Craft Enabled, Domestically Disabled

Heartalls

A few months ago I saw this pattern, fell in love, ordered the book, and then gleefully got my pattern on September 6. Finished September 23.

Customizations I had to do:

(a) It's a worsted weight pattern, but I found some Cascade Yarns Anchor Bay yarn (50% cotton, 50% superwash merino wool) and I thought that would work much better for a hot weather shorts project, because while I loooooove worsted, it's not for summer. The Anchor Bay yarn worked great, but I note it's DK yarn. I got the gauge as per the pattern with that yarn, but when I actually started making the squares, I had to add another row to make each square 4.5 inches. Not too bad.

(b) I like that the pattern is customized by squares for the size of the waist, hips, and thighs, and that even though all of mine do not line up together, I managed to come up with a perfect fit. That said, I had to make a few extra rows to cover the butt and to make the legs longer because (a) I don't do booty shorts and (b) given that crochet has all the holes, I wore biker shorts under these and wanted the legs to cover that. So, one row of 8 squares for the waist, a second row of 9 for the hips, a third row of 10 for the rest of the butt, then 2 5-square rows for the legs.

(c) I did some customizations around the heart bib because doing it as the pattern said seemed a bit too small (it looked weird to me to be that small at the waist), but adding a few more rows to the heart made it too saggy. Finally I went with what a friend suggested and added some stitches in between the points and the waist 

I'm planning on adding some pockets into it that would tuck in at the waist because I think I could fit some in for my phone, but I haven't gotten that far yet. I was able to fit one of my pocket belts underneath it to hide a phone, so it may work. 

Tiny shawl

TypePad is Having Issues today and one of them is that it won't rotate my pictures. But you get the drift.

I bought this fancy silk/fuzzy yarn at Stitches and making a tiny shawl was what I could do with it. 

Emma Overdress

I wish I'd written down when I started this one. Presumably spring 2022 when Bridgerton season 2 came out and I got obsessed with Kate Sharma's wardrobe and I wanted to make pieces like it. It feels like longer. I spent something like $90 on yarn (ok, had a gift certificate for some of that) for three skeins of fancy purple yarn made with size 4 needles. 

I had a lot of issues with it, especially the fiddly edging/hem, and put it on hiatus for awhile. I didn't do the cabled belt because doing cabling with tiny needles made me insane. I ended up crocheting the bottom edge because the bottom edge was making me insane. I spent a lot of time on the fiddly hem on the edges and I'm not even sure you notice all that work. I pulled out the top a whole lotta times and redid it.

But it's finally done. 

Here is the first photo, taken alone in a public bathroom :P

And some better ones, taken at home.

 

Yarn holder

 

I got this pattern to make a ball holder. 

Sun prints of yarn tools from my bag

Done at work. Here's how it started.

How it looked after 15 minutes of baking, pre-bathroom rinse:

And in the end:

Lego flower bouquet

I asked for and got a Lego bouquet for my birthday. Then I bought a few rose sets and a heart with flowers hanger at the Lego store last weekend.

I got a new outdoor table (my indoor one is covered in computers, so I have no table space), so I was finally able to put these together. 

Scarf fidget maze

So I found this pattern around the beginning(?) of the year. It looks like The Ultimate Fidget--double knitting, wind a marble through the maze. I took a class through Stitches (RIP) to learn how to do double knitting, but this being different from side to side really screwed with me for awhile and I would take out more than I put in.

Now, I think I have it down, relatively speaking. I don't work on it that often--it's my work office lunch project--but I think I've got enough of it going (nearing the first page down...of many pages, mind you) to show you a bit. Here's a photo of the scarf with the pattern, if that helps any to figure out what is going on.

And here's more of it, on both sides now.

 

Map of the world

I saw this and had to make it for my friend Dawn. Who's finally received it for her birthday, so I can now post it. The pattern was written out very detailed to figure out how many stitches are where, albeit I still have magical appearing/disappearing stitch issues so I had to keep track on every dang row, and add a bit of side borders to even it out.

Here's the map of the world blocked out on a boogieboard:

And hung on a wall:

Fixing the overalls

So since May I've noticed that (a) overalls seem to be coming back as a fad, for some reason, and (b) I went to a show and saw the director wearing what I can only refer to as sexy overalls. Never before have I seen overalls, of all things, somehow sewn and cut to be so tight on an hourglass figure. Like daaaaaaaaamn.

Anyway, I have been keeping an eye out if I spotted any I liked, and I found some yesterday. They were in size XL and frankly, too big in the straps, in the legs, and on the hips, but I was all, I think I can fix these. So I took in the hems by 3.5 inches, moved the button on the straps to be tighter, and took in the sides on the overalls. 

Before:

After:

The Isabela top has flowers on

Continued from here. I still have to figure out the sleeve dots issue, but it's mostly done now.

It's a pie

Made for a friend's birthday.

Isabela skirt is done

Continued from here. Based off the artwork here.

Now all I've got left is yarn-bedazzling the top and making a cactus.

 

Isabela skirt update, first layer

Continued from here.

I spent a week crocheting flowers and have sewn them to the first layer of skirt. Two more long-ass layers of that to go. 

And I finished the top of the collar.

Stitches just went bankrupt

Announcement here. 

Posting this for those who read this blog and may not have heard otherwise. I'll update with more dish if I hear it. 

I'm so disappointed and sad, if not totally surprised because they had a lot less vendors this year (around 100 down from 300 the year before, and they used to have a lot more pre-site move and pre-pandemic, of course) and I suspected Stitches 2023 might be the last one. But I'm bummed as hell anyway. 

Places to find out more:

• Reddit discussions here and here.
• Ravelry discussions with the most here and here
• Facebook page for the screwed over.

Birthday necklace project

Years ago my therapist suggested doing a one-day project on my birthday. I admit I was bored of all the options I've bookmarked over the years, so I just like, made up a chain crochet necklace today.