A chibi demogorgon for Charlotte

My grandniece Charlotte's birthday is coming up!

I've actually been meaning to crochet one of these softies for her for the past four years, ever since I made one to give to her sister, Wendy. As soon as Wendy took it out of the gift bag, Charlotte said (in perfect little-sisterly fashion), "Ooooh!! I want one!!"

I'm so sorry, Charlotte; Auntie didn't intend for it to take THIS LONG for me to get this made for you! 😅 But I hope "better late than never" applies here. 😉

This is the Stranger Things Demogorgon, a free pattern by Andrea Leek. 

Charlotte's chibi demogorgon is made using the same mods to the original pattern that I used when making Wendy's version. The main difference between the two is that I used a 5mm hook for Charlotte's (compared to a 4mm hook for Wendy's). I did that mainly because the smaller/tighter gauge is really hard on my hands (so I was going easier on myself this time), but also because I figured the minor size difference would help them tell their softies apart, in case they ever ended up in the same place at the same time.

Both softies are made in a slightly less demonic "chibi" ragdoll style with a twist cuddly cuteness.

For more details of how I made these, check out the notes on my other Ravelry project page or my blog post about Wendy's demogorgon.

Boo! Wheelchair Spoke Covers

If you know me, you know I just had to do it.

As I said in the narrative of my earlier project for the first set of wheelchair spoke covers I made, having a set of these in Boo! by Marsha Glassner is an absolute MUST for Halloween, because if you know me, you know that I ADORE Halloween. (The cutesy-creepy Halloween stuff, that is, not so much the gory-horrific stuff.)

Finished set

Boo! is designed to be an adorable doily crocheted with No. 10 crochet thread. To make the same design large enough to work as a set of wheelchair spoke covers, it's necessary to use heavier yarn (both for size and durability) and a larger hook. I used Red Heart Super Saver in the colorway Soft White and a 4 mm hook.

I had seen pictures and videos where other crocheters had made these sized as wheelchair spoke covers, but I wasn't able to find where anyone blogged about how they did it, so I basically had to start my project from scratch and use the trial-and-error method to figure out how to make it work.

The first set of wheelchair spoke covers I made previously was done with Red Heart yarn and a 5 mm hook, and those covers were the right size to fit my wheelchair's wheels after crocheting 16 rounds. The pattern for Boo! is 23 rounds to the top of the ghosts' heads, so I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments to be able to get the design to fit the wheels of my wheelchair.

First attempt overlaid a previously made working spoke cover

I am not including all the details here of how I made the flexible hoops for the spoke covers, which is how they are mounted inside the wheels' hand rails, because you can find that info by viewing my previous spoke cover project. I used the same process for this set.

1st attempt (L), 2nd attempt started (R)

For my first attempt here, I decided to use a 4 mm hook to crochet the pattern as written (I found it easier to follow the chart rather than the written instructions) just to see the size it would make that way, and then use that to figure out how much I was going to need to change it to fit. I stopped on round 22 (which eliminated the last round at the top of the ghosts' heads). You can see in my photo of the first attempt overlaid on one of my previously made spoke covers that it was going to need to be smaller by at least three rounds. 

2nd attempt attached to hoop

For my second attempt, knowing that I needed to make the design at least three rounds shorter, I decided to try skipping rounds 2, 4, and 6. Doing that meant that I had to change the increases on rounds 3, 5, and 7 to keep the stitch counts the same. And, again, I stopped the pattern after crocheting round 22. Making the pattern that way eliminated three rounds, but you can see in my photo of the second attempt after I attached it to the hoop frame that the fit was still too loose, so I knew that for my third attempt I was either going to have to eliminate more rounds from the pattern or else come up with a different solution.

2nd attempt (L), 3rd attempt (R)

I was feeling somewhat stumped at this point, because I was worried that eliminating more rounds from the pattern would be detrimental to the ghosts' appearance. I was clicking around, still trying to come up with a better solution, when I came across this video of a livestream by TheCraftyCub on YouTube of them crocheting Boo! on camera. Near the beginning of the video, where they are describing the pattern for their followers, they talk about the stitches used in the design, and they mentioned half-double crochets. I had already crocheted the pattern twice by the time I watched this video, and (I intend no offense to TheCraftyCub, but) I was pretty sure that there were no half-double crochet stitches anywhere in the Boo! chart.

Third attempt

But then the lightbulb went on over my head. 💡

I paused the video to think: What if I tried crocheting Boo! using half-double crochet stitches everywhere the pattern used double crochets?

