dansjo - Creating things

Wool-mache reindeer

2013-12-15T23:06:00.002+01:00

I bought a reindeer, you know the kind used for Christmas - made of mini light strand. Maybe they are ok for the garden, but in my opinion not for indoor use, especially when not lit.

So I gave it a skin of wool-mache (instead of paper, as papier-mache, I use wool). Quite simple but a bit messy, take some wool and cover it with wallpaper paste. Keep the wool as flat as you can and pad in wallpaper paste so that it is totally covered. I wet wool the size of A5 pieces and attached it to the reindeer. The body is grey and the horn white. BTW - look at the horns, very strange reindeer horns indeed. But I'm not responsible for the design..
I made the wool in the face a bit thicker and then formed nostrils, mouth and eyes. This makes the light shine through them.

It takes a couple of days to dry, and then it has a hard surface. How hard depends on how thick the layer of wool is. I tried to make it as thin as possible so the lights can shine through.

One of my children commented this project with: - Don't you have anything better to do? Well, one can wonder...:)

PS. I see now that in the picture there are lots of reindeer horns behind the wool-mache reindeer, so you can compare.

Sand casted Harley eagle

2013-12-15T22:16:00.002+01:00

Tried sand casting (sand-moulding), casting in aluminum.
First I made a model in clay. It is important to think about the angle of release.

I used industrial plasticine, but unfortunately the softest kind. Turns out to be way to soft for sand casting, that lead to a lot of extra work. You put sand on the model and pound the sand with brutal force. I realized the risk with using to soft clay but thought I should give it a shot..

So this is the result after casting, lots of aluminum where it should not be. So, quite a bit of sawing and grinding.

Here it is cleaned up, but I think it needs some colour to enhance the model.I painted the eagle with black oil colour and then rubbed it of.

This is the finished result. Not really as I pictured it from start, but it was my first sand casted object. I saved the tapping and overflowing aluminum, will use it to attach the eagle to a wall. Then it can be used for hanging scarfes, coathanger et cetera.

Last year "my" students made a couple of bananas for me, much nicer finish... :)

And I now have the greatest respect for sand casting workers.

Felted lamp / Tovad lampa

2012-04-24T20:39:00.001+02:00

Felted a lamp to go with the rug. It is felted on Ikeas lamp melodi.
Tovade en lampa till mattan. Den är tovad på Ikeas lampa melodi. Den svarta pricken finns på båda men skyms lite av katten ..

Felted rug / Tova matta

2012-04-24T19:55:00.001+02:00

Felted a rug of wool. First rolled then som hand felting. Finally i used the washing machine at forty degrees.
Först några lager ull som jag rulltovade i ett lakan. Sedan lite handtovning och slutligen 40 graders tvätt så den blev riktigt hårdtovad .

The pond at Easter, dammen vid påsk

2012-04-09T19:37:00.000+02:00

Put the fish out a couple of weeks ago, both the big ones and the young ones that survived the winter (quite a lot of the spawn died in the aquarium). Also discovered that some fish survived the winter outside, it has been quite a mild winter. Was going to start the system with the pump but decided to wait a while, and this is how it looked this Easter..

Satte ut fiskarna för ett par veckor sedan, både de stora och de yngel som klarat sig (många små strök med i akvariumet under vintern). Upptäckte också några fiskar som klarat vintern ute, det är svårt att hitta alla på hösten.. Tänkte starta upp pumpen också men bestämde mig för att vänta lite och det var väl lika bra för så här blev det nu i påskhelgen..

Re-made table, omgjort bord

2012-04-09T19:29:00.000+02:00

Took an old table from our pub and re-made it. Painted the legs red and the table black and red. Then I glued on comic strips from the Far Side and Jan Stenmark (and som Calvin and Hobbes). Then a couple of varnish layers.

Gjorde om ett gammalt bord från vår pub. Målartvätt, slipa och sprayade benen röda samt målade bordet rött och röd-svart på kanterna. Limmade sedan fast seriestrippar med the Far Side och Jan Stenmark. När det torkat la jag på några lager lack.

