swallowed by pets, they become like glass in their stomach fluids and can cause internal bleeding. Using a newspaper underneath allows you to simply fold up the sheet afterwards and toss it away.

  

Craft Tip - Stiffening Continued

Last night I mentioned how I deal with troublesome spray stiffener products for small crocheted projects.

I remembered today another tip someone gave me through the years.

For things that are larger, like doilies, pour the stiffener liquid into an appropriately sized zippered plastic bag. Place the doily (or whatever) into the bag, seal it, and squish it around until it looks as though the item is well-soaked.

I should have put this in yesterday's post, but my 72-year-old brain cells have slowed down somewhat.

Craft Tip - Stiffening Small Projects

I absolutely hate how those squishy spray bottles of craft project stiffeners eventually either clog or stop spraying for some other reason. Mostly I need to stiffen crocheted items.

Tonight I was stiffening a batch of small (2"x3") crocheted angel ornaments and I realized that the method I was using was something that I should pass along.

I still buy those bottles of products like Stiffen Stuff, but I apply it differently. I take a bottle cap lid (at least 1/4" or 1/2" high) or a little medicine cup (the kind that comes with cough syrup), and I pour some of the liquid into that. Then I apply it with a paint brush, the kind you get at the dollar stores in a five-pack, near the crayons and pencils and pens.

It goes on easily, it is not messy, and I can get it in the desired areas. I also do not have to cup my hands around the project while I am spraying (the old way of doing it) to keep everything around the project-in-progress from getting sticky.

Of course, you probably already do this, but if you don't, maybe this method will work for you, too.

Finding Free Yarn for Charity Crafting Projects

I can't believe that I've so badly neglected my Charity Crafting posts. This part of my life is a big part of my life. Although our little group of 8 ladies only meets for 2 hours each Friday morning, almost all of us work on charity projects throughout the week. Slowly and steadily, like the tortoise in the fable, we manage to achieve good things.

Back in January, I wrote about the way charity crafting creates a need for yarn and one way to get it cheaply. That need grows as the urge grows and grows.

We have found two ways to get free yarn for our projects.

One is through online posts. Freecycle, a Yahoo group, has chapters all over the country, in almost every major community. All you have to do is go to http://www.freecycle.org/ and put in your zip code. You will be taken to your closest Freecycle group. Then you ask to become a member (it's free). They will ask why you want to join. Usually, that is because you want to get rid of things that others might be able to use, and to find things that others offer. Their goal is to keep things out of landfills. They review your request and send you an email in a day or so.

Then you merely post a WANTED note (yarn for charity crafting projects, for example) or an OFFER note.

Another online source is Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.com/). Find your closest area and search for "arts and crafts," "yarn," or any other words and phrases that seem to fit. Search yard and garage sales, and ask the folks holding them to consider letting you pick up any yarn they do not sell. It saves them from donating to thrift shops and it accomplishes the same thing - helping others.

The other source of free is yarn is simple word-of-mouth. Make sure everyone you know is aware that you would love (LOVE) any yarn they are tossing out. This is slow going but eventually, the word gets around.

In our senior mobile home park, sometimes we hit two or three months when we get lots of yarn donations. Then we might go "dry" for several months.

Anyhow, for those of you with charity crafting in your hearts, consider these options for supplies to feed your habit!

Craft Adhesives - Oldies but Goodies

This past month, I've taken my plastic canvas satin ribbon crosses in the photo and made them into necklaces. They aren't sturdy, heavy duty necklaces because the plastic canvas crosses are more bookmark-quality. But they are nice enough for simple wear and a friend of mine has taken to giving them out in nursing homes.
 
To make the change to necklaces, I had to snip the ribbon about a 1/4" from the top of the cross. When I was using simple Offray Spool O'Ribbon 1/8" satin ribbon, simple glue-dots were great for tacking down the tab at the top before attaching the "necklace." I ended up making the necklace for over the head with clear plastic lacing which comes on 100' spools. I cut 36" of lacing, threaded it through the outside holes on the 2nd row from the top, wove it through once again, and tied two knots at the top with about 3/4" of each end of the strand free. I pulled the top strands tight, pulled the knots up tight, then pulled apart the lacing below the knots to make it tight.

Anyhow, I managed to work out a good version.

That is, until I got to 20 of them which I made with Essentials silver metallic and gold metallic ribbon. This ribbon is heavier than the satin ribbon, and a different texture. I slapped the little glue-dots on them, and found they would not "hold." I had 20 pretty little metallic ribbon crosses with little ribbon nubs sticking straight up.

