Recovering a Pair of Headphones

I wanted to listen to my laptop without disturbing my husband.  Found a pair of Logitech headphones in a drawer and put them on.   

They worked great, but when I took them off, I found little flecks of black stuff, like large pieces of dandruff in my hair, on my ears and stuck to my face.  My headphones were disintegrating!  Over time the black material that covered the headpiece and the ear pads was just falling off.  So, I picked whatever I could find off and determined to do something with these headphones.

Found myself recovering from a salivary stone, feeling a bit more energy but not well enough to go back to work and determined I had found a use for my really cool Vera Wang Tee-shirt.  I’d worn it once, bought at the Good Will Store in my neighborhood and discovered a whole bunch of moth holes.  Note to Self:  Pay attention when you buy stuff at Good Will.

So, here’s what I did.  At Spirit’s suggestion I used a paper towel to make a pattern.  It was soft enough that I could hold and fold it easily enough on the headpiece and one of the ear pieces.  Used a blue Sharpie Marker to make some dashes along where I figured the seams would go.  

Cut out the material adding a bit of a seam allowance.  Made some long basting stitches on the circular pieces, drew it up, folded under the raw edges and stuck pins in to hold it all together.  Used one of my favorite needles, a short sharpie, with blue thread to do a half-assed job of stitching it to the ear pieces.


I sewed the head piece in the same manner, using enough material to wrap it length wise with about 1/2 inch seam allowance.  Folded it all together and attempted to make nice neat stitches.  What is nice is because there is an irregular pattern to the fabric you really can't see that my stitches are uneven. 

It’s great.  Better, I think than the crocheted covered headphones I did so many years ago because the tee-shirt material is so soft.

Repurposed a very nice set of headphones and it only took a couple of hours.

P.S. This post hit the web on 5/30/2019. Now, almost 4 years later, on 5/22/2023 those headphones are still in service. They are comfortable as they can be, and I've enjoyed them all these years. 

Times have moved on. We've been through the Covid-19 pandemic. Both I and my husband got it last December. The worst of it lasted about a month. We've since recovered, except I still don't have my entire sense of taste or smell back. Not necessarily a bad thing especially with foul smells. But, there is slow improvement. The worst seems to be a sudden acceleration of aging-related issues. Like my muscle mass has taken a hit. I am just not as strong as I was before. 

So, if anybody is reading this, I'm still here. Thanks for reading.

Crocheting With Hand Carved Hook

Crocheting With Hand Carved Hook
Originally uploaded by skyefyre

Here's my first video using Flip video camera.

Crocheting with the first hook I ever carved....about 20 hooks and 4 months ago. I think this might be handy to use to show the techniques of carving the hooks.

Carving Wooden Crochet Hooks

I was entranced the first time I saw a hand carved wooden crochet hook. I was looking at crochet hooks made from sticks. There were others, just as beautiful on the Internet where folks had used a lathe to intricately fashion the handle, but the ones that fascinated me were the oddly shaped hooks that showed how the branch had twisted and turned as it grew. At the time I considered purchasing one, but the price was just too high for me right then. However, I thought, “Maybe someday.”

Crochet Hooks I Carved

Years went by and it occurred to me that I could pick up a stick as easily as anybody else and carve it. I looked for directions on the Internet and found a small pamphlet titled, “How to Hand Carve a Wooden Crochet Hook”. I purchased the book and a gauge from http://www.gourmetcrochet.com/ and there they sat for awhile. I read the book and there were a few things that puzzled me, but I wasn’t yet ready to start. I still had beginner’s feet or cold feet as some people call them.

A few months after I had purchased the pamphlet I was at the home of my friend, Barbara. Her husband Charles showed me beautiful walking sticks he had made from large sticks he’d picked up when he was out in the woods. The finish on the sticks was exquisite. He explained that he removed the bark, sandpapered the wood and then patiently began applying many layers of Tung oil until finally the wood was protected, felt like satin to my hand and gleamed. Again, I was entranced.

I remembered the crochet hooks I had plans to make and it occurred to me that I might be able to get started on the project. First, though, I went to Charles with my questions. He gave me different grades of sandpaper and different kinds of steel wool to use. He lent me some Tung Oil and gave me a knife and I was on my way.

