DIY: Homemade yarn bobbins

I've been into making graphghans lately. Or I should say I've been into thinking about making graphghans, as I look at the pile of projects I have still to make. Well at any rate, I figured I would get ready to make one by getting my yarn bobbins together. I'm cheap #1, so I have a bunch of embroidery thread bobbins, which while they work ok, they are small and don't hold much yarn. I wound up google searching to see if there was a way to make DIY bobbins and there are few, so I decided to try my hand at making my own. So here we go: Warning, there are a ton of pictures.

This is a traditional thread bobbin

While it works well as you can see the yarn slips off and it can't hold nearly as much yarn.

Unlike a DIY cardboard bobbin

You will need the following materials.

a cardboard box, I used one of the many priority boxes I have laying around. You want a box that will be stiff enough to hold its shape and not bend with yarn wrapped around. 

I used one template and simply enlarged it to get two different sizes. (This is linked at the bottom of the blog.)

a cutting board or any surface that you don't mind getting messed up. This is my no food craft cutting board.

an exacto knife, this can be optional because you can use scissors, but I find the knife to be far more efficient, scissors and a pencil.

you want to take your box and cut it on the seam so that the box will open flat.

see.

It will be a bit easier to cut it once it is opened rather than fiddle with it while it is whole.

you'll want to cut each section,

so you will have 4 different pieces of cardboard

now you may be a puzzle genius and know exactly how to get the most bobbins out of your cardboard. I am not... So yeah, you want to take your templates and trace them onto the cardboard. You may also be better at this than me and I'm cool with that. :)

next you will want to take your exacto knife and at first lightly score your lines. 

then you will want to go back over them until you feel the knife break through the cardboard

as you can see it takes time and a little bit of force

once you have scored/cut enough, you want to start breaking it out. 

nice and easy.

This is optional, but you can cut some notches ( or even just one on each side or whatever you want) to hold the yarn like a regular bobbin.

and boom. there you go, two different sizes of yarn bobbins. 

Here is where I got the bobbin template. I simply saved the image from the page. I can't remember the percentage I used, but you can play around with it until you get the size or sizes you want. 

Hope this was helpful for you!

New year, same ole' me.

Here it is 2014 and I'm still behind on my blog. I do apologize as I don't ever intend to stop blogging, but well.... What can I say?

So once again here I am: I've started crocheting once again. I even made a little business page on Facebook, which I do ok on. It keeps me trying new things and on track ( for the most part).

I'm trying to make a resolution this year to really blog more, take more pictures ( and as a bonus improve my photography), and to really branch out in my crafting. Oh and to carry my real camera with me. Having my phone has pretty much just enabled me to keep my DSLR at home. Not a good thing when I am lobbying my husband for a new lens for my birthday.

Because I'm a picture whore I'm throwing in some of the items I have made these past few months.

This was supposed to fit a newborn.. HA, more like a preemie. I put my phone next to it for size comparison. Also I sewed the ears on the wrong way. It's supposed to be a bear, but with the pink insides it reminds me more of a mouse. 

I eventually made 5 of these cute little hearts and made a little bunting ( no picture of the finished product as I am still debating on the chain portion)

A cute little monster hat for an adorable monster. 

I no longer will be having babies, but I cannot help but make baby clothes because they are just so adorable!!!!

Stitch's minion hat. Who doesn't love these little guys.

originally this had a face to go with it, but there were some, ahem, technical issues, that made it look like... well... a penis.. So blaze and muzzle were removed and it morphed into this. 

This is a little Amineko kitty 

(this is a free pattern, not mine, and it can be found here. ) So normally they aren't this small, but apparently I crochet very tight. I made 3 of these little guys. One for my mom, one for one of the twins and one for stitch. 

This is the twin's kitty. She loves Downton Abbey. 

This is Stitch's kitty. Who looks like Mr. Miagi. Wax on, wax off. 

This was the first one I made ( the purple, my mom's) It all started because my daughter asked me to help her make one, well yeah no good, because I apparently crochet so dang tight that my kitty is nearly half the size of her's ( the orange kitty). We used similar yarn and same size hooks. 

It's hard work being a yarn cat.. think i'll take a nap.

I made this adorable Jammie Dodger cookie ( also not my pattern, it can be found here) I had a grand idea to make 3-4 for Stitch's tea time, but she said no thanks mom. Brat.

