Taking it Easy

8 Questions game Part 4

4) How do you relax?

What DON'T I do to relax? I think we shall break this down into 2 parts. Part 1 will include ways we relax by doing things. Part 2 shall be ways we relax by not doing things. I'll mention Kevin here and there, why not?

Part 1: Relax by Doing

Amanda: YARN! Knit it, crochet it, braid it, organize it, make a mess with it. YARN! Please feel free to have a look at some of my yarn creations in our Etsy shop.

I have also recently begun yarn bombing locally. Also called knit bombing, yarn storming and just plain old yarn graffiti, it is a new form of street art that was most likely begun in Texas by an individual but now a group called Knitta, Please. Knitted, crocheted, woven and embroidered pieces of fabric are sewn or tied into public areas. Trees wear sweaters, door handles receive cozies. Bike racks, street signs, hand rails, sculptures are all fair game. I am a solitary yarn bomber at the moment, and while I storm alone, my goals are thus:

• Enhance the mundane so that even areas that may be ignored can be seen as beautiful.
• Publicly display the beauty of pattern and texture.
• Encourage others to look carefully and seek interest all around.
• Offer street art which is neither offensive nor permanent so that people may see and smile.

I also enjoy macrame and origami. (Yarn bombs photos are added as I complete them to this set.)

Kevin: Kevin has taken up cross-stitching and he has really started taking on some ambitious projects. You can see some of his completed stitchery on his flickr page found here.

Kevin also has been writing and drawing a webcomic which he updates every other day. Idget has come a long way since he first started. While he does not at this point have any intention of making this a career, it's still a relaxing hobby and a fun read! I certainly have read the entire set (nearly a decade's worth!) a few times through! Around 2005 Kevin began coloring each and every comic and I really think most of his best work is more recent. One of my favorites:









Both of us: Together we have started a small garden. It's rather unsuccessful now, but with what we've learned this year, we'll surely be able to grow something or other next year. Until this, it's still nice to get outside once in a while.

We also enjoy cooking together. Someday maybe we'll be able to cook from veggies grown in our little garden!

Part 2, Relaxing by not doing

Relaxing the lazy but still entertaining way!

Video Games: We are big Nintendo fans and it's looking like we're going to stay that way for a long time. I love my WiiFit and Kevin is a Brawler. If you know Nintendo at all, this needs no explanation.

Movies: BAD movies are a kick. I recommend Rifftrax for those who are fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those that haven't heard of either one allow me this explanation. Did you ever go to a bad movie and partway through you begin to snark at it? The acting is bad, the plot is iffy, the special effects are laughable and you just have to speak up. Let's have some comedians doing the commentary and you have Rifftrax. Making mediocre movies hilarious and even borderline good movies can be pretty darn funny!

Napping. It doesn't get more relaxing than that. I recommend it. Often.

WIP -Works in Progress

I am pretty terrible about finishing things. Not because I am bad at finishing, but because I'm good at starting. I think of an idea while in the middle of another project and I just have to start right away for fear that I might forget my awesome new idea!

Kevin is just the opposite. He won't even THINK about starting a new project until the old one is finished.

And so because I neglect this poor little blog, I suggest to myself the following: Saturday will be Works in Progress day. (Edit: So much for that... I can't keep a schedule anyway :P) A day to show off what isn't yet finished and as the weeks add up it will be a list of yet to be completed projects to gently remind myself what needs to be done.

BEHOLD:
Knitted Chainmail Inlay (in progress)
I was fascinated by chainmail inlay the first time I saw it, and immediately wanted to make something myself. I don't care for working with metal and I certainly don't have the tools. I love yarn and I can make rings out of yarn, so that's what I decided to use.

So far I'm thrilled with the results. I think the pattern is coming through clearly (and I hope you agree), and I'm having fun doing it.

Anyone who knows chainmail techniques will recognize this as a traditional European 4 in 1 speed knitting. Does anyone else find it incredibly appropriate that making maille is called knitting?

Maybe I should pick a day for finished projects too.

hmmm.

Maybe I should also remember to sign Amanda in rather than using Kevin's name. My bad.

