Category: Potato Technology

Bunny Plush Keychain

Recently, I shared a Knit Star Plush Keychain Pattern, but that wasn’t the only keychain I’ve been working on. Behold, a knit bunny keychain made from repurposed fabric! This keychain was inspired by my Skzoo Quokka plush keychain which I have styled on my purse and belt loop. I was tempted to buy more as this trend has been all over my feed this year, but that’s unrealistic. So I thought, in Jeremy Clarkson fashion, how hard could it be?

This key chain was made by repurposing a pair of underwear, that was weirdly made without any stretch. They had no purpose but to be trashed, which I didn’t want to do because they were brand new and I liked the pattern and color story. So I wondered, could I translate this to a plushie and I could make this plushie into a keychain without buying any materials beyond the keychain hardware? The answer is yes!

I used a pen to draw pattern pieces onto the underwear by designating the fabric into four ear-pieces, two head-pieces, and a rectangle piece that would be used to connect the keychain hardware. The rest of the fabric was cut into small cut pieces that would be used as the stuffing. This worked like a dream!

I chose to sew this item by hand because of the small nature of the project. The pieces were too small and delicate to sew by machine with any semblance of control or care. It was a quick make and took one day to complete. I sewed 90% of the ears, turned them right side out, stuffed them, and then set the ears aside. Next, I repeated this process with the circle for the head and stuffed it. When I was certain that all the stuffing was divided between the three pieces adequately, I sewed closed the ears and head. Next, I attached the ears to the head. Finally, I sewed the rectangle and threaded it through the loop of the keychain before attaching it to the bunny plushie. I opted for an abstract look so I did not decorate the bunny plush with a face, therefore if it spins around it doesn’t matter what side is facing out.

Overall, this was a quick and thrifty project with the hardware coming in a pack of two for $2.99. I used the other clip on the knit star plush project. This type of plushie could be made with any scrap fabric you have and could be adapted into other animals. It would be an easy DIY gift too!

Were My 2024 Fashion Predictions Accurate?

At the beginning of January 2024, I made a post for fun predicting what I thought would become popular trends in 2024. Now that it’s December, how well did I do? I accurately guessed 6 out of 10 of the predictions I made! So what were these trends that I predicted and what did I get wrong? Let’s jump in!

Gameday Outfits

The NFL had a moment this year with the spotlight of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, and her gameday outfits became a source of public fascination. This created a wave of gameday outfit inspiration online, sparked by Blokecore in 2023. This carried on through WAG fashion and trickled into the mainstream. The Paris Olympics created fashion buzz, as did the movie Challengers. There was a rising fascination for F1 in the US. Not to mention the popularity of the team-branded baseball cap and Adidas soccer shorts paired with a button-down shirt. This one was a big deal and was unifying to be honest because who doesn’t like at least one of these sporting events? There is something for everyone.

Patches and Visible Mending

This definitely became a trend as DIY fashion and upcycling continue to grow in popularity online for sustainability and creative expression. Mending and learning to sew continues to rise in popularity as people choose to opt out of the fast fashion loop in search of clothing that will last all while standing out in a crowd. I think we can agree there was a hive mind within fashion since the Tik-Tok “core” aesthetics took off at the beginning of the decade and we are all looking for original ideas again.

Colorful Knit Accessories

Similarly, knitting along with crochet has continued to grow in popularity as hobbies and as a way to create DIY fashion by hand. It was so popular that chatGPT patterns and AI-created crochet and knit images cluttered the creative space. With Balletcore being popular, so were leg warmers and slouchy socks. Fingerless gloves, colorful hats, and brightly colored vests made 2024 what it was – a fiber artist paradise.

Exaggerated Tailoring

This was seen on the runway, with tailoring having a moment with trousers, vests, and blazers finding popularity once again. Dramatic shapes were popular on the runway. I also saw vests and dramatic trouser shapes in mainstream stores. I think this should always be in style so let’s keep in that way fashion trends. It’s a classic.

