Shaker Style Throw

This is a crochet blanket that I made Dad and Elaine for Christmas 2013. It turned out much better than I expected, I was modifying a pattern and that's not something I had ever done with a crochet pattern before. I ended up doing 12 columns by 16 rows and 5" squares so it came out to be a queen size throw instead of a lap blanket. I didn't actually finish it until January 3rd, I think, but thankfully they were understanding. I let them see the in-progress blanket at Christmas, hehe. 

It was tough to part with this one, it was so heavy and soft. I absolutely love it. Sly did too, he kept saying they couldn't have it, lol. 

Here's a link to the original pattern - Shaker Style Throw.

Here's a link to my Ravelry project page.

Crocheted Helmet

My Dad saw this pattern online and wanted one so I hunted down the pattern on Ravelry and got to work! He loved it and has a friend who wants one too, so I'm making a second one now. It's a really quick pattern to work up and the instructions are good. I think I'll have to make Sylvester one next! ;)

I actually crocheted this back in December, as you can tell from the Christmas tree. I've got to post crafty stuff more often, I'm behind by quite a few projects now.

Once Upon A Time...

There was a purple unicorn with bright green eyes...

I used the amigurumi pattern Peppermint the Pegasus. This is by far the most complicated thing I've ever crocheted. There were quite a few do-overs for me, like moving the eyes, but the pattern itself is very easy to read. She writes step by step directions and I get the impression all her patterns are that way. 

The outtakes: 

I had to move her eyes up she looked half asleep... or something. ;) Plus, I think the iris looks better in green!

Granny Squares Galore!

I've got a ton of projects to post about but I think first I'll show you some Granny Squares I made for my Mom. She was making this blanket as a trade for a painting, great idea if you ask me! Here's the squares I made for it:

So many pretty colors! The mitered square grannies were my favorite to make but they also took the longest. I would love to make a whole blanket it out of these squares, maybe in fall colors, light gold in the center to darker red on the outer rows.

Offset Cobblestone Back Scrubber

Offset Cobblestone Back Scrubber

Materials:

Sugar and Cream Cotton

Size K hook

Blunt needle

Body:

Chain 36 stitches

Row 1: 1 SC in second chain from hook and in each across (35 stitches)

Row 2 & 4: Chain 1 (counts as first SC), turn. 1 SC in the first ST *1 TR in the next ST. SC in next ST.* Repeat across. (35 stitches)

Row 3, 5, 7 & 9: Chain 1, turn. SC in each ST across.

Row 6 & 8: Chain 1, turn. 1 SC in each of the first 2 stitches, *1 TR in the next ST. SC in next ST.* Repeat across. (35 stitches)

SC around border, tie off.

Handles:

Join yarn one stitch from short edge, chain 35 stitches, slip stitch one stitch from end of row, tie off. Repeat for other side.  

Please email me if you have any questions or if you find any errors! Enjoy!

2000!

I can't believe my Quick and Cozy boots post has 2000 hits! That is just amazing to me! I am so happy. I'd love to hear what you ladies/gentlemen think about the pattern, please leave me a comment and let me know!

Winter Wishlist

I finally finished Michael's Slytherin scarf! I was surprised when I saw I started this bad boy in January. I guess when I learned they were moving to California I thought he wouldn't need it, so I set it aside, until he reminded me how cold it gets at night in the desert.

Modeled by Sly. You can tell he likes it, right?

Link to Michael's Slytherin scarf on Ravelry.

With the cooler weather (not really around here, but I'm seeing more Christmas decorations) comes a desire to knit and crochet warm things for me! I've decided to branch out into felting to start the winter knitting off!

First thing I want to make is a pair of slippers for Sly. I've decided on the pattern Patons: Family Felting booklet. I'm going to use the colorway Forest, because my Mom had some on hand that she got on clearance for $1.24 a skein; which brings the slippers to a grand total of $2.48. This makes me much less nervous about my first felting project!

The second project, which I believe will be a quick one, will be a pair of Edna slippers for myself. I could use eight or nine pair of these, since my feet constantly freeze and Sylvester likes to hide my slippers. As far as yarn for this project, I've got lots of Red  Heart in my stash, so I'll use something on hand. That will keep costs down and be a stash buster project - win win!

Last, but not least, is the Penny Arcade Jacket. There is something about this jacket that I fell in love with as soon as I saw it on Pinterest. I've never crocheted a jacket before, so this will be an adventure, too. I've also got lots of Caron yarns in my stash, so I'm hoping to make this a stash buster project, too. 

Thanks for looking! I'm going to go cast on for Sly's slippers now! - Holly

Quick and Cozy Baby Boots

Quick and Cozy House Boots

Materials:

Leather for sole – Two 6x2 inch pieces

One skein Lion Brand Quick and Cozy

3mm Crochet Hook

Size: 12+ - These shoes are going to last quite a while.

