"Happy Halloween Red Guy!" or "Making Without Stuff!" - Pt 1
Hey Reader!
The hardest part of having a new house, besides the incessant people trying to scam you, is not having anything where you want it to be. As I continue to toil away on walls and plan big projects like window re-framing and other amazing interiors, my other projects fall to the side. I was actually just about to write, "my smaller projects." I never really thought of my puppets or quilts as small projects until I took on a whole house. This is some next level stuff I need to get used to. The timelines are longer, the work is harder, and progress is significantly slower. The reward is coming soon though, I can feel the walls getting closer to completion.
So you probably gathered that walls are not done, based on the paragraph. This means that another week has gone by with no visible progress, and my craft and media rooms are still crammed in boxes in what will eventually be the guest room. That can be frustrating for wanting to progress reasons, but also for making stuff reasons.
Ok enough of my weekly internal dialog about house progress. Halloween is just two days away and I have a need to wear a costume to pub quiz on Tuesday. Pressure is on to make something fun. Lately, I have become obsessed with Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. If you are unfamiliar, it is this amazing series of short films that have spawned hundreds of reaction videos and fan theories.
Basically, there are three main characters, Red Guy, Duck Guy and Yellow Guy. Yellow and Duck are puppets so that obviously started me off on the right foot. Red Guy is a guy in a red onsie with a mop of Cousin It yarn hair. When it was time to think about costumes for Halloween, Red Guy jumped to mind immediately. I already have a red onsie (no need to ask questions), so a red yarn wig would be all I needed.
First thing I knew I needed, was a cap to mount all the hair to. This is where having my craft room incomplete became a problem. I couldn't find any of my wig caps or hats anywhere. So I decided I would knit one. I have knitted hats a few times before and I can make a quick one in an hour or so, especially if it doesn't need to be perfect since all the hair will cover it all. Of course, I have no idea where my knitting or crocheting stuff is. Ever the problem solver, I decided to try finger crochet.
Finger crochet is interesting. It's really made for small people who can't be trusted with hooks or needles yet. Essentially, your finger becomes the hook and you are pulling yarn over and around other parts of hte project to make the finished piece. This is obviously easier when you have tiny human hands and not giant monster hands like I do. I also kept making it two small. I had to start over a few times. I started to worry that this was taking too long, and that I was using too much yarn. I only bought two skeins and as you can see in the videos, Red Guy has a lot of hair.
I had to go back to the drawing board and I returned to my crazy cluttered guest bedroom and managed to find a baseball cap. Not just any baseball cap, but a New Jersey one in red! It pained me to dismantle my New Jersey cap, but I haven't worn it in a while and caps are replaceable. New Jersey certainly isn't going anywhere.
I miss Jersey. I suppose not enough to wear this Jersey cap as often as I should, but I need to get myself a bagel soon.
I cut off the brim and colored in the white lettering with red sharpie in case my yarn wig had a little bald spot. Now for the part you have seen in many puppet projects, making my yarn wefts. I wrapped my yarn around the clipboard and used about all of yarn I had. It is a good thing I didn't have to also knit a cap.
I wrapped about half of the yarn ball onto my clipboard. You know that when I make puppets, I try to keep the yarn at about one strand width because it helps the sewing go smoother. Given how much hair I needed to create, that wasn't going to be possible for this project. With short hair, you need a lot of wefts to make a full head of hair, but for long hair you need fewer, denser wefts of hair. At least for the projects I am working on.
I know this is the day before the costume will be shown off at pub quiz, but this blog feels like it is one of the longer posts I have written in a while. I am going to split it up. I don't want to overstay my welcome in your life as you read this nonsense.
There will be more Red Guy process next week. Hopefully I saved enough for a whole blog.
Anyways, make cool stuff!
Until next time,
JoshPrime
The hardest part of having a new house, besides the incessant people trying to scam you, is not having anything where you want it to be. As I continue to toil away on walls and plan big projects like window re-framing and other amazing interiors, my other projects fall to the side. I was actually just about to write, "my smaller projects." I never really thought of my puppets or quilts as small projects until I took on a whole house. This is some next level stuff I need to get used to. The timelines are longer, the work is harder, and progress is significantly slower. The reward is coming soon though, I can feel the walls getting closer to completion.
So you probably gathered that walls are not done, based on the paragraph. This means that another week has gone by with no visible progress, and my craft and media rooms are still crammed in boxes in what will eventually be the guest room. That can be frustrating for wanting to progress reasons, but also for making stuff reasons.
Ok enough of my weekly internal dialog about house progress. Halloween is just two days away and I have a need to wear a costume to pub quiz on Tuesday. Pressure is on to make something fun. Lately, I have become obsessed with Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. If you are unfamiliar, it is this amazing series of short films that have spawned hundreds of reaction videos and fan theories.
Basically, there are three main characters, Red Guy, Duck Guy and Yellow Guy. Yellow and Duck are puppets so that obviously started me off on the right foot. Red Guy is a guy in a red onsie with a mop of Cousin It yarn hair. When it was time to think about costumes for Halloween, Red Guy jumped to mind immediately. I already have a red onsie (no need to ask questions), so a red yarn wig would be all I needed.
First thing I knew I needed, was a cap to mount all the hair to. This is where having my craft room incomplete became a problem. I couldn't find any of my wig caps or hats anywhere. So I decided I would knit one. I have knitted hats a few times before and I can make a quick one in an hour or so, especially if it doesn't need to be perfect since all the hair will cover it all. Of course, I have no idea where my knitting or crocheting stuff is. Ever the problem solver, I decided to try finger crochet.Finger crochet is interesting. It's really made for small people who can't be trusted with hooks or needles yet. Essentially, your finger becomes the hook and you are pulling yarn over and around other parts of hte project to make the finished piece. This is obviously easier when you have tiny human hands and not giant monster hands like I do. I also kept making it two small. I had to start over a few times. I started to worry that this was taking too long, and that I was using too much yarn. I only bought two skeins and as you can see in the videos, Red Guy has a lot of hair.
I had to go back to the drawing board and I returned to my crazy cluttered guest bedroom and managed to find a baseball cap. Not just any baseball cap, but a New Jersey one in red! It pained me to dismantle my New Jersey cap, but I haven't worn it in a while and caps are replaceable. New Jersey certainly isn't going anywhere.I miss Jersey. I suppose not enough to wear this Jersey cap as often as I should, but I need to get myself a bagel soon.
I cut off the brim and colored in the white lettering with red sharpie in case my yarn wig had a little bald spot. Now for the part you have seen in many puppet projects, making my yarn wefts. I wrapped my yarn around the clipboard and used about all of yarn I had. It is a good thing I didn't have to also knit a cap.
I wrapped about half of the yarn ball onto my clipboard. You know that when I make puppets, I try to keep the yarn at about one strand width because it helps the sewing go smoother. Given how much hair I needed to create, that wasn't going to be possible for this project. With short hair, you need a lot of wefts to make a full head of hair, but for long hair you need fewer, denser wefts of hair. At least for the projects I am working on.
I know this is the day before the costume will be shown off at pub quiz, but this blog feels like it is one of the longer posts I have written in a while. I am going to split it up. I don't want to overstay my welcome in your life as you read this nonsense.
There will be more Red Guy process next week. Hopefully I saved enough for a whole blog.
Anyways, make cool stuff!
Until next time,
JoshPrime
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