What Do You Want to See?

So far, I have been making my projects based on what I want to make and ideas I come up with, but I am very intrigued with what you want me to make.  I will be using this post to take any requests you might have for me, so comment away with suggestions, ideas, and wishes!  I will try my best to make everything you ask for, but it will be contingent upon the materials, time, and plausibility.

Kitty on a door!...with 4 mice

Thank you for your input!

Multi-Pocket Folder

I needed a folder that had many pockets so I could store all the papers from all my subjects in one place.  I found one of these multi-pocket folder at Staples, but it cost more than what I wanted to pay for it.  Instead, I came home and made my own from package tape and brown paper bags.

I first made the outside folder that has two pockets and an extra-wide spine to hold the other pockets.  On the spine, I drew lines that indicated the location where I would attach each sheet.  They were evenly spaced out.  The front cover is 24 cm by 29 cm with a 4 cm spine in the middle and 10 cm tall pockets.

I made the outside folder a little larger so I could fold over the edges and make then even stronger to resist wear and tear.  To finish, I taped the edges with package tape.

Folded edges along the top and the sides, before tape

Each sheet that I attached on the inside had two pockets, one on the front and one on the back.  To create the folder, I cut a piece of brown paper bag 80 cm by 40 cm and folded it vertically three times, once in half, and two times 11 cm from the bottom to create the pockets.  I taped the edges again and taped it to the outside folder with the extended spine.

A finished folder

Attached

I made three more of these folders that attached on in the inside.

Two more folders

To attach the second, third, and fourth folder, I taped them, as I did with the first one.  However, I also made sure the piece of tape in between two folders secured the back of the previous folder and the front of the current folder.

One tape shared in between two folders

 After attaching the fourth folder, I was done!

Finished!

My multi-pocket folder has 10 pockets in total, and it took 5 brown paper bags and more than 3 hours to complete.  I can't wait to use it in school!

Best Duct Tape Dresses 2013

For those who don't know, Duck Brand sponsors the Stuck at Prom scholarship contest every year, giving each winner $5,000.  Every year, hundreds of high school students create a dress and/or tuxedo to wear at their school prom.  Most of the designs are really cool and innovative, as can be seen in the gallery on their website.  The winners and runner-ups this year were all great, but I have chosen my favorite designs out of the 168 that were submitted.

My list is in no particular order.  My selections may or may not be a winner or runner-up; I chose them solely on my opinion.

The first design I stumbled upon that I like is the one by Jessica and Christofer.  Their dress and tuxedo really stick out from the rest, due to the use of a simple white color.  It looks really clean cut, and the raindrops add a nice touch.

Jessica and Christofer

I really like the dress Miranda made because of the layered flames and how nice it looks with the black shawl she has on.  I also enjoy the edges of the flames, with the transition of colors form red to yellow.

Miranda

Rachael and Paul's dress and tuxedo really stand out from the other entries because of their old-fashioned theme.  The light pink color is a nice break from the darker hues, such as black, dark blue, and purple, the other entrants use.  The fan also adds to the theme.

Rachael and Paul

I really enjoy the tuxedo in Valerie and Michael's entry.  Not many tuxes are a light brown color, but this tuxedo goes really well with the white and pink dress.  The light brown is a nice color and is not obnoxious like some of the other colors I have seen with duct tape tuxedos.

Valerie and Michael

Once again, I like Wanchen's dress because it is different than the more complex, elaborate dresses of the other entries.  From far away, it actually looks like a real dress, and its simplicity draws me in.  I also like the pairing of the dress with the red shawl.

Wanchen

What is most impressive about Josh and Liz's dress is the transition of colors on the dress and the vest of the tuxedo.  The speckled pattern where two colors meet is a really neat design, and the tuxedo is cleverly designed to match the dress.

Josh and Liz

Duct tape dresses certainly look impressive, and I wonder if I should embark on making one.  Which designs do you like?  Did I omit any entries that I should have included?

Multi-CD Case

I have a lot of CDs that I burn, but I can never find a case for them.  They are stashed around the house in used envelopes, closed with rubber bands or just placed on a countertop, collecting dust.  To solve this problem of mine, I made a multi-CD case out of duct tape.

I first created the cover of the case, creating a duct tape rectangle whose length was a little more than double the diameter of a CD and whose height was a little more than the diameter.

For the CD holder, I made a square that whose side length was a little longer than the diameter of the CD.