I pulled out the super-glue and tried that. It came out too thin and it got all over. Took me a while to get it off my kitchen counter, especially when I realized paper towels weren't going to do the job. Then I had to pry my fingers away from my fingernails where it ran under. Finally, I grabbed nail polish remover to do the rest and found that I had accidentally grabbed the newer non-acetone version (for folks with acrylic nails, which I do not have) and that it didn't work.

I had to have those cross necklaces finished the next day. Finally, my eyes located, somehow, in my clutter, a beloved oldie-but-goodie, Elmer's Glue-All.

You guessed it. It not only did the trick, it held better than the glue dots did on the satin ribbon and it dried very quickly. I used spring clothespins to hold each one down until they dried.

So I'm sharing another of life's lessons. Modern technology might be great, but don't shove aside things that have worked in the past - they just might work for newer products as well.

I still hope to post a photo of the cross necklace, soon - I just haven't had a chance to take the photo.  

Scrap Yarn Ideas

I love this page, at this link, for scrap yarn ideas. Lisa's site, CrochetNMore, is one of my faves and I have received her bi-monthly email newsletter for years. She is always adding more ideas to the scrap yarn idea-list. Right now, she is up to 89 of them!

Number 89, for example, says: "I braid lengths of scrap yarn into toys for my cats. I make braids of different lengths and knot four or five together, my cats love to chase and chew on these and the braids don't tangle. - Dori krone"

Some tips are from Lisa and many are from people like you and me.

Lisa also has lots of free crochet patterns, a blog, crochet tips, and so much more. It takes a month-of-Sundays to enjoy all of what she has available here.

Have fun!

Hand Crafted Christmas Gift Ideas - Bleach Pen Art Ideas

Tonight's post is the 4th in this series that will run until Christmas. This one is for a way to customize fabric clothing, especially tees, using the common bleach pen.

This is an ingenious and easy way to make personalized, custom designed tees and other items for your holiday gift giving. Once again, I found this in one of my CraftGossip daily email newsletters. The tutorial post is from Dora, one of the gals on the ShowTellShare blog, and the link is here.

It's important for you to read both this September post and an earlier one from February. The link I'm giving you tonight links to that earlier post. In that earlier one, she discusses t-shirts only. In this month's post, she discusses table linens but goes on to share some more bleach pen techniques with us that affects what we might do with tees. Both posts should be read before attempting this.

If you cannot draw, I imagine stencils would work. That's what I am going to try. I can just see a little one getting a tee embellished using this method, with dinosaurs or sports symbols or flowers or pets or any other special interest icon on it. Adults will be equally impressed that you cared enough to make something perfectly suited to their tastes. The list is endless. Monograms, fave sayings, nicknames, and more come to mind.

In addition to tees, I might go further and try sock bottoms, fabric totes, and more. I will rely on Dora's tips on which fabrics work best, since she has already done the leg work (or pen work?) for me. She explains how to give backing support to the fabric while working, how long to let the gel sit, and other things we might otherwise have to learn the hard way.

For other projects in my series, just look along the right sidebar for the label "Christmas Gift Projects." I hope to post only tips that do not require knitting, crocheting, machine sewing, tatting, embroidery, or any other skilled technique.

Care and Feeding of Hand Crocheted (Knitted) Back Scrubbers

I am almost ready to post the free pattern for my first crocheted cotton yarn back scrubber. I already have two in my Etsy shop.

I have been using mine for over a week now, and have noticed some things about these items when made with cotton yarn. I'll share them here. I think I might even print these on a small card to enclose with any orders I get for them.

First, always make them a little shorter than you think they should be. When wet, and pulled diagonally across the back, they stretch. They will also become narrower when being used, so make them a tad wider than you think you need them to be. When they air dry, they remain a bit narrower and a bit longer until laundered.

Next, rinse them as thoroughly as possible after each use. This is easily done while still in the shower or tub. Then, air dry them. I hang my over the shower head. It's best to air dry with the body of the scrubber draped over something, rather than hang by the rings. This helps prevent further stretching.

Finally, toss them into the washer with your towels or other linens, at least once a week. This helps avoid any musty smell generated by un-rinsed or accumulated soap residue. When dried in the dryer, they do NOT shrink to any noticeable degree, and they snap back to their original size and shape.

These three tips will help you enjoy them so much more. Nothing feels better across the back than a well-textured cotton yarn back scrubber, IMHO, so taking care of it just makes sense.