More oil paintings

2012-04-01T16:18:00.002+02:00

This weekend me and my daughter started on new paintings. They still have som work left.

I helgen började jag och Emmali på nya målningar, inte helt färdiga dock.

Häst till min svägerska, ej helt färdig

Horse for my sister in law, not quite finished

Närbild.

Closeup

Tin thread bracelet, tenntrådsarmband

2012-01-15T13:02:00.001+01:00

Background: Tin thread bracelets are part of Sami handicraft (and I´m of Samian origin, it is original habitants of Northern Scandinavia). If you search the Internet you can find a lot of absolutely smashing handicraft! For more information, visit for example http://www.eng.samer.se/

I just finished making a tinthread bracelet and I think it is the last one I will do. I had forgotten how hard it was for the fingers, and how hard it is to make them well.. Look at the wider bracelet that I made a couple of years ago. It is easy to see that it is not well made, it´s crocked and it´s possible to see the sewing thread - big no no. The one I finished today (braided and thinner) is a bit better but still.

This Christmas I visited my home town Gällivare and my dear aunt gave me this fabulous bracelet. What a piece of work! My depest admiration. The necklace is also made by her a couple of years ago. She also gave me a neck warmer that she made of leather and felt. Both beautiful and warm.

My daughter wrote down some instructions about making tin thread bracelets (in Swedish), it´s minfritidswe.blogspot.com .

Gjorde ett tenntrådsarmband och sydde ihop ett jag påbörjade för något år sedan. Hade glömt hur jobbigt det var, får ont i fingrarna och jag har svårt att få det snyggt. Det blir inga fler! Om ni skall köpa ett tenntrådsarmband och det är välsytt (inga sytrådar syns på ovansidan, tenntråden sitter tätt fast mot skinnet, välsytt under, inga vassa trådar - vissa syr med nylontråd) så tycker jag att det definitivt är värt pengarna. Jag har ett armband som är över 40 år och fortfarande fint och helt! Då har jag dessutom misshandlat det med duschande och annat.
Ni kan se på det bredare armbandet (det äldre) att det är illa sytt av mig, sytråden syns tydligt och det är inte rakt.. Det andra som jag gjorde nu är lite bättre men ändå.

Visar därför bild på det fantastiska armband som min faster gjort, fick det i julas när jag var på hembesök. Halsbandet har hon också gjort men det har jag haft några år. Fick även halsvärmaren som är så fin och varm. Sydd i renskinn och filt (typ tunn vadmal).

Är av samiskt ursprung och rekommenderar verkligen att köpa sameslöjd. Sök gärna på nätet, det finns mycket himla snyggt och gediget hantverk med ett värde som varar.

Work by my aunt. See how wide the bracelet is, imagine sewing that! Här är de av min faster. Kolla bredden på armabandet, vilket jobb att sy det!

Made of reindeer leather and buttons of reindeer horn. Renskinn och knappar av renhorn.

Neck warmer, Halsvärmare

Min dotter har skrivit instruktioner till att göra tenntrådsarmband på sin blogg minfritidswe.blogspot.com

Oil painting of horse, oljemålning häst

2012-01-15T12:16:00.001+01:00

Last sunday I did an oil painting of a horse. I used a picture of my friends daughters horse to look at. This is my first horse (have only done about 10 oil paintings all together so I´m still practising) but I´m satistfied with the head, not with the breast. It´s a bit to flat and weird. Maybe I should just take it away and keep the head and the neck? But horses are fun (have done quite a lot of sketches of horses) as they are so beautiful and have defined muscles.
Any advice/tips from experienced painters are welcome.