Each side of the square can be used to hold CDs, so I made two strap-like things.  To make them, I took pieces three pieces of duct tape and folded them in half.  Two were the length of the side of the square, and another was the length of the base of the square.  I connected the three strips, and repeated the process to make two of them.

I taped each strap to a side of the square.

To join the CD holder to the cover, I taped the holder to the cover on both sides.

I made more CD holders so I could store more CDs in the case.  Each CD holder is a different color.

A blue CD holder underneath

View from above

The only slight downside to this CD case is that each CD holder is very thick, due to the amount of duct tape, and not a lot of CD holders can fit inside the case.  However, if I were to make the case cover longer in the beginning, I would be able to fit more CD holders in.

Airwhaler: Granny Square Blanket

A granny square blanket is pretty standard in the crocheting world, and an online search for "crocheted blanket" immediately comes up with links for granny square blankets.  Airwhaler made a lovely blanket from 54 squares, each with its own unique pattern and color scheme.

To join all of the squares together, Airwhaler followed the tutorial on Carina's Craftblog, and she crocheted together all of the squares in a pattern along the diagonals.  It alternates between squares with random color combinations, two color combinations, and solid color squares.  The blanket is pretty cool.

Airwhaler: Miscellaneous Items

Airwhaler enjoys making a lot of little projects that only take a few hours, such as dishcloths and potholders.  The entrelac dishcloth, whose pattern is found on Ravelry, was made with a Tunisian crochet hook.  The dishcloth is a decent size, having a diagonal that is almost the length of the diameter of a kitchen stool.

On a stool

Potholders are also easy items to make.  For her friend's birthday, Airwhaler made her a potholder that is similar to the ones shown below.  The design of the potholder is called a granny mandala and can be found on Crochet with Raymond.

The center of each potholder is something called an African flower.  I quite like the African flower in the middle of the potholder; it complements the pattern surrounding it.

Potholder 1

For the back of the potholder, Airwhaler just made a simple circle.  She then crocheted a border around the two to attach them together.

Potholder 2

Airwhaler: Ripple Blanket

My friend Airwhaler is a very avid crocheter, and I can often find her crocheting in the car and at home.  She has completed many projects, which I have asked to feature on my blog, since they are so interesting.  This post is the first in a series about Airwhaler.

Currently, Airwhaler is working on a ripple blanket.  She found the pattern on Attic24, a crocheter who blogs from England.  For her blanket, Airwhaler bought Stylecraft Special DK yarn from http://us.deramores.com/, which ships for free if the order is $50 or more.

All of the yarn

More yarn!

Airwhaler generally follows the pattern described by Attic24, but after crocheting many rows, she has her own advice to share.  She purposely started with an extra 15 chains because she knew she was accidentally going to skip a few.

The ripple blanket requires a lot of different colors, so Airwhaler has become very adept at changing colors.  Midway through making the blanket, she found an easier way to change colors, found here.  She adds that she basically crocheted over the ends and did not tie a knot.

Airwhaler has generously provided me some photos of her blanket, which show the wonderfulness of the ripple pattern.

The close-ups show in even better detail the stitches and beauty of crocheting.

Ah, wonderful!

What a beauty!

Materials

I am usually not very picky about what materials I use, as long as it all works.  I will grab any pair of scissors that are sharp enough to cut through duct tape and will use any crochet hooks and knitting needles I see first.  However, I am very picky about which kind of duct tape I use.  Like most people, I use the Duck Brand duct tape.  I find it the best quality duct tape I can buy.

I have rarely used other brands of duct tape because I love the Duck Brand duct tape so much.  From what I have observed, other brands are stiffer and have a more plasticky feeling to them.  Duck Brand duct tape breaks in overtime, shaped and bent by the contents of whatever the duct tape item is holding.  The wallets I have seen made from other brands were rigid, even after months of use.

The other fault that I find with other brands of duct tape is that it is not as durable.  Because of the inflexibility of those brands of duct tape, they rip easily, creating holes and tears that can only be fixed by adding more duct tape.  With the duct tape I use, I have never had holes or tears, just occasional thinning on the little corners caused from folded edges.  The pencil case I made two years ago is still in use today in near perfect condition.

The only downside of using Duck Brand duct tape is that their printed and pattern duct tape rolls are severely overpriced.  Some of the patterns and printed tape cost the same as the color rolls, but only offer half the amount, and some of the printed duct tape is twice the cost for an even smaller amount!  I refuse to pay so much for so little.