Well, I didn't know for sure how it would turn out, but I decided to try crocheting the pattern that way for my third attempt. And, as you can see in my photos of the finished spoke covers, using half-double crochets throughout worked and resulted in the perfect size I needed for my wheels, AND I was able to follow the pattern chart all the way through round 23, so my ghosties are fully complete (according to the pattern).

To store the wheelchair spoke covers, I'm using a cable keychain loop that can open/close, similar to these found on Amazon. It's easy to thread one of these kechain loops inside the flexible hoops of a set of wheelchair spoke covers, and then hang the keychain loop from a hanger in the closet. The spoke covers take up very little room stored that way, and they are easy to access whenever I want to switch out the spoke covers on my wheelchair.

Teacup Chihuahua Costumes Ladybug and Bumblebee

My next-door neighbor, Lori, has two teacup Chihuahuas. Like most little dogs, these tiny boys have oversized attitudes and think they are the guard dogs of the neighborhood. 😂

Anyway, Lori likes to dress her boys up in costume whenever possible, so I thought I would gift them a set of these Ladybug and Bumblebee outfits.

Designer Abbey Jackson wrote the Ladybug pattern to fit her fluffy 10-pound cat, and the Bumblebee pattern was written to fit her other cat, who was a 4-pound kitten at the time. 

Lori's dogs, being the micro teacup variety of Chihuahua, are almost certainly less than 5 pounds each. I didn't actually weigh or measure them before starting this project, so it probably would have been a lot smarter of me to have measured them first! Ha!

I used leftover yarn scraps to crochet these, mostly bits of Red Heart and/or Caron Simply Soft, I'm guessing. Initially, I crocheted one of each of the costumes based on the 10-pound pet size pattern, just to get a sense of the sizes. Then, I followed those up with one of each in a significantly smaller size, which I hope will fit Lori's dogs. Fingers crossed!

I deviated from the written pattern by starting the neckline with a 5.5 mm hook and doing a row of foundation DC. IMO, the foundation stitch lets the neckline stretch more easily than with a row of chains followed by a row of DCs.

After joining to work in the round, I worked a round of alternating FPDC/BPDC, still using the 5.5 mm hook, to give the neckline a ribbed effect. Then I switched to the 5 mm hook to work the next round in FPDC/BPDC, and the following two rows in FPDC/BPDC. I used the 5 mm hook for the rest of the costume.

I worked the body rows/rounds in DC as specified in the pattern, but I deviated from the pattern by making fewer stitches and fewer rows to size the costumes down to fit Lori's boys.

Fingers crossed that they like these! 😊

Update: Lori said that these fit her boys perfectly, but they didn't like her trying to put their front legs through the space between the neckline and the chest strap. So I'm going to fix that problem by making the chest strap open on one end and attaching it with a button. That way, the boys don't have to fret about squeezing their front legs through the small opening. I think that will fix the issue. 🤞

Wheelchair Spoke Covers

I've been using my wheelchair more and more lately as I've been battling ever-increasing pain in my hips and back. And then, a few weeks ago, my right hip apparently decided that it was done playing, which means the pain is now so bad that my leg threatens to give out on me if I try to walk unassisted, and my next appointment with my orthopedic doc isn't until later this month. So, in the meantime, I'm making do as best I can, which means using my wheelchair a lot more than before.

Finished set

Anyway, I've had this wheelchair for about a year and a half. It was gifted to me as a hand-me-down from my brother-in-law (who is a paraplegic). The wheelchair has been very helpful for me and has saved me from experiencing immense amounts of pain that I would have had without it, particularly when I'm cooking in the kitchen, because it saves me from having to stand/walk all the time.

But since I have recently been needing to use it even more, I decided the time had come to give her a bit of color and personality. 😁

First, I added some purple silicone hand rim covers, which I found on Amazon. Because purple is one of my favorite colors, obvs. 😊  

With purple hand rail covers only

Then I wanted to add some snazzy, colorful crocheted spoke covers. There are many tutorials online for how to make wheel covers/spoke covers, and there are many different methods that can be used to make them (including this super budget-friendly tutorial by Jude Merit for poster board covers laminated with strips of clear packing tape), so there isn't only just one "right way" to do it. This video by WheelchairCovers4U gives a good look at what the crocheted wheel covers are like and how they attach to the wheels. As you can see in the background, she has dozens of AMAZING and creative designs for the wheel covers she makes to sell. Her talent is very inspiring! I would say that if you want some wheel covers but don't want to make them yourself, you should definitely check out her shop.

Almost any circle will do - 14 rounds here

After clicking around online, I learned that there are basically two methods used to attach the covers to the wheels: using semi-rigid, flexible tubing that lets the cover "snap" into place and uses tension to hold the cover in place on the wheel; or using rigid outer rings with small binder rings to attach the cover to the hand rail. I opted to go the flexible tubing route. 

