Challenging Crafting
September's priorities:
Morse case recover
Needle felted robot
Sewing machines, sewing machines, sewing machines
The overall theme to September's priorities was getting through things that are taking up a disproportionate amount of physical or mental space, and possibly also blocking one or more blog posts. I started the month with one sewing machine in pieces on my workbench (the Featherweight, waiting for wiring work), one waiting for a cleaning and diagnosis of poor sewing, two waiting for replacement feed dogs (plus cleaning and oiling and fixing anything else that showed up in the process), and the serger waiting for a new round of work.
We traveled early in the month so my only crafting was a little bit of work on my slip stitch crochet winter hat. Which I then pulled out entirely because of a combination of major gauge change and minor stitch count change! Oh well!
The weekend after we returned was busy with house and food work, but I did some basket crochet, including starting a new basket because I can't leave well enough alone, covered a box with scrapbook paper to be a pattern box for my in-the-works pattern drafting group, and started working on one of the Touch & Sews. It was extremely stiff so I oiled it up and left it overnight. That didn't help! But I realized it had only a manual, no stitch pattern cams or presser feet, whereas the other had all sorts of cams and feet but no manual, so I decided to scrap it.
Later in the week I started the second Touch & Sew. Pretty good, except the screw you need to loosen to get the bobbin case out was stripped. Okay, replace that with the one from the scrapped machine... once it's out. Removing a stripped screw... by definition, difficult.
The next weekend I cleaned house more at the Sew-op, made a zippered pouch for my husband's shaving supplies, and sewed up two pairs of boxers for him as well. I tried to dremel out the stripped screw but was unsuccessful getting it out. Dremeling made me concerned about getting little metal filings in places where they might cause long-term damage! But there's no going back now, it comes out or the machine is scrap.
That week I was busy and tired, and then we were at the fourth weekend of the month already. I set myself a challenge: in the 5.5 weeks (including 6 weekends) from then to the end of October, complete 12 items from a list including craft WIPs, projects with earmarked materials, and sewing machines to leave the house after their work.
I'd hoped to get one done that weekend, but... I didn't. There was a higher than usual amount of chores, plus taking care of the plants in a big way (pruning and repotting multiple). Saturday I did some crochet, and Sunday I cleaned a sewing machine at the Sew-op (so that also doesn't count!) and sewed up a needlebook, sans closure. I also acquired some Dremel cutting tools to try again with the stripped screw.
It's arguable whether the needlebook will count for the challenge (the fabric was set aside but not necessarily for that), and hopefully I won't need it to in order to make 12, but I added a closure Monday night and am pleased to have it.
I thought the rest of the week would be too busy to craft, but my Wednesday night activity was canceled so I cut up some overlarge PJ pants (instead of taking them in and having better fitting PJ pants that I probably still wouldn't wear), patched the knee of a pair of my husband's jeans, and partially sewed two pairs of boxers. Altering the PJ pants was on my list of potential challenge completions, but I don't think I should count cutting them up. :-)
Friday night I crocheted, Saturday I finally got out all of my needle felting materials and worked on a new version of the needle felted robot keychain I made a rejected version of in April. It worked out much better to start with a rolled-up strip of flat wool felt than to try to make the base with fleece. That night of course I crocheted some more.
Sunday was the last day of the month! Sheesh! Amid all my housework I finished the needle felted robot. I also patched a second pair of my husband's jeans - good to do though I don't think it counts for the challenge since the task didn't exist at the time - and made more progress on the boxers. That evening I finished what might be my largest crochet basket yet. And then it was October!
September's craft spending:
none!
September's completions:
* counts toward Sept/Oct challenge
Cardboard box covered with scrapbook paper
Zippered pouch
2 pairs boxers
Sewn needlebook (maybe *)
Jeans knee patched *
Needle felted robot keychain (finally!) * ($9.79 for 2 skeins wool yarn)
Second jeans knee patched
Extra large crochet basket
October's priorities:
WIPs, projects with earmarked materials, sewing machines
I'll be especially pleased if I get through the Morse case and the Secret Project, both of which have been traveling from project list to project list for multiple years.
