Tutorial: Blocking Acrylic Yarn

I work with Acrylic yarn a lot.  And for some reason, I feel the need to justify this to you.  I'll just say that Acrylic lends itself well to the type of projects I tend to make (e.g. 8-bit game crochet, miscellaneous items that need to be durable, etc.).  Furthermore, I rarely ever make any sort of garment, thereby making it not economically nor practically favorable to work with cellulose or natural fibers.  Lastly, there's that small part of my 12-year-old self that sort of loves the squeaky, grossly-colored variegated yarns of mismatched and puke-styled purples and greens and says I couldn't ever possibly let go of acrylic yarns.

I've almost finished a knitting project made entirely of acrylic yarn.  Honestly, I make many things without finishing them properly and I normally regret not putting in that little bit of extra time to make it look more professional.  This time, I'm doing it right; I'm finishing my knitted project off by blocking each individual square, and I am sharing the tutorial with you.

Everyone has a slightly different method they prefer for blocking yarn.  In fact, some people will argue with you that blocking acrylic yarn should NEVER be done.  But, I believe in lightly blocking acrylic.  Keep in mind that your blocking will be permanent.  I've tried using steam before, and I find that with the yarn I use (most often Red Heart, and Loops & Threads Impeccable), this ends up making the yarn really flat, shiny, and scratchy.  Also, you can use this method for blocking other types of materials too!

Here is my method for how to Block Acrylic Yarn:

The Downfall of Cubicle Walls

You know what they say about cubicle partition walls......
     [Do they actually say something about cubicle partition walls?]

Well I certainly wish there was some cliched, overused aphorism about them.
        Because maybe then you would have considered that at least some partial truth must lie in the phrase.
              And you would perhaps have reconsidered your actions.
           Or likely just whispered less audibly
                                                                          about the girl adjacent to your cubicle.
  
Because there's this thing about the brain being wired to hear its own name even amidst the densest droning of sound. 
              Ergo, you can be sure that she'll have heard you.
                             So feel free to share all of the judgmental things you can think of about her.



She
will
really
appreciate    it.
     
     
    
    

Sweatshirt to Baby Valentine's Shirt Refashion.

I'm not really into Valentine's day; call me the Valentine's Scrooge.  Actually, please don't.  There's something about it that has always felt so forced to me.  This seemingly arbitrary day that dictates when we should show an excess amount of love to those we care about most.  It's always made me feel silly...As if my love to you on the 14th should somehow manifest itself in ways that are more obvious and complete than at any other day of the year.  That's not to say that there aren't people who celebrate Valentine's day in a very personal, discrete manner.  Ultimately, I think that's all that really matters: what does it mean to you?  To me, it represents an absurd amount of artificial gifting, and almost necessary tokens of affection that it creates not a day of appreciation and love, but of expectations and anxiety.  I know.  I sound like I've been let down on Valentine's day, or dumped, or single and heartbroken for them all, or just really loveless.  But I haven't, and I'm not.  I just see people passing by me every year rushing to find chocolates or roses or even a more specialized, personal gift that will tell that special someone they mean the world to them.  And it made me realize that it seems almost impossible for a day to try to encompass so much emotion and meaning.  Because, in my eyes, it's hard to even fit all of that love and compassion into one year, let alone one day.  Which perhaps makes me more sappy than someone who celebrates Valentine's day with real vigor.  I think that every day in some way should be a kudos to love: because truly, is there anything meaningful without?

...

Compilation of Gifts and Resolutions.

I don't know what it is about being busy, but it seems as though the more obligations we have, the more we are able to somehow juggle and squeeze other things into our lives as well.  This is so true for me; with each increasingly difficult semester I find that I'm taking on more and more projects and tending to work longer week hours.  It amazes me how many things we can accomplish when we're presented the opportunity to do so,  especially when these things are necessary.  

I'm also kind of embarrassed at how exceedingly well the artificially-imposed new slate gimmick works for me at the beginning of the year.  Logically, I understand that the new year is really nothing but a mostly-arbitrary marking of the passage of time, but for some reason I really do feel like I can make important changes and implement all of the pieces I associate with the person I want to be.  Aside from the usual things I convince myself I'll change this year such as reading out of all of my textbooks before I go to class, or becoming someone who actually enjoys distance running instead of just sprinting for 10 meters, or thinking in SI units...I've resolved to begin making my Christmas gifts early this year.  It's really ridiculous how I tend to wait until the couple of weeks before Christmas, and somehow I'm always shocked when it arrives in December, as if I didn't have 12 months to prepare.  I hate the feeling of obligatory gift-buying because I know I won't have time to come up with something good enough.  Which is why this year, I've already mentally mapped out most people's presents, and I've started on many of them.  Making things for people always makes me really happy because I often have trouble thoroughly conveying to people how much they mean to me and I feel like by giving them something personal I can express this more completely through the gesture with (likely) a combination of awkward and silly words that I might stumble through and smile cheesily after. 

Because I've been making things for probably some of the only people that read this blog, I can't share fully what I'm working on.  Therefore, I'm going to give a couple of sneak-peeks (I feel like I'm presenting some sort of movie to you).

The first one is what has consumed my time knitting on the train most days.  Remember my shoebox knitting method that I came up with to conserve space when on UTA Trax?  I've used this for every single one of these blocks below.  Clearly, these still have to be blocked so that they are all square, but I'm waiting on finishing about 5 more of these colored blocks. 

