17 August 2020

Snowflake Monday

About the only place I've been since March 16 (besides physical therapy for Lizard) is the grocery store to pick up prescriptions and/or fresh fruit and vegetables. One trip resulted in a new glue, which, of course, I absolutely had to try out. It's called Cosmic Glue. Given our affection for all things Star Trek (and space), I bought a bottle. I tried it out on this week's snowflake. What do you think? Does it scream galaxy?

To me, the metallic blue glue never looked as good on a flake as it does in the bottle, even after three coats. The cosmic blue will join the metallic blue in the "not for snowflakes" stash.

I think the blue glitter glue version (made with ch 7 on the 6th Round instead of ch 2) looks more cosmic, night sky-ish or nebula-like. The cosmic glue-stiffened snowflake, to me, looks more like pumice. Or perhaps it's an ashy snowflake after a volcanic storm…

It has taken us more than 18 months to finish all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Lizard had never seen any Star Trek episodes until he married me, and I didn't realize until this year I had never seen any TNG episodes from the final year. It was so fun to watch programs that were new to both of us! We really dragged our feet the last couple of months because we knew we were nearing the end of the Final Frontier, where our eyes had never been before.

After the final episode of the final season, we had planned to watch all 13 or so movies, in order of release, which would have taken another six months or so, as we can tolerate only about an hour of TV in the evenings without messing up our sleep pattern. However, I had loaned all our Star Trek movies to one of the families of our adopted grands way back in March, and we have not been able to spend time with them again since then due to quarantines and Lizard's health issues. We have to come up with different boob tube offerings on those nights when we just don't feel like doing anything other than being couch potatoes.

We considered renting a few timely, albeit perhaps depressing, given current circumstances, virus movies… Contagion, Outbreak, Andromeda Strain… We watched a few trailers and quickly decided life is depressing enough without such fodder.

While looking for something better and cheery, we came across a stack of volcano DVDs we hadn't touched in quite a while. We decided to give our Mount St. Helens documentary a spin. Within minutes, we began reliving and remembering the horrors described by friends and family who lived within the monstrous pyroclastic cloud's shadow in 1980. Within a few minutes, we realized there are worse things than a pandemic.

We watched to the end. We actually slept that night. And we woke up very grateful to be safe and far from any of the volcanos that have been trying to steal headlines this year. (We pray for those who face more terror than we.)

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point

Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Mount St. Helens Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: 18 sc in ring; sl st in starting sc. Don't pull magic circle too tight.

Round 2: Ch 4 (counts as 1 tr), 1 tr in same sc as sl st, [ch 3, sk next 2 sc, 3 tr in next sc] 5 times; ch 3, 1 tr in same sc as starting tr, sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 4.

Round 3: Ch 4 (counts as 1 dc and ch 2), [2 fptr around post of next tr, ch 3, sk next ch 3, 1 fptr around post of next tr, ch 2, 1 dc in next tr, ch 2] 6 times, omitting last dc and last 2 ch of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 4.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), [3 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 5, sk next ch 3 sp, 3 dc in next ch 2 sp, 1 dc in next tr] 6 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.

Round 5: Ch 4 (counts as 1 dc and ch 2), [sk next 3 dc, 1 fptr around each of next 2 Round 3 fptr, ch 7, sk next ch 5 sp, 1 fptr around each of next 2 Round 3 fptr, ch 2, sk next 3 dc, 1 dc in next (middle) dc, ch 2] 6 times, omitting last dc and last ch 2 of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 4

Round 6: Ch 4 (counts as 1 dc and ch 2), [sk next ch 2 sp, in next ch 7 sp work (7 dc, ch 3, 7 dc), ch 2, sk next ch 2 sp, 1 fp dc around next dc, ch 2] 6 times, omitting last dc and last ch 2 of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

2 comments :

  1. Has a cosmic glow to it. Yeah, no need to watch a contagion movie these days, just turn on the news. Could always be worse indeed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We may never watch another germ movie as long as we live, now, Pat!

      Delete


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