One Hour Slippers (Crochet)

One Hour Slippers

On the internet the other day (Facebook or Instagram?), I saw a cute pair of slippers and I decided I had to go to the yarn shop to get chunky yarn so I could make a pair.  The yarn I selected was King Cole brand "Comfort Chunky Multi" and the colorway is "Humbug".  The pattern for these slippers is called "One Hour Slippers" and the pattern link can be found HERE.  A word of caution about this pattern is that the written instructions are not entirely complete.  There is a companion video link in the pattern on line and you have to watch the video in conjunction with reading the written instructions in order to have all the information.  I don't say that to be critical, but to be helpful.  Also, my ball of yarn had 116 yards and it was not quite enough to make both slippers. I had to get a second ball of yarn to finish slipper #2.  If you fear you do not have enough yarn, you can use a contrasting yarn in the cuff area of the slippers to ensure you do not run out of yarn. Specifically, you could do rounds 19 and 20 in a contrasting yarn.  Since I had a lot of yarn leftover in yarn ball #2, I made up a cute chunky hat.  I had so much fun making the chunky hat, that I made two more chunky hat. This is how things are in my world.  I'll show you the hats tomorrow!

Fleece Blankets with Crochet Border

Fleece Blankets with Crochet Border

I finally got to try out a project I've wanted to try for quite some time.  This is a fleece blanket where I've simply added a crochet border. This project is quick and easy thanks to a gadget called a "Skip-Cut Rotary Blade Cutter".  I found this special blade at a JoAnn's Store in Spokane, Washington, back in July. Since then, I've made up four blankets.

In the photo above, you can see that the special blade perforates the fleece at regular intervals so that you can easily crochet around the perimeter of your fleece blanket. I used my Fiskars 45 mm rotary cutter for this project and I also used self-healing mats and large rulers.

First I used the ruler, cutter, and mat to make sure all sides of the fleece were square and even.  Then I used the rotary cutter with the skip-cut blade to perforate the holes in the fleece.  I used a tutorial from Project Linus to get a little more information.  It turns out that it is recommended that you make the holes about 1/2 inch in from the edge so you can fold the raw edge over as you crochet.  In some photos below you can see the folded raw edge and how it is captured under the crochet stitches.  

You can add more elaborate crochet borders to fleece blankets but, for my blankets I like the clean look of a single crochet. It looks a lot like blanket stitch to me.  For my blankets I actually did a single crochet in each hole and then a change between each hole.  I also added extra stitches in the corners.  

Here is the tutorial on the Project Linus website if you'd like more information (Click HERE).

My first two blankets are for our living room.  The fleece is from JoAnn's and is a medium gray color.  The fabric is decorated with the names of different wines in different fonts and colors.  I put the blankets in the living room when it was cold and snowy last week.  The dogs LOVE these blankets!  The two legged creatures in the house are enjoying the blankets as well.  

Yarn used:  Smarty DK by King Cole

Above:  Brutus is enjoying the folded up blanket.  He can see out the window and warns us if any squirrels are trespassing in the back yard.



Above:  Sandy is snoozing.  See, I am telling you.... these dogs love these blankets!  So soft and cuddly.

Zach came home from college for a visit this weekend.  He liked the looks of our new blankets. I showed him this great geometric print fleece remnant I got at JoAnn's a few months back.  It was actually quite big for a remnant.  Zach said he liked it so I found some great charcoal gray yarn and added a border to his blanket so he can take it back to school with him tomorrow.  I promised to make him a larger blanket over the holidays; I'd like for him to pick out the fleece himself.



Above:  Some close ups of the stitches; notice the extra stitches in the corners.  On Zach's blanket, I put six single crochets in each corner.

Yarn used:  Cascade Pacific



Above: In this photo, you can see both the right side and the wrong side of the blanket.  The right side edge is seen in the lower portion of the photo.  The wrong side edge is seen in the upper portion of the photo.  You can see that the raw cut edge of the fleece is folded over and is captured under the crochet stitches.

String Bag (Crochet)

Crochet String Bag

I visited my sister back in July and I helped get her started on a crochet project. Ever since then, I've been on a bit of a crochet kick myself.  I made the bag pictured above from yarn called Berroco Weekend.  It is a acrylic/cotton blend.

The pattern is from a book called "simple crochet" by Erika Knight. It's a great book; I've made a number of patterns in the book including the Turkish Slippers pictured on the cover (see below).

I am going to be teaching a class on this project at my local knit shop so I wanted to make up a second bag using yarn currently available for purchase at the knit shop.  For the second bag, I used Lily Sugar 'n Cream.  I ended up using about 1 1/2 balls of yarn for the bag. I did add a few extra rows around the handles to make them a little more substantial.  I used the leftover yarn to make a nice dish scrubber.  Here are the bags on display at my local knit shop.  This part of the shop is called "Cotton Corner".  I love it! 

