Punisher Finish

The Punisher intarsia...done! But, me being me, that really only means that created another project. So, mostly done.

(To see the other posts on this project, please click the label titled 'intarsia' or 'comics')

After making the first Punished piece, I decided to make a Punisher purse. I might be a huge comic book fan, but I'm still a girl. I hooked up a strap and a side/bottom piece and made a purse out of it. This was my first go at lining a project. It went better than expected. My first thought was to line the purse with Cookie Monster fabric. But, everyone I suggested that to flailed about and yelled 'NO WAY!'. In the end, I went with a pink fabric with heats and flowers on it. I needed something to contrast the Punisher bits.

(doing thumbnails of the images today. just click them to see the larger size)

Side 1:


Side 2:


Edge and strap connection:


The edge is one piece, wrapped around and whip stitched onto the front and back sides.

Strap:


The strap is done in SC with SLST around the edge to help cut down on the stretching...and it just looks good.

Lining:

A Thank You and More Images

First of all, Thank you to everyone who has been voting for me on Top 100 Crochet and Hook List! As of this morning I'm a solid #33. Want to vote for me? Click the pink box to the right under the yarn skull. If you are viewing me on a feed, drop by and click through.

I have been taking a bit of a hooker break. Once again I have too many project ideas, too much yarn and too many things going at once. Also, I think that cookie jar project just sucked the life out of me. If I ever decided to take on something like that again (meaning no pattern, several parts and use of stiffeners) just shake me and tell me no. Speaking of that project, I have some more, but not exactly better, images.

First, the cookies. I think there are about 20 of them. Done in 3 parts and whip stitched together *pulls out her mad math skills* that's 60 little circles. You can see why it drove me crazy.



...and the pile of cookies.



Cookies were done on an f-hook in Red Heart SS in Coffee and White.


I wanted to get a picture of the back edge of the jar. I decided to do the jar in rounds to stop the line that would have happened from that. What I forgot is that since I changed colors, there was a bit of a jag to the stripes. By the time that fact dawned on me, I was to far in the project to frog it. It works out just fine, though. It is being displayed with the lid leaning on that side.



See the jag...jog...where it's not perfect? That bothers me. I still can't see past it.

Some images of the lid. The fabric stiffener is on the outside of everything but the lid. I had to do that on the inside because of how I shaped it (read I stuffed it inside a bowl).





One more from the top.




For the life of me, I can't get a good image of the matching tea cup.

ETA:
Blogspot is doing some funky things on the preview. Every time I click it it jumbles up my images. I think I got it fixed. But, if things look off it's all on blogspot, not me, for once. ^_^

Cookie-Cookie-Cookie starts with C

My mother's birthday was this month. I decided to make her tea cup (like the one posted here only better - pictures of it later on). I though that the cup wasn't enough, so I was going to make a cookie jar full of cookies to go with it. Great idea in theory. It took much longer that I though it would. The cookies were the worst part. I think I made the jar bigger than it needed to be. I ended up making 20 cookies to go in it and it didn't even fill it half way. I stuffed the bottom with tissue paper and set the cookies on top of it. I also use chocolate scented oil to make them smell more like cookies and less like yarn.



One inside the jar:



All done with Red Heart on a f hook. The jar was my own pattern. The cookies were from this pattern (pdf file).

More Mala Beads and Pouches

I have some more sets of mala beads and pouches for them. First up is a set I made for my friend. 108 wood beads, turquoise separator beads on cotton cord. The pouch is a mohair/wool/acrylic blend.



Next is a larger pouch made with an unknown fiber yarn.



Mala beads for it are 108 wooden beads, unikite separator beads on a cotton cord.



And 54 wooden beads, unakite separator beads on cotton cord. Pouch is TLC something or other in red.





I'm done making these for a while. I've depleted my bead supply. I do plan on making a few more, possibly as gifts, in the future. I would love to make some out of lapis lazuli or sliver. I have time to work out exactly what I want to do.

Trade Squares for July

Here are my 4 8" x 8" trade squares for the month of July.

The first picture, the square on the left has rows of fringe on it. it didn't come across in the picture.


By yarnmonkie

I love the fringe look but it was tedious to do on a small hook (h). I would do it again on a larger one. Maybe a n hook.

The one on the right in both pictures were done on a n hook. The ones on the left were both done on a h hook.


By yarnmonkie

Spot of tea...?

I have a thing for tea. I love tea. I love to crochet. Why not crochet tea?


By yarnmonkie

MMMM, tea! Tea is always good with lemon in it!


