PlanetJune Blog: Latest News, Patterns and Tutorials

This is my entry for the December One Hour Craft Challenge (a lovely brooch or boutonniere). I thought with Christmas approaching, I’d try making a poinsettia flower using the tsumami techniques I started learning last week. I tried making up some different folds for this one, and used fabric glue and sewing to assemble the flower from 10 separate petals and 6 leaves.

Here’s some poinsettia trivia: the red “petals” are actually modified leaves called bracts; the actual flowers are the little yellow bits in the middle.

Oh, and here’s my tsumami poinsettia (ruler included for scale; click for larger image) – what do you think?

PS – See the comments below for brief instructions on how I made this ornament!
 

I first saw these folded fabric flowers on Crafty Ginger’s blog, and I immediately knew I wanted to make some. Here are my first attempts:

I think they turned out well. I like both petal styles, and the faux pearl centres are pretty.  Lots of things would be brightened up by a little fabric flower accessory – I think I’ll be making more of these!

I keep losing my crochet hooks… I’ve ended up with 3 duplicate hooks because I can never find the right size hook when I need it. I realised I needed a roll-up case where I could store all my hooks, arranged by size, and then I’d always be able to find the right hook.

I spent ages planning before I started cutting the fabric, and the whole thing came together very quickly (except the knotted strap, but I couldn’t find a ribbon to match the trim, so I thought I’d make my own… and it escalated from there).

I’ve written up a tutorial for how I made this. 

Here’s the finished crochet hook case (as always, click the images for larger versions):

There were times when I thought I’d never reach this point, but my 63 squares afghan is finally complete! It all came together really well, and I’m really pleased with the finished piece.

Final dimensions are 2.00m x 1.55m (79″ x 61″) and it weighs 2.1kg (4.3lb). It’s so large I’m having difficulty getting a good picture! Here is is on a (double) bed: 

And here it is on the sofa:

(click for larger versions of the pictures)

Yay!

I have been challenging myself to enter the whiplash contest on whipup every month:

• I crocheted a bag in July (bags)
• I refashioned a skirt into a dress in August (wardrobe surgery)
• I crocheted a hat in September (hats)
• I made a bracelet in October (accessories)

Every month I take the theme and then figure out something I can do with it to challenge myself and to create something I like. I’m sure if I made different things I would have a better chance of winning, but that’s not the reason why I enter.

But here is November’s brief:

“NOVEMBER is officially ALT CRAFT month – Non-traditional crafts with an edge
Use of alternative materials with traditional techniques or traditional materials with original patterns”

I have been thinking it over for 2 weeks and I cannot think of anything I could make that would fit into this category. And then it came to me: I am not alternative. And maybe that’s okay – I make up my own designs and patterns, so my work is not entirely traditional or derivative. I’ve seen some amazing alt-craft projects on craftster etc, but I admire them without wanting to do something similar. I like the things I make, and I don’t want to put time and effort into making something that doesn’t “fit” with me.   

Maybe I’m not alone in this… There are suspiciously few entries this month (only 5 at the time of writing) – a lot less than usual. Maybe everyone is too busy, or leaving it to the last minute, but maybe there are others who feel the same as me.

Kudos to the folks at whipup for creating whiplash and the amount of crafty brilliance it generates each month. I’m not criticizing their choice of theme. I just wonder: is ‘alternative’ now the only way to be cool? Have I just pigeonholed myself into the ‘unhip’ corner? I am proud of my work the way it is and I don’t want to feel pressurized to change my style (even though the pressure is probably all in my head).

And that’s why I’m not going to enter whiplash this month.

Yes! There is a light at the end of the crocheted afghan tunnel… I haven’t been blogging each square, as I always crochet them in the evening and then it’s too dark to take a photo when I finish. But I only have SIX squares left now (plus all the joining). Today I tried laying them all out for the first time:

If you ignore the gaps and the curled up edges (and the labels), it kind of looks like an afghan, doesn’t it? I’m pleased with the colour scheme, too. That’s a double bed by the way – this is going to be a LARGE blanket!

Wow… I’m somewhat relieved to see that it looks like it may all come together in the end.  5 blues and 1 green to go!

I heard about this idea a while ago – making a low fat cake from a packet of cake mix by replacing the usual added ingredients (water, eggs, oil) with a can of diet carbonated beverage of choice. So tonight I tried it out for myself.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet cake mix (I used Dr. Oetker Added Touch Chocolate Cake Mix)
• 1 can diet cola (my preference is Diet Pepsi)

That’s it! Mix and bake for the time and temperature given on the cake mix packet. I used half the packet of cake mix and half a can of Diet Pepsi (so I wouldn’t waste as much if the recipe was a disaster) and it made 9 cupcakes (baked in a muffin pan pre-greased with spray oil). I baked them for 20 mins at 350°F (180°C) et voila:

Mmm, cake…

I am pleasantly surprised: it looks just like regular cake and the texture is light and moist. The flavour is a little different from a regular chocolate cake, but it is GOOD. And considering that the finished cakes have 100 calories each and less than 1g of fat, it’s amazing.

You can use any flavour of cake mix and any flavour of diet soda – I think lemon or golden cake with diet 7-up would work well. And if you iced them they’d be even better.

Verdict: quick, easy, good value, yummy, AND not too sinful!

I remember Shrinkydinks from when I was a kid, but only had a chance to try it once, at my cousins’ house. In case you haven’t heard of it, it’s a sheet of clear plastic that you draw on, cut into a shape and then put in the oven, where it rapidly shrinks to 1/3 the size. The picture you drew on it also shrinks down, giving you a detailed miniature image. I bought myself a pack from Michaels a few months ago, and finally had a chance to try it out this weekend. I have to say that Shrinkydinks are MAGICAL…

I rubber-stamped a bird image a few times, and coloured the images with regular coloured pencils. I also tried stamping my website logo. I bought a 1/8″ hole punch to make holes around the edges. Here’s the result (click for larger version):

The stamped image on the left came out too faintly. I’m happiest with the middle image because the coloured highlights I added really stand out. It looks like bright colours have the best effect. By the way, for scale, here’s the size of the original rubber stamp:

My website logo isn’t as pretty as the birds. You’re supposed to stamp/draw onto the rough side (the underside) of the plastic, but that means the image gets reversed when you turn it over to the smooth side, so anything with text has to use the rough side of the plastic as the finished side. So, out of interest, I tried stamping onto the smooth side of the plastic:

Yeah, not so good. 1) the ink doesn’t dry, and 2) even putting it in the oven doesn’t set it. I suppose the only way would be to stamp it, bake it carefully without smudging the ink, and then use a spray fixative.

Now I’ve finished the experiments, I’m looking forward to actually making something with Shrinkydinks! It’s so much fun watching the pieces of plastic curl up and shrink in the oven, and then flatten back down as much thicker, but much smaller pieces.