A Fox Cowl

When the chunky Failynn Fox Cowl pattern crossed my path, I knew that I needed to make it.  (There is a crochet version, too!  Flint Fox Cowl.)  It is constructed out of super bulky yarn which meant it would be a fast project PLUS it was super adorable.

I made the toddler size and used KnitPicks Tuff Puff yarn in hand dyed by me orange (340 g, 150 yards), white (13 g, 6 yards) and black (26 g, 12 yards).  I dyed 4 balls (~400 yards) of the white tuff puff before starting this project since there wasn't a suitably foxy orange available at the time.  The nice thing about creating food coloring dyeing tutorials in my kitchen is that when a color I need is back ordered I try to create my own!

For the first time Lucky helped me wind the yarn into balls.  He kept winding the yarn and saying "I'm making a fox hat!"  If only a little crank was all it took!

The pattern is well written and this fun hooded cowl comes in multiple sizes.  I made one adjustment to the pattern.  After the last cowl decrease round I knit 22 sts and started doing the hood back and forth rows there.  This way the round beginning with the stripe would be on the back of the hood, not front and center.

I started using felted joins to add new balls of yarn after I realized that i would have ends to weave in near the edge of the hood.

While the hood was in progress I tried it on Lucky.  The hood measured 9.5" on the stockinette and I had knit 33 or 34 rows.  This seemed super short and I thought i would need to knit to the child size 12 inches, but then I tried it on him again a few rows later and it looked like it would close okay.  In the end I knit 43 rows that measured 11.5" before closing off the hood.

I love a project where I can try it on the intended recipient during the construction.  There was very little worry about it being too small!  (However, I was nervous about running out of yarn.  This is one of the downsides of using a custom hand dyed colorway!)  Lucky was so excited to put on his hood that he started howling, even without the ears.  

On the ears, I changed some of the decreases to SSk or P2tog-TBL where applicable so the decreases would be symmetric on either side of the ear.

I wasn't sure what the two rounds of SC crochet would add around the edge of the  hood but it really finished it off nicely. I think I have one ENORMOUS crochet hook somewhere, but the only hook I had on hand is a Size K, not the M recommended in the pattern.  I just made sure to keep my SC's really loose on the edge of the hood and around the ears.

By the time I finally knit and finished this hat it was springtime, there were very few cold days left. I think it might still fit Lucky another year (he wore the same hat for the third winter in a row this year) but if not then Rowdy will be able to wear it.  

Lucky has requested that I make him an elephant hat.  I will wait until the end of the summer before I start his new hat for next winter to make sure that he still wants to be an elephant.  

Lucky was so tiny when I knit him his first fox hat!  Even after wearing this for almost a whole winter the hat was in great shape for Rowdy to use this year.  

Also featured in this photo are the birthday shirts I made for Lucky and Rowdy this year.  I can't believe how much they've grown even since taking these photos just a few months ago!  

Paper Mache Dinosaurs

Writing for ChemKnits has given me the opportunity to explore a lot of new crafts, but it also has been a fantastic excuse to explore older craft techniques, too.  I haven't done paper mache in YEARS.  My grandfather still has a paper mache box I made when I was 10 or 11 in his china cabinet, and that may have been the last time I tried this.  When I saw a picture of paper mache dinosaur feet made out of tin cans on Pinterest I knew that this would be a perfect DIY project to try for Rowdy's dinosaur themed first birthday party.  

I love a crafting project that can be done with items I have laying around my house, and especially with items that would otherwise go in the trash or recycling bin.  With the exception of the paint, tape and glue, all of the materials for this project came from packing material and other recyclable products.  In addition to the dinosaur foot cans, I really wanted to try to turn a soda bottle into a Pteradon.  I painted some soda bottles for Lucky's second birthday party, and for some reason the shape of the bottle looked like a Pteradon head to me.

I used the bottom of the can to make a circle on some cardboard before free cutting out a foot shape.  I used piece of cardboard as a guide to cut the second piece.  I flipped one of the pieces over so I could secure them to the cans as mirror images.  I glued the cardboard to the cans with some craft glue and allowed them to dry overnight.  

I had some cardstock scraps left over from when I created birthday hats for one of Lucky's birthdays.  I cut strips and rolled them to add some dimension to my dinosaur feet.   The tape that I used was medical tape we were given to label bottles at the hospital where Rowdy was born.  It felt fitting to use the rest of this tape for his first birthday party decorations.

For the Pteradon bottle, I cut slits on either side of the plastic soda bottle with a box cutter.  I cut two wings out of cardboard like above so I could slide them into the slits and tape them into place.  At least I intended to tape the wings in place.  They stayed really well without tape so I decided to leave them be.

I constructed a flattened cone out of card stock for the beak.  This I needed to tape into place.  I know that the head placement is pretty low relative to the wings, but this is my idea of a cartoonish pteradon.  The bottom of the bottle is like the feet, and it has a large body/head thing.

Finally, I taped some card stock tubes to the wings so I could help build up the 3D shape once I started adding the paper mache strips.  My prep work was complete!

