"Hey mom, can you fix this?" - Knight Armor Edition

Crochet can be as useful as it is fun! This series of posts will focus on requests to fix, modify, or otherwise refactor broken or lacking household items. Previously, in an undocumented crochet adventure, I made a loop to affix to the top of a hanging tent for my child's bedroom reading nook after the existing loop had broken, leaving the tent regrettably unused, in a very sad pile on the floor.

The tent came with a hanging loop that was a rather weak 3mm wide ribbon, so our fix was a wider strap we doubled into a loop. We used hearty kitchen cotton (my favorite yarn!) with a small steel hook to keep a tight weave and this resulted in a stronger strap with much more surface area to attach to the canopy. We did that fix about two years ago and the tent loop lives on!

These adventures are a great way to challenge yourself to reuse what you already own while making some memories that get the small humans in your life involved with the excitement that is crochet! Not to mention, these fixes can be great scrap busters for clearing out leftovers in your yarn stash. Speaking of stashes ('staches? heh), we have a dress-up bin in our playroom where Halloween costumes go to find service and use beyond a single day each year. Those costumes have required a fair bit of help and support over the years. A recently requested fix was to rework the closure for a vampire cape that had come undone. A few stitches later, we once again had a functioning clasp and it has held on well so far!

In today's post, we'll be reworking a breastplate from a plastic "armor" kit. The plate's point of failure was a small tab that worked like a belt loop to affix the breastplate straps to your young knight's shoulders. However, these tabs extend far beyond the rest of the objects' form factor, meaning that one, of course, broke off within the first week of use. After some frustrating but admirable attempts to use as-was, the kiddo asked me, "What if you could fix it with crochet?" Reader, this obviously stoked a creative bonfire in my string-tangled mind. I said leave it with me, and now here we are. Let's get into it!

1 - Preparation and Planning

• To begin, I started with an examination of the item, to get an understanding of it's construction and materials, while also gauging my ability to modify it. This breastplate is made with thin, concave plastic, likely injection molded polyethylene of an undetermined density. We could float test to get specific, but I want to believe that the spirit of Archimedes will forgive my laziness. We know that cutting or puncturing the material would require drilling or melting, neither of which feel particularly interesting to me. The item isn't functional without straps and the loops they should fit through. As a side note, this item is not technically a full cuirass since it's missing a backplate. Super side note, I personally wish it had spaulders.

• Problem Statement: We need to cover the jagged, broken plastic and create loops for the straps to ensure a functional fit and safe make-believe play.

2 - Experimenting and Testing

• Develop Proof-of-Concept[s]

  • I had a small bit of Tunisian simple stitch in a gray size 3 crochet thread, so I used it to create a corner, and chain stitched to match the width of the item before creating another corner pocket. I attached with more chain stitches in a shoddy manner and it was a great first failure from which to learn . The pocket 'concept' worked for construction, but my stitch tension was too irregular to get a flat laying result.

  • I set aside the 2mm hook and crochet thread to reach for my true love, the ever faithful cone of cotton, in a similar dark grey color. I picked up a 3mm hook and created a new chain equaling roughly the width of the piece (about 33 stitches), and chaining an extra three. I yarned over twice, then did a treble crochet into the fourth stitch from the hook. I added eight more treble crochets in the following eight stitches of our foundation row. In the ninth stitch, I did a double crochet. In the tenth stitch, I did a half double crochet. In the following thirteen stitches, I did single crochet stitches. The last ten stitches were completed as a half double, a double, and then 8 treble crochet stitches, in that order. I then framed the entire thing in single crochets. I repeated this process before joining the two pieces at the sides and bottom with a running slip stitch. I added a few connecting straps in the crochet thread and finished the construction by making new straps and adding some hardware to secure it to the wearer. I made the straps as single chains of t-shirt yarn for good durability and stretch.

3 - User Feedback

• The first fitting revealed a lack of utility when the wearer moved their arms forward. This would cause the back straps to roll down the wearer's shoulders, which would only mean certain death on the make-believe battlefield. We agreed to modify the existing straps into an x-shaped situation with an "E" emblazoned where the straps meet.

• So far, this seems to have provided the structure and flexibility required while meeting the intended goal of covering the sharp bits and replacing the straps entirely.

4 - Unleash and Observe

• Field observation lead us to further modify the straps by including a knot above the "E" medallion for best fit. Future updates will cover more in depth reviews of the utility of the modifications over time.

• This was a TON of fun to do with my kiddo and I think we are both suitably happy with our outcome. Thanks so much for reading!