Paper Flower Pot

Today while I was doing some plant transfers, I noticed I only had 7 peat pots left. I don't know about everyone else, but I like using peat pots to grow my seeds for a few different reasons.

1. They biodegrade.
2. They are simple.
3. They are cheap.
4. I'm too lazy to take them out of another pot before putting them in the ground.

After going through a few stages of frustrations, I decided to say "Screw it. I'mma make me some pots." So, I did. My mother had been bringing me some newspaper for the past two weeks or so, so I knew I had plenty of paper to do it. This is what came out of my lack of peat pots~

Materials Needed:

• Newspaper (a full page will give you four small pots)
• Staples (something to just keep the sides together, you could use tape, glue, etc.)
• A bone folder (basically just something to give you nice crisp folds. You could use a ruler or pencil as a substitute)

Directions:

Grab a single sheet of news paper. Make sure it's one of the long ones that make up two different full text pages.

Rip it in half long wise.

Rip it in half again. At this point you should have four squares.

Though you may have four pieces now, we'll only be using one for the purpose of this tutorial.

Fold it in half.

Fold it in half again. It should now look like a small square. Just so you know, when I mention "unfolded" in later parts of this tutorial, never unfold it past this point. You want to keep it slightly thick so that it can retain at least a little water.

And another half fold.

When open it should look like this. To make my folds easier to see, I used a sharper to make the creases pop. This middle fold doesn't need to be deep at all. So long as you can see it, it's good.

Fold one of the sides in, bringing it into that last middle crease. Use your bone folder/straight edge to get a nice deep crease.

This is what it should look like unfolded.

You are going to repeat a fold to the center line on the other side. Make sure the creases fold in on the same side. 

Another unfolded view. It should now look like four long panels.

Making the crease parallel, that is to say the opposite direction of the last, fold it in half again. 

When open it should look like this. Once again, please keep in mind that all of the folds should be on the same side. You do want it to open a certain way, yes?

Fold it towards your center line one more.

Beginning to see how simple this is?

Last time I'll ask you fold to the center, I promise.

You should now have a grid of folds. 

I've taken the liberty of marking what the squares are for this. The numbers go up and down, and the letters go across. For example, when I say A4, I mean the very bottom right square.

The square known as A1, I want you to fold it in on itself, bringing it in to crease a triangle pointed to the center of your squares.

Give it a nice crease along that folded edge, would you?

Make sure  you get a nice line there.

Fold it along the side of A2. 

Staple it in place. After taking an image of this step, I realized that you might not be able to see the staple very well, so I went around it with a sharpie again. So that line there is just me emphasizing where that staple is.

You are going to do the same to the A4 square. Pull it up to B4. One again, staple that sucker in place.

And another fold and staple create the third corner.

Go ahead and give it a fourth, would you? 

BAM~ You, my dearest reader, are done. You have successfully (hopefully) created a nice little paper box for you to put plants in. Or really to put whatever you want in.

 

I've made way too many of these today.. way waaaaaaay too many.

Garden - May 18, 2012

So, this will constantly be updated as I go. I just want to currently list what all I have in my garden. So that when next year rolls around I won't be surprised by what comes back up. Also, I'll most likely keep you all updated on what I'm doing with my garden as it happens. In the mean time, enjoy this list of flowers that I can currently remember that are in my garden (or will be by the end of the weekend).

1. Osteospermum ecklonis - A dark blue/purple center surrounded by white petals. The underside of each petal is a lovely lilac color. Please note, the flowers close at night and open up at morning. It is a perennial Daisy.
2. A Rose Bush.
3. Stargazer Lily (x2)
4. Easter Lily (dead?)
5. Hibiscus (dead?)
6. Clovers (dead?)
7. Dusty Miller (or Silver Dust)
8. Some tropical grassy plant
9. Snapdragons (x2 (dead?))
10. Muscari aucheri - A blue flower with a white tip. The flower shape resembles a bell. It is a perennial bulb. Hardy to frost.