You can see that the bags really stretch out when you place objects inside.  I've made this pattern before using cotton kitchen twine. This kind of bag is great for many uses.  I took my cotton bag to Mexico a few times and it's the perfect bag for carrying sunglasses, sunscreen, and a paperback book to the pool or beach.  You could also use a bag like this to carry your lunch.  The pattern suggests making the bag using multipurpose polypropylene string, which can be found at hardware stores.  My mom called me recently to tell me she had found some polypropylene string in some great colors at her local Dollar Store. I will have to check my local Dollar Store as well, but I do really like the bags made with cotton and cotton/blend yarn.   

Getting Crafty with My Sister!

Happy Colors Baby Afghan

I went and visited my sister last week. We had a great visit and we got crafty... very crafty. She has been interested in crochet for awhile now.  We went to Michael's craft store and we found this free pattern on a bin with yarn.  The yarn is "Ice Cream Big Scoop" by Lion Brand and the pattern is called "Happy Colors Baby Afghan".  This yarn comes in a big skein; this is DK weight yarn and the skein contains just over 1,100 yard of yarn.  So for this project you just start in the center and just keep crocheting until you run out of yarn. It's a great beginner project.  I learned the basics of crocheting from my mom when I was still living at home and I've learned more over the years from trying to figure out various patterns. I feel as if I lack confidence teaching others to crochet or how to work through a pattern since I am not the most experienced crocheter, but I got my sister started on the project.  She was pretty addicted to working on this project by the time I left for home.  My sister selected the Ice Cream Big Scoop yarn in the "Lemon Meringue" color way.  My color way is "Cookies and Cream".  I love the names of those yarns. Kind of makes me hungry for dessert.

While visiting my sister, we also took a quilt class at a JoAnn's Store. What a fun time we had. My blocks are the top two; my sister's blocks are the bottom two.  You can definitely spot a difference in the two blocks on the left hand side.  The block on the bottom is correct.  My block on the top is wrong.  Oh well!  I learned so much in this class. I might just become a quilter yet.  If I lived nearer to a JoAnn's store, I would be tempted to take more classes there. 

Messy Bun Hat

Messy Bun Hat

STACEY'S MESSY BUN HAT... THE HAT THAT NEARLY BROKE THE INTERNET!

Here's a cute hat with a story.  I am piecing things together here but it seems as if a gal named Stacey posted on Facebook, in some sort of small group where you can buy/sell/trade items, a picture of a cute hat and she said she was making and selling the hats for about $15.00.  Some how the photo of the girl with a messy bun sticking out the top of her crochet hat went absolutely viral... I mean VIRAL as in "nearly broke the Internet" viral.  Some where in that time, a mom I know sent me a photo (the photo of the girl in the hat above) and asked me, "Hey, can you make one of these for my teenage daughter?"

I did a little research.  I found that Stacey herself had typed up her pattern but she asked folks to be patient with her, as she had never typed up a pattern before.  As I looked further, I found all sorts of other folks using Stacey's photo of her viral sensation hat and these folks were trying to sell their patterns using Stacey's photo.  Crummy, really crummy.  I wasn't wanting to buy Stacey's pattern if it really hadn't been tried and tested.  And I wasn't wanting to buy a pattern from someone stealing her photo and trying to pass of Stacey's design as their own.  Also, all of this was going on during my Etsy shop holiday rush, so I put this all on the back burner for a little while.

But I kept thinking about he cute hat with the messy bun sticking out the top.  I closed my Etsy shop (vacation mode!) the other day to take a little holiday stress off of myself.  I looked on Ravelry and, sure enough, there are lots of "Messy Bun Hat" patterns now available on Ravelry.  I happened to find this pattern (LINK HERE) called "It's All About the Messy Bun" by June Nemeth.  I appreciated the fact that she was up front about fact that she saw the viral sensation hat on the Internet and made up her pattern to make a hat for her daughter.  At that time apparently, Stacey had not yet typed up her pattern.  June is offering her pattern for FREE and is not trying to pass off Stacey's work as her own. I printed off the pattern and remembered this great yarn in my stash.  The yarn worked out great for this pattern. I hope the recipient love the hat.  I delivered the hat to her mom today.

The yarn is crocheted with a Size H crochet hook and you start the hat at the top, where there is a big opening for a gal to make a messy ponytail or bun at the top of her head.  The yarn I used is by Plymouth Yarns and is called "Stained Glazz".  The crown of the hat is crocheted in rounds, all in double crochet.  You can see the top of the hat below.