Resurgence of the Flip Flops

Yes, these were hailed the “It girl” shoe of the summer after Gisele Bundchen (yes I know I’m missing the umlauts) was seen wearing them. The specific flip-flop brand Havaianas, was the iconic style of 2024, but luxury brands tried to corner that market with $900+ flip-flops. I think it makes sense for these to come around again after how long the Birkenstock sandal has been the favorite choice, followed by Tevas, it’s the next logical evolution from clunky to delicate. Personally, all three of these drive my feet nuts but I’d probably choose the Teva for comfort or flip-flops for sheer chillness. Flip-flops were also worn by athletes at the Paris 2024 games.

Jersey Shore Nostalgia

Indeed Ed Hardy and Von Dutch did trend again this year! Mainly with teens and tweens, but this styling returned to the runway with Kim Petras’ Spring 2024 collection which featured Ed Hardy’s iconic designs. I’m excited for this era of fashion to return because I enjoyed the late 2000s-early 2010s fashion and the over-the-top spectacle of it. I’m certainly more for this than the mob wife styling of early 2024.

Parasols for Sun Relief

This one I thought, was a long shot but it made sense for it to become a trend because of how practical they are while protecting skin from UV damage. They are technically better for the planet than single-use sunscreen. I was not wrong. This market is projected to grow from 2024-2032 as the parasol or sun umbrella market is anticipated to grow globally. In 2024, there was significant growth as a trend for Japanese men. That’s a result! 🙂

What Did I Miss the Mark On?

  • ARMY-core was not a thing even though all BTS members were in the military this year, no trends emerged from this across the K-pop sphere. The only popular examples of camo I saw were from Chappell Roan’s ‘Midwest Princess’ camo hats from her tour and the Harris-Walz campaign hats which copied the same style.
  • Gilded Age Finery did not take off like I hoped. The only instances I found were Bad Bunny’s Met Gala look and Paris Fashion Week using late Victorian and Regency era opulence as inspiration for glamour.
  • Bonnets this was a flop except for two key shifts. One I hope I explain right because I am not familiar with the hair culture. According to a few articles I found black men styled bonnets as a protective hair style in 2024. Secondly, hats became popular again with rope hats and pillbox styles being the most talked about.
  • Cosmic Cowboy or Sailor Cowboy would have been accurate if I had dropped the qualifiers. Cowboy was the most iconic aesthetic of this year with cowboy styling, media, and country music being a key player in pop culture. Americana in general had a moment which is odd but hopefully a turning point for unification in my divided land.

What were your favorite style moments of 2024? And did you participate in any of these trends?

Knit Star Keychain Pattern

Back in the spring, I had this grand idea that I would learn how to crochet. I had a friend who crocheted next door, I had recently found TL Yarn Crafts on YouTube. Toni made it look so fun. I was enamored by what I saw others creating with crochet hooks. Crochet rose in mainstream popularity again through 2020 and beyond in 2024.

My Impression of Crochet

The internet is chock full of crochet plushies, dresses, sweaters, bags – you name it you can crochet it. I didn’t see this kind of creativity from my corner of the knitting internet. I had this impression that knitters were serious and crocheters were mavericks. So the hook was calling to me.

I bought a crochet hook and spent a few weeks watching videos, perusing a book my neighbor lent me, and getting the hook into some loops. It’s a weird transition from knitting. I apparatus from two is a change. There is a posture, one hand, and yarn holding. There is a new way to keep yarn tension, and there are a lot of new stitches. There was more emphasis on turning your work than the orientation of the wrong side and right side. Single crochet and double crochet were not a one-for-one of knit and purl. That surprised me.

Granny squares were a bit more involved than I expected. It’s an art form that deserves respect. I definitely respect it. It kept me back, I had the tightest tension and felt like I had never done yarn crafting before. I was shocked, shouldn’t this be a piece of cake? I’ve been knitting off and on since 2012. Yeah, it’s not that simple.