The first few attempts I made took some time. My right wrist and left thumb were very sore. I learned to wear my wrist splints and to cover my thumb with a Band-Aid until I could develop a good woodworker’s callus on my thumb. I learned not to carve when I was tired. That was when I would cut too deeply and slice the hook right off of the business end of my project. I also learned to take smaller cuts in the wood.

The book I used to learn how

I learned termites and wood burrowing bugs lived in the branches I took home from the big Redwood tree next to my building at work. At first it alarmed me that my hook was damaged. But, then, I realized that the defects were actually interesting and continued to use that particular wood. I learned Redwood is very much harder than the white oak sticks I picked up other places.

Now, I’ve got people on the lookout for sticks for me. Charles gave me some fruit wood from a cherry tree in the neighborhood.

I begin a project by removing the bark from the stick. Sanding takes a long time and I discovered that chipping away at the bark with my X-acto knife was faster. Then, I begin to sand the stick. At the same time I pause often to hold the stick in my hand to see which way the hook wants to go. They aren’t always straight and when there is a slight bend to the branch I don’t want my hand to get fatigued as I work the hook later on with yarn. So, I turn it about and about until I get a grip that feels good to my hand.

Preparing the Sticks - Removing the Bark

Once the stick is relatively smooth I make the cut for the hook. I’ve got a small coping saw that I hold at a 45 degree angle about half an inch or more from the end of the hook. I saw almost half way into the stick. From there I pick up my knife. I have 3 of them that I’m using. One is a heavy duty X-acto knife. Another is a smaller X-acto craft knife. The third one is rather pretty and is called a whittling knife. There are times when I will use all 3 of them during the course of a project. It just depends on how I feel.

Close up of the hooks

Lately, I’ve been working on the slant into the hook area first. When I’ve got that area going I will go to the top of the hook and work on the tippy part. When it starts looking like a crochet hook I will begin to size it in my gauge. I tend to make them starting at a larger sized hook of L and M and work my way down in size to the smallest I made which might have been an F. Smaller than that and I don’t think the wood would be sturdy enough.

The directions in the pamphlet cautioned against sanding the underside of the hook, but so far I have yet to make a nice smooth cut with the saw, so I gingerly sand it with the flat side of a small file I got at Home Depot. Actually, it’s a whole set of them, but the only ones I tend to use is the flat/domed on the other side file and a small round file. I use the round file to put a smile on the hook when I’m almost done.

Tools I use to carve crochet hooks

I alternate between carving and sanding as the hook begin to find a good size. I size it in the gauge both for size and to see that I’m approaching a roundness on the hook. I don’t figure it would matter to be a size G one way and a size H the other, but I am a Virgo and I want it to be “right”.

It was tough for me to figure out where to place the gauge to determine the correct size. I did go grab a couple of my “bought” hooks and sized them. Imagine my surprise to see that they were not consistent. No wonder they give a gauge to work to at the beginning of a pattern. However, I have sort of determined that I need to size a hook about one and a half inches from the tip. I keep several balls of yarn nearby that I use to see how the hook I’m working with feels using it to actually crochet something. I also eyeball wherever the yarn ends up at the fattest part of the hook (that inch and a half down) to see if I am positioning the gauge in the right place to get a correct size.

With my first hooks I used a wood burning set to burn in the size. The very first one I did was a J. I made the J backwards and kept looking at it because it seemed strange to me. Well, a few days later I realized I’d made a backwards J so I dragged out the wood burning set again, turned the backwards J into a flower and put a proper J on the other side. Then, I burned my name on the hook.

The gauge I use to size the hooks

I have given away a bunch of the hooks I made. Mimi, a lady at my husband’s work, made a cute blue and white purse for me with the hook I gave her. In line at the True Value hardware store across from where we live and where I purchased many of the supplies I use I gave one of the hooks to a cashier who said he crocheted. It was so funny the first time I was showing off the hooks to him and his buddy was hanging over his shoulder to see what he was doing. He said to him, “Yes, I crochet.” in an exasperated tone of voice. The next time I was in the store I gave him one of the hooks. The guy behind me in line was amazed. He said I should be selling them and maybe someday I will. He said to me that his elderly aunt crochets, but she has arthritis and can’t do it as much as she’d like. I looked at my hooks and found the one I’d made with a big handle just for somebody who might need a better ergonomic grip. I gave it to him and said it was for his aunt. The man said the hair stood up on the back of his neck he was so surprised.
It makes me feel good to give away these hooks. I’m still learning how to make them. Each one I make I am able to focus in on a different aspect of the hook and each hook is different.