Keeping Those Scissors Sharp the Easy Way, Re-Post

Back in June, I posted about this. Tonight, I'm sharing it again, for those who might not have seen it before.

I just finished, yesterday, cutting out 100 of my plastic canvas crosses. When I need to cut that many small pieces of plastic canvas, my scissors lose their "oomph" several times along the way. Long ago, I found that it's easy to sharpen scissors right where I sit if I keep some aluminum foil in my crafting supplies and work area.

The photo, from my original post, shows how I cut a small piece one way, almost to the end, and then the opposite way between the first cuts.

I'll often the top half of the scissor blades, up at the joining of the two blades, with my first set of cuts, and then use the bottom half of the scissor blades the second way. This sharpens the blades evenly.

One time I found that even Tootsie Roll bags, made of aluminum foil, work. The candies are wrapped so there is no residue on the inside of the bag. Sources of aluminum foil are all around us, if we're looking for it. It's a great way to get some more mileage out of it. When a family friend was on a nebulizer five times a day, several years ago, her little medication vials were packed in little aluminum pouches. I always had a supply of foil back then.

My original post might have more ideas, so you might want to look at that one, too. Of course, you might already do something similar, but it was worth sharing with those who will find it new.

When Spray Stiffeners Stop Spraying

I have an awful time with spray stiffeners, the non-aeresol types. They will work for maybe three or four sessions. Then, no matter how carefully I clean or rinse the spray nozzle assembly, they clog and refuse to work again.

Tonight I had a "choir" of little crocheted angels to stiffen. They're all about 3" high and maybe 2" across. I really needed to stiffen them. I want to mail one in a card tomorrow morning.

I finally grabbed one of those little medicine cups that come with cough syrup bottles. An eye cup would work just as well. Or one of those little cups from the sauces or dips that come with some fast foods.

Then I took a simple "artist's paintbrush." I had an unopened set of 5 different sizes that I had picked up on a trip to a dollar-type store a year ago. This one was perhaps a 1/2" wide brush or smaller. I just dipped the brush into the liquid and "painted" those little angels. They are drying on a sheet of wax paper as I type. It was great. I was able to get the right amount onto the yarn without any mess.

I've had friends who take small items like that, pour stiffener or glue into a baggie, then squeeze the solution through the item, and then remove it and let it dry.

That is far too messy for me, I'm afraid. I'm happy that I found my own solution to my problem. It works for me.

Keeping Those Scissors Sharp the Easy Way, Postscript

On the 18th, I posted about Keeping Those Scissors Sharp the Easy Way.

Tonight, after emptying a bag of Tootsie Roll Midgies, I noticed that the bag, like many candy bags, is foil-based. It will go into my craft supplies area.

Because the Midgies are individually wrapped, the food did not touch the inside of the bag. I will be able to sharpen my scissors many times with this bag - I am really happy about this find.

Not only is this a craft tip, but also a recycle tip, and to double-dip, it is a crafty recycle tip - nice.

Craft-y Braided Thread Rosettes from Craftionary

Oh, my, CraftGossip's emailed newsletter, the one I receive every day, has done it again. Sometimes I can't get to them each day. This one was from six days ago, but I try to read every one of them. There is rarely an issue in which I do not find something worth my trying. Sometimes they are so great that I cannot help share with others, like this one.

You do not need to sew or crochet or knit to do these braided yarn rosettes. How great is that? You can see by the photo how cute these are. Hani has a great tutorial for these, and includes suggestions and photos for everything from brooches to necklaces, bracelets and even wee earrings. I couldn't help browsing some other items on her site. I had to click to "follow" this one.

Have fun tinkering with these.

Keeping Those Scissors Sharp the Easy Way

Crafters do a lot of cutting with their scissors, a lot. Some materials dull the blades quicker than others. Still, down the line, it is very frustrating to try to cut something and have it bend rather than be cut. Sharp scissors are not only important, they are necessary. So, here's my personal solution.

I tuck a piece of aluminum foil into any group of supplies that contains a pair of scissors used for crafts. When the blades become dull, I pull out the piece of foil and begin cutting it with the scissors. Fold the foil at least once and begin cutting one way, into little strips that almost go to the top edge. Then, turn it the other way and cut between the first cuts.

To be honest, it doesn't matter which way you cut, so long as you cut all the way up to the joint of the two blades. This keeps the entire cutting edge sharp on both blades. I try to go through at least two thicknesses, when at all possible.

This is a quick and easy way to sharpen those scissors.