Leather soles: To make the sole of the shoe I had Sylvester stand on a piece of paper and drew around his foot, both left and right. I then used that template to cut it out of a thin leather scrap. I punched holes around the whole sole about ¼ inch apart. For Sylvester’s foot there was about 40 holes per foot.

Begin crocheting: SC in each hole around sole of shoe, slip stitch in beginning SC.

Row 2 and 3: SC around, slip stitch in beginning SC.

Row 4: Decrease every 5 stitches around, SS in beginning SC. Cut yarn.

Row 5: Begin toe shaping, you will leave heel stitches unworked. Count 10 stitches from center heel, SC in back loop only, SC 20 stitches, CH 1, turn.

Row 6: Decrease every 4 stitches. 15 stitches remain.

Row 7: Decrease every 3 stitches. 10 stitches remain.

Turn wrong side out, SC toe stitches together closing top of foot. Cut yarn.

Beginning on left side of toe stitches, begin crocheting around heel stitches (approx. 20) and over tongue stitches. Number of stitches will vary.

SC in all stitches around for 3-4 rows to create ankle of boot, slip stitching at beginning of each row.

Repeat for other shoe. Admire adorable child in boots!

Side note, I thought about decreasing around the ankle ,but was worried about it being too tight to get on easily. If it looks loose, decrease a few stitches or run a ribbon/cord through stitches to tighten around foot.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions: LadyMienna@gmail.com. I have never written a pattern before so please excuse any mistakes. ©Holly Miniea 2011

Soho Bracelet

I saw this Soho bracelet on Pinterest and really liked the way it looked, but I have a ton of other projects going on right now so I put it aside... Then I went into A.C. Moore and saw this Aunt Lydia's Iced Bambooyarn and had to make one. The AL's thread is thicker then what the pattern calls for, so I ended up using 44 sts, instead of the recommended number.

This yarn is awesome, it is pretty, with a little sparkle but it is not scratchy like a lot of yarn is that has tinsel. It is just as soft and shiny as you'd imagine any other bamboo yarn should be too.

I also made Mom a metal stamped necklace, like the one I'd made before, with Sylvester's initials and then my brothers and my birthdays. I still need a ton more practice making this, but this one was made in about 15 minutes. I rushed through making it, so I could finish it before Sylvester woke up from his afternoon nap.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! We're celebrating Sylvester's first birthday on Saturday, I will have lots of pictures come Wednesday next week!

Chilly Weather and House Shoes

Today it was quite chilly for us, chilly enough that if I had had to stand outside for very long I would have pulled out a jacket. But it was fantastic for having the windows open! Dan and Mom came over today to help me out with Sylvester, he's still not napping so it's a huge relief to have someone else here to help me amuse him all day.

While they were here Danny cut out two pairs of soles for house shoes for Sylvester. Here's the first pair I made.

I'm glad Mom was here to help me figure out how to do the different parts of the shoe. Made it a ton easier, lol. I think they came out super cute, and incredibly soft. They took about 30-45 minutes to crochet for each shoe, and compared to some others online that range from $30-40, it's time well spent. Since I got the yarn on sale these cost me all of $3.

Cotton Basket

I intended to use this basket to hold Sylvester's food stuff in the kitchen, but then we found some clearance basket sets at Wal*Mart, and that let us store his toys in the living room and his food in the kitchen in the same style baskets. Which I like, because our house is a very open floor plan, I like the stuff in the two rooms to match. I think since I'm not going to use it for his stuff, I'll either store fruit in it, or keep my knitting project that's down there stored in it.

Without further rambling, here's the finished Project Spectrum for July.

And a sneak peek of my current project is sitting behind the basket!

Project Spectrum - July

July was blue. It's still a work in progress, but I'm within five rows of finishing it. Will post pictures when I'm done. 

I'm not sure I ever posted about the June PS but I used all the green soaps we made. 

Lazy Days

I had a pretty lazy day today. Didn't clean, didn't cook. I did do some diaper laundry, some crochet and we went wandering around the Tanger Outlet. Sylvester was pretty upset towards evening, I think he needed something to do, which is why we ended up at Tanger. We got some cute stuff for super cheap.

Part of the reason for such a lazy day is I've been having some problems with my shoulders. I don't know if it's sleeping wrong, carrying the baby around or a combination of both. My shoulders hurting is causing my head to hurt, today was day 3 with a headache. Which makes dealing with Sylvester even more difficult, especially because he's been grumpy due to not pooping. But I'm off the soap box now. I'm going to change pillows and see if that helps.

I'm not sure if I posted about it yet or not, but Friday is my last day at work. I have been offered a position in another department, which would give me lots of opportunity to do school work, and it's a sit down job, so I wouldn't go home utterly exhausted and stressed. Sly doesn't want me to take it if I'm doing it because I feel we need the money, though. Which is kind of why I was considering it. ;) I'm going to go talk to her and see what she says about doing it occasionally.

