KNITTING: Three ways of hiding excess yarn after finishing knitting / Caps, Cowls,...

While I am not currently a knitter, but plan on trying it again some time, I am posting this to share with anyone that happens across this blog that might find it useful.

The woman that posted this on More Than a Knitter  has 40 years of experience knitting and is also a knitting designer and has an e-book for sale on knitting caps where the proceeds help support a Winter Project Nepal to knit caps and provide books to the children of Nepal.

DIY $485 Bikini Swimsuit from Thrifted T-shirts

Screenshot from video 

I love vintage and retro items and inspired items, so I was excited to see Angelina at BlueprintDIY post a video on recreating a 1940's style two piece swimsuit inspired by this $485 one by Joanna Ortiz.

Screenshot from video 

She created her suit for around $10 using t-shirts.  

I am not at an age I would feel comfortable in a suit like this, it is very adorable with the ruffle on the sleeves  more modest with the brief type bottoms the come up to the waist and the ruffly little sleeve

I do love the top and I am also keeping this in mind when my granddaughter when she gets a little older.

What are your thoughts on this suit?

A Few Simple Clothing Update Hacks

 

Screenshot from video

I stumbled across this on Pinterest today and thought I would share it here.  

It has some simple updates and repairs that can be done to clothing with scissors and embroidery floss and something simple to do while watching Christmas shows on television.

xx

Embroidering a Leaf

Screenshot from video

I haven't embroidered anything since grade school when my Mom taught me, but thinking about picking it up again and spotted this trick on how to make an embroidered leaf fairly easily by sewing a loop around a pencil, running the thread through then center, and then pulling it down.

Below is a short video from Reddit.

The way it's embroidered from r/BeAmazed

Screenshot from video 

REVERSE TIE DYE T-SHIRT

 

This project is based on the video below by the DIY Designer Orly Shani on Youtube (video below) that I made for Marv.

Items used:

• 1 black cotton t-shirt
• 1 Tulip Mini Tie Dye Kit (Red and Blue)
• Rubber bands
• Bleach
• A large enough container to dip t-shirt in bleach
• Lingerie bag
• Washer
• Ziplock bag
• 1 cup vinegar 
• 1/4 cup salt

I had actually attempted this twice prior and had not as successful results, but I am very happy how this one turned out.

I started with a black Hanes cotton t-shirt and pinched it in the center and twisted it.  I have overexposed the picture so the detail is more clear.  You keep twisting until the entire t-shirt is somewhat of a circle.

I rubber banded it up into six sections and tried to make them somewhat equal.

This is a picture from my first project but I forgot to take a picture of this one.  I think I filled it about a 1/4 of an inch on the bottom and I used one of the large Halloween bowls from The Dollar Tree and you put a little bit of bleach in the bottom and dip on one side and dip on the other side.   

Don't oversaturate (which is what I did on the first project).  If a section seems dry on one side you can add a bit of bleach and dip again.  

I let it set 20-30 minutes, checking until it is as light as you desire on the dipped sides and then I shoved the entire thing into a lingerie bag (otherwise you might lose the rubberbands).

In the video she rinsed out the rubber-banded t-shirt to stop the bleaching, but I washed mine with laundry soap with some white towels (no fabric softener though) and dried in the dryer.

When it came out I had to re-twist and rubber band again as indicted above, grabbing the center again and twisting and tried to put back as it was.  If you rinse in the sink you would not need to do this step, but might need more dye.

I purchased the kit below at JoAnn's using a coupon.  I think the sale price was around $3.50 with tax.

On my project I broke one of the rubber bands and used one from the kit.  

On one side I used pretty much and equal amount of red and blue.

On the other side, I used more like 1/3 red and the other blue and I know the person I made it for wouldn't want too much red.

After the dye was on I put into a ziplock bag and it was in there for 8 hours overnight.

I took the t-shirt out of the bag and washed it again with the vinegar and salt to help set the dye by itself on the small load setting.  

xxx

On Our Sleeves: Growing Our Gratitude

Above is from an email from Big Lots

The above was in an email I received from Big Lots and thought I would share it as I think in tough times we need to focus on things we still have to be grateful for.

Two things you can be thankful for if you are reading this is electricity and access to the internet.  The Washington Post reported 1.3 billion people in the world to not.

On Our Sleeves is a movement to transform children's mental health.  On their website, they have downloadable Gratitude guides and worksheets as well as an online one you can complete and submit for two free seed packets.

There also have resources for find help in the United States.

WASHINGTON POST MAP OF CURRENT STATE RESTRICTIONS

Source:  Washington Post

The Washington Post has a map of the current restriction of the States on their website.  

The article indicates public health officials have warned with the increase in activity new cases could surge, that most schools have ended their academic year and the death toll for the US is currently 88,000.

If you scroll down below the article there is a dropdown where you can select a certain state and it will jump to provide additional detail.

Below is a screenshot of the State that I live in, Indiana.

As I live in Indiana it varies.  Where I live while some restaurants opened back up at 50%, many are still just doing carry-out and delivery.

On some of the retail outlets that have opened up, the number of people in the store is limited and enforcement depends on the store.   

Most stores have it listed on the door how many people are allowed in a store and have reduced hours.   The enforcement of the number of people in a store varies.  Costco is very stringent and there is a line and they won't allow a new person in if overcapacity until another customer leaves and the lines can be very long.  On the other end of the spectrum, it doesn't seem that Ollie's Discount Outlet enforces at all. 

Stores with carts usually have someone dedicated to wiping them down and those that have been wiped down are in a separate location that unwiped carts.

Most stores have up plexiglass shields in front of the cashier and there are marks in masking tape on the floor for social distancing every 6 feet.

Also, some store requires face masks.  Menards only allow those over 18 and must wear a mask. 

How is your state or country handling reopening?  If you have anything to share, please feel free to leave a comment.