lawless and in cahoots

Gardening and Crafts. Aotearoa/New Zealand. 

[unrulysynergy]

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A nice place to put posts about my garden and my crafts, and to share particularly informative posts by others.

[unrulysynergy]

Crochet hood with scarf

Made from this pattern with various second-hand balls of yarn I had around. Not quite enough to do the last row on the front but that's ok.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winters-coming-hooded-scarf

The scarf part is somewhat impractical as so bulky, but works well hanging over the chest. Good worn over another hat as it lets the wind through otherwise. Easy to make - just the same over and over.

[unrulysynergy]

Crochet little yipyip

Good pattern except for the eyeballs which are annoying to make and attach!

From this pattern on Ravlery: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-yipyip-fob

[unrulysynergy]

Crochet Plant Mat

My first crochet, from March 2025.

A mat for my plant. Made from random yarns I had. The yellow was once a kind of doll made from bundles of yarn that I think I made in Sunday School when I was at primary school. The pink came in a bag from the op shop.

[unrulysynergy]

Crochet Dice Bags

I learnt to crochet.

Two dice bags/small pouches from this pattern - https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dice-or-trinket-bag

Pretty good pattern - makes a bag with a flat base so it stands up - and fairly easy.

I sold the small one.

[unrulysynergy]

I don't seem to have done a lot in the last 6 months ...

But I made this tissue pouch from a kit I bought. I never really saw the point of things to put tissues in, since they already come in something in the first place, but I guess it slightly increases the attractiveness factor of your surroundings.

Anyway it turned out well.

It's almost exactly as long as a standard Bic pen.

[unrulysynergy]

I'm getting a reputation at the model and game store...

My first completed model. Would you like to approach the pool for a cool drink of water in the desert?

Two photos of my latest lot of completed models

Ok these are just phone photos in poor light at a bad angle, but I think they look pretty cool.

[unrulysynergy]

Book Bag

I needed a small bag to carry a book in. I wanted it to be as simple as possible, without extra weight or bulk. But I also didn't want it to look boring.

The lightest, simplest, tidiest idea (that didn't require learning a new skill i.e. fabric painting) was sewing on organza ribbons.

[unrulysynergy]

Leaf Dice Pouch

Inspired by something for sale, so not my original idea. The pattern and method is mine however.

This pouch easily fits a standard set of 7 RPG dice and was made for my husband to use with his druid character.

It came out surprisingly well and opens and closes beautifully.

I started out very methodically, testing the stitch lengths and interfacing options, but got impatient at the end and rushed the little leaf-shaped toggles so they're not as perfect - although the way they curl up is actually quite cool for a 3D look and I probably couldn't have done that deliberately.

[unrulysynergy]

Knitting Project Bag

Over the Christmas holidays I wanted to continue a knitting project I abandoned some time ago. I found everything I needed except for the piece of paper where I'd written out the instructions in a nice me-friendly way.

I thought this wouldn't have happened if I had a bag to keep that project, and only that project, in. So I decided to make a bag.

The pattern is and construction is largely as written from a book about how to make bags, and the fabric is what I could find lying around without having to actually move anything to access the main stash.

I eventually found the instructions I was looking for, but have yet to resume the knitting.

[unrulysynergy]

Sculpture inspired by maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus aka "wolf with the Chanel boots"). Foraged tree branch, acrylic paint, corn silk.

Its kind of better if you can move around it, because it's three dimensional and kind of had these cool different perspectives. The branch is responsible for that though, not me.

[unrulysynergy]

The medlar was probably the last deciduous tree to still have its leaves. It was kind of glowing against the backdrop of evergreen trees. Now a week later its completely bare. Once again, many of the medlar fruit vanished along the way.

[unrulysynergy]

Useful post on HOW to eat medlar - they're tricky because you want to peel the skin, but they're squishy, and then have big seeds. The trick is to peel the skin off in a spiral from the bottom.

What are medlar fruits? You may never have heard of medlar fruits, as they are rarely grown or eaten these days! I hadn't heard of them unti

[unrulysynergy]

Scavenged Wood Trivets

For my Mum's birthday, I made her these trivets/pot stands.

They're made from wood scavenged from skips - the darker wood is decking off-cuts and the lighter is probably just pine? I tried to use the wood in the shapes I found them as much as I could*.

They're glued with PVA, stained/varnished with some left-over from when our window was replaced, and have felt (synthetic craft felt) on the under-side.

I realised after making them that I didn't consider or test whether the varnish was heat-proof (for hot pots) but hopefully they'll be ok.

*I like the concept of making as few changes as possible to scavenged materials, but also its less work.

[unrulysynergy]

Surprisingly but happily, the varnish has not been damaged by having multiple hot pans placed on them.

I gotta say that they do actually look better in real life than in these pictures.

[unrulysynergy]

The medlar was probably the last deciduous tree to still have its leaves. It was kind of glowing against the backdrop of evergreen trees. Now a week later its completely bare. Once again, many of the medlar fruit vanished along the way.

[unrulysynergy]

I'm starting a shawl using the "ball band" pattern.

The yarn came from the opshop and unfotunately I forgot to check the fibre content before buying and its Acrylic. Oh well.

[unrulysynergy]

Scavenged Wood Trivets

For my Mum's birthday, I made her these trivets/pot stands.

They're made from wood scavenged from skips - the darker wood is decking off-cuts and the lighter is probably just pine? I tried to use the wood in the shapes I found them as much as I could*.

They're glued with PVA, stained/varnished with some left-over from when our window was replaced, and have felt (synthetic craft felt) on the under-side.

I realised after making them that I didn't consider or test whether the varnish was heat-proof (for hot pots) but hopefully they'll be ok.

*I like the concept of making as few changes as possible to scavenged materials, but also its less work.

[unrulysynergy]

I got these for my water lily and lotus pots. Definitely recommend something like this - quite cheap and especially so when you are just treating a couple of pots of water. I just dropped 3 grains in each pot and the next day all the baby mosquitoes had died.

It doesn't say on them what it is, but I believe it is some kind of soil bacteria that only kills mosquito larvae and fungus gnats.

Tip if you are searching for these online - search for "mozzie" specifically. I tried searching some online stores for "mosquito" and nothing came up because the product name and description didn't use the full word.