Förra söndagen gjorde jag min första hästmålning i olja (har bara gjort några oljemålningar totalt så jag har börjat öva med realistiska motiv). Hade en bild av min kompis dotters häst som förlaga. Jag blev nöjd med huvudet men vänstra bringan är konstig. Den känns inte så levande och något är fel med vinkeln. Den skall vara väldigt ljus (solen ligger på den) men den känns liksom platt. Har funderat på att ta bort den och bara ha huvudet och halsen. Sen hade hästen träns och sadel så jag har fått gissa lite hur det ser ut under utrustningen.
Tips och råd från erfarna målare mottages tacksamt.

Tunisian crochet on the round bag, krokad väska, rundkrokad

2012-01-15T12:02:00.002+01:00

I did this bag a while ago, mostly because I wanted to try Tunisian crochet braid (cable). It is crochet in wool yarn. The bag is about 23 cm wide (that is 46 cm circuit) and 56 stitches so I used a long double ended crochet hook. I started with the bottom, knitting stitch for 7 rows, then every other simple stitch and reversed stitch. How to make a braid? You tube.. 25 rows and then finishing the work with the brown yarn.
The shoulder strap is Tunisian crochet 8 stitches wide and looong. Finally I crochet the bottom together, ordinary crochet and sewed the strap together withe the bag. I let there be about 10 rows of strap for the attatching to the bag as I wanted it to be solid.
As you can see, the cable is a bit weird in the beginning as I started of wrong and then made it wider..

Den här väskan gjorde jag i höstas mest för att jag ville prova kroka en fläta. Den är rundkrokad i ullgarn, omkring 23 cm bred, 56 maskkor. Jag använde en lång dubbeländad kroknål för det går fortare. Började i botten med stick-mönster i 7 rader och sedan varannan enkel och avig (jämnt antal maskor). Efter 25 var avslutade jag med det bruna garnet. Att göra flätor finns på You tube. Axelbandet är 8 maskor brett och även det varannan enkel och avig. Det är rätt långt.. Sen virkade jag ihop botten och sydde fast axelbanden. Ungefär 10 rader av axelbandet är inne i väskan för jag ville få den stadig och hållbar. Flätan är lite konstig i början för jag började lite fel men ides inte ta upp :)

Tunisian crochet hat, krokad mössa

2012-01-15T11:40:00.001+01:00

This Christmas I croched ( Tunisian crochet ) a hat, using wool yarn. I usually start with the wide part, I started with the black part (did the lower white part last) using Knitting stitch as it gets thick and keeps the ears warm even on a windy day. Then I did a white part with simple stitches and after five rows I changed to black. I also started decreasing. My method is putting the hat on and start decreasing when the hat has passed the widest part of the head. You can either decrease on the same place each time and get clearly visible decreases (for example on for places thus getting for "lines", or decrease after for example each 10th stitch for a starter. Then keep on testing and decreasing more often as the end is getting closer. When I was done I started on the white part in the lowest part of the hat as I wanted the impression of wearing two hats. I started from the inside of the first thick row, that is not the very firts "starting chain". and used knitting stitch.

I julas krokade jag denna mössa i ullgarn. Ville ha en mössa som värmde öronen även i blåst. Jag börjar alltid med den vidaste delen, dvs från ansiktet och minskar sen. Många mönster börjar med toppen. Jag ville få intrycket av dubbla mössor så den första vita delen fick vänta. Började alltså med svart och stick-mönster för det blir tjockt och tätt. Efter ca 7 varv bytte jag till vitt och använde enkla maskor, sen 5 vita varv, färgbyte och påbörjade minskning efter något varv. Jag brukar prova mössan och börja minska när arbete passerat huvudets bredaste del. Det går antingen att minska på samma ställe hela tiden och få tydliga minskningsränder, t ex fyra stycken jämnt utplacerade. Eller minska då och då, t ex var 10:e maska och sedan oftare. Jag provar mössan hela tiden. Om man inte vill ha en tätsittande mössa så är det ju inte lika noga förståss. När mössan var klar så tog jag vitt garn för nedersta delen och krokade på den från insidan av mössan med fäste i det första tjocka varvet, alltså inte i det som är det tunnare första varvet. Då ser det ut som det är en extra mössa under. Eller det var tanken i alla fall..