Stitch has been obsessed. I mean OBSESSED with What does the fox say. Incase you have been living under a rock I will link the video in this post. So obsessed she made me put the song and video on her iPod so she can listen to it any time she wants. Did I mention she's only 3? Yeah, she's a diva what can I say. At any rate I made her this cute little hat and the day I made it, she suddenly decided that she no longer liked foxes... Fast forward a few weeks and Sunday she asked me to make her a fox hat. -_____- well played child. WELL PLAYED. Did I also mention I have no idea what she did with this hat? I don't. Now  I have to find it. Overall this is a cute hat, but the ears gave me a hassle. 

(also not my pattern and it can be found here, FTR I used Vanna's Choice for this hat, but in Terracotta and white and charcoal in Red Heart since that is what I had on hand, and didn't feel like running to the store for new yarn.)

Just in case you have been living under a rock for the past year. And I'm sorry if your child walks into the room while this video is on, because you will be forced to listen to it for many hours. 

Loads of pictures. Beware.

I've been a busy bee since my last post ( which I can't even remember when that was.). But let us not get stuck on what a horrible updater I am.
I've gotten back into crochet once again, and after seeing the cutest clay covered crochet hooks I decided to try my hand at it. Just for my hooks.

a scarf for my best friend

the beginnings of the Corner to Corner (C2C) blanket for my husband

a cowl I had made

A washcloth

CHICKEN

MOAR CHICKEN!!!

The shawl I made my mom ( the light made the yarn look grey but it was in fact blue

finished

Still working on this thing. It's a monster

another chicken

mustached coffe cup cozy

the beginnings of the teenage drama queen's blanket

action shot

starry starry night blanket started

happy halloween y'all

just need to sew on the stars. 

Rah Rah Ruffles scarf

still more to go on this sucker.

It's that time of year again.

Yup officially High School Football season. I'll let you in on a little secret. I. Don't really care about football in general. Yes I know. It's a huge sin, but well I don't. I mainly go because my oldest is in band and I usually just try to make it to half time to watch her perform. Otherwise. I probably wouldn't even entertain going. But alas I have no choice in the matter and I must attend.

I busted out my camera ( that did not have an iphone attached to it) you know my gorgeous DSLR and my 70-300mm lens that I love dearly. Sad to say I'm so out of practice. As the night progressed my pictures got more and more blurry. *sigh* Oh and clearly I could not pick my child out of a crowd because I took a ton of pictures that I *thought* were my daughter. And not one of them was. LOL. Dang those androgynous band uniforms. However at the 'magic hour' my pictures were great.

The last two I was trying to get Bolt in action, but with the confines of my seat and the people who just can't seem to stay seated I wound up getting a reunion of sorts in the background as well and my picture not quite how I wanted it framed up. Oh well. 

Speaking of spectators. I'm just going to rant for a moment. Part of the reason I hate going to the games is because the kids running up and down the steps of the bleachers. I mean literally thundering past us. We almost always sit on the end because with a 3 year old we sometimes need to make a quick getaway. And all night long there are kids ( teens mostly) who just are up and down the steps constantly. The old lady in me wants to trip them or scold them. Instead I sigh and give my husband 'the look' and get annoyed. /rant.

Well that is all for tonight. Tomorrow I am sure I will be back to post pictures of things I have been making lately. For now goodnight blogland. 

Nearly fall, well in theory.

I know I haven't been blogging as much, school sucked my 'free time' out the window. I went hard 2 semesters in a row, logging 11 classes and 33 credits in 28 short weeks. I took a break from school for now only because I sometimes feel so burnt out. I miss free time, I miss my toddler time, and I miss crafting, blogging, picture taking and just being. Already without the stress of school I've managed to finish 3 chicken potholders ( yup doing those again) a shawl, and nearly half way done with a blanket for my husband. I already have ambitious plans to make a few more blankets, some more potholders as well as some clay covered crochet hooks that I recently became obsessed with.

With all that said... August is halfway over. School is starting, ahh that magical time, and fall is fast approaching. Since I spent my summer stuck in a classroom, I'm looking forward to fall. The pumpkin patch, hot tea, pumpkin bread, halloween, cool nights and getting to use my scarves and wear jeans and my boots again.