More with Puppety

Well the puppet bug has bit me hard. I have polished up the pattern for the basic hand puppet with variations and it's now available on my ravelry store.
LINK: http://www.ravelry.com/stores/frances-pauli-designs

As much fun as I'm having with that one and the wonderful puppets my test crochet folks have made too, I want to do up a hand puppet that can hold  things and use its arms as well. So, I'm back to the testing/drafting stage and fiddling with some ideas for a simple hand puppet with hands pattern.

So far, I've had one awkward goof and one that I really like. I think I'm getting close to how I want this to look....

She is the spirit of the Eastern Wind, and I'll be doing four in elemental colors. For now, I'm out of black, so her arms need to be longer and I have to come back in and extend the black under sleeve so it covers the puppeteers arm for better performing.

Still needs some refining, but it should be ready for testing fairly soon.

:)

An Old Love- The Puppet [Crochet] Arts

Once upon a time I was obsessed with puppetry. This won't come as a surprise to anyone who knows how obsessive I am. In fact, the list of  my past obsessions, in particular artsy/crafty ones could fill a small library. (okay, really really small, but still)

Recently some puppet links have caught my attention on Facebook. A few posts here and there, my ears perked up, etc. I started a puppet board on Pinterest. There's a pattern here.

Anyway, I got to thinking about crochet and how its something I do a lot of anyway and since I'm a puppet nut, why not crochet some... enter: Waldo the Weasel.

I 

I am having so much fun! Also, I may be writing plays too, not unfortunately for kids, to my son's chagrin. (he is enjoying Waldo quite a bit) Still, I think I'm onto something. I love the idea of puppets not controlled by string, but MADE from it. 

This will be Emi, Waldo's hearthrob.... (sadly she has a crush on Frank Ferret)

Learning a lot as I go about how I want to shape the base structure for best movement and also how to vary the character with different shaping techniques. (and a diverse use of fun fur)

I'm sure eventually, I'll have patterns to post... and maybe videos.
:)

stitch on.

I Can't Quilt

I've tried to quilt. I really love them. Something about the patterns, the little bits of cast off fabric all reassembled into a thing of beauty...it gets my happy going. I've been known to participate in bidding wars with little old ladies when the hand stitched quilts come up at auction. I took a class on the history of fiber arts and swooned over every crazy quilt.

But I just can't do it.

I have a quilting block or something. Pun intended. So when I had my kiddos, I really really wanted to make them quilts...and I didn't. I imagined it, making a block for each milestone, every birthday, etc. The finished, gleaming quilt would be presented at graduation or possibly on the eve of their wedding (which had damn sure better come after graduation) and lovingly received.

Yall know I write fantasy right?

Okay, so what's a mom who can't quilt to do? Well, this one is going to crochet. It's all I've got, really. My eldest grub was reading a story last week, Josephina and the Story Quilt, for lit class, and since we home school, that meant I was reading it too. It got those old quilt pangs going again, and I decided if I couldn't sew them a memory blanket, I could certainly crochet them one.

So we're off. One square per year so far and I'm up to four each and counting. I'm hoping to have all five of the youngest's done this week and finish up eight for my boy before long. It's a ton of fun.
Why would I do it if it wasn't?

Best part so far has been picking out the specific squares for each year. I've found some great ideas! (bless you, Ravelry) And planning the ones I might do next. I'll get pictures up as soon as possible, and hopefully, show as I go.

:)
Happy hooking
Frances

Flower Scrubbie Pattern

Apparently there's nothing new under the sun. I made this pattern up after my mum brought home a net scrubbie washcloth combo from a friend's house. Man, I thought, that's clever. You could make a really awesome flower out of one of those net scrubbies. :) So, I worked out the design below and then I went onto Ravelry to see if anyone else had done something similar....which of course they had.

But they're all a bit different, so here's my version. Reinventing the wheel so to speak. Most of the ones I've seen have solid petals. Mine is made of chain loops. I have no idea if that's good or bad. :)

Flower Scrubbie

materials:

plastic net scrubber

cotton

size G crochet hook

Stitches:

ss= slip stitch

ch= chain

sc= single crochet

hdc= half double crochet

round one:

poking the crochet hook through the scrubbie at the circumference and making sure to catch enough of the net to have a secure attachment, sc around the outside edge, evenly spacing your stitches and joining with a ss when you finish the circuit.

round two:

ch 2

*hdc in the next 4sc. hdc twice in the next sc* repeat *to * all the way around. ss together

(note: depending on how many sc you ended up with you may end in the middle of a repeat, so long as the round will lay somewhat flat and it joins up, you'll be fine) 

round three: 

the "petals" are made of chains and you'll have to turn the scrubbie this way and that to form them, but so long as they loop and attach at the right points the flower will look right. 

Chain 10 skip one hdc and ss into the next hdc

chain 10 and ss into the skipped hdc (from back to front)

*chain 10 skip ahead past the last chain and one hdc and ss in the next hdc

chain 10 ss back into the skipped hdc*

repeat from * to * all the way around. 

when you get to the first chain ss to last hdc finish off and weave in ends. 

Wasting Time

Welcome to Unraveled.
If you know me, you'll notice one thing missing. That's because here is where I'll list, blog and share all the wondrous distractions that KEEP ME from writing. One of my favorites is fiber arts, and I got the name for the blog from my absolute newest distraction from working: Ravelry.com
If you do anything at all with fiber, yarn and needles or hooks or looms or what have you, then hop on over there and sign up. :)
Here are my latest projects of that variety: