DIY Superclass — Crochet Your Own Car

We’re always on the lookout for DIY superhacks. This week we found a certain Mrs Franny Bouchamp from Baltimore, who is crocheting her own car. From the Baltimore Star:

When Franny Bouchamp’s 17 year old Toyota was stolen last year, she lost her mobility. “I used to visit my sister up in Rosedale once a week. And of course with the car gone I couldn’t even do my shopping anymore.” So Franny, a State crochet champion, decided to make her own car. If that isn’t astounding enough, she decided to crochet it. “Well here’s the thing. I have this room full of wool. It seems once people found out I enjoyed myself a bit of crocheting, they gave me all this wool. Boxes and boxes of the stuff. So I’ll be killing two crabs with one mallet as it were.”

Franny considers the car project just a step up from her usual business of crocheted wedding cakes. “I’ve been doing the cakes for a few years now. Very popular. A crocheted wedding cake is a gift for life, and a wonderful keepsake of your special day. Plus after the wedding you can store your china and silverware under it.”

Franny has already finished the panels, the chassis, and the wheels of her car, and is working on the engine now. “I’ll have to strengthen the motor a bit. I use a mixture of PVC glue and honey to strengthen the finished crocheted panels and bits. Sets like rock.” For the glass pieces Franny used a very thin wool. “I used one ply pearl cotton for the windows — it’s like gossamer — and you can see through it. Mostly.”

It’s laborious work; Franny doesn’t know when she’ll finish. “It’s an ongoing project… Like I said, I’m working on the motor at the moment — well the carburetor actually, so it’s a bit fiddly, but I hope to be finished in a year or two. But who knows what the price of fuel will be then. So I’m looking at ways to crochet my own gas as well. Maybe algae. I could crochet that.”