Friday, July 30, 2010

And the winner is...

My Mom! Thank you for being a faithful reader and commenter, mom, I'll get this to you, probably when you come down in August. Love you!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Toothbrush Rug revisited

Because of overwhelming demand (okay, okay, my mom asked!) I decided to show how I'm making the toothbrush rug.

This is why it is called a toothbrush rug. These needles were originally made from toothbrushes, but now they are made specifically for this purpose. It fits nicely in the hand and the hole is big enough so it is not too hard to thread.

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This picture is not too good, because you cannot see where the needle goes. I was having trouble taking a picture with my right hand while holding everything with my left hand. But this is the first stitch. It is the first half of a half-hitch stitch.

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Here you see how you use your thumb to regulate the size of your stitches. When you pull the strip of fabric tight around your thumb, the loops should all be of a similar size. I've been pulling so vigorously that my thumb is sore.

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This shows the second half of the half-hitch stitch. C can do this one with no problem, because you just have to follow the thumb.

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I do remember being excited about crocheting with strips of fabric some time in the past... until I priced how much the material I would need to make a set of mats for my dining room chairs would cost. Now, however, I think I will have material left over for at least a couple of mats. I've been looking around, and I think I need a huge crochet hook. Oh man! That means a run to JoAnn's!

Monday, July 26, 2010

The Things you can accomplish on a Day Off

I had a day off from work on Friday, and was able to accomplish a lot of things. I prepared mari for the next class I am teaching, plus several more for me. There are 10 made with 1 cup of rice bran, 2 smaller ones, and 3 larger ones. It took about 1 1/2 skeins of yarn.

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And I started my toothbrush rag rug. Look how far I got over the weekend!

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When I was pulling out the material strips to work on this they made quite a big bundle. C commented "Grandma, I don't think you will be able to get done with that before you die." I told her that was fine, that if I did die before I was done, she should finish it. That worried her a little, because "I don't know how to do it." But I taught her, and now she knows how to put the needle in, and take it out (the 2 steps to the stitches). I did tell her that her thumb was too little to make the stitches the right size (gauge) but that it would be big enough by the time it was her turn. She stopped by my chair several times this weekend to take a couple of stitches. The toothbrush needle is just the right size for her dexterity level.

I realized that my last post, about the "It's My Birthday" temari was on the second anniversary of my first blog post, so I decided to celebrate by giving it away. If you would like it, please comment on this post, and on Friday I will pick a winner.

I was very hesitant to start a blog, because I never thought I would have enough interesting material to talk about. But I used Blog2print to look at my blog so far, and it was very interesting. In fact, it was so interesting I bought the .pdf file and I hope to print it out and bind it for myself. Of course, it is all my favorite things, and all about me. How could it not be interesting? LOL If you are interested, here's a coupon to get 15% off your own printout: B2PCC719.