Exciting TAZ News

This is only tangentially related to this blog, but I'm very excited about it. And I make the rules here, so I'm going to share it!

The Adventure Zone has officially announced its second season, and they'll be doing a continuation of Amnesty! Amnesty was honestly my favorite mini-arc (clearly, since I immediately started to make cosplay for it!), and I'm so happy they decided to return to the world and characters to flesh them out. Plus, it means that my Aubrey cosplay will still be topical when I finish it...

...or it will be if I finish it within the next three years! Better get back to work ;)

An Introduction

I think it's high time that I introduced you all to a very special person. She is my rock, my partner in crime, and a faithful friend at all times. She is... Mannie Quinn!

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Yes, I did name my mannequin. I did name my mannequin a pun. I have no shame.

Mannie is my dress form. She's very useful for sewing dresses and tops, especially since she's adjustable to fit my measurements (or my mom's, or friend's, or anybody who could reasonably wear a size small shirt). Plus, I really don't like to photograph myself, so I'll often dress her up instead of me. I'm honestly surprised it's taken this long for me to introduce her! Anyway, I think you'll be seeing plenty of Mannie around, so let's have one last head(less) shot for the road:

Dy(e)ing for Scarves

Well well well, look at me doing stuff that doesn't require yarn or thread. Sometimes you have to branch out to other types of crafts! And those crafts include dyes and silk scarves:

(Pardon the bad photography. I have neither adequate lighting nor a real camera.)

Sadly, I don't have process pics for this, but the techniques I used is called marble dyeing. Basically, you float thinned acrylic paints on a thickened water mixture and swirl it around a bunch until you have a nice design. Then, take fabric that you've pretreated with alum (silk is best, but other fabrics or paper will also work) and lay it gently on the paint! The alum makes the paint bond to the fabric almost instantly, so all those nice swirls stay crisp and bright. Let's have a look at them again, shall we?

So pretty! This isn't a spur-of-the-moment project: you need to pretreat the silk and mix the thickening agent a day in advance. But the dyeing itself goes quite quickly, and it would make a great party activity. Though I might recommend getting bigger silk blanks! These are 24" long, and that's not quite enough to do much with. I couldn't really make a knot to tie it around my neck, but I came up with a creative solution!

Shawl pins to the rescue!

The next time I marble dye, I'll be sure to take some pictures of the setup for you guys. And I have to find more things to do with all the acrylic dye/paint I bought, too... oh the experiments we shall conduct! Stay tuned if you want to see me mess around more with pretty colors!

TAZ Cosplay: Embroidery is Hard!

Well it's true! I haven't embroidered anything in years, so I was fully expecting some really bad first tries. They actually turned out better than I expected, though! Here they are below:

Have some closeups, too:

Although I was pleasantly surprised by the quality, I wasn't exactly happy with how they turned out. I'd like the stitches to be more even and less haphazardly placed, so that it looks more professional and less DIY. I tried to just sketch a rough circle on the felt and go freehand for the pattern, but that didn't work terribly well: for the next go-round I'll be sure to draw out a more detailed plan on the felt before I start. And I might need some tips for how to get that satin stitch looking clean. Stay tuned: if I find any good tips/tutorials, I'll be sure to share them!

Project: Filet o' Diamonds

I wanted to work a filet mignon joke into the title there, but sadly it wasn't happening... oh well. Anyway, I think it's time I introduced you all to my current long-term crochet project:

(This is the sample photo from the website. I wish mine was already this long and pretty!)

The pattern is called Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend. I love the look of filet crochet, and you can make practically any pixellated design you like! As far as lace goes, it's pretty quick to work up, too. And that's a good thing for me because I decided to work with some really fine thread! It's mill end cotton thread that I got for dirt cheap in the form of a messy tangled hank. I wasn't sure that I'd even be able to wind it into a useable ball, but as you can see I managed to untangle it. You can also see that it's just a bit thicker than sewing thread, so I'm using my 0.75 mm hook. So tiny! The shawl is working up very slowly as a result, but it's so pretty with the fine lace that I don't mind the time. Right now I'm about a quarter of the way done:

If you're new to crocheted lace, filet crochet is an easy place to start. I wouldn't recommend sewing thread weight for the first time around, but do what makes you happy! If you're like me, it'll finally justify purchasing the cute super tiny hook!

Okay, one more closeup of those pretty diamond patterns:

Aaaaaaaand back to work for me!

Pattern Review: Sensu Fan Market Tote

Time for something a little different! I'd like to share my thoughts on some patterns I've come across, and now seems like as good a time as any, as I've just finished a project. I had a few hundred yards of beige cotton yarn left over from a larger project, and I was on the hunt for something to do with it. The pattern I settled on was the Sensu Fan Market Tote from The Lavender Chair. Here's my version:

Cotton yarn isn't great for hats and scarves since it's not very warm, but it works well for bags and summery items, and the stitch definition you can get with smooth cotton yarn really makes stitches with interesting texture pop. This tote had a great fan-shaped stitch decorating the center, which was perfect for the yarn. It was quick to work up, too, and with the roughly worsted weight yarn I used, the bag is big enough to hold sunscreen, sunglasses, and whatever else you'd need for a day at the beach.

However, there are a few things I didn't like so much. First of all, because the fan stitch in the center is downright lacy, there are big holes that your belongings could fall out of. I'm going to line the bag with some plain white fabric to solve the problem. It'll have the added bonus of putting a nice solid background on the fan stitches, making them pop even more!

(The role of white fabric is being played by a pillow case until I can get to the fabric store for some muslin or other woven cotton)

Secondly, if you followed the link, you'll notice that the original pattern included a strap, and mine clearly does not. Part of the reason for that was that I was running out of yarn, but it was also an intentional choice. The thing about crocheted fabric is that it has quite a bit of stretch to it (much like a knitted fabric). If you put a weight at the end of the fabric -- say the weight of a full tote bag -- the strap is bound to stretch and sag and generally be uncomfortable. The yarn choice helps mitigate some of the stretch (cotton is less elastic than wool), but I wanted something sturdier to put on my shoulder. Since I was already going to sew in a lining, I decided that I would just get a woven strap to sew on as well.

So there you have it. Overall, the Sensu Fan Market Tote is a great little pattern for an intermediate crocheter. It's perfect if you have a few hundred yards of cotton that you've been saving for a rainy day. The flaws in the design might make it impractical to use as-is, but they can be fixed with a few extra supplies from a craft store and a bit of sewing knowledge. Try it out sometime!