Testing

Fur-glue drying

 Ok so I am sitting here with my heating pad cranked up on my shoulder.

Why, well because I wanted to test out my plan's.  I though only crocheting 10 stitches by 3 rows wouldn't hurt to much.  But I was wrong I guess, I didn't take into account brushing out the yarn and flat ironing it might strain my shoulder as well.

I am happy I tested it out.  I need to get a new slicker brush what I have seems to eat up and snarl 1/2 the fiber. 

So on to what I did to test my ideas on how to attach brushed yarn fur to the main body of my crochet.  I got some fabric glue, that claimed to work on multipul fabric types, and stretch with the fabric when dry.  I started by measuring out a few loops of yarn, about 10, and tying them all together and snipping the bottom to make a sort of tassel.  Which I then brushed the heck out of, and took a low head flat iron for hair and ran the brushed yarn through.  I made sure to alternate between brushing and using the flat iron till I had the fur like consultancy I was happy with.

First I took my fur and snipped 1/3 of it from the bottom making sure to hold it firm just below cutting.  Then I used some painters tape to hold that raw edge just long enough that I could add the fabric glue along the top 1/8th inch raw edge that I just cut.  I used a scrap piece of paper to smooth the glue out, moving from just below the glue pushing to the raw edge.  I let that sit long enough to firm up enough to remove it from the tape then glued it to my small swatch, upside down so when the glue was almost dry but still tacky I flipped the hair over and patted it down hiding the glue seem.

Now at this point, I was kicking myself thinking this would be a ton of work especially if I have to wait for each small strip to dry up before I can work on adding more to a project.  Thats when I rembered I still have my felting needle, just took 20 minutes of digging to find it and I was good to test out my new idea.
I chopped off some more fur, and pinned it to the top of the swatch, and went stab happy (WARNING be very careful when using a felting needle the barbs on it will make a nasty gagged rip in your finger/hand) trying to felt the fur strands to the swatch.

Now that all being said, glue was a waste of time, after it was dry I went to run my fingers through the fur only to have the strip of fur detach from the swatch with almost no force or pulling.  I tried the same with the felted, and it held up mostly, only a few strands slipped out and I think that can be chalked up to my not spending enough time felting at it.  I only had a 1 needle stabber going over this so it was easy to miss, or 1/2 felt spots.  I think felting is the way I will go but I am going to see about getting a multi needle felter when I start the Falcor project.

Oh also I decided on trying to use some sequined edging for the strip of scales that goes down his backside, I will have to sew the strip by hand but its a little less work then trying to crochet with sequins and keep a clean straight line.

The more work, and testing I do the more I realize making a Falcor will be a very time consuming and difficult project.  I know the hair alone just brushing out enough of it will take days not to mention felting it into the body.   Then there is the hand stitching needed to attach the sequins, the wire armature so he is poseable, and lastly actually writing and crocheting (testing) a pattern. 

I am thinking no one will probably buy it for the price I will be asking, because I know I will be putting a butt ton of hours into it even being a fast crocheter I expect this to take me a month to 2 months start to finish once my shoulder is back in working order that is.

Updates and stuff...

So I have seen an orthopedic doctor about my shoulder finally (well a week or so ago).  He said the soft pad between my arm bone, and shoulder bone is the issue.  Its as hard as a rock, instead of being elastic like rubber bands.  I had myself a panic attack while he gave me some shots that are suppose to help, although he did say it could take some time (ie hours/days/weeks) to show improvement.  So far I do not see any difference in range of motion or pain.
I am going back to see him again in 3 weeks, and will most likely need to get more shots.  I have been told to go easy on my shoulder movement (that was after 3 weeks of physical therapy with no improvement) so I have been doing other things like drawing that dont require the use of my shoulder. 
I really miss doing crochet, so since I cant right now I am plotting out making something for when my shoulder is working again.
This is something I was requested through a friend, but every time I try to contact the requester I always get voice mail.  Despite that this is something I am really interested in making anyways.
Yes that is a badly drawn Falcor from Neverending Story drawn by me.  Its going to be my inspiration for making the crochet version.
They way I am thinking of doing this will be very different from anything else I have done.  Falcor has scales along the spine of his back, and long fur.  So I am thinking possibly sequins along the spine for scales, and brushing out some long strands of yarn to turn into 'fur' that I will have to find some way to attach, I was thinking making locks of the fur and using fabric glue to attach it to the main body.  Before even attempting it I need to do a glue swatching, gluing 'fur' to a small swatch of crochet fabric.  Then I will see what works, what doesn't work, and what looks good of what does work.   Before getting to far into the project and finding out my plan might not work well I want to make sure its feesable.   If any of you know of a good glue that works well on acrylic yarn that drys clear or semi clear and flexible please let me know.  The other idea, sequins, I am having a hard time finding ones that I think look right, they need to be iridescent and a pale pink/peach color.  I am also struggling with should I get sequins I have to sew on indevidualy, get edging strips (I have not seen any yet I think would work) of sequins, or get sequined fabric (which would leave me with extra fabric, and the price is insane). 
That being said I hope I can get back into crocheting soon.  I will be missing out on this years ResoBox Amigurumi Exhibit, and there will most likely be no crochet Christmas gifts either.