The Damned Are Welcome Here

Because, apparently, I didn’t already have enough ideas in my head.

Want to make another floor mat. Like the welcome mat I crocheted a few months ago. Really do have the urge to crochet. Not that I don’t have other things to relieve that urge, like a top hat and slippers. Anyway, I would like a mat in my living room area. A little smaller than 4 feet by 6 feet. Maybe in a harlequin pattern with green and purple, or black and white. Have some leftover green and beige yarn from the welcome mat to make a sample.

Had the idea of making a nightlight for my bathroom. Used an old glass spice jar to hold it (thank you Simply Organic for using glass). Joined five red LEDs to a nine-volt battery and an on/off switch, then stuffed it all in the spice jar. It’s not really bright enough, so need a second one, but it did work. Yay!!! Have to order some more on/off switches from that place that will not be named on this blog, but, oh, well.

Wondered about adding some dry clay to a combination lock. To make it more decorative, more goth? One video for Poets of the Fall (“Where Do We Draw the Line”) that’s just a picture of a roulette wheel/combination lock.

If you want to listen to the whole song, here it is. It’s very good. Made me think of adding something to a combination lock. Bats are always good.

And I want to make wings. Maybe like these:

But want them to furl and unfurl (are those the proper terms?), so need to learn robotics.

Now on to the continuing sagas of projects already started.

Got lots done on the chandelier purse.  Finished enough to use it last weekend, and now know what changes to make. Mostly to the lights since they aren’t big enough. Here’s a picture. Abominably bad as usual, sorry.

Thought of changing the lights to a kind of bulb. Can get white/clear Christmas bulbs, cut off the bottom part, take out the light inside, and put in my LED. They’ll stick out further from the purse. Better than the white organza I used. Can get bulbs that are unbreakable, which would be best.

Actually did something on the cloth paper towels. Mentioned them a few posts back. Just zigzagged the edges. Didn’t care for that, but quilting fabric works perfectly. Will definitely make more, but with a proper hem, double folded and sewn on a machine. I hate my sewing machine and it’s a pretty atrocious one at that, but must use it. Will never get them made if I hand sew the hems.

For the Dali jacket, been thinking of the pattern. Would like a raised collar. TheClosetHistorian has a YouTube channel where she pattern drafts and sews. Love her stuff, by the way. Anyway, she often does this type of collar and it would be easier. Here‘s her latest video with an example. I really love proper lapel collars, but they are most certainly a pain to do.

Did finally get some freezer paper to try printing on fabric. Hope it works. Really must get on that.

Thank you, damned ones, for coming.

Been three weeks since the last entry. Don’t know why I couldn’t get myself going on this. But here we are, finally, for better or worse.

Did go off on a tangent about starting a zine. Watched waaaaaay too many YouTube videos about how to create one. Would like to call it Zine for the Damned. Checked online and it’s too close to another zine already in existence. Too bad, but at least that zine nonsense is over. For now. Happy for that, actually.

Now on to the few things I did accomplish.

Been continuing on with the chandelier purse. Sewed in the boning to give it a round shape. And this is working well, so far. Touch wood, she says as she knocks on her own skull.

Didn’t want the bare LED bulbs to show so they’re covered up with some white organza. Tried to take a photo, but it didn’t really come out all that well. Sorry, lighting’s not good.

Anyway, moving on. The blankets are going well. The green one is done. Yay! And I’m pawning it off on my brother which is great. Nice blanket, but not my style.

The bat blanket is half done (the crocheting part, no embroidery yet). Here’s a picture.

Have three rows of four bats each, thus far. Want to do three more rows of bats, but on the top row, in place of one of the bats, have a blood red moon, like this:

Hope I can find a yarn that comes in a good red.

Lastly, for the Dali jacket project, will need to print the paintings on fabric. Tried printing on some white batiste taped to a sheet of paper, but that didn’t work. According to YouTube videos, will need to print on fabric attached to freezer paper. The whole process seems simple enough. Could be wrong, though, knowing myself as I do. Couldn’t find any freezer paper anywhere near me so had to order from that place that won’t be mentioned on this blog. It will take a couple of weeks to get to me. In the meantime, will start on the base jacket.

Have some linen I ordered a couple of years ago, but never used because I hated the colour. Think I still have it somewhere in my stash. It can be the basis of the jacket. Been looking at YouTube videos about slow stitching. Here’s a good one for beginners. Basically, it involves attaching pieces of fabric and whatever to another fabric using long basting stitches in embroidery thread. Can use that technique to hide the horrible linen with prints of the paintings and other bits and bobs. Black quilting fabric will cover the other side of the linen.