As for foil sources, any foil can be used. I remember when a dear friend was on a nebulizer. Her meds came in little foil pouches, about 4 inches square. I kept saving those and plopping them in with our crafts. She did plastic canvas and that is one craft that really dulls the scissors quickly.

I have also used foil that protects my printer toner cartridges. If you keep your eyes open, you will see foil here and there, as long as it doesn't have food on it.

Ric Rac Flower Tutorial

Uh oh, I am in trouble. I found this tutorial in my daily CraftGossip email, and I had to go check it out. The photo in the email made me do it. When I got to Craftiness is not Optional, and saw the tutorial, I was doomed.

Let me explain. I do NOT sew! I do NOT. I can barely make a knot at the end of my sewing thread. However, the photos in the tutorial were so crisp, so clear, so detailed, and so explicit, even an SS (Sorry Sewer) like me can handle it. I cannot wait to do a few of these. They are adorable, and my fingers are itching to try them.

I have quite a few felt squares lying around, just begging to be used but not being a sewing person and hating a hot glue gun, I was just about ready to pass them on to somebody else. Not now. I will need those, for sure, for backing.

You owe it to yourself to just take a peek at that tutorial and then I dare any crafty person to deny they have an urge to try one of these. I suspect they are more addictive than my beloved Cheetos.

Where do all these people get their creativity?

Improvised and Recycled Bag Handle

Now, technically this is not a Craft item, but then again, it is. There are so many times I need to squash something into a bag and parts of it poke up and make it very difficult to grab the loops of the handles. The item in this photo is not an afghan but it could very well be - it is a queen size blanket.

What I did was take another bag. I twist it to make it long and narrow. Then I loop it through the carrying bag's handles and tie a knot. This makes a very easy to use carrying handle.

It is soft and does not cut into the hands. It is very strong, amazingly so. And it's a way to use up another plastic bag, at least until it gets to its destination.

Enjoy.

Long time, No Post

I've been completely out of it regarding my blog posts. Tonight, two different ladies I met through Freecycle.org mentioned they rarely read blogs but they read mine and I was embarrassed to realize how long it's been since my last one.

By the way, Freecycle.org is a great place to "find" great craft stuff, and to pass along some craft stuff that you no longer need. I've posted about them before as a source of charity crafting supplies, but this site is wonderful for many other reasons as well. Almost every major city has a chapter. You post what you have to give away; other folks post what they'd appreciate receiving.

Anyhow, between us, we talked about my can cozies and about one gal's "plarn" projects. Plarn stands for "plastic yarn." I've mentioned that, before, too, and included a site for some plarn patterns and free instructions. This gal is the first one I've known locally who has finished some projects with it. I really do have to start cutting and splicing my collection of grocery bags. I saved some bags, too, that were especially pretty, color-trim-wise. A family friend had to use those adult incontinence products and the bags are similar to those for tot's diapers. I've got a ton of those bags and I can picture what a tote, made from them, would look like.

There's an idea for some crocheters, too. Find an adult who uses those products constantly - I'm sure they'd love to see something a little more cheery result from those bags. Or, find a young mother who still needs the children's products and ask her to save them for you.

This is a bit of a mixed bag tonight. But that's all right. Most of our lives are mixed bags. When has anyone had a day that went from start to finish in meticulous order? Not me, that's for sure.

Crocheted Monogram Letters - Free Pattern

Oh, wow, I just love my daily dose of the CraftGossip e-newsletter. This time, I had to bookmark a site that shares the entire alphabet, both upper and lower case letters, in crochet. They provide a photo of each and instructions for each. You just click on the letter you want the instructions for.

The site, Learn-How-To-Crochet, even gives ideas for how to use these. How great is that?

Go check this out and have fun! I know I sure will!

By the way, I just added a button for CraftGossip in my left sidebar. And if you want their newsletter, go to the CraftGossip home page and click on Newsletter at the top of the page to sign up.

Tip for Non-Beaders

I am very clumsy with beading wire, whether it's with pliers (I am exceptionally clumsy with those) or a needle.

However, I found over the past few years that I can easily work, my own way, on many beading patterns.

If the pattern or design uses beads at least 6 mm or larger. I simply use chenille stems instead of wire!

Yep, I'm lazy. A friend, at least ten years ago, turned me on to this trick. She had begun using chenille stems in beaded objects that usually specified wire. Things like mini-Christmas trees, wreaths, and more, can be converted.

I'll try to surf and find a few designs/patterns that look easily converted to the chenille stem method and post as soon as I find some.