New Project

I know I have a lot of things in progress, but last weekend I helped my sister make some Skrinky-Dinks and a thought caught got in my brain! Shrinky Dinks are perfect dog tags and my dogs are naked!! So I should make tags and necklaces to hold these tags. I say necklaces because I don't mean collars. We have dog collars but they don't wear them as a rule. I'm thinking of something light enough that they probably couldn't hang themselves if they got caught up in their crates, but something that would keep their new tags on them for at least a while. BUT my cats DO have collars on! So I made the cats some tags, and some other test tags, and a key chain for myself.

Here are the Shrinky-Dinks one minute into shrinking

I blurred my phone number out, so that part looks weird. Then my batteries ran out so I didn't get any finished pictures. I'll shoot for those (and more tags) tomorrow.

Here's an updated project list:
-Recently completed-
Nunchucks - HUGE hit with the 4 year old nephew! I still need to get a picture of them though. I'm definitely going to make more of these, will probably need some guinea pigs product testers for these, but so far the durability is great. I'd like to make some for my dogs too, I think they could make really cool dog toys for dogs who like to shake toys! Also, these inspired another idea, Power Ranger / Ninja / Samurai head gear. I'll have to figure out how to do that though, so it may be awhile.

Pot protectors - Good hit with Dad, will have to see if the dimensions are good though, we just eyeballed it. They ended up being kind of cool, they're basically 2 crochet dishcloths sewn together with a layer of terry cloth and a layer of craft foam inside. They are designed to go between the pots in the storage in the cabinets to prevent denting or staining the pans. I got my parents a set of stainless steel cookware for Christmas, and Dad apparently loves them enough to protect them. I used a Red Heart camo colored yarn for these and the way it striped into camo was just awesome. Now I want another project to use that on... also, Dad liked the way these turned out so well, he's asked me to make him another, as thin as possible to keep the contents of his breast pocket aligned and flat. So I guess I'm going to crochet a pocket protector?


-New Starts-
Necklaces / Tag holders for the dogs - crochet, I'll need 7 of these! Not sure if I want to do Martingale style or flat buckle style or something else. I need to decide that and get to work on this sometime this week or weekend.

Tags for the cats and dogs - Shrinky Dinks and markers or colored pencils. I made some test tags and tags for the cats last night. Coloring on both sides of the plastic looks great, but it's really easy to scratch or rub the maker off. I think that cutting the shapes out before coloring will help with the damage that is done before the plastic gets into the oven. I am also going to try baking the plastic on a brown paper bag rather then foil. To increase the lifespan of the tags, I'm considering putting the information on one layer of the plastic, then fusing another over the top of it, so that it would be totally encased. I don't remember ever doing these as a child, so I'm really enjoying Shrinky Dinks now.

-Things I should start soon-
Dad's Pocket Protector - crochet, by request. I have the crochet thread, the smallest I've ever tried to work with and the small hook to do it. I'm just waiting on the measurements from Dad.

My Hat! - Loom Knit. For Christmas, I made Rob and Karen each a stocking and a matching ear flap hat. Rob's is a "Jayne Hat" too. I need to decide if I want my hat to match my stocking (that would require more yarn) or be a Jayne hat like Rob's. This was on the back burner until Kody Bear (the dog) chewed up last year's hat.


Things still in progress
My Christmas garland - I'm loving this one! It's a fairly mindless pattern (it's also the base of a ruffled scarf, only much longer and thinner). I've been working on it in waiting rooms this week, so I've gotten several feet down. The end is in sight! Unfortunately, the Christmas decorations are already up on the very high shelf in the garage so I don't know where I will store this to make sure it gets on the tree next year.

Rock rug - I'm dying to get back to this one! Karen got me some great grey and black Homespun to use in this project and it's sitting in a basket calling to me.

Karen's lap blanket - Loom knit on the Infinity Loom. I think I've been working on this for at least 2 years. I really need to get into it and just do it, but it's so large it's not really portable.

-Projects on deck-
Numchucks for dogs and maybe cats
Sticks of dynamite for dogs and cats
My moss rug

I also always have a wish list of things I'd like to start soon but don't have the plans / patterns or materials for yet, so they can't really be considered on deck:
New purse for myself
Rag rugs