Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Edited Wrap

Onarum Wrap

I'm fiddling about with my Onarum Wrap pattern - making a couple of changes based on the excellent feedback from my pattern testers last month.

Really pleased with the alterations. Just need to stitch the tassels in place, and block it lightly - the take photos of the new version.

I'm working with a different colourway of the Bendigo Murano this time - and it's just as delightful as the last one!

Speaking of delightful - I've been blown away by all the magnificent wraps created by my testers this month... and now I need to choose a winner. This one is going to be tough!

Onarum Wrap

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

More Stars...

Recycled Christmas Stars

I've been experimenting with more of those Recycled Plastic Christmas Stars...

Recycled Christmas Stars

This time I'm using bread bags.

The plastic has been spun to give the plarn some some twist - which gives better stitch definition.

Recycled Christmas Stars

The print on the bread bags makes for a more colourful decoration..

But I still prefer the simplicity of the plain white ones which I showed you yesterday.

Recycled Christmas Stars


Monday, December 2, 2013

Recycled Christmas Stars

Recycled Christmas

I'm loving these RECYCLED Christmas Stars... and I just know I'll be making a squillion of them this Christmas Season.

Especially since all you need to make them is a plastic shopping bag and a tea bag string, plus a pair of scissors and a crochet hook.

Oh - and an iron and a couple of sheets of baking paper or brown paper bags.

Recycled Christmas

So firstly, I cut the bags into plarn - which is plastic yarn - just one continuous length of plarn about 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide.

Then I crocheted the plastic into the stars using this pattern here. It's in German - but don't be deterred by that! There's a simple chart, and since there are only two rounds of crochet needed, the chart is very simple and easy to follow.

One thing I did different from the pattern: I didn't begin with a magic ring. I thought that tightening the ring would overstretch the plastic tail and BREAK it. So instead I worked a ch-4 loop at the beginning.

Recycled Christmas

Because the stars were a bit soft and tended to curl in on themselves, I decided to iron them flat. Nothing fancy - I just popped the stars between two sheets of baking paper and held the iron over them until they started to melt a little. The iron was just on it's usual setting, which I think is the cotton one - not the highest setting, but one down from there.

Then I sat them flat while they cooled. 

The ironing process shrank the stars a little, and fused them. The plastic actually melted and the stitches stuck together. it created a thinner but stronger star - more suitable for hanging on the tree.

If you look closely at the photo above, you'll be able to see where the plastic has fused - especially around the centre hole.

Once they were cooled, I just threaded a tea bag string through one of the holes near the tip - and knotted the end to form a loop.

I'm thinking these will look brilliant on our tree this year!

Recycled Christmas