Fluff Around and Find Out

To be honest, the way that I learn best is to just go for it, and doing these basic crochet stitches on a project that was a rectangle, all while it looked like a tattered mess was discouraging. I wanted to make one of the little plushies or shapes that seemed to be a sculpture that only crochet could create. But I was seriously not getting it. So I paused and thought about it. Is there any way to apply this creative point of you, the sculpting of yarn that only crochet can, but try it with knitting needles?

This might seem weird to consider if you don’t knit or crochet but the processes seem vastly different to me. There’s a strategy to knitting. You have to do things in stages, like knitting a section and transferring stitches to a stitch minder or picking up stitches that were bound off or are just part of a knit edge. While crocheting builds on itself and is an amorphous thing that is truly sculpting and adding as you go.

So I decided, what if I made something with the sculpting element of crochet but with knitting steps. I decided on a star as you can see above that was crafted out of multiple knit sections that were stitched together. This pattern has a lot of little steps but I think it was effective.

Star Knitting Pattern

Star Point Diamond – Row 1: Cast on, Knit 1, Row 2: Purl 1, Add Stitch, Row 3: Knit 2, Add Stitch, Row 4: Purl 3, Add Stitch, Row 5: Knit 4, Add Stitch, Row 6: Purl 5, Row 7: Knit 4, Decrease 1, Row 8: Purl 3, Decrease 1, Row 9: Knit 2, Decrease 1, Row 10: Purl 1, Decrease 1, Row 11: Knit 1 and Bind Off.

Repeat four times until five are made. Then using a tapestry needle, join the five points together at the center so that you have the base for a star, then join the sides of the diamonds together so that you have a flat star. Repeat the whole process one more time so that you have two flat stars and then sew them together with the tapestry needle.

So now that you have a star what can you do with it? I had planned originally to make a star garland for Christmas, but then the Fire Nation attacked and I had to move.

So we pivot to the bag decoration trend of 2024. This is a combination I’d say of Kpop, Xiaohongshu style trends, and the Japanese Ita bag becoming popular in the West. If you would like to learn more about Ita bags, I would highly recommend Addy’s video on YouTube. And these little stars in the original green and its pink starfish cousin have made excellent DIY plushie keychains.

Finished Product Used as a Keychain

Final Thoughts

I think creativity is about experimentation and learning as you go. I think sometimes it is important to do it the normal way and other times it is more satisfying to try a new method, a new medium, and make something you may not have thought you could. I still have incredible respect for crochet and I also think knitting has more potential than I thought. I have also learned that if a key chain or other small trinkets are not specifically branded I should try making them before I buy. It’s a great way to use up materials in my stash, level up my skills, and keep my consumption down and my wallet happier.

Socks, A Journey

Today I completed the most stressful cast on of my knitting life, casting on a sock. This was with three strands of lace weight yarn and four double pointed needles, size US 1. Why double pointed needles? Why not! It got me out of my comfort zone and pushed me to be a focused, careful knitter with dexterity and cultivated patience for myself, the materials, and the technique.

Once the first round was joined, I felt the tension coursing through my body settle, like a war had been won in needles and yarn.

How will my first sock turn out? Who knows, but I’m optimistic. I have a sock knitting book, a step-by-step pattern, and properly gauged materials. I’d like to have cute socks to wear, the ruffly kind so here goes nothing! 😃

Sewing Stretch Fabric Struggles

Do you ever spend time learning a skill just to forget it when you need to use it? That’s me. That’s how I sew stretch fabric on my machine. I just jump in and completely forget that I need to first properly adjust the tension and stitch type or else mayhem ensues. Mayhem like my machine having a nice little snack on my fabric.

Sometimes the machine gets extra bold and drags the hem under into the bobbin’s domain, jamming the machine. This is what I am talking about:

In the moment of panic, when I realize the fabric is stuck down in the machine a few thoughts dance through my mind.

  • Why didn’t you sew this by hand?!
  • You did it, you finally broke the machine you maniac!!
  • It’s ripped to shreds, isn’t it? The whole project might be gone in a moment.
  • This machine hates me. How do other people sew so effortlessly??

