Friday Fantastic

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Glow Worm

Well, sort of... My next class kidlet birthday happened this week, and this kid's favorite animal is a snake. I double-checked with her mom to make sure, and yuppers, this now eight-year-old girl is crazy about snakes! She got a white snake (to symbolize baptism) that glows in the dark (to symbolize the light of Christ). And boy, was she ever a happy camper! She immediately wrapped it around her wrist and promised to wear it to school the next day!

I also finally was able to pin and stiffen a pair of snowflake pendants I crocheted way back before Thanksgiving. I haven't turned them into jewelry yet, but that's the plan.

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Wordless Wednesday

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Flaky

Until this year, I typically would shoot two or three shots of each snowflake, hoping at least one shot of each flake might turn out.

When you're shooting with a long lens (I use extension tubes on my macro lens to enable closer focus), the tiniest motion can blur the shot, or wind can move the flake!

I typically would try to get about 200-300 shots during a storm, and I'd typically be happy with 50-75 of the pictures after editing. (Oh, and the best flakes generally are at 15-17 degrees, so it needs to be chilly.) I'd shoot for an hour (or as long as my fingers could tolerate the cold) (plenty of peppermint hot chocolate might be consumed!!!), and editing would take a day or two.

With image stacking, the idea is to intentionally move while shooting as many shots as possible of each flake, hopefully capturing all aspects of the flake in perfect focus. I'm still new at this new method, so I'm trying to get 20-30 shots of each flake. Some of the masters say they shoot 200-300 shots of each flake. My 2006 camera isn't that fast, and my ring flash can't recycle that fast. :) (No complaints!!! I LOVE my camera and my cheap ring flash!)

All similar images are then stacked into one photo, then aligned, then blended, using only the sharpest aspects of each image.

During last month's storm, I shot for about an hour four times, resulting in a total of 1,867 total shots. I finished editing snowflakes from the second batch nearly two weeks later, resulting in 48 surprisingly clear photos from 657 shots. The first outing, which was about 24 degrees, featured a lot of frozen water droplets on each of the 16 snowflakes I shot via 277 images.

A lot of math, I know. A lot more time spent shooting. Also a LOT more card and external hard drive memory! Oh, and more frequent battery recharges. And a lot more time!!! The final two sessions of photos took another two weeks to edit! I think the photos speak for themselves, though. Worth all the extra effort, don't you think?

Once I finished editing the final two batches (62 out of 624 from the 3rd session and 28 out of 309 from the 4th) (which I must say resulted in 154 total snowflakes from 1,867 shots, 73 of which are acceptable and only about 20 I really love), I decided to create a montage of the tiniest flakes I hadn't aimed for. These babies are microscopic. I think I'll continue adding the tiny little flakes to this image as I continue to attempt to perfect my technique, but for right now, I thought this was pretty cool!

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Snowflake Monday

If you've been reading my blog long enough, you know I'm a Lord of the Rings fan. I fell in love with the name of the January 23 (my brother's birthday) severe Irish winter storm that now has its own Wiki page. Éowyn was selected from a list of names submitted by the public. The storm was extremely destructive, but the people got to name it! I think that's cool.

Today's snowflake was inspired by one of my snowflake photos from 2023, during Winter Storm Archer, a name which also graces one of my snowflakes! You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5.25 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Winter Storm Éowyn Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 23 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2. Don't pull magic circle too tight.

Round 2: Ch 10 (counts as 1 tr and [ch 7), sk next 3 dc, 1 tr in next dc] 5 times; ch 3, 1 dtr in 3rd ch of starting ch 8 to form 6th ch 7 sp of Round.

Round 3: Ch 1 (counts as 1 sc), 1 sc top of tr just made, 1 sc in each of two middle segments of same tr, 1 sc in bottom of same tr, [1 sc in next tr, 1 sc in each of next 3 ch, 3 sc in next ch, 1 sc in each of next 3 ch] 5 times; 1 sc in next tr, 1 sc in each of next 3 ch, 1 sc in same sp as starting sc; sl st in starting ch.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 1, [1 sc in each of next 5 sc, 1 fptr around next Round 1 tr, 1 sc in each of next 5 sc, ch 8, 1 sc in 6th ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch] 6 times; sl st in starting ch 1.

Round 5: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), [sk next 2 sc, 1 sc in each of next 3 sc, fpsc around next fptr, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc, sk next 2 dc, working up spoke 1 dc in bottom of each next 2 sc, sk next sc, ch 3, in next ch 5 tip work ([1 tr, ch 3] 5 times), working back down spoke sk next sc, 1 dc in each of next 2 sc] 6 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Friday Fantastic

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Welcome to the Jungle

I wrote the blog post below long, long ago, before I finished all of the projects mentioned. Then I forgot I had written this post and wrote new ones as I finished projects. I almost deleted this when I stumbled upon it. I didn't have anything better to publish today, so I might as well take a fun and memorable step back in time!

Before I began piecing together the lime green batik remnants of my treasured bag, skirt and dress, my goal was to use up a good portion of my leftover stash. I've always had great difficulty throwing away pieces of fabric that might be big enough to make into something. Some day.

My remnants stash has overgrown its boundaries many times over. It was time to make a dent in it.

2011 green batik stash

2025 green batik stash and leftovers

As I began working on Welcome to the Jungle, I began running out of some of my favorite bright lime green batiks. I caved and bought two more yards because every quarter block has at least four different bright lime green batiks. As I began working on the French braid border (my first pieced border ever), I began running out of the darker and lighter green batiks.

Oh, was I tempted to buy more!

The day I began cutting the strips for the main squares, Lizard asked if I was making another dress. Oh, the inspiration that swirled through my entire core! I could make a dress of the strips! It would be beautiful!

Now I was running out of everything, and I wouldn't have enough left over to make yet one more dress.

I had to give myself a time out to prevent me from shopping for more lime green batik.

The purpose of Welcome to the Jungle was to use up remnants! To make them go away. To completely run out. To not have enough left over to make anything else.

After a bit of attitude adjustment, I realized I could do the strip dress from purple batiks. Or turquoise batiks. While making this quilt, I kept thinking how much fun it would be to do another one, different pattern, with purples. Or blues.

And yet, each week when I receive an email ad announcing new fabrics in stock, I find myself drawn to luscious new lime green batiks. Again, and again, and again. And again...

My next quilting project goal was to finish Leaf Me Alone, also inspired by dress remnants. My sister-in-law's admiration for the leaf quilt pushed me to finish it before Welcome to the Jungle.

Now, Welcome to the Jungle takes front and center. It must be finished in time for the Denver National Quilt Festival. (2025 Edit: Which ended about a decade ago...) Then comes fun. Then comes sewing and quilting without deadlines.

The next project I wanted to do after Welcome to the Jungle and Leaf me alone was a scrap happy quilt. To use up even more remnants. To make them go away. To completely run out. To not have enough left over to make anything else.

At which point, I can begin using stash fabric that had never been cut.

I have so much stash, I can make a new dress without buying a thing except maybe a zipper or button. By making a new dress, I might ignite new dress-remnant quilt inspirations. I might replenish my remnant stash. Without buying a thing.

Sigh. How much of this will actually get accomplished while bright lime green fabrics continue to call out to me so loudly?!?

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Wordless Wednesday

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