Blocking with Acrylic

So, apparently I've been missing out on this thing called "Blocking." As it turns out it is pretty important, and can dramatically affect your finished work. Also, many people will say that blocking acrylic yarn is impossible to do without ruining your finished project, not so (depending on the project).

So to begin, most blocking is done by pinning the knitted/crocheted fabric to the desired shape, then set with heat and or water. Many people use steam, as the combination of heat and water create a more lasting affect on the fabric. Blocking is often used when making clothes, even professionally manufactured socks are blocked so they will resemble the shape of a foot instead of a tube. 

This is where things get tricky with acrylics, they don't hold up so well under heat, and  will often lose any structure it may have had. However for some projects like scarves, and afghans, structure isn't really something you need.

Before being blocked, note the
uneven edges, and curled corners.

All pinned down and ready to block!

I steamed this piece pretty close, I wanted
to see what would happen if it got too hot. 

Ta-Da, no more curling edges!

See, nice and flat!

I ended up making several passes getting closer and closer to the yarn, and didn't notice any negative changes. If you use a light colored yarn make sure you don't touch the yarn with the face of the iron, because it can burn the yarn. Other than that feel free to get as close as you want!

Again, curling corner on the end of the scarf.

Pinned down with nice straight edges! 

Also, it folds and bends really easily,
I can see that too much heat might make sweaters frumpy,
but it looks great on a scarf!

Re-Finishing for a Contemporary Look

My mother-in-law gave my husband and I a side table about three years ago, it's a rattan table with a glass top and some caning at the bottom. It's been a little beat up (we both own small dogs that like to chew out their frustrations), but hey, free table, I'm not complaining. It doesn't really go with the decor theme in the living room/entryway. (Not that you could tell there is a theme as it's in the beginning transformation stages.) But, as the first piece of my contemporary living room, I decided it needed an overhaul. After reading several articles on Pinterest, where else, and a little self confidence boost I went out and bought some spray-paint and sandpaper as I had the other supplies on hand.

Supply List:
Spray-Paint - Your choice (I used Krylon Color-Max Glossy Black) Hint buy one more can than you think you'll need. If it hasn't been sprayed the stores usually take it back.
Sandpaper - I used medium grit - 120
Rag(s)
Pliers
Cardboard Box or Dropcloth

The first step for me was to get rid of the caning at the bottom. I didn't really like it, and it was partially destroyed so I didn't think it would be easy to sand or paint. I started using my Dremel, but realized that would take a very long time and that the wood that made up the caning was pretty weak, so I stepped on it. That pretty much did the trick, it just took a little finagling to get the last side out.

Unfortunately that left me with a bunch of staples hanging out - not ideal. That's where the pliers come in, I only had cutting pliers but they do the job. Just a little twist and out they come.

aaand... POP!

 Now for the sanding, it's important to give the paint something to adhere to, so you just need to make sure the surface is scratched up a bit. It gets pretty boring, so I suggest listening to some music or a movie or something. This will also help you smooth out any dings or scratches that have come from regular use.

See that shine, get rid of it!

 After sanding, make sure to wipe off the dust so the surface stays clean, otherwise the paint won't stick to your piece. When you've finished sanding all the shiny surfaces and rubbed them down, it's time to paint! I still have tons of boxes from moving into my apartment, so I used one of them to catch the over-spray. Spraying the surface is pretty simple, just hold the can about 6-8 inches away from the project.

If you're going to do this barefoot,
look out for stinging nettles!

 Wait an hour or more before flipping the piece then, Ta-Da! You're done! I really like how it turned out! My husband said it looks like a completely different table! I think it looks very modern and I'm excited to see what else I can paint!

Afghans

My first afghan had gone really well, and I was able to finish the whole thing for under $20, so I decided to make some more for presents, I started one for my sister in law and one for my cousin.

After the first afghan I decided I only wanted to use chunky or bulky yarn because I felt it would go faster than the worsted weight yarn. I used Hobby Lobby's "First Love," variegated color, "Lovely" for my sister in law's

and 4 colors of "Tender Touch" for my cousin's.

Red velvet, peony, tangerine, and butter.

The "First Love" afghan is a treble crochet, which worked out beautifully with the variegated yarn. And I loved that I didn't have to change yarns to get a different color. I ended up edging it with a solid color to give it a finishing touch.

The "Tender Touch" afghan is a rippled afghan, that looks pretty dramatic. 

 It starts with a chain of about 180, 6 double crochet stitches, then 3 double crochet in the same stitch, 6 more double crochet, then 3 double crochet together. Repeat until the end of the chain, then have 2 double crochet together for the last two stitches in the row.

 Once I figure out how to create a diagram, I'll post one, but until then I'll have to stick with this.

Both of these projects were actually finished about a month in advance of when I needed them. They each took about a month, but it's totally worth the time. Of course I forgot to keep track of how many skeins I used, which might be a good thing because they weren't the cheapest yarns.

With these I learned more about how important it is to count your stitches, and how you may need to reshape your finished work. The ripple afghan looked much thinner at the top, and wider at the bottom. I'm pretty sure that's because as I turned the work the bottom got stretched out, and the top hadn't been stretched yet.

Beginning Crochet

I decided to begin Crocheting, my first project was a couple of small squares that I was going to sew together to make a blanket with but the small squares are a lot of work... 

Long story short, it became a scarf. I then made a matching headband to go with it, super cute right?

Anyway apparently after that I decided I could make an afghan. Easier said than done. It took about three months because I chose to work on it off and on, and my deadline was three months away. What can I say, I'm a procrastinator.

 I used Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" because it's 3.99/skein and comes with 355 yards. It's nice knowing the cost averages out to about 1 cent per yard. It took about 6 skeins total, but I probably could have gotten away with 5 if I was doing all one color.

 The stitch is a double crochet in the front loops only. (At the time, I didn't know the difference between both loops and what I was doing.)

 I was making it for a twin size bed, so I laid it out on my queen size to compare, although at this point it would be much too late to go back and fix any width problems.

The blanket continued in stripes, and of course, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

The biggest mistake I made here was not leaving a long enough tail, it was a problem that didn't come to light until it was washed, and started unraveling in a few places.

At any rate, my first projects went great, and I love my new hobby!

Deco-Mesh Fall Wreath

     So if you haven't been in Hobby Lobby lately, you probably haven't seen all of their Fall and Christmas stuff they've had up since June. If you have, and your'e like me, it's really tempting. I love Fall and Christmas and love making decorations.

     Any-who, I decided to make a Fall Deco-Mesh Wreath. I got the 24" wreath frame and 2 spools of brown Deco-Mesh that were 5" wide. Then came the fun part, the picks and leaves!

     Guesstimating the amount of picks I would need, I ended up with about 30, which may be a few too many but, I like my wreaths extra full. Almost everything I grabbed was from the "Fall" section, but I did grab two floral stems since they were 50% off. The whole thing ended up being right around $70. 

     I put the wreath together and probably could have used another spool of Deco-Mesh, but I spread it a little thin, and made it last. Then I started weaving the leaves into the wreath, following with the picks. Don't be afraid to put things close together, it helps fill in the gaps left by the Deco-Mesh. 

All in all, it took about 2 hours but it was totally worth it to get a wreath that had everything I wanted in it, including the cutest little Turkey!