Tubing and hose barbs

The description of the supplies in this Etsy listing by JubilanceCrochet says they use 3/8-inch polyethylene tubing – outer diameter 3/8-inch, inner diameter 1/4-inch – to make their hoop frames. That size of tubing gives sufficient rigidity for the frame to hold its shape while still being flexible enough to allow the hoop to snap in/out of the wheel's hand rims. I bought my tubing at our local Ace Hardware, but just about any hardware-type store should carry it, or you can find it on Amazon. I also used 1/4-inch double-ended nylon hose barbs to join the ends of the hoops. 

Hoops with hair dryer

My husband helped me to measure where to cut the tubing and also to insert the hose barbs. We applied the heat from a hair dryer to the ends of the tubing for about 60 seconds to soften it up enough to get the barbs inserted; they were VERY snug. (But that's a good thing; they will stay in place securely.) You can see in my photo with the hair dryer that one of the rings lies flat, but the other one was more potato-chip shaped. 😂 My husband tried to twist the ends of the chip-shaped hoop in an attempt to get it to flatten out more, but eventually he gave up. I told him I was pretty sure that it would still work out OK after I attached the crocheted part and pushed the cover into the wheel. And it did. After finishing it, the chip-shaped one does have a small gap where it doesn't snug up to the inside of the hand rail all the way around as well as the flat one does, but I'm not worried about it. It still looks cute to me. (You can see the gap in my GIF when looking at the wheel on the right side of the wheelchair.) 

First attempt came up a bit short

For the crocheted portion, I used Spin Me Around by Catherine Bligh (a paid pattern), but just about any circle-shaped afghan, doily, or mandala pattern will work. "Spin Me Around" just seems terribly apropos for a project like this, don't you agree? 😵😂 If I decide to make another set of these later, I might use the Rainbow Granny Spiral Sun-Catcher pattern by Jaime Ramsey for my next set (another paid pattern). 🌀 And, OMG, for Halloween, a set of these in Boo! by Marsha Glassner (free pattern!!) would be TO DIE FOR, don't you think?!?! (Squeeeeee!!!) 👻 

Good fit this time

The tricky part about making wheel covers for any wheelchair is that the manufacturers have many different wheel sizes they use, and even wheels of the same diameter made by different manufacturers might still require different size wheel covers, depending on many different factors, such as how the hand rails are attached, etc. So it's important to keep this in mind as you're making your own set of wheel covers: The process is going to be highly customized to your unique wheelchair, and you can't just blindly rely on a pattern to give you the exact measurements your specific chair will require. My wheelchair has 24-inch wheels, and the measurement inside the hand rails is about a 20-inch diameter. We measured the best fit for the tubing on my chair to be about 60-inch lengths. And, remember, if you use hose barbs to attach the ends like I did, the barbs will add a tiny bit of length to the final measurement. 

First one done!

Using "tough" acrylic yarn is a good choice for the durability needed for a project like this. I had most of a skein of Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo Stripes in the Parrot Stripe colorway on hand in my stash. I figured the bright colors and the long color changes it has would work well for this project. 

First one installed - cuuute!

It turned out that the one skein would have been just the right amount to make the two wheel covers, including the length needed to crochet the covers to the rims, if I hadn't already used part of the skein to machine knit two hats for my grandnieces. 😆 But even so, I was nearly finished with the final row of my second wheel cover when that yarn ran out. It ended with green, so I found some Red Heart Super Saver in Spring Green in my stash, which had enough length left to finish up that row and then crochet the second wheel cover to its rim, and it all turned out fine. Some makers, including JubilanceCrochet, prefer to use black yarn to attach their covers to the rims, no matter what color the center of the cover is, so I would say that it's fine to just use whatever colors you like and have on hand. 

Two different 5mm hooks

At my gauge, my wheel covers were the correct size after crocheting 16 rounds. I stopped after 14 rounds on my first one and was about halfway around crocheting it to the rim when I realized that I was going to need to make the circle part bigger. Ultimately, I needed 16 rounds to make these fit correctly. So if you're making wheel covers for yourself, just be prepared for some trial and error as part of the process. You need them to be large enough to fit the hoops, but you also want the crocheted circles to stretch a bit so they fit snugly inside the hoops. It's a balance between "big enough" but not "too big."

To attach the crocheted circles to the rims, I chained up two and then single-crocheted around the rim into each stitch of the circle all the way around. This step is extremely fiddly, especially at the beginning, and awkward and difficult. But if you take it slowly and give yourself plenty of rest breaks, eventually you will make it all the way around and be ready to finish off with a knot to secure everything and weave in the tail.

