The Doctor and the Cyberman
I began my day armed with a hot cup of Ocean City Blend and a voice mutator.
Filming has begun on a new season of Doctor Who – new cast, new crew, on location in my back yard.
When you are the mother of a Cyberman, especially one whose threatening mantra of “You will be deleted” has been cleverly replaced by the Doctor with the much sweeter “Mommy, Mama, I love Mama,” well, it’s nice to be able to respond in kind. Hence the voice mutilator, and a little “Baby, baby, I love baby” out the kitchen window while sipping my morning coffee.
It warms my heart to see how well the cast has been getting along during the three days of this shoot. You know, these things have a way of coming to a crashing end, often with a supporting actor losing interest and wandering off the set, while the star of the show (who is also the director) fumes at the subordinate’s refusal to take direction and see the show through to the end… Three days, though, and no incidents.
I suspect the union successfully argued for more Super Mario breaks between takes. That goes a long way toward ensuring cooperation and harmony on set.
*contented sigh*
I just want to sit back, close my eyes, and drink in all of this goodwill between brothers.
These are good, creative days. Good days, indeed.
Tags: Boring Office Guy, doctor who, flufy, videos
Comments: 7 Comments
Project :: Granny Square : Coffee Table Mat
So, I’ve got all these squares that my grandmother made, and I’m turning them into finished objects for several of us… you can get the back story here.
I sorted and counted them all on Friday: 123 squares, the vast majority of which had five rounds and three colors. There is also a respectable number of five-round one-color squares, and four-round two-color squares, plus small amounts of other combinations between 2 and 6 rounds, and 1 and 4 colors. By my calculations, everyone gets roughly 20 squares. Twenty squares can make a pretty decent-sized project. Not a blanket, or anything, but certainly a couple of throw pillows, a large tote bag, or a table runner.
I thought it would be fun to share the details of these finished items here, so I’m starting a new series called Project :: Granny Square. I’ll show you the squares I started with, any additions or changes I made to the squares themselves, how I arranged them, and what the finished product looks like. I’ll share any resources I used along the way, and maybe you can use the information in your own projects at some point.
Keep in mind, I’ve been crocheting only about 2 weeks, so these really aren’t going to be particularly tricky projects!
Project #1: Coffee Table Mat
For: Me
Squares used: 10 (7 five-round three-color, 3 four-round 2 color)
Step 1: Modify and/or supplement the squares
If it were just me doing whatever the heck I wanted with these squares, I’d have just chosen the ten five-round squares that most perfectly matched my living room and been done with it. But, I am sharing these squares with several other people and I wanted to be conscious of not taking only the very best ones for myself. To that end, I included three of the four-round squares and added a fifth round to them myself with some green from my stash.
I neglected to take a picture of the squares before I made those changes, but if you are curious, the modified squares are the middle one in the top row, and the second + fourth ones in the bottom row.
I wanted my mat to be 3×4, so I made two new squares from scratch, using a combination of stashed dark red, light brown, and some of Granny’s yarn that was in the box with the squares. The new squares are at the top and bottom of the first column. (I’d already begun connecting the squares in this photo.)
Step 2: Join the squares
One of the things that made me choose to make a coffee table mat was realizing how well the square motif echoed the squares in the living room rug. In order to keep that going, I decided that the squares should all be outlined in one unifying color (just like the carpet squares). I crocheted another round of dark red on each square, joining them to one another as I went.
I then treated the entire mat like one big granny square and crocheted two more rounds of dark red around the outside.
Step 3: Finish and enjoy
At this point, all that remained were to weave in the ends and block. Weaving in ends can be rather tedious, so I recommend putting on a little Miss Marple, brewing yourself a cup of tea, and settling in on the couch for a while. (Try to ignore any good-natured ribbing about what an old lady you’ve turned into.)
I don’t have a proper blocking board or pins yet, but the puckers and unevenness in this project definitely needed to be dealt with. I used a twice-folded towel on the carpeted floor and sewing pins this time, and it worked alright, but I do see the edges starting to curl as I sit here, and so I may do it again once I’ve got the right equipment, and I will be sure to wet the yarn more thoroughly as well.
Here it is complete.
And here it is in its natural environment.
Notes/Resources
Project #1, used ten of Granny’s squares (three of which were modified by me), two of my own squares, and about 200 yards of yarn I grabbed from my stash.
The original blocks were most likely made from worsted weight acrylic yarn, or some kind of acrylic/wool blend. All of the additional stash yarn I used was a washable worsted weight acrylic/wool/nylon blend (Berroco Vintage).
I used a G (4mm) hook.
I originally got the basics of granny square construction from watching this series of videos, but I also picked up some handy tips from this illustrated tutorial.
I used this video to see how to join the squares.
Before and after.
Next on the list? Most likely a larger table runner for my mother. Stay tuned
Tags: granny squares, project granny square, table runners
Comments: 17 Comments
All fixed
Phew. That’s better. Thanks, everyone who weighed in on my shirt dilemma. I machine-sewed a seam in the top of each shoulder strap that allowed me to cut off about six rows of crochet from each strap. That made it more reasonable. I zig-zagged the seam to make it less likely to unravel, but I suspect I still may be holding my breath when I toss it in the wash.
The fit of the fabric part was all wrong, too, so I shortened it by a few inches, and took it in on the sides.
Turns out, if I had just chosen one size smaller when I made the shirt originally, that part would have fit me perfectly. Live and learn!
And just because I enjoy side-by-side before-and-after shots:
Yep. Much happier with it now. I may even make another…