Nook Case

i made a case for my Nook ;)

paulie got it for me for my birthday, and i am struggling with paranoia about it...

i really, really reallyreally don't want to break/scuff/scratch/drop it. cuz i have a terrible history of so maiming all things electronic

my lining skills are second-hand... i cut the cloth too big and pretended i did that on purpose :)

i call it "rouching" lol. or something.

so anyway if any of u have a Nook or similar sized e-reader it's really easy to make a case (mine is crochet, i will eventually get around to making a knit one, also just as simply made)

i used an aluminum size J hook (US) and some chunky yarn because i wanted the thing to be squishy enough to protect the Nook in case it got dropped. heh.

here's what i did:

chain 16

sc in 2nd ch from hook and each across, putting 3 sc into the last sc.

then turn your work and make an sc in each of the loops on the foundation chain.

yes, you're going in a non-circular circle.

when you get to the last chain of the loopies on the foundation chain, put 2 sc's in there instead of one or three. yes, 2.

join with sl st if you prefer. i know some people don't like to join but i do because i always lose track of my rounds if i don't. stich markers, schmitch markers.. shutup.

now just keep making sc in each sc, until you have about 28 rounds. this is how many rounds my case has but yours might need more or less depending on some things that are not in my control.

fasten off when your e-reader fits inside :)

i made my lining by cutting a rectangle (if you ever took home economics or had a maternal/paternal figure that had a sewing machine, you have probably been forced/encouraged to make a pillow case for a grade or otherwise) and sewing it into a pouch.

its easier to cut one piece and fold it in half and sew up 2 sides rather than cut 2 pieces and sew them together evenly. especially if you dont have sewing pins.

...then sew the pouch into the case. that part should be done by hand and not by machine, because it will get messy.

i hope this has made sense :)

Mari

Cottony Soft Scrub-Me-Up

i made this out of peaches n creme cotton, i'm not sure how much since im using Mill Ends, probly a ball and a half, maybe two. and i used an aluminum size F hook (US)

now the thing about this pattern is that it's worked to fit an individual hand (mine) lol. so i'll just approximate the idea to you here :)

it starts with chaining a length thats equal to the space from your finger tips to the meat of your palm, then working rows of sc's to slightly wider than your hand is, make sure to work in back loops only. you want your scrubby thingie to be actually capable of scrubbing :) so that's why there's ridges.

i changed it up after this but only slightly. instead of sc's i started doing dc's, still in back loops. and i did this for the width of the back of my hand.

once the whole piece was capable of surrounding my hand comfortably, i sewed it up in a tube, then sewed up one of the short ends. then i took my cotton and attached it to one side of the remaining short end that wasnt closed up (making sure to attach to the edge of one side. Make sure for yourself that you put your stitches in the right place, this is the only "tricky" part but if you don't watch out you wont have a proper thumb hole). i worked along the edge of that created opening evenly in sc's. you should be able to work rows evenly in back loops (not rounds) and there should be an open space where your thumb can peek through after about 12 rows or more.

work your sc's as much as you need to cover your hand up, so that it feels comfortable on your hand like a mitten. then once you have the right length, work a few rounds in either dc or sc (whichever you are more comfortable doing, i did dc's cuz i was running out of my first ball by this point and i wanted to make sure it was long enough.)

yes i did say rounds that last time lol. to make rounds directly after your rows, work in the same way that you have, except when you get the the end of your row do not turn.
just "jump" to the other edge and start your stitches again there, going across the other "side". you'll need to join your last stitch to the first "jump" one if you're like me and can never remember your place. if you have no problem working in rounds without joining, hoorah for you lol, carry on.

now at this point you have a mitt with a thumb hole.. so of course you need to make the thumby part :P

soooo. make a chain slightly longer than the circumference of your thumb and make a small rectangle of rows of sc's. work in back loops only. mark the place (or remember how many rows) where you will sew the swuare into a tube for your thumb. now crochet more rows of sc's, it should be a lil bit longer than your thumb actually is, from the base to the tip or vice versa actually. so you will have some extra stitches that wont be sewn together, cuz those will be the stitches that you sew to the hole on the mitten, so that it can actually become a mitten.

now here's a tip: work the "body" of the thumb straight. and then when you are working the "base" which you will not stitch together, make decreases in the beginning stitches of each new row.
to make decreases this way : ch1, put hook thru first stitch and draw up a loop. put hook thru next stitch and draw up another loop. now draw up one more loop and pull that loop through the other three on the hook.

don't be scared! it's not gonna be straight, but it will be fine. start by aligning the thumb's bottom stitches to the "bottom" of the hole. use pins if you have to. this is not an exact thing, you just have to sew as neatly as possible using the stitches that you have. sew sew sew, the ends together as evenly as possible, and when you get done you will have a mitten :) yay!

<3 Mari