I’ve learned when I work on the wooden dowels I bought from the craft store that wood is almost like butter and I have to be careful not to take deep cuts because they generally result in a huge splinter coming out and ruining the piece.

I’ve also gotten some good tools made out of the pieces that don’t make it to a successful crochet hook. Charles told me to use a piece of wood on the crochet hooks as a burnishing tool. So, one of my failures is used for just that purpose. It puts a sheen on the hook, it seems to even out dents and cuts that I didn’t mean to leave, it almost seems to harden the wood. Another piece I tried to turn into a letter opener, which didn’t work very well, but I kept it and wrapped a piece of 400 grade sandpaper on the flat end to help when I want to finely sand the underside of the hook.

One of the things I’m experimenting with now is with the finishes I’m putting on the hooks. I began using Tung Oil. The first coat would be dry in a few hours. The second coat took longer and subsequent coats of Tung oil took even longer to dry. In fact, I had some hooks that didn’t completely dry out until after a good 2 weeks. But, even after that somehow the surface of the hook didn’t have as smooth an action as I hoped for. The surface of the wood was like glass and just beautiful to look at, but somehow it hadn’t resulted in a fast hook.

I bought some Min-Wax stain and tried that, but I wasn’t all that pleased with the result. The stain seemed to come off on the yarn and that wasn’t good at all. I probably didn’t use it right, so the stain has been put away for another day.

Files, Sandpaper & Sanding Block, X-Acto Knife & Whittling Knife

Then, I thought why finish them at all. Once they had been sanded down with the 400 grit sandpaper they were quite lovely and had a good action when crocheting.

However, weekend before last I was over at True-Value hardware store and saw where the stain was being sold. There was a big display that illustrated all the steps in finishing a piece of wood. Step one was the stain. Step two was a protective coating. I thought that’s what I had left out. So, I bought two cans of Polyurethane in a clear satin and a clear gloss. I applied the clear satin to five hooks I’d made recently and I really, really like how they turned out. The directions said to put another coat on and I will do that this afternoon.

I have really enjoyed making these hooks. It’s not that hard. It’s helpful to have somebody nearby to consult with who knows something about wood as you work with it. It’s wonderful to see the faces of people who crochet when they see the hooks and it’s especially nice to give them away.

What I like to think of is the spirit of the wood. I hold a stick in my hands before I work with it and close my eyes. It’s almost as if I am asking the wood if I can work it into a hook. As I work with the hooks after they are made they are warm. I like this hobby.

Where I Make a Cat Scratching Post

I made a cat scratching post last week for our cats. Of course, like any self respecting cat their favorite place is the corner on the sofa, but we give them a substitute scratching post. Their favorite had worn out. It started out life with an acrylic base, a bunch of corks like you might find on a fishing net, and a dowel arrangement. This was screwed into the wall. In this house it is screwed onto the side of a bookcase we have in the kitchen. I looked on the internet to see if I could find a picture of it, but it seems nobody is making it anymore.

The first time it wore out the most favored place to scratch was the wicker laundry basket in the bathroom. It was just a simple basket. Nothing fancy. But, they destroyed it. I bought a plastic laundry basket and saved some of the wicker material. When the cork cat scratching post wore out I replaced it with a tower of Styrofoam rounds. I glued the wicker material I had saved from the destroyed basket onto the Styrofoam and forced the dowel thingie through the stack of Styrofoam. Here, you see a picture of this cat scratching post at the end of its life.

When my husband began complaining about how tacky it was looking I knew it must be pretty bad. Like most guys my husband is not concerned with how nice the place looks. Basically, I married a slob. The first few months of our marriage I picked up after him everywhere he went. I nagged. He bristled. It just wasn’t a harmonious arrangement. I realized if I wanted us to remain married I was going to have to do something. Since I couldn’t change him I would have to change me and at the tender age of 21 I became a slob. It has worked well these 33 years we’ve been married. As I’ve gotten older I have become more of a slob, but I am easily able to distract myself from clutter and focus upon whatever neato thing I am doing at the moment. However, when DeeDude, slob extroadianre, comments upon what a mess something is you know it’s gotten beyond bad.

