Rattling On...

A bit of rough...

After completing this monster I had a fair bit of jute string left over, and in the current mood I have for stashbusting I decided to get started on finding things to use it up on. The garden was an obvious choice for one of the balls but I decided on something different for the other.

I like having a rough scrubber in the bathroom and I noticed the one I have already is starting to look a little manky, due I think to never really drying out. It's one of those sisal mitt type ones you buy, not very attractive and I decided I could do better.

You don't get much easier than this in crochet land, or you could knit it just as effectively I imagine. It's surprisingly pliable and not scratchy at all. Perfect for the job in fact, and it cost nothing, being a by-product of the bag. There's loads more left so I'll be thinking of other ways to transform it into useful and/or beautiful things. I have another planned already.

I shall put the pattern, such as it is, on Ravelry (see sidebar) so the world can marvel at my ingenuity...

With a 4mm crochet hook make a chain of 24 sts. The first 2 chains will be the turning stitch.

In the 2nd stitch from the hook make a DC (UK) and continue to do same in each st to the end. Chain 2 and repeat the DC to the end...continue to repeat this row until the desired length (mine is roughly square) is reached.

Leaving yarn attached and with the 2DC now on one corner, turn the work and go back around the other 3 sides  (ie not the row you just did, this will be the neatest and fine for a border) doing a DC border to neaten. If required make a loop for hanging at one corner (I just used a simple chain). Sew in ends.

Birdhouses...

What better thing to do, when it's blowing a blizzard outside and the temperature has dropped 22^o in the course of a week, than to make something?

Something using stuff you have in the house and that will make the indoors look Springlike even though outdoors doesn't!

That's right a birdhouse. Not of the functional kind, just decorative, though the basics are the same. These are made from cardboard and covered in fabric, but wallpaper would be just as good (and free if you get 'samples' from the DIY shop...)

I took loads of photos to do a tutorial but they have disappeared from the SD card. This has happened before and I think it's become corrupted and may need replacing, I've had it years. Anyway, it's all very straightforward.

You will need: a ruler, scissors/scalpel (and mat), glue and preferably a glue gun as well, cardboard.

Sketch out a template with dimensions, you can see mine on the picture. Make a back and front the same but with a hole in the front one, I cut round a 2p piece. Decide how the roof will fit, and remember if you want to hang these on a wall then the roof needs to be flush at the back.

So you'll have a front, back, base, two walls and a roof. I scored the roof and bent it before covering to make it easier and to check the fit.

Now, read the glue instructions to see if you have to leave it to go tacky before applying fabric. I used Copydex and on thin materials it's best to leave it a short time so it doesn't seep through.

The next part is where a hot glue gun makes life easy. I did one 'seam' at a time and kept checking for the best fit. To be honest they don't have to be perfect, they benefit from some naive charm, or at least that's what I keep telling myself. You can adda little perch under the hole at this point, I just didn't have any dowel. Poke a smallish hole in the cardboard, through the fabric, so the perch has to be squeezed in and fits snugly. Add a ribbon loop on the back if they are to be hung up.

These took less than a couple of hours, even including freezing in the raging wind to get photos. Then I brought them inside...

...and put them on a cakestand. They are now next to the Easter tree with the little clay eggs I made from leftovers.