Heatwave: Hot & Spicy Phone Cover

Inspired by summer heatwaves,
I chose hot and spicy colours for my new phone cover.

http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/

You may gather from previous blog entries "Scarf, Anyone?"  and "Cool Cotton Laura" that it's pretty hot where I live.

Today's forecast is for 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 F) at the start of a very hot week to come.

On very hot days, I am forced to stay indoors because my body does not cope with the heat.  

The need to adjust to marked temperature changes is extra troubling; e.g. when one has to move from an air-conditioned building to the hot outdoors, then to an even hotter car until the air-conditioning kicks in, then from an air-conditioned vehicle back out into the heat before finding refuge in another air-conditioned building!  

At least in winter, I can keep the house temperature close to that outside and just rug up in winter woollies, thus keeping my body at a more constant temperature.

I suspect this involves the hypoadrenalism (Addison's disease) part of my Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD)

To avoid too much physical exertion, there is nothing to be done except rest and catch up on some crochet (or other quiet tasks of lesser importance <wink>) and the result is a new phone cover for my Nokia E6!

Back of phone with gaps for camera lens, flash(light) and charging cable.
The cover is 'unblocked' in these photographs.

It was crocheted with remnant reels of Semco
Size 5 Jewel Cotton in orange, yellow and hot pink, using 1 mm and 1.5 mm steel hooks.

Front of phone with clear plastic protector for screen and keypad.
Spaces are made for the microphone (bottom) and for the
speaker, proximity sensor and mini-cam.

This cotton has vivid, bright colours, but it is quite soft and will pick up the dirt - not the best combination for a phone cover, but it is washable.






I used this cotton for my previous phone cover and it was very durable.  I did discover that the colour will run if you wash it in water that is too warm so I would recommend a cold wash only.

(How appropriate - a cold wash in hot weather - refreshing!)








To make the cover, I began with a square of clear plastic, obtained from the fabric shop where you can buy lengths of it in various thicknesses for table protectors etc.

I cut the plastic to size for the phone. I wanted to prevent dirt and grease from fingers from getting into the keypad and also to protect the touchscreen. Use a thinner plastic to maintain conductivity between finger and screen.

Holes were made at regular intervals around the edge of the plastic by using an awl. 

The crochet began by working stitches into the holes and around the edges of the plastic square (orange sts). I used the 1 mm hook to work into the holes and then changed to a 1.5 mm hook.

I continued working in rounds, making chain loops where spaces were needed for switches, controllers and USB ports etc. along the sides and front of the phone
(2 rnds of yellow sts).  

The gaps for the volume controls were made with chain loops which were worked over in later rounds.

The side panels continued with two rounds of pink stitches, leaving spaces along the top of the phone for the power button and headphone jack.

Top panel with spaces for the power button and headphone jack.

The back panel was worked in two sections, above and below the main camera lens. Working down from the top panel, I crocheted rows of stripes until I had reached the required length.  I made the last row in orange and then continued around to join the stripy edges to the pink sides.

The same procedure was done from the bottom up.

The bottom panel in pink has room for the charging plug.

I didn't bother to block the cover because I wanted to use it straight away. It probably could do with some blocking to straighten it up a bit.

It isn't the neatest work I have ever done because it was done in a hurry (and made up as I went), but it is functional and I like the hot colours.

You can see the spaces along the top for the speaker, proximity sensor, mini-cam and microphone.
The gap along the side is the USB port.

It is a huge improvement on the old phone cover which has definitely seen better days!

Before

The previous phone cover was made in 2011 and by the end of 2013 was well and truly worn out!

The poor old cover had lost its button, was fraying and falling apart!

After

Since taking these photos I have added a small handle to the top to make it easy to pull out of my bag or to hang up. (I don't have a photo but will organise it and update this page on a cooler day.)

Yarn:  Semco Jewel Cotton Size 5

Colours & amounts used:

• Orange #119, 5 grams
• Yellow #193, 5 grams
• Hot Pink #852, 6 grams