As a postscript, I included the photo of my two 5mm crochet hooks to illustrate the differences between the lip length. I prefer to use tapered hooks, like these, but even within that broad category, there can be significant differences in the shapes that affect their usability for individual crocheters. For me, the hook on the right, with the longer lip, was definitely more difficult to use, because the lip kept snagging as I worked. The hook on the left worked much more smoothly for me. The difference is minor, and I know different crocheters will have different preferences in which tools work best for them. But it's something to keep in mind: If you're struggling with a particular hook, consider trying one from another manufacturer.

Smock vest from men's denim shirt

Here's a quick sewing project for converting a long-sleeved denim men's shirt into an oversized smock-style vest or apron with lined pockets.

I started with a long-sleeved denim men's shirt like the one in the photo below. (I forgot to take a "before" photo of my shirt, but mine looked almost identical to the one below.)

To make a pattern for the large patch pockets, I used my husband's Carhartt vest as the prototype. These pockets are large and deep, so there's plenty of room for stashing a phone, or my hands, or whatever else I would like to carry in there.

Husband's vest

I laid my husband's vest out flat on my fabric cutting table. Then I took a sheet of newspaper and laid it over the pocket. Using a pencil, I gently traced around the perimeter of the vest pocket to transfer its shape onto the newspaper, then I cut out that pocket shape. I placed the newspaper pocket over a piece of lightweight scrap cardboard I had in my craft stash and, using a ruler and pencil, I marked a half-inch larger (for the sewing seam allowance) to the size of the newspaper pocket around all the sides, then used the ruler to connect those lines, which are the lines for cutting out the pocket pattern on the cardboard.

Originally I was going to make the pocket pattern using a sheet of thin cutting-board vinyl, similar to the ones shown in the photo below, because it's rigid-ish and durable enough for multiple uses as a pattern guide yet thin enough to be cut to size with scissors, but I couldn't find the sheets today that I know I have in my craft stash somewhere, which I bought years ago for this purpose, so I improvised and used the lightweight cardboard instead. Either way, it creates a pattern piece that can be reused for future projects where I want to have this same type of pocket, and, either way, the pattern piece is thin enough to store with my other pattern files.

Vinyl cutting-board sheets

There are many DIY tutorials online for how to upcycle shirts (or even jeans!) into a vest. One tutorial that I enjoyed was this one by Broken Ghost DIY on YouTube. The way she cut off the collar in her project is very similar to the technique I used here. I carefully trimmed off the flap portion of the collar of my shirt, leaving the collar band below intact for a sort-of mandarin collar effect.

Next, I carefully cut off the sleeves, cutting outside of the seams where the sleeves were sewn onto the shirt (cutting on the sleeve side of the seams, in other words). The tiny bit of fabric left behind after cutting off the collar and the sleeves will fray in the wash and lend a rustic touch to the edges.

I laid my pocket pattern over one of the sleeves and was gratified to see that there was enough fabric in the upper part of one sleeve to allow me to cut out two pockets. If one sleeve hadn't been big enough to cut out two pockets, I knew I would have been able to use the tops of both sleeves to cut one pocket out of each. But since I was able to cut both pockets out of one sleeve, now I have another whole extra sleeve to use as scrap fabric for another project later.

For the pocket lining, I dug into my fabric stash and selected two pink bandanas just waiting to be needed for something. I think the pink bandana fabric makes a nice accent/contrast to the blue denim. All together, I cut two pocket fronts out of the denim and two pocket linings out of the pink bandana fabric and then pinned the pieces together with right-sides facing.

I sewed the pocket fronts to the linings, leaving an unsewn gap of a few inches at the bottom of each pocket for turning them right-side out.

After sewing, I trimmed the excess fabric at each corner, then turned the pockets right-side out and pressed them smooth with my iron. With the seam allowance pressed to the inside, I topstitched along the bottom edge of each pocket to secure the areas that were previously left unsewn for turning the pockets right-side out.

To position the pockets on the front of the shirt, I laid the shirt flat on my cutting table, with some of the buttons fastened to keep the sides even, and then placed the pockets where I thought they looked good, using my cardboard pocket pattern as a guide to ensure the pockets were level with each other. I pinned them in place and then tried on the vest to see if the pockets were positioned at a comfortable height for my hands. Once I had the pockets pinned exactly where I wanted them, I sewed the pockets in place with my sewing machine, backstitching several times at the beginning/end to reinforce the pocket openings.

A peek inside the pockets

The nice thing about making pockets this way is that there are no raw edges exposed anywhere, because they are all hidden between the pocket fronts and the pocket linings.

And, just like that, my smock vest/apron was done and ready to wear! 

 How the arm openings look after laundering. I love the frayed effect!