End of the Project

Items Completed:

• Complete final pieces of crocheting
• Assemble Foam
• Assemble Couch
• Present to cats
• Take pictures

I haven’t had a chance to do a formal update here since the 17th (11 days ago), but those that attended the Maker’s Hangout in the discord saw the progress. I can say, finally, that this project is complete! I had run into some issues with the seat/back piece being too large, so I had to remake it. I ended up having to do that a total of three times, which was frustrating and set me back a bit. I don’t know if it was just the stitch count was off, or my tension wasn’t tight enough? Either way, I go to where I needed to be with those pieces. After that, I had the Blanket and the Dust Ruffle to complete, and then assembly. Here’s a bunch of pictures! New seat after remaking it Finished seat, front of cushion, and back, as well as my wonderful slippers Hugo “helping” Starting the Dust Ruffle. It reminded me of a tornado potato Sort of how the dust ruffle will look, once it’s stretched out correctly Hugo decided to come “help” again Leon also “helping”, just like his big brother After adding another few rows to the dust ruffle. This is one of my favourite parts of the project. It really is too cute The first two of sixteen squares for the blanket. I had one cake of the “Roll with It Sparkle” in “Magic”, this amazing Rainbow with silver reflective string yarn, and I was super happy to use it for this project. After a few more squares completed. These work up very quickly, which was nice I went on a square blitz and forgot to take more photos before the blanket was nearly assembled. Yes, I need to vacuum that rug, it was 1:30am when I took that picture. Leon approved of the finished blanket …Like really approved Hugo was also excited that the project was nearing completion The second to last thing I needed to do was attach a bottom to this thing. I had decided early on that I wasn’t going to crochet the bottom, as it wouldn’t be seen and I would like to use the yarn for other things. I had also had it in my head that I was going to make it so that the whole cover could be taken off for washing purposes. After I had assembled it, and tried it on the foam, I realized that it wasn’t an exact fit, and would need to be glued down in some sections to look right. So I decided to throw out the slip cover idea, and break out the hot glue gun. This also meant that attaching the bottom was infinitely easier. I used spray adhesive to attach a piece of white corduroy to the foam, and then used hot glue to stick down parts of the crochet work on the seat, arms, and sides, before flipping it over and gluing up the bottom. It’s totally secure, and will look great for a long time. The final part of the construction part of the project was to attach the dust ruffle around the bottom. Hugo decided that he would supervise. I ended up sitting on the floor to get this done so that I wasn’t hunched over like the goblin that I am Supervisor hard at work The dust ruffle was finally attached, and the construction was done! You can see at the back that it wasn’t quite long enough to connect at the middle back, but that’s okay because the front is so cute

The Finished Product

It’s done.

Conclusion

I’ve been continually impressed by the format of this experience. It has helped me immensely to actually accomplish this goal. It’s so simple, but effective, and I have started to use it more in my everyday life. I’m going to be moving on to other projects around the house for now, but may do something crafty in the future. One of my favourite parts of this has also been the ability to connect more with the DayKnight community at large, through the Maker’s hangout in the discord. We had a variety of people stop by each week to spend time together, talk, and work on projects. It was really nice to see familiar faces each time (shoutouts to fundamental and Ry!), as well as meet some brand new people that I may not have otherwise had the chance to voice chat with. I feel proud of what I’ve accomplished, and I am excited to share this with my friends and family. I already sent some pictures to a few, and they are loving it. One of them even asked if I could make one for his cat. I won’t right now, but maybe in the future I’ll teach him how to crochet.

I hope that you have enjoyed keeping up with my project. Thank you for your interest and support! dayHeart

Building the Foam, and Revisions

Items Completed:

• Foam has been cut into required shapes
• Glued up the pieces of foam to make 3 inch thickness for armrests and back
• Fit tested the pieces completed so far to ensure they will work

On a whim today, I decided to do the foam prep for the couch. The foam will provide structure for the cat bed, and supports the crocheted pieces. This also gave me the chance to fit test the pieces I had finished so far, and see if anything needed to be revised.

Measuring the foam pieces The Arm Rests Everything is coming together nicely!

As soon as I started laying on the crocheted pieces, I ran into immediate problems. The Seat and Front piece is a few inches too wide, which means that the entire piece doesn’t line up correctly to the foam. This also means that the back piece that I am nearly done is also not the correct size either.

The seat and front piece on the foam. You can see on the right side that I have lined it up with the armrest where it needs to sit, and on the left side there is extra and it is too long. Right side is correctly lined up Left side is overlapped

I decided to go ahead and check the rest of the pieces to see if there was anything else that needed to be redone.

Everything else that I have completed is fitting correctly and looks good. Arm Rest lined up correctly on the inside… …and the armrest also correctly lined up with the base on the outside. I’m not 100% sure what happened to the armrest caps that I made. They seemed to have grown legs and wandered away. As I was doing my test fittings, Leon decided to come over and inspect what was happening. He’s quality control, of course.

