One Man's Trash...

One afternoon I picked up my son from school, and on the way home I spotted Aeoniums piled up at the corner of someone's yard. They looked like they were doomed for the dumpster. As a self-proclaimed succulent plant geek, my eyes just widened and I almost came to a complete stop. So as not to embarrass my 16-year-old, I dropped him off at home and rushed back to the plant heap. Parked, and inhibitions aside, I rang the doorbell and simply asked if I could have the cuttings. Thankfully, the guy said, "Sure. Thanks for asking." I held back my glee-hee-hee!

Here's the pile I came home with:

As I sorted them out, I noticed one of the branches looked like a sculpture, warranting it to be displayed. I went ahead and mounted the branch onto a piece of redwood bark. I had to drill some holes into the bark so I could attach the branch to it with florist wire. Once attached, I concealed the wire with sphagnum moss. Here is the completed project:

The rosettes look a bit squished from being all piled up, but they should perk up in a few days.
Stay tuned for more projects from "One Man's Trash."

Crocheted Jute Purse

Landscaping your yard can be a big investment; sometimes it can take all the money out of your purse! I decided to put some of that investment back....

To make the purse, you will need:

Gardening Twine

19 Gauge Wire

Pliers

Scissors

J/10/6.0mm Crochet Hook

The Purse Pattern:

Round1: CH40, SL ST in the 1st CH to join the round (40CH)

Round2-7: CH3 (counts as one DC), DC around, SL ST in the CH3 (40DC)

Don't fasten off

Cut enough wire to go around the purse, plus about 1.5" to make an oval. Use the pliers to twist the ends together. Make two ovals.

Notice they don't have to be perfectly symmetrical. The only concern is that they can each fit around the purse.

Round8: CH2 (counts as one SC) Hold the twisted end of one of the ovals just behind the top of round 7. Begin joining the purse with the wire by inserting your hook through the next DC and under the wire. Draw up a loop, YO, and complete the SC st by drawing through both loops on the hook. Repeat this process around, and SL st at the top of CH2 (40 SC)

The Handles:

Round9: CH2, SC in next 5 st, CH12, skip the next 8 st, SC in next 12 st, CH12, skip next 8 st, SC in next 6 st, SL st in CH2 (48 total st)

Round 10: SL st around in back loops only, fasten off.

The Bottom:

Round1: Turn the purse upside down and join the bottom with the other oval wire in the same manner as Round 8 of the main body.

Rounds 2-4: Alternate SC and SC2tog until you have completed 3 more Rounds.

Cut enough twine to whip stitch the last round closed.

Weave all the ends in, and line the inside with newspaper.

Insert potting soil and your plant arrangement.  Water thoroughly, including the purse itself.

(The next day, I decided to change the arrangement a little bit, so the above photo does not match the finished purse.)  

Step back and enjoy the return of investment from your garden, or give your arrangement to someone special because giving also has plenty of priceless returns.

Dry Versus Humid

I've been focusing so much on succulent plants for the simple reason that, well... they're simple.  They don't ask for much--just to keep them away from too much water and freezing temperatures.  Heck, if you cut off one of their "limbs," the limbs will grow into new plants!

I decided to be brave and get some tropical plants--which, unlike succulents, love moisture and humidity. That was a bad idea. I bought some carnivorous plants. I gave them rain water per the grower's instructions, but the brown part of my thumb got the best of them.  They are now buried in the yard-debris bin. Not to be outdone, I bought some hibiscus and planted them close to the house to keep them as warm as possible.  During the first sign of frost, the hibiscus was decimated.

The main reason I wanted to start collecting tropical plants was that they remind me so much of my visits to Bali. I came up with a way to combine both my love for succulents and the tropics. It happened when I placed a swatch of batik in an acrylic frame. I suddenly envisioned it as a background for some succulents.

I circled where I wanted to insert the succulents, removed the acrylic frame, and then melted holes through the markings with my wood burner.

I put the batik and cardboard-backing in the acrylic frame. Using an X-acto knife, I cut through the fabric and cardboard where the holes were made.

I took some succulent cuttings from my garden and inserted each cutting into a hole.  To stabilize and secure the plants, I wrapped their stems with florist tape.

Now, I can display my love for succulents and Bali without killing innocent plants.

It looks great on our bookshelf, but imagine an accent wall decked out in various batik and succulents....

Tunisian Knit Crochet Beanie

I can't knit but I like the stretch and texture of knitting. I recently picked up the book The New Crochet Dictionary. It's not "new." The book was published in the 80s, but it has loads of techniques, like tunisian crochet. I found out about the tunisian knit stitch (tks) from the book, but because the photos are somewhat blurry and in black and white, I had to supplement with web tutorials.

