Pumpkins and Power Tools

I apologize for putting this up just as Halloween is ending, but I have been much busier than I anticipated. So maybe keep this in mind for next year...


Our day of pumpkin carving began like this:
Brad - "Do you think we can do it?" (for like the millionth time)
Rachael - "Yes, I think we can do it, or I wouldn't have suggested it!"

Maybe I have an inflated perception of what I think I can accomplish, but when it comes to DIY projects, I generally believe that I can find a way to make almost whatever I want. So, when I saw a picture of a Blackhawks pumpkin on Facebook and showed it to Brad, I knew that it was going to be a project we needed to take on (despite his initial doubts).

I have carved pumpkins in the past, but my experience before this weekend was limited to using a kit and pre-made stencils. Which meant that before we could get started, I needed to do a little research. I had never carved a pumpkin where I didn't cut all the way through to the middle so I googled "how to shave a pumpkin" and found this very helpful link. Also while we were researching, we found a video that mentioned using drill bits to carve out big circles from a pumpkin. Well as soon as Brad saw that idea (there is just something about power tools that guys can't resist I guess), he was sold and suddenly we were going to be carving... or I guess drilling two pumpkins.

A trip to Hobby Lobby later, and we were ready to get started. While I was working on the Blackhawks design, Brad drilled holes into his "disco pumpkin." I had never thought to use power tools on a pumpkin before but it actually made the carving process much faster and easier. For the disco pumpkin, Brad picked the size bit for the holes he wanted and went to town drilling into it. It maybe took him 15 minutes tops... but back to my pumpkin.

I did not have a stencil for the Blackhawks logo, so we printed a picture of the logo which I used as a template. I had to cut and fold the picture some to get it to fit around the curve of the pumpkin just right and then I taped down the design. After I had the picture secured, I used a metal poker that was included as part of the clay carving kit we bought to poke holes along the main lines in the design. Next, I outlined the area I planned to shave out with a pen to distinguish it from the lines I planned to cut all the way through. And then came the hard part.

Because we printed off the logo, the size of our design was limited to the size of the paper. If it had been an option, I would have definitely picked an expanded version on a larger pumpkin because suddenly I had a lot of tiny lines I needed to remove from a small space. At this point I was worried about the integrity of the pumpkin and if I could accomplish this design without destroying it. After trying to carve out the first few lines with my serrated exacto knife blade (you can use an exacto knife with a saw blade, or just stick to the serrated knife included with most pumpkin carving kits), I began wondering if I had bit off more than I could chew. This pumpkin was not only making me feel like I was developing carpal tunnel, but it was taking FOREVER! Just as I was starting to get really frustrated, in came the boy with his power tools to save the day.

Instead of using a typical pumpkin carving process of sawing out the sections we wanted to remove, we adopted a modified version involving a cordless drill. First, I cut through all of the lines in the design, and then Brad went through with a small drill bit to expand them. Although I offered to use the drill, I think he was having too much fun, so I helped by holding the pumpkin and cleaning out our cuts with a toothpick.

After we had drilled through all of the fine lines, I began working on the face of the design. First, I took a Speedball Linoleum Cutter and cut around the edges of the area. Next, I shaved out the rest of the face (this took quite a while). I continued shaving the same area, layers at a time until I had removed a section about half as deep as the depth of the pumpkin. Next I took a Clay Ribbon Tool from the before mentioned clay kit to smooth the ridges that had appeared from shaving the design. To outline the overall design, I shaved out a much shallower border. Sorry I don't have pictures to demonstrate this technique, but I was busy working, and Brad wasn't around to take pictures. To get a visual, see the link posted above.

The final steps were to drill a hole in the top for ventilation (because we cut our pumpkins from the bottom) and put a candle inside. We used a small votive for my Blackhawks pumpkin and a colored light for the disco pumpkin.

Below are pictures of our finished products. I wish I could have captured the magic of the disco pumpkin, but a camera can't do it justice. We had a colored light inside that would strobe to the beat of whatever music was playing. It was especially cool because all the colors reflected from the ceiling like a disco ball. As I mentioned in my last post, we had a birthday party to go to this weekend, and the disco pumpkin was a big hit. I'm happy to report that the blue velvet cupcakes were as well :] Happy Halloween!!