So, last weekend I morphed the old tattered, well scratched and loved cat scratching post into a sleek refurbished one.

Here’s what I did. Since I could not find any Styrofoam in the shapes I needed it to be and since I didn’t want to sit there carving out rounds I switched tactics. I bought a roll of ½ inch foam rubber. I cut a piece of card stock the length of the dowel and wrapped and taped it around the dowel. It acted as a collar around the dowel and the dowel could move easily in and out. Then, I cut a piece of the foam rubber the length of the dowel and tightly rolled it around the dowel. Once I got it to the diameter I wanted I was done. I think it’s probably about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. I secured the foam rubber with bits of ribbon tied every 2 inches or so.

Then, I cut a piece of lovely scrap upholstery fabric I got at Beverley’s with seam allowances included. I basted the top and bottom of the fabric by hand. Then, I wrapped it around my foam rubber tootsie roll and stitched it up by hand. Positioned it in the acrylic base, pushed the dowel through and voila, the kitties had a very nice looking cat scratching post. I put some cat nip on it to see if they wouldn’t get interested in it. DeeDude has seen them working away at it, though I haven’t yet. You’ll notice in the picture Mattie stretching up to scratch right next to it. Not on it. Next to it. Oh, well. I think with time they will warm up to it.

What you could do if you are going to attempt this on your own is to think paper towel holder arrangement. Something sturdy enough to handle your cat as he or she is scratching away at it. Also, if you’ve got some salvaged fabric from whatever they destroyed use that to incorporate into your new cat scratching post. I would have used the wicker from the laundry basket if I could have found it. I know we still have some left, but it beats me where I put it. Someday it will show up, but in the mean time I do like the looks of our new cat scratching post.

Where I Make Bookmarks

I've got a decent sized table we bought from Costco set up in front of the television in the living room. This is just the right size to set up my sewing machine or drag out all my bead stuff and have a nice session beading. My eyesight isn't what it used to be so I also bought an Ott light which after I'd tried all sorts of other lights is the best one. Great light, no shadows and a true representation of what the colors are.

That said, yesterday and the day before I got my first commission. This from my husband, DeeDude, who asked me for 10 bookmarks that they could sell for $5.00 each and give the proceeds to The MacArthur Metro. They had a celebration birthday party gathering last night for The Metro which is 20 years old.

The Metro is our neighborhood newspaper and is a freebie to everyone. Hardly anybody on staff gets paid, so they are all mostly volunteers. DeeDude got involved with them 13 years ago after his back broke. He was a real estate loan broker in those days and the business was cut throat. He used to come home every evening snarling and all wound up. Then, he broke his back and he couldn't do much of anything for more than a year after that. As he slowly began healing he got itchy for something to do. He wasn't well enough to work a full time job because he was only pain free for short periods of time.

One day they had a want ad in The MacArthur Metro for somebody to write articles. He called them up and they told him to start writing. He never got paid for the work, but it was the beginning of a new career for him. He never went back to loan brokering or stock brokering. As his back gradually healed up he was able finally to go out and look for a paid job. He landed one with The Montclarion, another neighborhood newspaper in our area, but it paid money. He was with both papers for years and then we decided that he should take a year off and write for himself. He's written a bunch of history books. You can see them at his website Evanosky.info But, after awhile we needed him to go back to work again. He enjoys his work now at The Alameda Sun.

All that aside, here are the bookmarks I made. I had to present them somehow and decided to use a piece of cardboard covered with velvet that had come our way once upon a time. I half-hitched each bookmark to a wooden skewer. The only problem was that you had to be careful with the skewers because it was easy to pick up a splinter. I used small clamps to anchor the skewers to the board. I think if I were to do it again I'd get something other than those skewers to use....maybe chopsticks?

I'm tending toward a focal piece at one end of the bookmarks. Lots of quartz and stone carved hearts and coins from other countries that have holes in the middle. I'm using 6 strands of a really shiny and silky white cord that my neighbor gave me. There's enough to do a million of these things. But, I have to use beads where the holes are large enough to fit through the braided strand. I use a tiny, tiny sized crochet hook and grab one or two strands of the unbraided strands at a time to run through the beads until I've got all 6 through. It's a very laborious process.

