Tag: diy

Purple Giraffes

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Well, not exactly. But it is a giraffe on a purple shirt.

My little buddy (the boy I babysit nearly every day) had his third birthday last month. Two things he is absolutely sure of on a regular basis: his favorite color is purple and his favorite animal is a giraffe.

In addition to a few cars and some stickers, I decided to make him a shirt. Mostly because I couldn’t find any giraffe shirts at Target.

I found a few tutorials online and cobbled together my own screen printing method using curtain fabric, an embroidery hoop, and some handmade stencils.

It worked well for the yellow base coat of the giraffe’s body, but not exactly for the spots.

The paint didn’t exactly go through the tiny holes. It frustrated me a bit, considering it took so long to cut out every single spot, but it gave me a good basis to paint on the spots that didn’t come out by hand.

I painted the outlines, eyes, and leaves as well because by that point I didn’t want to mess with the home-made screen anymore. The curtain fabric was not rigidly woven enough and it started creating large holes. Painting ended up working pretty well.

Have you ever tried to silkscreen this way? Anyone else like to throw in a hand-made present along with (or in lieu of) store-bought ones?

Round And Round It Goes

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Hypnotic…

Remember how I said I may be crazy? Well, I think I just proved it. This is a lap blanket I made for my grandfather for Father’s Day a couple weeks ago. In near 90-degree weather. If that’s not proof of insanity, I don’t know what is. 🙂

I modified the Pinwheel Baby Blanket pattern by not stopping where it suggested and continuing until it was a good lap-size instead.

It’s a fairly simple pattern. Every other row you add a yarn over to each group, creating the nice lines in the pinwheel. I also chose to do stripes with gray between the black and white in the middle and getting smaller with just the black and white on the outside. On the edge I just finished with a row of single crochet stitches and then a row of double crochets.

I’m considering doing an actual baby-sized one plus a toddler-sized one with a few embellishments in a month or so when the family I work for grows. It’s always a good idea to get the big brother something when the little brother comes so he doesn’t feel left out, and what better way than somewhat matching gifts.

Keeping It Clean – Washcloth Pattern

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I LOVE cotton knit washcloths. I love making them, and I love using them. To me, they get dishes cleaner than regular washcloths, plus they can pick up more messes around the kitchen. And I make plenty of messes around the kitchen.

I’ve made washcloths many different ways, but I think I like this straight knit version the best. It knits up quickly and works really well with self-striping yarns. Plus, you can create whatever pattern in the center you want, like this heart:

Want to make one? You’ll need a pair of size 8 knitting needles and worsted weight 100% cotton yarn.

*These instructions are for the plain cloth, but you can create your own chart for the inner pattern in whatever design. The inner part is about 38 stitches by 54 rows.*

Cast on 46 stitches. Knit 3 rows.

Row 4: Knit 3, yarn over, slip 1 stitch, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over,* yarn over, knit 2 together* repeat to last 6 stitches, yarn over, slip 1 stitch, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over, yarn over, knit 3

Row 5: Knit 3, purl 19 stitches, increase 1, purl to last 3 stitches, knit 3

Row 6: Knit 3, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit to last 5 stitches, slip 2 stitches knit wise and knit together, yarn over, knit 3

Row 7: Knit 3, purl to last 3 stitches, knit 3

Repeat rows 6&7 until piece measures 1 inch less than desired length (for mine, I ended at 9 inches).

Repeat row 4.

Knit 3 rows, increasing 1 in the middle of the first row only. Bind off. Weave in ends.

If you just like using these washcloths but don’t want to make one yourself, I offer them in many colors on my Etsy site.

If you make one and post pictures, let me know! I would love to see other versions.

What kind of household items do you prefer to make yourself instead of using store-bought? What colors or patterns would you like to see in a washcloth?