Would like to include one of Dali’s cross paintings, like this one:

Got this from The Met’s website here.

But I always prefer crosses to be upside down, proper heathen that I am. Were I to turn it other way around, would that create a lot of hullaballoo? The thought makes me smile. So does the word hullaballoo.

That’s all for now. Hope I can make my lazy bum do more in the next two weeks. As always, thank you, Damned, for coming.

With hopes of success.

First thing, exciting news. I got a new subscriber the other day and it’s someone I don’t even know. Well. I’ll be damned. Oh, that’s right, I am.

Anyway, lollygagged most of the last two weeks so didn’t accomplish all that much. Took some needed time to recover from failing at the chandelier purse. It was tough having to accept defeat.

Breathe, embrace the process, and move on.

Trying a new method for the chandelier purse. Here’s hoping the second time’s the charm. And, I would like to say it’s coming along nicely, but I said that before and look what happened. Ended up in a fine pickle of a mess.

On the bright side, did manage to do lots of work on the green blanket. Almost two-thirds of the way through. And the bat blanket is coming along, too. Here’s hoping they’ll both be finished soon. At least something will be.

Keep thinking of this cartoon:

It’s by Sarah Andersen. She has a wonderful website here. You should check her out.

And, I finally figured out how to use my glue gun. Yay! Must have been having a good day. Managed to fill one mould. It sure did take a lot of glue, though. That one mould was at most half of a teaspoon and it used most of an eight-inch glue stick. Insert preferred exclamation, here.

For the top hat, I’m thinking the yarn I have isn’t thick enough, even doubled. But I saw a YouTube video a while ago. Crochet with Tuula Maaria shows in her 5 Indispensable Crochet Tips how to crochet with three strands using only one ball of yarn. That particular tip starts at 6:12. It’s quite nifty. Do want the hat to be somewhat stiff.

But, I was thinking of putting the top hat on hold for a bit. Really need another pair of mittens. Only have one pair that my mom made for me years ago and they aren’t terribly warm. Have a skein of purple and two small balls of green. Altogether, should be enough to make mittens. And purple and green is my favourite colour combination.

Think that’s all for now, damned ones. Thank you for coming. Hope to welcome you again.

The chandelier purse ended up being much harder than I thought. Egads, getting the velvet on was gruesome and I feel quite discombobulated. Sorry, but I’ve decided to give up on this project for now.

Do want to try this again, but instead of a ring that I added the lights and fabric to, I’ll start with the velvet and after the lights are attached, I’ll add in some boning to form a ring. Don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. Oh, well, live and learn. Or, more like, bumble along and eventually catch on. I’m good at bumbling, not so good at the catching on part.

Wanted so much to take it to the VanDusen Festival of Lights, though.

Now I’m going to skedaddle back to crocheting the green blanket. Work on something nice and simple until my nerves recover.

Again, my apologies.

Hello to the Damned. Hope you are well.

The welcome mat I talked about last time is in place, and I love it. Makes me smile. Had one person who didn’t want to cross my threshold because he didn’t think he was damned, but I put him straight. Thinking you aren’t damned means you certainly are, don’t you think?

At least that all went well. Having trouble wiring the chandelier purse. Attached half of the LEDs and they’re working magnificently. Regularly turn them on and off just to see them in all their beauty. The other three lights, though, not having so much luck. Twice I connected them, and twice I failed. And now I’m out of solder. I’ll get some soon, no worries. Did figure out how I’m going to attach the fabric . At least there’s that.

And my bat blanket is another project to go a bit wrong. Got the yarn from yarnspirations, but ordered the wrong blue, apparently. Wanted a darkish blue so the bats look to be flying in a night sky. The blue I ordered was called Ocean. Really, though, need to pay attention or things could get expensive. Midnight blue is now on the way. Hope it’s okay. Fingers crossed.

The wrong blue is kind of nice on its own, fortunately. A greeny blue. Decided to make a blanket with it, too. Won’t be terribly big, but that’s okay. And working on it can act as a sort of palette cleanser between other projects.

But I do have something else to crochet. A few months ago, my sister bought me a crochet pattern for a top hat. Here’s a picture.