For the paper mache itself, I had a lot of brown packing paper that had come with different packages.  I tore the paper into inch wide strips that were a couple of inches long.  I tried to prep more strips than I thought I would need so that I could work quickly once my glue was ready.

My glue mixture was 1 cup of flour in 5 cups of water.  I let it boil for a minute until it thickened and then let it cool enough so I could touch it.  I forgot to add the recommended salt until after I was done boiling.  Supposidly the salt would help keep things from molding, which would be helpful.  I added a big dash and then mixed it up.

I tore the brown packing paper into inch wide strips.  The thicker paper (more like brown paper bags) held up better in the glue than the thinner paper.  It took some memory to get started, but I remembered that it is useful to squeeze off most of the liquid before applying to the project.

To start covering the feet cups, I put them on a cookie sheet with an old silicone baking mat.  This should catch any spills of my glue and the feet should (hopefully) peel off okay in the end.  I started by adding paper to the top of the can openings to cover any sharp edges.

It has been years since I've done this.  I dropped a bunch of strips into the glue at once and then let them soak a bit.  I seem to remember wanting to squeegee as much liquid off as possible before adding it to my project.

To add some more volume to the feet, I crumpled some of the paper to help build it up around my card stock supports.

When I finished both feet I wondered if I should have done more than two.  I quickly reminded myself not to over do it, I had so many different projects planned that I didn't need a lot more. I was just really enjoying this trip into childhood crafts.

For the soda bottle pteradon, I wasn't concerned about adding volume anywhere, just covering the structure without making any appendages fall off.

I also wanted to have an easier surface to paint over.  I know that a lot of my friends and family didn't see the Pteradon here, and maybe I should have made the beak higher up, but this is supposed to be a cartoonsih representation.  Maybe it would make a better Yoda...

I set the project on one cookie sheet to dry and crossed my fingers.

I don't remember when I completed this project, but I think that I might have been a week or so out from Rowdy's birthday.  It was close enough that I was concerned about the paper mache drying in time.  Thankfully, after a few days (and rotating the objects) it dried completely and I was able to paint the project with a few days to spare.

I didn't take step by step photographs of the painting process, but the paper took paint really well and I didn't need multiple coats on the body.  I added the eyes and beak so hopefully you might see my attempted dinosaur now.  

The soda bottle pteradon has no real purpose, but the therapod feed would work great to hold forks for the snack table.

This paper mache project was a lot of fun because it took very little time to execute and relatively little mess.  I think that if my kids were involved it would have gotten much messier!  These items are just another way to add some whimsy to Rowdy's first birthday party.  I have a feeling that I"m going to have trouble getting rid of these after the party!

Want to see more of my inspiration for Rowdy's birthday party?  Check out my Dinosaur First Birthday Party board on Pinterest.  

Dyeing Yarn with Dye Tablets Inserted into a Pre-wound Yarn Cake

Always add more vinegar, Rebecca.  Just add more vinegar.  If the dye isn't absorbing as fast as you like, ADD MORE VINEGAR!

I love dyeing yarn with Easter egg dye tablets.  These concentrated dry balls of yarn are perfect for space dyeing.  I enjoy dyeing wound cakes of yarn (created with a ball winder) because you end up with stunning asymmetrical colorways.  For this dyeing experiment, I used all 9 colors from a deluxe egg dyeing kit (PAAS brand) and inserted them into pre wound 100g of KnitPicks Stroll bare fingering weight yarn.  The yarn is a wool nylon (75/25) blend and dyes BEAUTIFULLY.

One of my favorite parts of space dyeing is watching the colors spread out through the yarn and into the dyebath.  My pot contained 8 cups of water and 3 T of white vinegar.  I added some more later on in the video, but I wish that I had started out with a bit more vinegar.  

The finished dyed cake had some stunning colors on either side.  On the top you saw blue and green, but on the bottom you saw concentrated specks of a deep blue, bright green, red, and orange.  

I took dozens of pictures as I unwound the yarn.  I feel like every few yards there was a new surprise peaking out.

After the mottled green was gone, you can see how localized the interior dye colors remained!

Sometimes it was hard to tell if we saw some colors breaking or just blending around the edges.  

If I were to do this dyeing experiment again, I would increase the amount of vinegar in the pot (maybe 5-6T) and I would let the yarn remain in the pot longer to cool.  It can take a while for these dye tablets to dissolve so I want to give them a chance to get there!

Want to see the final skein?  Watch the video to find out!

And remember, if the dye isn't sticking the way you want, ADD MORE VINEGAR!  Some dye was coming out as I was unwinding, but remained after the wash step.  If you're concerned that the dye isn't bound well after the fact, soak you skein in some water with vinegar and then microwave for a couple of minutes.  

I don't think that I need to be limited to egg dye tablets for this kind of technique.  Now that I know that there are all kinds of dry food coloring out there (that aren't just KoolAid products), I am excited to explore other methods of cake dyeing.