He seemed to really find it comfy, and was pretty mad that I shooed him off to get things cleaned up. Once he had moved on to one of the other cat beds in the house, I tested it out with an old friend of mine, another cat that may like comfy place to snuggle. It definitely gets the Hexicat seal of approval

All in all, I’m pleased that I did this today, so that I was able to catch these mistakes early and I have more than enough time to fix them. It’s about halfway through the challenge, and we are nearing the end, and I am on track to get things done. Stay tuned for more in the future!

End of Week 2

Items Completed:

• Couch seat and back cushions
• Back sides (And nearly all of the back of couch)

So this week was really great in terms of getting things completed. I finished off one of the larger pieces, the seat and front of the back cushion (it sounds weird to say it that way, but it makes sense), and got working on the back piece. I had to make some decisions related to how I wanted to do it because I don’t have a tonne of the multicoloured blue/teal/white left. I decided to alter the pattern a bit, by making the sides separate form the back, and then making the back in a different colour. Clear as mud?

Essentially, instead of making one piece for the “Back and Sides” I made it three pieces, that way I had more control over which pieces were made from which materials.

In addition, we also had the second “Maker’s Hangout” in the discord on Saturday, which went well. There was a smaller turnout this time, but we had a great time chatting about music, hobbies, and life. I am really enjoying the social aspects of this adventure a lot more than I initially thought I would. I think that might be why I’m more successful with this project this time around. Accountability really works.

I don’t have any pictures available at the moment, as it’s late and I am about to head to bed, but I will add some in a post tomorrow.

End of Week 1

Items completed:

This week has been super productive for my project. I was able to make a list of the pieces that I needed to complete, and purchase all of my outstanding supplies so that I can be successful with finishing the project.

In addition to this, we also had our first DK30 Maker Hangout on Saturday, March 6th in the discord. We had a great turnout, and spent a few hours working on our projects, and encouraging one another. It was really cool to see so many people coming in to spend time together. I found it really helpful to be able to connect with other creative people in the community and I am hopeful that we will continue to see more folks turning up in the future.

I was able to finish some smaller and bigger pieces this week, and I am moving into the larger main pieces now. I wasn’t sure if I would have enough of the main colour that I had chosen in order to do the whole project, so instead I am swapping out some other colours in places where they won’t be seen. For the main seat, which will be covered by the cushions, I am swapping that out from the main colour to an off-white that will match. Sometimes you have to be flexible, and figure it out as you go.

I’m pleased so far with the progress, and I will do what I can to stay motivated and get it done!

Day 2: Shopping and Crafting

Items completed:

• Purchase needed supplies (yarn, foam)

I had a lot of success at the store today. I really didn’t need to buy more yarn, but there’s always a chance that you find something good for the current project, or another one you may start in the future. I’ve decided to use a different kind of yarn to make more solid motifs for the blanket that goes on the back, as opposed to the multicolour ones that are in the picture. Why? Because my yarn stash is already super huge, and I don’t need to enable myself any more than I have.

I was really happy today though because I found the EXACT size of foam that I needed. Okay, so exact isn’t TOTALLY 100% correct. It’s 24"x16" which is the dimensions that I need, but the thickness is 2". The pattern itself calls for the foam to be 3" and 4" thick. Luckily, using the power of addition, we can be the Mayors of “Get There City”. I need to cut some parts anyway to make the arms and back, so cutting it in half will not be a problem either.

I’ve had a request about pictures of the cats. I can assure you that yes, there will be pictures of the cats using the couch.

For now, here’s a picture of my sweet baby boys.

Hugo is the Tuxedo, Leon is the Fluffy Tabby

Click here for more from my Instagram @aktaiacrafts

Day 1: Cat couch making begins!

Items completed:

• Take stock of yarn
• Take stock of completed pieces

So this project started out in an interesting way. I started by looking at my supplies and making a list of completed items. I had previously finished about a third of the pieces for the project, including these side pieces for the cushions called “gussets”, so I was feeling pretty confident. I began the day working on the base of the couch, which was about half done. I wanted to consult the pattern, but couldn’t find my printed copy, so I went back to the website and downloaded the pattern again. And I was in for a surprise:

The instructions for the gusset pieces were gone! No Gussets!

I knew I had used the pattern to make them, and didn’t whole cloth make them up, so I looked again for my printed pattern and found it. TURNS OUT the pattern I printed was last revised on Sept 28th 2020, and the one that is up now was revised December 14th 2020, so that whole part was just removed and revised.

On the one hand, I’m disappointed because I had already finished these pieces. On the other hand, making the cushions without the gussets will make them look more like the cushions in the picture, and is easier.

I also was a little concerned about having enough of the yarn I’m using, as I bought it about 6-7 years ago and I don’t think they have it anymore. My solution is going to be using a complimentary colour for the “seat” part of the couch, as it will be covered with the cushions anyway. I may also use it for the dust ruffle and the back, or arms. I’ll see how I feel.