Tunisian crochet on the round instruction

2012-01-10T22:53:00.000+01:00

Krokning instruktioner / guide

2012-01-10T19:26:00.004+01:00

Var med på en julmässa i höstas och gjorde krokningspaket som jag sålde (handgjord kroknål i ene, instruktion och ullgarn i handgjord påse (ekobomull och tryckt med handgjorda stämplar)). Sålde slut på alla krokningspaket vilket var kul.

Nu tänkte jag publicera den här och förhoppningsvis hjälper den någon (skriv gärna ett inlägg om hur det gick).

Permanent flower pots / Permanenta blomkrukor

2012-01-07T23:04:00.001+01:00

This summer I made this flower pot. I used left over wood boards, I screwed the together by usind steel bands on the inside to achive the round shape. I put styrofoam boards in the bottom so that I wouldn´t have to use som much soil and to isolate. The design is my own.

Ville ha en permanent blomkruka (eller tre i en blev det). Gjorde egen design av spillbitar och skruvade ihop dem på insidan med stålband. Sådant som har hål i sig och är till för snickeriarbeten. Annars är det svårt att få en rund form. Fyllde dem ca halvvägs med överblivna frigolitbitar för att slippa ha så mycket jord och för extra isolering. Sågade slutliga formen när den var ihopsnickrad (sticksåg).

Also have to show the beautiful white flowers in the spring.

På våren blommar de vita blommorna så vacker vid dammen.

Oil painting weekend / Oljemålningshelg

2012-01-07T22:44:00.001+01:00

My daughter (12 years old) and I are right now in to painting (oil mostly). Really fun and addictive. This is what we did this week end.

Just nu har jag lagt krokningen åt sidan och fastnat i oljemålning, jag och min dotter (12 år) håller till i vårt hobbyrum (mitt absoluta favoritrum..:). I helgen gjorde vi dessa.

Oil painting by my daughter. Oljemålning av min dotter

Melancoly cat in oil by my daughter, only a couple of inches big. Melankoliska katten av min dotter, ca en dm lång.

My late and dear cat Tösse, oil but not finished. It has to dry a bit before I can add the whiskers.

Min fina Tösse som gått bort. Olja men ej färdig, måste torka lite innan morrhår och annat kan läggas på.

Mouse in oil, not natural colors,also awaits whiskers. Mus i onaturliga färger (skall matcha mitt kontor). Väntar även den på morrhår.

Fast sketch, charcoal and then "painted" by taking color coal away with a rubber.

Snabbskiss genom att fylla ett papper med kol och sedan rita genom att ta bort med sudd.

Horse in clay, not finished at the picture. Lerhäst, ej färdig på bilden.

Look what the cat dragged in.. / Nackdelar med kattlucka..

2012-01-07T22:26:00.000+01:00

We installed a cat door, thought "ooh so convenient, we do not have to work as door men any more". Little did we think of the fact that the cats could also bring guests and gifts.. It showed that one of the cats (Dennis) brought in mice (dead and alive), grass, leafs and birds. One day he came with this, a mouse in a trap (dead). We don´t use mouse traps, neither does the closest neighbours.. What was he thinking? And look at the poor mouse, holding the cheese. I can add that all animals that enters alive are also set free.

Dennis is the dark ones. Vernisa is the Persian and Findus is the one looking like a Birma (he is half Birma).

Vi var trötta på att agera dörrvakt åt våra katter och tänkte att kattlucka är ju jättebekvämt.. Visade sig att Dennis gärna tog in både saker och djur. Men den här med musen i fällan är ju lite märklig, lättförskaffad mat eller? Och vilket jobb att bära med genom två kattluckor och två trappor (ingång via källaren). Se den stackars musen som håller i osten.
De andra är Vernisa (persern) och Findus (halv-birma).

Above Dennis, sleeping so innocent. He sleeps on a bag that I sewed and filled with styrofoam balls.