Ending the bookmarks was a challenge. This thread is so silky that knots just don't hold. I found that if I held the flame of a lighter to the thread and my hand was real steady it would fuse back on itself. The problem there became the tiny little knot of melted plastic was unsightly. So, I experimented with Fimo clay building a bead on the knot. I'd bake the whole bookmark in my convection oven at 200 degrees Farenheit for about 15 minutes or so. That seemed to be enough to set and harden the bead. Then, when it was cool I'd paint the bead with clear nail polish.

Yesterday, when I was making the batch for DeeDude I used the clear nail polish to paint the ending knot. Applied sparingly on the parts of the loose knot and then after I'd pulled the knot tight to the outside of it things seemed to work well. Then, I cut the strands about an inch or inch and a half away from the knot to make a small tassel. Have to be careful with the nail polish, though, because too much on the knot will travel right down the strands and make what ends up to be the tassel part gummed together. I can make 2 or 3 bookmarks in one sitting and then I'm pooped out.

Interesting Uses of Creativity

This caught my eye today. Not what I might do, but truly an example of how wonderful artistic and creative urges will move a person. This guy has my vote.

Kumihimo

I have embarked upon a new craft. This is Japanese braiding. I found lots of links online here and here and using yarn I had squirreled away began making a rope. I’m thinking that I will eventually coil it around, sew it together and have a small foot rug for DeeDude as he sits barefooted at his computer. I also tried it with a small silken cord, but I was so totally bad with it I braided about 2 inches and called it a day.

The tools? I had some foam sheets (2 mm thick) and printed out a picture of the kumihimo loom from the internet on a large white label (Airborne Express delivery label) and stuck it on the foam. Then, I cut that out. For the nicks into the loom I did end up curving each a bit because I kept getting the yarn caught.

What I think would also be interesting is to use it as a necklace. Not sure how I would handle the ends, though I did scour my local Beverly’s trying to find some sort of finding that would work. No luck there, though I did come home with some things that might work on a different project; they were just too big for this one.



But, basically, this is almost a no-brainer to sit there in front of the television at night and knock off a few minutes of Kumihimo. Unfortunately, one of my cats sat at my feet last night and when I next looked one of the yarn ends looked a bit frazzled.

In making a rug with this stuff I’m going to need quite a bit, even though it will be a small rug and so I was faced with the task of adding more yarn. I tried to fix it so that they wouldn’t all run out at the same time. I’m working with two colors, white and luscious pink. I did a simple knot and carefully worked it into the braid being careful that the ends stuck into the inside of the braid rather than out. Looks sort of like a boa constrictor ate a mouse, but maybe as I do more of it the joins will look better. I tried to stagger the joins so that they didn’t all end up being worked in at the same time.

But, it’s as easy as figuring what the length of your completed project is going to be and multiply that by 4 for the length of cord or yarn you will be using. I just armed it out rather than actually measuring anything.

You have 2 strands that go North, East, West and South. You knot the end and that is what will poke down through the hole on your loom. On mine I had white be North and South and the colored yarn go East and West. It really doesn’t matter how you start just so they lay on opposite sides of the loom.

Poke each into a slot on the loom. So, you’ve got 2 white strands (in separate slots) in the North position and 2 white strands in the South position. Then, East and West will be 2 strands of the colored yarn in 2 slots next to each other there too.

Lift the right North white and bring it down to the right South position. Now, you’ve got one white in the North slot and 3 in the white South position. Go over to the far left South and pick that white up and carry it to the left North position. Now, you’ve got 2 up and 2 down. Turn the disk a quarter of a turn clockwise (or the other way…just be consistent throughout the project).

Now, you’ve got 2 colored yarns top and bottom and the white yarns are in the East and West positions.

Do it again. Top right to bottom right and then bottom left to top left. Turn loom a quarter of a turn clockwise.

And, over and over and over again. That’s all there is to it. This creates a pretty spiral.

I read that there are 40 different patterns and a gazillion different variations.

The cords are made in Japan using silk. And, although silk is absolutely beautiful I’m going to have to stick to yarn or perhaps to embroidery floss.

Also, you can have a kumihimo stand called a maru dai. I looked online and figured I needed to save my money. Instead, I asked my neighbor Phil to drill me a hole in one of my end tables. With a doily and a lamp on top nobody would ever know that I have my own maru dai. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I just know that it will work fine.