This next one represents me loving the look of entrelac (a faux woven pattern).  I won't tell you exactly what I'm making, but I had a couple of specific people in mind as I've been making this pattern and have decided to create it for both of them...perhaps even more than just these 2.  Also, I love this yarn. 

Finally, I have been making these fabric envelopes to send my Christmas thank-you cards in.  The basic assembly is from the awesome pattern from here by Sew Mama Sew.  Does this mean I get an extension on sending thank-you notes?  I hope so.  I'm so awful....

I'm actually planning on sending these out in the mail as a real envelope.  What do you think?  Will they send?  Will they be returned to me?  I'm thinking of ironing the stamp on as well as the address.  I seem to recall an episode where Mythbusters sent a coconut into the realm of the US Postal Service and it made it to the desired address.  Fabric envelopes can't be more bizarre than that...right? (side note:  I just spelled bizarre wrong twice...I do not remember ever learning the spelling of this word in public school) 

Well, I guess I'll find out soon.  I'll keep you posted!  Ha ha.  Get it?  This is a suitable joke to leave on.

Kirby Crochet.

I've been working on my super-secret-mission project again, which is bound to someday shortly become my not-so-secret-mission project....

I was playing the original Kirby's Dreamland on my Gameboy the other day and decided that Kirby would be wonderful to crochet.  I started planning everything out yesterday, and finished all of the crocheting and finishing work today.  Here is the Kirby's Dreamland-inspired crochet piece:

I did this one a little differently than I've done in the past.  Before, I've noticed that my gauge isn't perfectly square.  I would plan everything out on graph paper and be extremely disappointed when the finished result was a super tall and skinny version of what I had drawn (such as Donkey Kong).  This time, I measured my gauge in advance.  It turns out that I have 15 stitches and 12 rows for every 4"x4" square.  Then, I used excel to plot out my design by changing the row and column heights to match my gauge.  This way, I could compensate for the non-square gauge by being able to see what the actual finished piece would look like in advance.  So nice!  I'll have to devote an entire post to the process of this one day.

Good thing I was once obsessed with collecting yarn before, which means that I pretty much always have the right colors I need for crocheting these 8-bit  designs.

I want to try and make sure that I have very recognizable games, but yet that they are still a little bit out of context, in that I don't exactly want to replicate a scene exactly.  That way, I feel like there's at least a little bit of artisticness going into it rather than precise alikeness?  Not to say I don't love perfect scenes down to the pixel, but for this particular project I want the characters and games almost somewhat extracted from their environment. 

Ideas for the next one? 

Soda Can Embossing Tutorial

Pinterest has solidified in me the notion that people out there are extraordinarily talented.  If you're like me, you can queue things up on your boards that one day you need to do until you realize there just isn't enough time in the world for it all.  So, I've been trying to focus on starting and completing projects all the way (which is much harder for me than it sounds).  

Therefore, when I find really awesome, quick craft projects I can do entirely, I jump at the chance.  This particular project--Soda Can Embossing--is ridiculously easy!  You just need an empty aluminum soda can, a ballpoint pen, sandpaper / sanding block, and cardboard.  Soda cans are perfect for embossing because the aluminum is so thin, it holds a nice shape, and you don't have to buy extra materials.

One thing I love about the idea of embossing soda cans is how versatile this craft is.  You could use them for Christmas ornaments, gift tags, bookmarks, notes, scrapbooking embellishments, etc.  

Depending on how intricate your design is, this project can be done in under an hour.  I love that.  I'm planning on getting my whole family in on the idea of making some fun ornaments this year by embossing soda cans.  

Want to emboss your own aluminum cans?

...

Collecting Things.

There's something so comforting about collecting things.  I've gone through phases of collection items.  I used to collect rocks when I was a kid, and I had a hand-painted, smelly egg carton to put them in.  Then I started a key collection of old, useless, rusty keys.  Soon I switched to buying skeins and skeins of yarn of all kinds:  Fluffy, fuzzy, furry, stringy, barf-colored variegated, neon pink, scintillating green.  It was a disease.

Then there's my obsession with all things paper.  I keep every note I've ever been written, and I have this thing about writing notes to people and never actually giving it to them.  I also just love types, weights, colors, and textures of paper.

But my new collection obsession is fabric. The problem I have now is that I've been slowly buying more and more without actually using it up.  I have visions for them all, but with all of my schoolwork and work work, I have to keep pushing it off until I get some free time.  I keep all of my newest fabric piles in a stack on my desk so I can smile at them while I'm doing homework late into the night.  Somehow something silly and small like this just helps make doing all of the hard stuff that much nicer.  There's just something about the aesthetics and personality and imperfections about making stuff for yourself or for others that makes this world unarguably better.  And that's why I love collecting things.

Collecting anything is soothing and such a commonly-shared human trait.  It's when you collect something too specific and odd that gets you into trouble.  A hair from every girl you've ever dated?  That's weird.  Probably anything that is from the body is a little different to collect.  Not that I'm saying you shouldn't collect spleens if that's your thing....Do what you need to do, I think.  This is venturing into some weird territory, now.

Anyway,  I bought these lovely new fabrics recently:

And these ones:



A lot of them are connoted with particular people because I have them in mind when I'm shopping for fabrics and thinking of presents I'll eventually get to making when I have the time.

And I used a small plastic storage tote to store my fabrics, which works out so nicely.  I'm kind of loving the look of them all together.  Plus, seeing them all like this makes me realize that I need to slow down on the purchasing.  At least I don't really care about clothes or anything else.  This and N64 games lately dominate the spending habits of late. 

What do you collect?