Här sover Dennis och ser oskyldig ut.. Kattbädden har jag sytt och fyllt med små plastkulor (sådana som är i Saco-säckar). De gillar den bädden. Sådan kulor kan man köpa i stora säckar på byggvaruhusen, men ofta måste man be dem beställa hem dem.

Reindeer of spruce spray and snow sculptures / Granrisren och snöskulpturer

2012-01-07T22:08:00.001+01:00

This Christmas we wanted to do a he-goat of spruce spray (popular in Sweden). But we decided to do a reindeer instead. We did a frame of wood and then covered it in spruce and pine sprays. It got a pair of reindeer horns that we found in the woods (they shed them so you can find them in the nature) and a red nose and a bell. Ta da - a natural size Rudolf.

I also did some snow sculptures. The bear and wolf have hollow heads and I put a candle in them so that when looking at them from the road - the eyes would shine. They are natural size except the owl (about 1,5 metres) Really fun to make :)

Granrisren istället för bock. Tycker att granrisbockarna är så fina, fast vi gjorde en ren. Spikade bara ihop en stomme (som en träbock med hals och huvud). Klädde sen med gran- och tallris.

Tunisian crochet mittens / Krokade vantar

2012-01-07T21:54:00.000+01:00

My daughter loved her Tunisian croched mittens but went downhill skiing with them so they got felted after the ski pole.. So I made her a new pair. I crochet them on the round and then felted them a bit, then they get really warm and coosy. I didn´t use a pattern but wrote down how I did the first one and that made it easier when I did the other one.

Krokade vantar i ullgarn (så klart), rundkrokade. Inget mönster men det finns mönster på http://ullcentrum.blogg.se/category/krokat.html som verkar helt ok.

Enkla att göra, först mudden med stickmaskor (2 olika färger) sen tre varv med enkla maskor och sedan bara enkla maskor med en färg (dvs samma färg framåt och avmaskning). Jag har gjort ett instruktionshäfte för krokning som jag skall lägga upp här snart.

Progress of my pond..

2011-09-24T19:29:00.001+02:00

The pond I made last spring has been a great joy for people and animals. I am surprised of what a difference it made to my garden. It only has advantages; the sound of the water, the "wild" life, the flowers etc. My four gold fishes spent the winter in the house and moved out at early spring. They have about 20 big kids and a lot of mini ones, hard to count them. Lots of animals have moved in and also survived the winter, frogs, dragon flies and lots of insects. The hedge hogs and wasps drink from the small creek and the birds takes a bath.

All the plants grow very well around the pond, the lavender for example is huge and smells wonderful, it also attracts a lot of butterflies and bees.

These pictures are from the 24th of September. I see now that I haven´t trimmed the grass sofa.. (First picture at left)
We put some old cobblestones out in the water, our cats love to walk out, sit on them and watch the fish. They want to catch them of course, and they have fallen into the pond a couple of times but it doesn´t seem to bother them.

Some Tunisan crochet and Bosnian crochet.

2011-09-24T19:04:00.001+02:00

Here are some of my latest things. I started on a Christmas scarf inspired by Santas little helpers, therefore red and white. First it is straight Tunisan crohet, simple stitch (I think it looks best for striped things) and then round Tunisian crochet, the round part (as a tube) is for the neck and then the straight parts will be hanging out. I hope they will go well with my red and white socks..

I also made a pair of mittens, thought it would be nice to have them in reversed colours (they are round Tunisian crochet) but I think that they really look different, the white as forward colour is not as sharp as the black. Also it might be a good idea to use a pattern (is that the right word?) or at least write it down.. I now found out a better way to make the tumbs.

I made the hat a while ago, it is round Tunisian crochet, I think it was pearl stitch and I used a multicolored yarn of wool and silk. It is really soft. I always use wool or other natural materials, when I do Amigurumis I usually use cotton.

A friend of mine showed me Bosnian crochet (it has other names too) so I started on a little hat for my niece. It is an easy and quite fast technique.

