Louisa Parry :: Journal

STEP 1
Take an old pillowcase, or in my case an new-to-me-but-old pillowcase, purchased for a very cheap price from a local charity shop. Get a cat (in this case Sili) to inspect it for quality and cleanliness.

STEP 2
See this picture of a pillowcase shopping bag on the internetz.

STEP 3
Find the instructions the red bag lady used to make hers.

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STEP 4
As directed, fold in half along the diagonal, pin and cut. Do a better job than I did then have a cat expect your handy work. If you didn’t do a better job than I did, expect the cat to stalk off in disgust (a la Carbon).

STEP 5
Turn the pieces inside out (everything is pretty much done on the wrong side from here on in) then ask the nearest cat (still Carbon) to help fold and pin all the diagonals for hemming. You may think the cat is in the way but you are wrong: they’re making sure you don’t get too over-eager with the folding and that you listen to Martha and fold it in twice, about 5mm a time. Cats are stickler for detail and have claws to make sure you follow their instructions, even when they’re so disgusted with your efforts that they can barely look at you.

STEP 5a
Brief pause for a quick tickle with Carbon because, let’s face it, you’re not going to get any more work done while he’s in this mood.

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A few months ago, I started learning how to cross-stitch but was hindered slightly by the lack of non-chintzy kits out there. I started on the simple and cute designs from Mouseloft but once I wanted a bit more complexity, I was somewhat out of luck. I found a few cartoony cat ones but don’t like them much more than the full on twee ones.

Anyway, this led to John and I wondering how I could go about designing my own patterns instead - we initially thought I’d end up having to do loads of hard work in my beloved Inkscape but then I found KXStitch.

Since I run Ubuntu, it was easy (and free) to download from Synaptic and not one for going out of my way to read instructions, I just dived right in to using it.

Unlike the aforementioned Inkscape, there aren’t a bazillion different options and tools to navigate so it’s pretty easy to pick up.

So far, I’ve mostly just used the “Import Image File…” option to convert existing drawings (usually made in Inkscape) into patterns. This option has a wizard, letting you set the details about the cloth count and size, whether or not to include partial stitches and set a maximum amount of colours (linked to DMC, Anchor and Madiera thread colour charts). I’ve then hand-tweaked the scans to make them easier to sew or correct colour issues.

The printouts are great - a proper little kit pack with a cover, details of threads (codes and how much thread of each colour is required for the finished design) and a pattern to follow. The font on my first printout was too big and bold making it hard to glance at the design but I have since tweaked this and they’re very easy to follow.

When John saw me working on my first KXStitch-produced pattern (commonly known as “the vaginas one”, although I swear they’re supposed to be eyes) he commented how the stitches make it look pixelly so that inspired the Pacman one seen here. I’ve still got to do the walls - and I didn’t follow the curve for Pac perfectly so it’s a bit square - but it was very easy to make and sew (aside from the nightmare of sewing on black Aida).

While it’s not perfect (oh for an “undo” - but it’s supposed to be coming in a future version), I’d recommend KXStitch for Linuxy crafters - and to me, it’s really symbolic of the wonder of free software - there is something for just about every niche out there and it’s free in both cost and freedom. Hurrah.

• Bigger version of KXStitch screenshot
• KXStitch Pacman pattern

Earlier this afternoon, someone on our recycling blog Recycle This suggested using old frying pans to make fake food art.

I thought “hey! I’m THAT COOL too! I could do that!” so here is my knitted fried egg. John wanted to plastinate a real one but I thought knitting would be more fun. I used leftover white wool from knitting booties for John’s niece and the yellow wool is leftover after I knitted a stripey “bumble beeanie” hat for the man himself a few years ago. I used stuffing from an old cushion and the cardboard for the egg’s base is from a cereal pack.

The egg (which works as a really good frisbee because of the cardboard base) is just sitting in the pan at the moment but I’ll stick it in when I’ve got some velcro — and when I’ve knitted the accompanying sausages. Now, I just have to figure out how to do the beans…

(Click the close-up shot for a bigger version)

This week’s trip to the Love Apple inspired more weaving. Not flyers this time though, oh no. Ginger beer cans.

I made some warp (the upright bits) and weft (the across bits):

And the results are after the “Read more” oojie.
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On a related topic, I’m trying to learn to draw again at the moment.

I drew some pictures of John’s shoes back in December but have only just got around to scanning them in. They’re not perfect by any means but I like them.

Second picture (more detail of stitching but a wonky second foot included) after the “read more” thingy. Click on either picture to see larger versions.

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We were sat in the Love Apple in Bradford on Saturday night - our usual destination after our regular curry at Omars - and the guys got into a goes-nowhere argument about Free Software. The cylical and pretty much pointless nature of the discussion (since we all agree on the general principles, it’s just the minutae that’s discussed ad infinitum) led me to look for other avenues of entertainment.

And so I turned to weaving flyers together. There were two lots of flyers on the table - I started with the “steady rockin” one. I tore two copies of the flyer into strips, one torn horizontally, the other vertically then weaved them together to recreate the original flyer again. Because I had to tear the card by hand, the size of the strips varied and the edges were sometimes all over the place - not all the the flyer works but I’m quite impressed with the area around the woman’s face. (Click on the thumbnail picture for a bigger version).

There was a second flyer with a metro-style map on it and after the first one worked pretty well, I couldn’t resist giving that a go too. (Click the “read more” link to see it then, again, clicky clicky for a bigger version).
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