Cassette Tapes

Oh, come on, admit it, you probably have a bag (or more) tucked away somewhere that is full of cassette tapes.  Here are a couple of the ones I dug out just recently as I was cleaning out my storage bin.

Look familiar?!  Hard to believe that's Peter Frampton if you've seen him recently.

Anyway, it got me thinking about an article that I read in Inside Crochet magazine about crocheting with it!  So, I rewound the tape as best as I could, considering I couldn't find my tape player, cut it at the beginning, and started to pull some out.  I am using an H hook below.

(I kept some of the pink part at the very beginning).  I remembered from the article that you should be sure that your hands are dry and avoid doing it in humidity (a great fall and winter project!).  Now, the article also said to scrunch up the tape before using it, but that really wasn't working for me, so I just kept pulling it out and keeping it loose to make my chains and stitches.

For good or bad, it's hard to know where the hook should be inserted, so I just winged it and made as many single crochet stitches across as I felt like I wanted to (I didn't even count, but of course, that would be a good way of ensuring some form of consistency and evenness :-).  Here's what a couple of rows of single crochet look like.

The "fabric" is surprisingly soft, so a scarf or something to wear is not out of the question.  I'm not really sure what I'm going to make, but I've got plenty of tapes to experiment with!  Please post your suggestions here and some pictures on our Facebook page!  Once I come up with a project, I'll post more too.

Blog Round-Up -- the Yarn Stash

FaveCrafts has a blog round-up each month, and this month's question is "Where do you buy your yarn?"  You'd think the answer would be simple, but I really had to think about how I go about getting yarn.  I think, initially, like most people, I go to a local yarn store or chain craft store to see what's new and FEEL it.  There's just no substitute for feeling the yarn strand between your fingers to figure out how soft or firm it is, how thick or thin it is, and how hard or easy it is going to be to work with it (someday, maybe our computer monitors will simulate sensations!). But, I have to admit, if I want to buy more of a yarn I am already familiar with, then I do get online and start searching for the cheapest price I can find (and, of course, shipping has to get factored in, but, often, you can order online and not have to pay sales tax, so it probably averages out).

Lately, I've been wanting to experiment with "yarn substitutes", and I enjoyed working with the nylon twine from the hardware store!  I read an article recently in Inside Crochet magazine about using cassette tape for crochet, so I'm looking forward to giving that a try soon, and, of course, I will report about it here :-)

Right now, I am just looking forward to having the next 2 days off from work so I can get a grip (you know, just knock out all those things still hanging over my head!)  Of course, the weather is supposed to be gorgeous in DC the next few days, so visiting the cherry blossoms will probably move to the top of the list before other things....

Today's Thought:  Rule # 11 -- Avoid foods you see advertised on TV.  Only the biggest food companies can afford to advertise on television, so whether or not the latest formulations of their products really are more healthful or not, you should try to avoid getting sucked in to the hype.  We started to count how many commercials were for processed food or chain restaurants, and the numbers were amazing.  By just paying attention, we've become more sensitive to realizing that we want something just because the jingle was catchy, not because we really think it's going to be good for us or actually tasty.