But it’s not the machine’s fault and it’s not the fabric that caused this, and it’s not even my fault. It’s morally neutral, it’s an accident and a learning experience to grow from!

As I was writing this, I caught myself crafting sentences to describe the situation with very negative and demeaning language towards myself for making a simple mistake. (A mistake that once I freed the fabric from the machine, I corrected and carried on to make the finished garment. The tight thread tension actually made a happy accident, a lettuce edge hem.)

It is not something that I should hold with such severity against myself that I internally tell myself I am an idiot, a lousy sewist, or useless.

Because how would I respond to hearing someone say that to another person? I would be disappointed in the speaker and make them stop.

How would I respond if I spoke with such aggression to another person? I would be ashamed.

I am learning through these sewing setbacks to temper the internal monologue and be a more gentle and loving person towards myself, to maintain better mental health, and establish the practice in my mind so that I can be a source of gentleness and kindness to others.

How do you speak towards yourself and others when they make a mistake?

Landscape Painting with Yarn

This year I’ve been looking for ways to use my stash as completely as possible and use up what I have to make new fibers and new projects. One way I accomplished this was through color palette knitting and through the stripe hype sweater. But another project idea I had this summer was to try minimal colorwork knitting by “painting” with yarn through a mix of new cotton yarn I purchased and yarn extras my mom passed onto me. This helped stretch the teal cotton yarn I bought, underestimating how much I needed to make a t-shirt. It was an opportunity to make a “graphic print” t-shirt out of yarn, something I didn’t have in my wardrobe, but sounded like a fun piece to wear.

These are the yarns I decided to use for the landscape painting section of the garment. Cotton yarn that was originally purchased by my mom to create handknit dishcloths in a color selection of blue, green, and pooling gray-to-white-to-blue, a lime green cotton-bamboo yarn, and the teal cotton I purchased. The pooling yarn was perfect for the clouds. Each side of the garment is unique because of this pooling yarn like a real sky. The plain blue was used for water, the dark green for a marshy grown-up bank, and the lime green for sunkissed meadows of grass. The teal was used for a distant tree line that was framed by the clouds.

I opted to make this oversized with a short sleeve opening, somewhere between a vest and a t-shirt because I haven’t decided how I want to wear this. As a t-shirt of course but do I want this to be a layering piece in the cooler months of the year? Or do I want to make detachable sleeves? That is something I am still milling over in my mind. I did split the back of the piece in a moment of indecision, where I thought it would be cute to make it a short-sleeved button cardigan. I may do this in the future. I opted to keep the t-shirt structure for simplicity and the ability to wear it more quickly. I was impatient to wear it.

I love projects that utilize things I already own and use techniques I haven’t tried before. Since this project I’ve begun to learn proper colorwork knitting, it’s been fun. Thank goodness for YouTube and knitting books to make the complicated things, like learning how to switch colors, feel approachable!

How have you been expressing your creativity this week? Do you like getting crafty? Are you a knitter and have you tried colorwork knitting before?

#64 – Weather Changes and Shifting Projects

I find myself in an October slump which I discussed in a previous post. Last year I was much less productive with my writing goals in October than I wished, and its happening again! I’ve paused on sewing and have taken time to recharge, yet its still happening! I think I know why, the weather.

Since we were in Erie, my hometown has been having some pretty cool temps which has sent me into the knitting zone. I have been working on a cowl, some mittens, leg warmers, and reading up on how to make socks.

It’s been my trend for a while, I tend to focus on sewing fall/winter pieces in August and September to be prepared for the first cool days. Then in October when it drops and I get that first taste of cold hands or ears, I hurry to knit those cold-weather accessories. Like a light bulb goes off. It’s fun making things with the seasons too.

Stray Kids have been going insane with song releases so far this month too with two soundtrack releases for for the anime Tower of God and a third collaboration for Arcane on Netflix. Itzy and Ateez released new albums in October as well, plus Aespa’s upcoming release on the 21st, it’s been a distracting few weeks. Not to mention Mario Party Jamboree which I cannot wait to play tonight!