It’s the wonderful creation of Melivia Mutch . Her Etsy shop is Hooked By Mutch. Think she just sells patterns for her crocheted stuff, but it’s all quite lovely. And don’t you love those spiffy glasses?

I have some purple yarn left over from the welcome mat. It’s a bit rough, but I can line the hat with something soft.

Would also like to crochet some slippers. Maybe something like these.

Or, still crocheted, but more in the style of these.

Sorry to whoever created these photos. Don’t have the credit information. Found them online somewhere and just saved them. Anyway, I have some thick black cotton yarn which should be comfy. Not sure how to decorate them. Maybe embroidery. Will be fun to go swooshing around my apartment in these. Not that I’m all that good at swooshing.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Thank you for coming. Keep well. Hope to see you again.

Bit late with this post. Again. Been working quite furiously on my welcome mat. Wanted to finish it before posting this week. The embroidery took waaaaaay more time than I thought it would. But, now it’s done. Yes.

Anyway, here are pictures. Not the best quality, but good enough, I suppose.

The purple is a little lighter and the green a little darker than I wanted. Guess that’s one of the problems with ordering yarn online. More than good enough, though, so used it anyway. The yarn is Red Heart’s Super Saver Yarn in Dark Orchid, Medium Thyme and Buff. Worked with a 3.5 mm crochet hook to make it quite dense. Appropriate for a mat.

Started making some cloth paper towels which I’ll sew by hand. Have some leftover quilting fabric with vines and elephants on it which should brighten up the kitchen. The towels will be twelve inches square with a quarter inch double folded hem. Hope they’ll be strong enough to go through lots of wash loads. Will make a few and test them out.

Making headway on the chandelier purse. Got three of the LEDs wired up and they work. Yay! Coming along nicely. I’m going to the VanDusen Festival of Lights near the end of December and hope to be able to use the purse then. It will fit in fabulously.

Designed a new blanket. It’s an intarsia design with black for bats and a darkish blue for sky. Bought the yarn online and it’s on it’s way. Can’t wait to get back to crocheting. My most favourite craft.

Well, my third post is done. Starting to get the hang of this. Who would have thunk it.

Delightful, said with humongous grin on face.

Thanks to all the damned for coming. You are most welcome here.

Now, I’m hoping to do a new post every two weeks. So far, so good. Well, one day late, but that’s pretty good for me.

Anyway, been up to a few things recently. First, though, here’s a photo of the little bedside rug I talked about last time. Sorry for the picture quality, but you’ll get the idea.

The purple and green yarns are by Red Heart: Grape Soft Touch and Dark Leaf Soft Yarn. The black is Simply Soft Yarn by Caron. It all feels quite nice, come to think of it. Much better than needed for a rug, but, heh. This yarn would make a frighteningly magnificent afghan, you know. Might get a bunch more and do just that. I’m thinking bats.

Worked on the door mat. It’s rows of single crochet, with cross stitches of words and vines, and says “The Damned Are Welcome Here” in somewhat medievally letters. Finished the mat part (purple) and the words (beige). Just have to finish the cross stitch of the vines (green). Spent an absurd amount of time trying to figure out what I wanted with those vines, but that’s done, now. Fingers crossed.

Reading Bernadette Banner’s book Make, Sew and Mend. Great book. Lots of pictures. I would like to do more hand sewing and her book goes into quite a lot of detail. I have a shockingly crappy sewing machine and don’t really want to spend money on a new one. So, hand sewing it’s going to be. Bernadette also has a YouTube channel where she does a lot of sewing, by hand and by machine, and designing. For your ease of reference, click here. Incredible.

Making some headway on another project. Years ago, thought of making a purse that looked like a chandelier. Bought some of the stuff to make it, but it needed something else. Something, I didn’t know what. Finally got a great idea from PrickyAlpaca‘s YouTube channel. Love her stuff, by the way. Watched her video about making a witchy kind of spell book and adding LED lights to the cover. I realized that’s what the purse needed: LED lights. Well, it is supposed to look like a chandelier, after all.

Got to learn about wiring LEDs by watching a bunch of YouTube videos and it all seems fairly simple. Going to wire up six white LEDs to a seven-inch ring. The rest of the purse will be black velvet and black beads. Should be quite fetching when it’s all done. Again, fingers crossed.

I think I accomplished quite a bit these last two weeks, amazingly enough. Well-deserved pat on back, I think. Maybe writing these posts will truly help me get stuff done.

Well, I guess that’s it for now. Pleasant dreams to all the damned.