Plarn Making, Version 2

Oh my, but I have been slacking in my posting! In any case, I've come into possession of a ridiculously large amount of plastic. Indeed it is the same plastic used to make the snowflakes in the previous post. However, these bags are really too slender for my preferred method of making plarn to be practical. Thus, I give you version 2. In reality, this method is far more common than the spiral method I use, but in case you haven't seen it, here it is.

Step 1- Once again, acquiring and flattening your plastic bags is the first step. This method is especially suited to slender bags such as those in which your newspaper is delivered. Flatten your bag and snip off the handles if there are any and the bottom most edge which is often fused. This way you will have an open cylinder of plastic.

Step 2- With the open edges at the right and left, fold your plastic over once or twice vertically to allow for quick efficient cutting.

Step 3- Cut strips. Straight through this time! Don't leave a strip at the top or stop short, but simply cut all the way through. When you open up this cut pieces you will have loops. I have had success with strips as thin as a half inch and as thick as two inches. There's every reason to experiment here!

Step 4- Make a chain a follows.
a) Begin with two loops.
b) The left loop will go inside the right loop.
c) Then the lower edge of the right loop will be pulled through the left.
d) Use the newly made chain as the left loop and a fresh loop as the right to continue this pattern from (b) until you have as much plarn as you wish to use.


Or you could just ask me for some. I think I have more plarn now than any human on the planet ever has.

Snowflakes

Here in Cleveland, the snow is just stopping and maybe in the next week or three we'll see less slush and mud and more grass. But in our apartment, it's going to look like winter all year round because i just can't stop making these plarn snowflakes! The qualities of plarn are perfect for these! They are stiff enough not to need starch, and yet they are flexible as well. Plus, the plastic's slight shininess makes these flakes almost sparkle.

So fun!

Knitting Experimentation

Wow that's tiny!

Sometimes I just have an urge to push my limits. Just how small could I get? Turns out, pretty darn small. I do regret that I don't have a camera that is detailed enough to pick up more of the itty bitty stitches. The swatch shown here is about 20 stitches wide with an approximate gauge of 3o-32 stitches per inch.

Plarn, my way

We interrupt these paper recycling ideas for a quick plarn making tutorial.

What is "Plarn"? Plarn is a slang acronym for Plastic Yarn. Most often it is made from used grocery bags or new trash bags, but any thin flexible plastic sheet could theoretically be made into plarn. There are a few ways to make it, but here you will find my favorite method.

Plarn, My way!

Step 1 - Acquire and prepare your bags. Smooth and flatten them with your hands and cut away the handles and the very bottom edge where the plastic is fused. I usually do about three bags at a time and fold them in half for efficiency.



Step 2- Open your bag and roll it up. Roll or fold in such a way that the open cut edges are at the right and the left. Leave about an inch at the top unrolled.









Step 3- Cut strips. Use scissors or a rotary blade and make cuts at the intervals you like. I personally like my plarn to be about an inch wide. Make sure to leave the unrolled section at the top UNCUT.



Step4- Complete the spiral. Right now, you have a many dangling loops. Make diagonal cuts from the bottom right to the top left (or vice versa if you are left handed) of the strip cuts you've just made. In the photo I have drawn the lines where the first four cuts should be made to help you visualize this pattern. What you are basically doing is jogging each strip to meet the one to the left of it therefore creating a spiral all the way down the bag. I find the best way to accomplish this step is to thread my arm through the bag. This prevents the dangling strips from getting tangled up in each other or accidentally getting cut while the spiral is being completed. If you do accidentally cut a strip, it's not a problem, just see step 5.


Step 5- Connecting plarn ends. Like wool, simply twist the ends of the plarn together. This tightly twisted section will all but disappear in the completed plarn fabric (I say plabric!) If it makes you feel safer, use a tiny dab of glue. I haven't found it neccesary but no one, especially me, will fault you for being careful.





But what do you make with it? Anything that can be made with yarn can be made with plarn. The plabric makes sturdy bags and rugs. Plabric that gets soiled is easily rinsed clean and is therefore great for the beach or the tool shed.
Plarn is also ideal for sculpture as it tends to hold its shape.

Here's to keeping one more non-biodegradable material out of our landfills!