Morse case recover
Needle felted robot
Sewing machines, sewing machines, sewing machines
The overall theme to September's priorities was getting through things that are taking up a disproportionate amount of physical or mental space, and possibly also blocking one or more blog posts. I started the month with one sewing machine in pieces on my workbench (the Featherweight, waiting for wiring work), one waiting for a cleaning and diagnosis of poor sewing, two waiting for replacement feed dogs (plus cleaning and oiling and fixing anything else that showed up in the process), and the serger waiting for a new round of work.
We traveled early in the month so my only crafting was a little bit of work on my slip stitch crochet winter hat. Which I then pulled out entirely because of a combination of major gauge change and minor stitch count change! Oh well!
The weekend after we returned was busy with house and food work, but I did some basket crochet, including starting a new basket because I can't leave well enough alone, covered a box with scrapbook paper to be a pattern box for my in-the-works pattern drafting group, and started working on one of the Touch & Sews. It was extremely stiff so I oiled it up and left it overnight. That didn't help! But I realized it had only a manual, no stitch pattern cams or presser feet, whereas the other had all sorts of cams and feet but no manual, so I decided to scrap it.
Later in the week I started the second Touch & Sew. Pretty good, except the screw you need to loosen to get the bobbin case out was stripped. Okay, replace that with the one from the scrapped machine... once it's out. Removing a stripped screw... by definition, difficult.
The next weekend I cleaned house more at the Sew-op, made a zippered pouch for my husband's shaving supplies, and sewed up two pairs of boxers for him as well. I tried to dremel out the stripped screw but was unsuccessful getting it out. Dremeling made me concerned about getting little metal filings in places where they might cause long-term damage! But there's no going back now, it comes out or the machine is scrap.
That week I was busy and tired, and then we were at the fourth weekend of the month already. I set myself a challenge: in the 5.5 weeks (including 6 weekends) from then to the end of October, complete 12 items from a list including craft WIPs, projects with earmarked materials, and sewing machines to leave the house after their work.
I'd hoped to get one done that weekend, but... I didn't. There was a higher than usual amount of chores, plus taking care of the plants in a big way (pruning and repotting multiple). Saturday I did some crochet, and Sunday I cleaned a sewing machine at the Sew-op (so that also doesn't count!) and sewed up a needlebook, sans closure. I also acquired some Dremel cutting tools to try again with the stripped screw.
It's arguable whether the needlebook will count for the challenge (the fabric was set aside but not necessarily for that), and hopefully I won't need it to in order to make 12, but I added a closure Monday night and am pleased to have it.
I thought the rest of the week would be too busy to craft, but my Wednesday night activity was canceled so I cut up some overlarge PJ pants (instead of taking them in and having better fitting PJ pants that I probably still wouldn't wear), patched the knee of a pair of my husband's jeans, and partially sewed two pairs of boxers. Altering the PJ pants was on my list of potential challenge completions, but I don't think I should count cutting them up. :-)
Friday night I crocheted, Saturday I finally got out all of my needle felting materials and worked on a new version of the needle felted robot keychain I made a rejected version of in April. It worked out much better to start with a rolled-up strip of flat wool felt than to try to make the base with fleece. That night of course I crocheted some more.
Sunday was the last day of the month! Sheesh! Amid all my housework I finished the needle felted robot. I also patched a second pair of my husband's jeans - good to do though I don't think it counts for the challenge since the task didn't exist at the time - and made more progress on the boxers. That evening I finished what might be my largest crochet basket yet. And then it was October!
September's craft spending:
none!
September's completions:
* counts toward Sept/Oct challenge
Cardboard box covered with scrapbook paper
Zippered pouch
2 pairs boxers
Sewn needlebook (maybe *)
Jeans knee patched *
Needle felted robot keychain (finally!) * ($9.79 for 2 skeins wool yarn)
Second jeans knee patched
Extra large crochet basket
October's priorities:
WIPs, projects with earmarked materials, sewing machines
I'll be especially pleased if I get through the Morse case and the Secret Project, both of which have been traveling from project list to project list for multiple years.