The ribbing of the hat was crocheted perpendicular to the body of the hat in single crochet in rows. The ribbing portion was definitely the labor intensive portion of the hat.  You can see the ribbing in progress in the photo below.  The only part of the hat that I stumbled on was the very last instruction. When the ribbing was done, the pattern directs you do slip stitch the beginning of the ribbing to the end of the ribbing.  I found that a little tricky and I am not quite sure I did that very last step correctly. 

Of course when I posted a photo of my completed Messy Bun Hat on Facebook last night, a few moms I know asked, "Oh, are you making and selling these?"

No, I am not.  One Messy Bun Hat was enough for this gal.  But if you'd like to crochet one, I highly recommend this pattern. 

Now, on to the next project...

Sashay Scarves

Red Heart Brand Yarns has a line of yarns called "Sashay".  All the colorways are named after dances... Boogie, Jive, Conga, Disco.... This colorway featuring black, white, and gray, has little threads of silver and is called "Hip Hop".  Ordinarily I would not probably pick this project for me but a mom I know was telling me she likes black, white and gray and she likes a little bling and she likes ruffles. She always dresses in a stylish and fashionable way.  I had seen her visiting my local yarn shop not because she is a knitter or crocheter but because she likes to buy finished objects she finds there, namely scarves.  When I saw the "Hip Hop" yarn, I was hoping she'd like it.  I finished up these two scarves over two days. They did not take much time at all. 

This yarn at my local yarn shop is ridiculously popular; it literally flies off the shelves.  I have seen both crochet and knit versions and I prefer the LESS ruffly crochet version.  I was amazed to see I could make two scarves out of one ball of yarn... for less than $6.00.  A GREAT last minute gift idea.

My friend says she loves her scarf. She said she wore it out to dinner with her husband the night I gave it to her and she said even her husband thought the scarf was very nice.

Me wearing both scarves... you can see how long they are... which gives the wearer lots of versatility.

For Calvin's Hats...

Can you imagine a baby so small that this hat would fit?
The hats are modeled on eggs.
With the advances of medical technology, babies born too soon and so small are often surviving and thriving and it really is miraculous...

But some times, despite the most heroic efforts, some are born too soon and too small to live. 
That is why Calvin's Hats was created.  You can read more about Calvin's Hats by clicking HERE. 

When I first noticed this group on the Internet, it touched my heart and I made a goalfor myself to make a dozen hats... a dozen very tiny hats.

I just wanted to share them with you and encourage you to check out Calvin's Hats if you are interested in learning more.  www.calvinshats.com

Fashionable Flapper Cap

Marilyn looking sylish in the "Fashionable Flapper Cap"

A crochet pattern called "Fashionable Flapper Cap".  Link may be found HERE.

I struggled with this pattern. The cap is rather snug and I made the medium size.  The flap is crocheted on  after the top of the hat is done.  The instructions confused me. I wish the pattern included the number of stitches in each row.  I brought the cap my Thursday knitting group to get the opinion of my knitting gal pals.  It looked so cute on Marilyn I gave it to her. She picked out the button.  I made the medium size and used the recommended hook size. Next time I need to make this larger.  I used Berroco Comfort yarn in worsted weight for this cap.  Will trying this pattern again!

Meet Rowan

Rowan Chickens

Picture from this website called "Colorful Stitches".  Click HERE.

Today I was on a bit of a mission:

• Do laundry (Ugh!)
• Clean bathrooms (Ick!)
• Cook like mad for the upcoming week (NOT in the mood today!)
• Make a chicken that looks just like the chickens above (FUN!)

So of course, first thing this morning, after cooking breakfast and making coffee, I set out to make the chicken. A girl's got to have priorities, right!?

I've been admiring the chickens above for quite awhile.  The pattern is from Rowan which is a really nice line of yarn... gorgeous patterns (some for free and some to buy).  The Rowan website can be found HERE.  The chicken pattern can be found in a few different books but I just couldn't justify spending $20.00 for one pattern. So I set out to figure it out on my own.

I started with a provisional cast on and then knit from the edge of the bottom of the body to the top of the head, of course tapering as I went.  I started with 30 stitches and ended with stitches. Then I picked up the live stitches from the provisional cast on and tapered to close up the bottom. When I had just a few stitches left, I inverted the body upside down in side a plastic tumbler (drinking cup) and then filled the body with rice.  Then I continued my decreases until 3 stitches remained and then closed up the body. The body is made with organic cotton yarn in pink.

I set about figuring out how to make the comb on top of the head, the tail feathers, and the legs... they are all crochet (I used natural colored cotton kitchen twine).  I struggled the most with the beak (also made out of cotton in yellow). The black eyes are beads.  