I started this hat with the tunisian simple stitch and then tks, but I didn't work in the round (that's the next technique I will have to learn).

Using a regular hook, I joined the swatch with slip stitches. I went through the front loops only so it doesn't have such a high bump.

The top was closed working in a spiral with single crochet (sc) and  sc decrease.

To finish, the brim is one round of sc.

A Whole New World

What do a black Prius, pirates, teatime, a mermaid, an office breakroom, the color orange, apples, plumerias, an alien, Hollywood, duct tape, and divas have to do with one another? They were fused together with inside jokes, fond memories and laughter---a perfect world created by two friends to escape from the daily grind. But when one of those friends decides to step away from the office to focus on motherhood, will she still be able to step into that world?

Yes.

She can.

 

Anger Management Kit

Sometimes, when I'm driving, I tend to have a bit of a temper.  The other day, when someone cut me off, I honestly wanted to give the guy the finger. For those of you who are privileged enough not to know what "the finger" means, it's a gestural curse done by raising only the middle finger at someone.

I must confess, I've used this gesture a few times, and each time was followed by full remorse. I had to find a way to censor myself.  The solution: a finger censor...

This is just a circle worked in a spiral.  I kept increasing with every round.  The red slash was made by inserting the hook between rounds and making a slip stitch each time.  The finger cozy itself was made separately and then sewn on.

The ring finger is inserted in the cozy, so the gesture cannot be made by the middle finger alone.

In effect, it's a euphemism---like saying fudge or shoot, when what's really meant is something more vulgar.

Wow... I really look angry... and quite ugly. I don't usually look at myself in the mirror with anger, so this project taught me how ugly I must look when I'm pissed off.  I can definitely hear my mom saying, "If you keep doing that, your face will get stuck that way." Yikes!

I don't think I'll ever really use this thing.  It would be kind of dangerous to use it while driving.  What I should do is post that ugly picture of me in the car, so I remember to remain calm.

After I made this finger censor, I thought to give it another function. I was prompted to do this when I overheard a woman at the craft store yell out to her 5-year-old, "Shut the f*ck up!" Yes, she said the F word. I won't bother spelling out the word for those who may not know---I don't want to corrupt you more than I already have.

Sometimes, parents can be more of a brat than their own children, and the parents are the ones needing the pacifier:

Towel Control

I got so tired of seeing hand towels on my counters or hurriedly scrunched around the door handles of our kitchen appliances.  I remembered my mom used to crochet "towel toppers," and I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.  I could have saved myself a lot of frustration!

The main color is Red Heart Spring Green.

To start with, you'll need a hook small enough to pierce through the towel, but big enough to work with the thickness of the yarn.  In this case, I used a 1.75 mm steel hook. The foundation row should be tight, and small pleats made due to a tight gauge is desired.

Fold the hand towel in half and cut along the fold:

FOUNDATION ROW: With the 1.75 mm steel hook, pierce a hole approximately 1/4" away from one of the corners.  Work single crochets along the side, piercing a hole into the towel for each stitch.

As you turn the corner, work 2 SINGLE CROCHET (SC) stitches in one hole, and continue to make single crochet stitches along the rough edge.

As you turn the corner at the end, also work 2SC stitches in one hole, and make enough SC stitches along the side so the coverage is even with the other side of the towel.

Work REVERSE SLIP stitches back up to the corner.

ROW1: Switch to a larger hook; in this case, the hook is 3.25mm.  CH2 and turn. Work HALF DOUBLE CROCHET (HDC) stitches in each single crochet until you get to the corner

ROW2: CH2 and turn. HDC in the back loops of each st, ending with one at the top of CH2.

ROW3: CH2, turn and work DOUBLE CROCHET (DC) stitches across, ending with one at the top of CH2 of previous row.

Join ROW3 with a SLIP STITCH (SL ST).

Make a SL ST at the top of each of the next 2 DC.

STRAP:
ROW1: CH2 and turn. Work DC in front loops of next 5 stitches.
**ROW2: CH2 and turn, DC in next st, BACK POST DOUBLE CROCHET (BPDC) around each of next 2 st, DC in each of next 2 st
ROW3: CH2 and turn, DC in next st, FRONT POST DOUBLE CROCHET (FPDC) around each of next 2 st, DC in each of next 2 st**

repeat from ** to ** 5 times
repeat ROW2

BUTTON HOLE
CH2 and turn, DC in next st, TREBLE CROCHET (TRC), CH3, SL st in back ridge of second CH from hook, CH1, TRC in next st of strap, DC in next st, HDC

Fasten off and weave ends in.

Sew on a one inch button at the center of the foundation row, or sew on  a QUICK AND EASY FLOWER.