First Project: the Infinity Scarf

This fall, one of the trends I have been most attracted to is the chunky infinity scarf/mobius loop/circle scarf/whatever you choose to call it. I taught myself the basics of how to knit back in high school, so when I decided I wanted to make one, I searched the internet for a pattern that I liked, and picked this one. I used a moss stitch for the first time and found that it really wasn't hard for someone with minimal experience. These are the materials I used:

• 2 skeins - Lions Brand Yarn, Nature's Choice Organic Cotton
• US 9 or 5.5mm circular needles - Clover Brand
• scissors (to trim excess yarn from the ends)

Fairly simple, huh? I chose the Nature's Choice Organic Cotton because the yarn was very soft (I'm a sucker for anything soft) and did not contain any animal hair. Anything with wool, angora, or other animal hair in it makes me feel really itchy and uncomfortable so I try to stay away from it as much as possible. 

And now for the fun part... making the scarf :]

If you have never knitted anything before, this video breaks down how to make your slip knot and cast on. I prefer to cast on this way though.  

To start, I cast on 95 stitches onto my needles. This will make a scarf that is long enough to wrap around twice. If you don't want to wrap your scarf more than once, I would recommend using close to half the number of stitches (and a shorter set of circular needles). Regardless of how many stitches you choose to use, you will need to pick an odd number to avoid too many headaches while using the moss stitch. 

After I had cast on all of my stitches, I flipped my needles so that the last stitch I had cast on was in my right hand, and the first was in my left. Before continuing, you may want to place a marker on your needles in front of the first stitch. I started my first row by continuing to knit from the last stitch I had cast on into the first stitch using a knit stitch. If you need a visual of what the project should look like at this point, check out this video (contrary to what she recommends, you will want your stitches to have a twist in them if you want to make a mobius loop like the scarf pictured below).

After the first knit stitch, I continued a pattern of purl 1, knit 1, purl 1, knit 1... (you get the picture) to the end of the row. You should end with a knit stitch. These videos provide tutorials on how to knit stitch and purl stitch if you are unfamiliar with the techniques. For the moss stitch to work, I alternated between the two stitches which meant I had to bring my yarn to the front or back of the needle each time to start the next stitch. So, before you complete a knit stitch, the yarn should be towards the back of the needle or away from you, whereas before you complete a purl stitch, the yarn should be on the front side of the needle or towards you. Here is a short video demonstrating what I mean.

Continuing with the purl 1, knit 1 pattern, I began my second row with a purl stitch. This is important to make the moss stitch work. You should always be knitting a purl stitch into the previous row's knit stitch and vice versa. Use this pattern for every row until you finish your scarf. The pattern I used recommended knitting 23 rows, but I chose to use about double that. I found that 2 skeins of the yarn I was using gave me the size scarf I wanted, so I didn't worry about the number of rows. Instead, I just kept knitting until I had used that amount of yarn. If you decide to do the same, you will need to add in the new yarn about half way through the scarf. If you want, you can just tie the ends together and clip them, or you can combine them the way you technically should by kitting the tails back into the work. This is a helpful video about how to do that.

Once you have achieved a scarf with your desired number of rows, be sure you have left enough yarn to bind off and finish your scarf.

After I made my first scarf, I decided that the pattern was easy enough that I wanted to make more. I made one in khaki for my mom, cream for my sister, and kept the green for myself. The colors were so pretty though, I wish that they lived close to me so that I could steal - I mean borrow theirs ;]

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would be cute to make some festive cards to send off with my scarves. I picked up a pack of blank cards with envelopes from Target and decided to check out Etsy.com for design inspiration. This is what I came up with. You can also make your own cards, or buy one like the one I made here. I know that it's sometimes easy to cross the line from cute into tacky, but I have found that usually when you make it yourself, people tend to be more forgiving of the tacky haha. For my mom, I made a card with witch shoes because when we were little, we had a Halloween decoration that looked like the Wicked Witch of the West had crashed into our door with her little legs peeking out.

For my sister, I made a card inspired by another design I found on Etsy.com. It was a design embroidered on clothing for little boys and girls, but unfortunately, I could not find the link to add it in my entry. I left her card simple, with just the design on front and my letter inside. Thank goodness the post office has flat rate boxes, because that made shipping easy! :]

And finally, we have me in my scarf pictured above to the right. I had a lot of fun working on these projects and I hope you do too! If you have any questions or would maybe like to commission me to make one for you, contact me, and we'll work something out ;] Happy knitting!