By yarnmonkie

Made on a f hook, caron pound of love (dark purple), red heart softs (brown), red heart sport (yellow), red heart super saver (off white and flecked off white).

It took about 2 hours to totally complete. That was with a lot of trial and error.


By yarnmonkie

Everything is removable, including the cup's saucer. I didn't think to get a picture of the saucer separate. The tea is just a circle of fabric, propped up on some stuffing. I will sew it in eventually, when I decide if that's how I want to keep it.


By yarnmonkie

Now, if I could only make a tea kettle...

Tea Bag Holders/Cozies

I'm never exactly sure what to call these. Tea Bag Holder? Is it really a cozie? A pouch? They hold several wrapped bags of tea and have enough room for a few packs of sweetener if you like. My first one was smaller and I sort of had to stuff everything in there. These are bigger, a bit more stretch to them, room for more tea!

Here's my first one. This one is mine! ALL MINE!!!

By yarnmonkie
By yarnmonkie

Inside are 3 bags of tea and 3 packs of 'Sugar in the Raw'. I carry it in my purse for 'Tea Emergencies'.

Here are the two made last night. The pink-multi one is 5" tall by 4.5" wide and quite roomy. It has a button loop on the end of the flap. The purple/pink one is 4.5" by 4.25".

By yarnmonkie
Open views:

By yarnmonkie
By yarnmonkie

I'm using Bigelow tea bags because they seem to have the largest outer wrappings. If Bigelow tea bags fit in there, pretty much any other kind will fit.

MONSTER SHAWL!!!!

It all started out innocently enough. I wanted a nice big shawl for myself. Something airy, lacy, pretty. I had the perfect yarn. I started out making one using a pattern using the Solomon Knot. I worked on it steady for days before I realize I had no idea what I was doing. Yes, it looked pretty, but it wasn't what I wanted. I pulled all my work out and started again. HDC on a Q hook, decreasing on each end as I went. I usually never measure what I make, while making it, unless it needs to be a certain size. This is my downfall. While sitting I chained until I though it looked long enough. Draped it across my shoulders, liked how it was and started out to hooking. This was on Friday evening. Today (Sunday) I finish up, slap on a boarder and am pretty please with myself. Then I try it on. It's long, alright. Past my finger tips on both hands. I'm 5'7", the mid point of the shawl comes mid calf on me. I finally get out the measuring tape (the big one) and have my husband help me measure it. Finger end to Finger end, 7 feet. Mid point to mid point, 7 feet. O_O WOW. That's one big shawl. A MONSTER SHAWL!!! I love it, though.

Here's a picture folded, so you can see the stitching, boarder and all of it in on image.


By yarnmonkie

Here is one stretched out. I couldn't get far back enough in my kitchen to get the whole thing in the picture.


By yarnmonkie


The yarn was bought in a bulk unknown bag. I don't know what it is or who makes it but I love it and would like more of it. Now, if it would just get cool enough for me to wear it.

Record Player Cover

It seems like this month is for making covers for items that animals sit on. Our cat loves to sit on my husbands record player and watch the birds out on our lawn. He is worried that she'll scratch it up. She gets pretty excited up there, running in circles and trying to claw the window. I decided to make a cover to minimize the damage she's doing to it.

I used a bulk unknown fiber yarn. It feels like Caron Simply Soft. H hook on HDC. I did most of this using my Crochet Lite hook in the dark, just because I could. Made in one large piece, then fitted to the player.







For the record, the cat spends a lot of time loving on those two chickens, too. I plan on making another one in a better yarn. The yarn is so soft that it slides all over the place when the cat jumps up there. One time she even slid right off the player, onto the floor. That might be the way to keep her off of it.

Couch Cover Finished!!!!

I'm finished *shock* *gasp* *faint* No, really. I finished the monster project. The huge couch cover, in the summer heat, I finished it.

It ended up taking 7 whole skeins and all but 1oz of another skien to finish it. It took about a month to do, working pretty steady on it. Maybe an hour a day on average. I'm not sure. I never was able to keep track of time like that.

Here's some finished pictures.

From the front


From the back


And now for the real reason for doing this whole project, for making 6 feet of DC on a f hook...

a very small, yet sausage like dog.


Here's what I've learned from this whole experience:

1) Never, ever make something this big in the summer. Save projects like these for winter time.
2) Try not to use a hook smaller that the yarn calls for on huge projects.
3) Even a small dog and appreciate good crocheting.

Now that's it's all done, I feel a great sense of relief. I'm working on small projects for the rest of the month. Instant gratification and all that jazz.