"Perfect sphere" simplified

This pattern can be found in it's original version (in these parenthesis). Please be aware that it is in an online pdf file. Note: this pattern is not one that I have created. Please do not credit me as being the creator. I am making this post because a friend asked me to rewrite the pattern in a way she could understand. I'm posting it online, because I hope that if there is anyone else out there who needs it, you can find it.

1. Recommend using the Magic Circle. Stitch a total of 6 Single Chains (SC). Slip stitch (sl st) to close.
2. Put two SC in each stitch (st) available. When you go back and count them you should have twelve (12) at this point.
3. This step gets a bit confusing now. So I'll write it out per the twelve stitches. (You get 16 st when finished)
1. SC once.
2. Two SC in one st.
3. SC once.
4. SC once.
5. Two SC in one st.
6. SC once.
7. SC once. 
8. Two SC in one st.
9. SC once.
10. SC once.
11. Two SC in one st.
12. SC once.
4. In the next three stitches, SC once. In the fourth SC twice. Repeat until you finish the row. (20)
5. Bit iffy again. In the first four st, SC just once. In the fifth SC twice. In the next ten st, SC once. Then it's two SC in one st again. Finish the row off with SC. (22)
6. SC around. :) Really simple row. Gotta love 'em.
7. Now the pattern kind of starts getting caught in a mirror world. Where you once increased, you now decrease. (I recommend this method of decrease) SC in the first four st. For the fifth, you decrease (dec) a stitch. SC ten more times, then another dec. Finish the row off with some more SC. (20)
8. In the first st put a dec. SC in the next three st, then a dec. Repeat until the row ends (should be on an SC 3). (16)
9. This one is like step 3. Only when you put two SC in one st, you are not decreasing a st. (12)
10. And now in this final step you will decrease across. Fasten off.

At this point you should stuff it. Using the loose end (commonly called the "tail"), weave the yarn through the last row is stitches. Pull it tight, and knot it off.

Congrats. You've finished reading (and hopefully making) a lovely little ball. :) If you're like my friend Dee it will be full of catnip now too. :D

"Spring Shrug"

So, my friend Dee asked me to rewrite a pattern so that she could read it better. The original pattern can be found by clicking (these words here). I do not own this pattern, but any images seen in this post are mine and were made to help better understand this pattern.

• Chain the desired length (as in the image above, in comparison to your own body). Once you have done so, please go back and count the stitches. If you divide the number by four, you should get a whole number that contains no decimals.

• In the fifth chain from the hook, double chain once.

• Chain three, skipping three stitches on your initial chain, Double chain in the fourth st. Repeat until you reach the end of the row.

• Chain 4. In the second stitch (the middle one), put a double chain. Chain three, and repeat the second sentence. Repeat third sentence across.
• Repeat previous step until you reach the desired height for your garment. I would recommend that you make it high enough so that when measured it measures the same or bigger than the largest part of your arm.
• At this point, when you finish the length, it should look like a giant crisscrossed rectangle.
• Now, you have two options to proceed. Basically you are doing the same thing, just with different supplies. Using either a sewing needle and thread, or a darning needle and yarn (I'd recommend the latter using the same yarn), stitch the sleeves closed to the desired length.

Gloves (Currently WIP)

Note: This is a WIP post.

So today I started a pair of gloves. Because of bored, and I have pretty yarn. and because if i work on a single project i'll just lose interest in everything 


What I have done thus far is the mitten part, need to make the thumbs, then combine it, then add the wrist and up the arm. Because I've noticed that most gloves aren't really long enough to be comfortable. I prefer them to be longer (to the point where it covers half up to my elbow) because then my arm doesn't get cold when my hoodie/sweater/jacket/cover-up moves.

I've used the pattern for the snout from this Hippo pattern, but  just continued working in the spiral till it was long enough to cover all four fingers to the point where it hits the thumb. I figure for the thumb I'll magic circle 6, then work in a round till it hits about 10 to 12 stitches, then add it to what I've got. Then add the wrist/arm~ :D I'm using a lovely light purple yarn. Red Heart Orchid. I should probably add this to my raverly. Since I'll need to know what needle I'm using.

Project: Gloves (Or are they mittens if they don't have fingers?)
Yarn: Red Heart Orchid
Hook: J (6.00 mm)
Stitch: Single