Double Goodies!

Look what was in my mail box today! 

I entered in a drawing for these at Knitting By Bicycle and I WON! Neato. I'm not sure what I'll make with it, any suggestions? 

I also made this last night - 

In the smaller pendant it has Sylvester's initials "SJM" and in the larger one is birth date. I also put a tiger on there, because he was born in the year of the tiger, which happens to be mine too. :) 

I saw some of these on Etsy and I loved them but I couldn't convince myself to drop $50 for one, when I could drop the same money and make my own and still have the tools left to make more. I plan on making one for a friend who is due very soon, once I have their little boys DOB. 

Tracy's Baby Shower and More

We went to Tracy's baby shower today. I had nothing to give her, so I made these this morning, wish I had had time to make more but, I will give them to her later.

Mom made these, they both came out beautiful if you ask me!

I won't post pictures of the baby shower itself, as I don't know everyone there and I have no idea if they'd be comfortable with that. Sorry! Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and great food.

Then we went to the Community Thrift Store and we got quite the jewelry haul! Three pendants and the necklace are all sterling silver, the others are costume jewelry but pretty none the less! We paid $38 between the two of us.

When we got to the thrift store, Sylvester was oh so tired! He crashed out snuggling with Mommy.

To-Do List

I have a huge list of projects that I want to make. Most of the ones that have come to mind lately are sewing projects, I'm loving the almost instant gratification of it. Here's a short list of things I'd love to make. Most of them are for Sylvester, which I'm finding to be a joy!

Toys/Books:

• ABC Book
• Bunny Baby Blanket

Clothes:

• Romper from a t-shirt. I already have t-shirts to make a couple of these. I bought them a few sizes bigger then what he's at right now, from the Community Thrift Store.
• Another Romper
• Swim Diaper

Misc:

• Summertime Swaddle
• Tool Tote - Seriously thinking about this for Father's Day. I need to get on it!
• Mama clothes
• Casserole Carrier
• Friday Spoke Cuff
• Mei Tai Carrier - There are so many tutorials out there. I can't decide which to use! I really like the way this one looks. It looks light enough to wear through the summertime.
• Stethoscope Cover

Barefoot Sandals

Ok, I love the summer time. Until it gets to be about 110 degrees, and then it's too much summer for me. But, because I have a 20lbs reason to be outside more now, I've been thinking of fun summer projects. I made these while he was playing and Daddy was sleeping after his second night shift the other day. Hope you like them! They took about 20-30 minutes each, while playing with Sylvester.

The pictures don't show it, but it's a little flower on the top. 

Will try to get a better picture of the flower!

Some pictures of Sylvester that we took for a biweekly photo challenge on the October Moms forum.

And last but not least, Sylvester trying out some carrots and broccoli.

Took this on the 4th and forgot about it completely!

A New Favorite Stitch Marker

I was crocheting up my May Christmas ornament and didn't feel like digging out a stitch marker so I used a bobby pin I had laying on the desk. They're easy to get into and out of the stitches, no trying to lock or unlock them. Now I just need to find a way to decorate them so they're nice and pretty for my projects!

And a picture of Sylvester admiring himself.

Spring Cleaning

Ok, so I'm in the mood for spring cleaning. And along with scrubbing the bathtubs and pulling weeds, I want to get rid of the some of the fabric/yarn I'm not going to use. I'm sure I had a project in mind when I bought a lot of it but I don't anymore, so I don't need it. I also have a lot that was given to me, that I couldn't (read: didn't) say no to, that needs to go also. I'm not sure if I'm going to just donate it or sell it on Etsy. I'm thinking I'll go through it and sell the stuff I think will sell and donate the other stuff to a local school or someone who wants/needs it. Plus, a little extra money will mean I can buy stuff for projects I want to make now. ;)

I don't really have anything else to share, I'm about to sort through the 31 stuff that arrived today and get peoples orders ready to go to them. And after that I think I'll cut out my pattern for my SAL, then crochet on my ripple blanket or make something to go up on Etsy. I hope this weekend goes by fast as possible!

Day 7: Your knitting and crochet time.

Todays post is going to be short and sweet. I pretty much only knit at my desk. I used to knit when I was sitting at the doctors office, but thankfully those many fits a month are long gone. When I was pregnant I would read while waiting in the OB's office, I felt like I needed to read every kids book there was to read for some reason. These days me and my project bag sit behind my desk or on the love seat downstairs. Hopefully this summer I'll get to do some knitting in our backyard! 

I finished my other March Christmas ornament yesterday, I believe, it might have been the day before. Here he is! 

He was supposed to be in reds/browns but I didn't have anything pretty on hand, so I decided to do him in blues.