Meet Rowan!

Rowan looking about the window... nice weather today!

Rowan and I had a busy day today.  While I cleaned the bathrooms, he supervised my son mowing the lawn in the back yard.  In fact, Rowan spent most of the day lounging around while I cooked and cleaned.  I thought it was a good idea for Rowan to hang out in the living room while I made... ummm, (Shhhhh!)... egg salad for my husband's lunches; I also made rosemary and garlic chicken with brown and wild rice for my lunches this week. (Sorry Rowan!).  The Wisconsin Beer Cheese soup is done.  Two pans of baked ziti are complete (one is in the freezer and my husband polished off the better half of one 8" x 8" pan for dinner).   The laundry is done and put away.  I have meals prepped and planned for a few more days. 

I kept asking my husband, "Do you like my CHICKEN?"

To which he replied, "That's not a CHICKEN, that's a POTATO!"

He just doesn't get it!

Camouflage Star Afghan is Complete

Camouflage Star Afghan

Close up to show stripe and edge detail.

I saw a little star pattern on Lion Brand's website.  Click HERE to see it.  The end result was an afghan which looks much like my Pink Star afghan which I completed earlier this year (click HERE to the Pink Star).  The patterns I used for both afghans are very similar, if not identical.  If I make this pattern again, I will start adding contrasting stripes nearer to the center of the afghan.  Having lots of strips really brings out the awesome star design.  In this blanket I used Bernat "Camouflage" yarn, some Lion Brand "Fun" yarn, and also some Plymouth DK "Dreambaby" yarn.  I was happy to find two different blue yarns which went so well with the bright blue in the camouflage yarn.  I call this shade of blue "Cookie Monster" blue... do you agree?

I've mentioned in previous posts that I am not sure what in nature this yarn would camouflage.  Whatever the case may be, it's very nice acrylic yarn.  After looking at this yarn for so long while crocheting this project, I finally realized WHAT this yarn camouflages!  Scroll down and you will see!  I think Cookie Monster will approve.  

Do you see the similarity?

This blanket will go The Denver Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.  I hope some boy will like it!

What's Knitting... What's Crocheting...

Camouflage Star Shaped Afghan for a boy...

Added some contrasting stripes... the outer border will also be in bright blue. I call this shade of blue "Cookie Monster Blue".

Chasing Rainbows... great project for TV watching/listening...

Loving my projects for The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.  The top afghan is a crochet project in Bernat brand "Camouflage."  After looking at this yarn for so long, I've decided what it camouflages!  I'd love to hear what you think I have in mind.  ANY GUESSES?   I'll give you a hint:  It does NOT camouflage something naturally occurring in the great outdoors.  When I have it all done, I'll tell you what it reminds me of.  Hee, hee! 

I am knitting up the second blanket in a various skeins of Plymouth Encore Worsted yarn which is 80 percent acrylic and 20 percent wool.  It is very soft!  The pattern is called "Chasing Rainbows" and is knit from the center out. It's great for "Stash Busting" because you can just knit until you run out of yarn. I've run out of the pale green but still have quite a bit of the lavender blue; I have quite a lot of the white and the variegated yarn.  This pattern is really simple and it creates a very wonky looking square. 

Help! I need your opinion...Camouflage Star Blanket

I got an email from Lion Brand Yarn the other day and noticed this little star pattern (click HERE to check it out). I set out to try the star design and it turns out it's pretty much the same pattern as the Pink Star Baby Afghan I finished a few weeks ago.  Above you'll see how the star looks in Bernat Brand yarn in "Camouflage."  Yep, that's supposed to look like camouflage but I am not sure where in nature this yarn would "blend" in.  The photos above are a tad dark but the colors are pretty accurate.  I am undecided about how this yarn looks in this pattern and am soliciting your opinion.  What do you think? Should I keep going until I have a nice sized blanket for a boy perhaps?  Or should I "frog" it and try this yarn in a different pattern?

Snuggle Project is Complete!

I finished up my Snuggles... five in all.  A great "stash bustin" project for the Red Heart Super Saver acrylic yarn that's been in my stash for years and years and years!  The latest three blankets were made with three strands of yarn held together at once and I used a Size P crochet hook.  They are basically just big granny squares. I just kept on crocheting until I ran out of yarn. I brought the completed blankets to the Humane Society Animal Shelter in Canon City, Colorado, today.  The receptionist said most folks just bring in old towels for the animals.  She said my blankets were nice.  She said there were some old lady cats in the shelter who would really like the snugly blankets I brought in today.  The receptionist also said she had never head of the Snuggle Project before so I filled her in.  More information can be found by clicking HERE.