And of course a pair of wrist warmers, I´ve done a lot of them because they are so easy to make when I´m practicing on being a couch potato. These are with tumb holes and thick wool (perfect for using on gloves for extra warmth).

Crochet hooks and Tunisian crochet hooks

2011-09-24T18:35:00.002+02:00

I have made some crochet hooks for Tunisian crochet, crochet and Bosnian crochet (continental method). I made them in juniper wood and reindeer horn. The ones in wood I hand carved and sanded of course, the gap for the yarn was made with my dear friend Dremel.. I made so many because we are going to a Christmas fair. I tried them all crocheting on the Christmas scarf, hence it is a bit irregular as they are different sizes. Though I don´t think it matters a lot in Tunisian crochet.

The big one above in reindeer horn is for Tunisian crochet and for crocheting rugs and other big things, it is really nice to use as the horn becomes soo smooth. The other one double ended Tunsian crochet hook.

The strange looking crochet hook is for people who find it hard to hold a crochet hook (arthritis for example), I tried it and I think it works fine. On one side I saved the orginial surface of the reindeer horn (at this horn it was brown)

Reindeer horn is very nice to work with as the finish can be great. But it takes a lot of hard work and it is important to find the right kind of horns. I think the horns that reindeers have lost naturally are the best and also if they have dried for a year or so. It is also nice to find those who have been lying in a marsh (nice colors appear). I collect my horns when walking in the forest, sometimes I´m lucky and find several and sometimes none..

I also made some hooks for Bosnian crochet and started on a hat for kids. Kind of fun but not as fun as Tunisian crochet :)

Crochet cakes and coffee cup

2011-01-09T16:08:00.003+01:00

This Christmas I croched some pasteries and a coffee cup with coffee. The coffee is just a plate that I put in the cup with the spoon. It is smaller than an ordinary cup. No patterns, it is easy to do these things. The truth is that I find it boring to use patterns.. (and sometimes difficult). If anyone wants to know how I did any of my things on this blog just give me a comment and I will gladly share.

The yellow thing is a Lussebulle, a traditional Swedish bun made of Saphron that we eat at Christmas.

Tunisian crochet / Krokning

2011-01-09T16:02:00.003+01:00

Here are some things I have been doing in Tunisian crochet. It is really simple and I don´t use patterns. I learned the stitches at you tube, there are some great instruction videos there. Everything is made with a two ended crochet hoook and two yarns. The mittens are slightly felted for extra warmth.

Krokade handledsvärmare / tunisian crochet wrist warmers

Tunisian crochet mittens / Rundkrokade vantar

Nalbinding / nålbindning / needle binding..

2010-09-19T19:40:00.002+02:00

I have seen others from my handcraft group do needle binding and it looked great and fun. So today I made three needles from reindeer horn. Then I had to learn needle binding, I found a couple of nice instruction videos on you tube. And my needles worked! The white one is my favourite as it is a little bit bent, that bend fits the thumb.. So now I´m working on woolen mittens.

This weekend I also learned Tunisian Crochet, that was really fun but my ordinary crochet hook was too short, luckily I found a tall double ended crochet hook and a short double ended (for round jobs like socks) at Lönneberga Mat och Hantverk this Saturday. Great market by the way. I made a pair of slippers for my daughter, I have to stitch them together though.

Last week I started on a large gun, a Colt 38 from WWT, it is for an exhibition ( Det ulltimata vapnet ), named The Wooltimate Weapon - not funny at all in English..

I have to finish it this week.

Update on the pond; I have a giant birch close to the pond and I was thinking of getting a leaf net, but didn´t. I will next year, that or cutting of a bit of the tree (at least 15 metres). I decided that it was time for the fish babies to move indoors, we found 8 but I gess I will find a couple more. They seem to like their new home, at least they survived..

They are from 1 - 5 centimetres and not yet golden.

This is my favourite flower;

Some 3D felted animals

2010-08-17T19:34:00.001+02:00

Here are three of my felted animals..