I am the Kat that Walks By Itself

And this post, is some craft tools I made, some old, some recent.
( lucets )

( peg loom )

Due to a conversation with dawnmist at lunch time on Tuesday, I got the urge to see if I could construct a Mobius-shaped knitting loom.

(apologies to NaArMaMo folks for not yet posting my bubble-wrap plastic pendants; thought it would be better to post something than nothing, and the loom stuff is what I have photos of right now)
( craft-tool experimentation ho! )

Ooops! Here's another thing I made in December, but didn't post because I hadn't even photographed it yet!
( picture and description )

September, necklace, and more loom knitting. (And recovering from surgery)
( pictures and descriptions )

Mostly maille, but also some crochet and scarfery.
( pictures and descriptions )

Scarves and chainmaille this month.
( pictures )

I did it!

After much experimentation, I found a method of combining scales and loom-knitting that I was actually satisfied with. This method will likely work with needle-knitting and crochet as well. Unfortunately, it is rather time-consuming.

The secret is: knit the item first, then add the scales by doing scale-maille, with two important differences:
1. The instructions given by TRL link the scales together from the back, going from the top to the bottom. This method links the scales together from the front, going from the bottom to the top.
2. As well as linking the scales to each other with the rings, link them to the knitting, by putting rings through the stitches at the same time as one is putting them through the scales.

The tricky bit is that the gauge of the stitches is likely not to match the spacing of the scales, so you will have to figure out some sort of compromise while still trying to keep the attachments at regular intervals. Fortunately, it isn't necessary to attach every ring to a stitch; every second ring will still work, so long as you pull up the scales so they're stretched out. This works with both large and small scales.

Some would ask "If you're going to do traditional scale-maille anyway, why bother with the knitting?"
The answer to that is that the knitting provides protection for bare skin, is more comfortable to wear, and fits better because of its elasticity.
Another reason is that it is actually more stable to work with than straight scale-maille, since the scales are resting on the knitting instead of flipping over while you're working on the maille.

So, I made myself a long fingerless glove (bracer)!
( cut for PICTURE )
I did it!

See also this post for some "in progress" photographs.

Ever since I discovered the amazing knitting with scales done by Crafty Mutt, I've wanted to do it with crochet or loom-knitting, since I don't needle-knit. I looked in vain for a similar crochet tutorial as to the knit tutorial, but all I could find were these Etsy instructions that you had to pay for. And nothing about loom-knitting. (Yesterday, after I had already done my first experiment with loom-knit scales, I found this video about crocheting scales done by someone else. Timing, huh?)

But I have figured it out, all on my lonesome!
( Look! )

I have finished another scarf! It is a gift for a particular person; I designed it with them in mind. This is another keyhole scarf (I like the design!) made with fluffy chenille yarn.

In an extremely unfortunate bit of timing, I got a bad cold last week, and I'm still sick, though improving. The timing was unfortunate because there was a time-critical thing going on at work (handover of a project) and I simply could not be there. Viruses were battling it out in my body, my throat felt like wet sandpaper, and I was utterly exhausted. Mostly sleeping and drinking lemon honey tea with Lemsip in it. And then when my throat improved, my nose chimed in (which was odd, usually the throat follows the nose). Now I'm in the blowing-the-nose-and-coughing stage (and still v tired).
( When I wasn't sleeping, I thought I'd do stuff that didn't require a great many brain cells )