Making a Little Coin/Bus Pass Purse

Part 1 of 4




Part 2 of 4



Part 3 of 4



Part 4 of 4

Tatting

I am interested in so many things other than beading. This blog is evolving and expanding into those other interests. Lying at the bottom of my sewing chest are a couple of tatting shuttles. It's been years since I tried making a bit of lace. This, then, to inspire both you and me. Enjoy.




And, here's how to do it.



And, from every teacher you see you learn a little more.

How to Draw a Celtic Knot

I have wanted to know how to make a celtic knot for the longest time. Who knew farting around on YouTube I would find a video about it? Enjoy.

2008 Calendar

Hey, I made a holder for a 2008 desk calendar. We’d gotten the calendars before we discovered the bases had gone missing. When I went to Office Depot and discovered they wanted $12 for a base I balked. I went home and out of a piece of cardboard, a bead reamer to make the holes, cut off ends off of a coathanger, duct tape and green contact paper I devised a functioning substitute. Won’t be able to use it for 2009, but hey, I had fun making it.

Where I Buy Stuff

Whooooiiieee, I just placed an order at FireMountain Gems. Big order. $100 order. What's cool is that I went just over 50 items and turns out that placed me in a more favorable pricing category. I ended up saving $98. Just a boat load of stuff.

A major part of it are bead assortments. I've got some already and have used them a lot. So, I'm replenishing my stock and adding to it with new colors. Also, a lovely resin piece with flowers in it. Figure I can make a necklace for myself and another for a friend. A gauge so I can see what sizes the beads are that I'm using. Split jump rings because I can't seem to get the hang of soldering the open ones I've got. Rubber goo to put on the ends of my tools so they don't scratch (like has been happening with the crimpers I use). Lots of cord to use for bookmarks. Maybe I can get a store going over at Etsy.com Anyway, big order. I've got that much in our PayPal account for all the PayPerPost stuff I did on my other site. But, somehow I just feel guilty spending that much dough.

Headphone Covers

I have these lovely Kenwood KPM-310 headphones. Nice, soft, cushy ear pads. Except, they've gotten old and the soft material covering the ear pads is flaking off. It's pretty disgusting. Imagine this flaky black stuff getting all over your ears, flaking off on your clothes, just disintegrating while you're wearing these headphones that were not cheap to begin with. What to do?

So, I'm spending time Googling replacements for these ear pieces, except nobody has anything. I do NOT want to throw away a perfectly good pair of headphones just because the ear pads aren't good anymore. There has to be a solution.

There was. I spent the evening crocheting covers for them. I used Lion Brand Kitchen 100% pure cotton, worsted weight variegated thread. This is the stuff that works well for dish rags. It's soft and because it's cotton I'm hoping it won't make my ears hot & sweaty.

I used an F crochet hook and in the time it took to watch an episode of, "First 48" with my husband I had them made.

Chain 12 and slip stitch the ring together. Chain 1.

Yarn over and work 24 Half Double Crochets into the ring. Slip stitch closed and chain 3.

Working into the back of the stitches (or not, your choice) do a Double Crochet into the same stitch as the turning 3 chain. Work 1 Double Crochet into the next stitch. Work 2 DC's into the next stitch, and 1 into the next. Alternate like that around the ring. Slip stitch into the top of your turning 3 chain. Chain 3 more.

Work 1 Double Crochet into the back of each stitch around. Slip stitch closed and chain 3.

Work two more rows with Double Crochet the same as the first row. Try the cover onto your headphones for size. It can stretch pretty good. Tie it off and leave a nice longish tail.

Fit the cover onto your earpiece. Thread a large eyed needle onto the tail and weave it all around the edge. Pull it tight and tie it off.

Voila.

For Family

This is a bookmark I made for my brother-in-law, Bob. It's geared toward use with a paperback sized book. I used a waxed twine that felt like it had some substance to it. Very simple to make. I made a couple for my husband too. It's a nice gift to give to a guy.

I also made a bracelet for Bob. This is with Lapis Lazula stone which is good for writers and for communication. It's one of my own personal favorite stones. I also used a sliding knot on this piece. The cord is a simulated leathery sort of thing that was interesting to work with.

This is a blue bracelet for my sister and the red one is for one of my nieces.