Currently, I’m dabbling in colorwork and its unlocking this whole world of possibilities for intricate storytelling across the canvas of wool.

I have a few knitting projects I excited to share that were the start of these colorwork projects. I just need to motivate myself to put down the needles and type.

Maybe I’ll do that now? Okay, I’ll meet you back here in a few. 🙂

Experimenting with Stitching and Basics

It’s that time of year when I am ready to wear long sleeves but the weather isn’t so convinced. This blouse is a project I made at the end of March 2024-early April 2024, that I completed and put into my closet to wear later. I was excited as soon as it began to cool off for the chance to style this piece! All summer long I’ve worn its sister piece, my denim houndstooth skirt that can also be worn as a dress that was absolutely lovely material to wear. It’s so breathable and has a bit more visual interest than the usual chambray, something I look for. This fabric is from Mood Fabrics, it looks like they no longer carry it which is a shame because I have two pieces from this cut of fabric, and I want to make more.

This piece is special to me because I did something a little different with the collar, I stitched in white the lines of a blazer lapel and lines of a jacket crossing over, for a bit of a formal feel. I originally wanted to make this fabric into a jacket but ran out of material, and I think it worked out for the best. I want to play with this stitching a bit more. It resembles a tailor’s chalk marking to me and I like that.

As the fall progresses and the temperatures continue to drop I’m looking forward to styling this piece with pants, vests, dresses, skirts, boots, scarves, etc. Styling this piece with new color combos excites me. I’ve only paired it with this brown and blue combo so far, which sparks my interest the most. I’d like to try this stitching application on trousers and dresses too with a solid fabric or maybe another pattern.

Do you like contrast stitching? Do you like clothing with a bit of whimsy like this faux blazer collar? Are you a fan of patterns? I like how different we all are and how tastes and preferences make this fashion thing, full of endless creativity. Thank you, dear reader, for stopping by. I hope we meet again soon. ❤

The Candle Light Cardigan

Fall knitting is here! I’ve been working on this cardigan, off and on, amid a myriad of projects since July. As the days have passed, and a slightly cooler air awakens, I am thrilled to say this piece is ready to wear! I used to struggle to finish sweater projects and I would wander along with my yarn, for three or four months, dilly-dallying on a section because I was bored. This led to a lot of plans and not a lot of garments. This is in the past though. 2024 has been the year of sweaters for me, this being my seventh finished sweater this year! And its only September so I’m excited to see what else I can do in the last quarter of the year.

Do you remember what episode of Gilmore Girls this audio clip is from?

This Comfy Cotton Blend yarn from Lion Brand is a 1 to 1 ratio of polyester and cotton and the tag labels this color blend as chai latte. As I knit it, I saw it more as a banana split blizzard color and now in the spooky cloudy light of fall, I see it as candle light with highlights and shadows. Hence the name, the Candle Light Cardigan. I opted for now to keep this as an open cardigan without a button placket. Not out of laziness, but out of my intention to wear it. This was a cardigan I made specifically for the changing seasons, as a piece I could layer over my summer dresses and tops to get a little more wear out of them on these days when it is both cool and warm as the day progresses. I have two more yarn cakes of this color way which I can use to add a button placket at a later time if I change my mind.

I received this yarn as a gift from my mom as she was de-stashing it. It has been a lovely weight to knit and I like how soft it is. My only notes for Lion Brand would be to work on the splitting. This yarn split often as I was knitting which caught on my needles and led to messy stitches. Either because my needle held on to the stitch below or the yarn split and left some of the stitch behind. It was frustrating at times but not impossible to work with. The fabric it made has a good breathability and warmth to it which I was looking for in a changing seasons layering piece. This is a self drafted pattern that I knit on US 7 straight needles.

Happy Fall everyone one! (And Happy Spring to the southern hemisphere!)

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