Minnie for Sadie











Having a 2 year old cousin is fun, I just wish she didn't live so far away.  I haven't seen her in 7 months and I want her to who I am so I'm trying to send her little things now and then to help her remember me.  She loves Minnie Mouse so I thought I'd make a little something Minnie for Sadie.  I made a simple had and added ears, a bow a buttons.  I also thought a little bag to carry her what-nots would be handy, two years old love to carry around lots of lovies. Heading to Fed-Ex in the morning!

Headbands for Alexis

Twisted Headband
What do you do when one of your favorite people call and asks you to make her some headbands to keep her warm while she walks to her college classes?  You search Pinterest,  Ravelry and all over for patterns that would be easy enough for me to make and cute enough for her to like. I sent her lots of pictures and actually video chatted while shopping at the yarn store. If I was going to make something, I wanted to make sure she would like it, and actually wear it. This is the first one I made.

Materials

Worsted weight yarn

Size 8 (5mm) needles, and a spare needle

Cast on 20 stitches

Work knit 1 purl 1 ribbing until half the length of the diameter of your head (approx. 9").

Put the first 10 stitches on a spare needle and hold them to the front of your work. 

K1 P1 to end of the row. 

Put the first 10 stitches back onto the needle and K1 P1 to end of row.

Work knit 1 purl 1 ribbing until desired length. Cast off stitches, and sew the two ends together, and weave in yarns ends. 

Finished size: approx. 18" x 3"

Basic Headband with Flower

Materials

Approx 90 yds of bulky weight yarn 

US Size 9 knitting needles. 

Cast on 12 stitches 

Row 1: K2 P2  

Row 2: P2 K2

Repeat these two rows until band measures 19” from beginning to end. 

Bind off. Sew ends together to form a ring.

Embellish however you see fit, a flower, several flowers or even a button or two.

Shoe Size in Inches

I've had to look up shoe size charts at least three dozen times in my life, going forward all I'll have to do is come here. Times saving 1 minute at a time are sure to add up, right?  I'm going with a yes here!

Crochet With a K

I tried crocheting 8 or 9 years ago and for the life of me could NOT figure out the tension of the  yarn. Everyone I talked to kept telling me how fast they could complete their projects.....I was envious.  Then I had two friends diagnosed with breast cancer within a month of each other.  Aside from cooking, visiting and keeping spirits high, I wanted to help.  I decided a skull cap would be helpful for the time when their hair would be nonexistent or short and the winter days long and cold up here in the north.  This time around I managed the tension better and and finished one cap after another. Once I accomplished that I searched for an easy pattern for slippers.  Slippers are my go to for knitting and I thought crocheting should follow suit.  Slippers are quick and easy so I get the immediate gratification i seem to need on projects and you can customize them to match just about anyone's personality incorporating all kinds of fibers. I found this pattern on Pinterest ( Loopykidz).  I fell in love with it for two reason.....Easy to follow and I could change it up with any yarn, bobbles, bells and whistles to satisfy my creative need (And hopefully the recipients). OH.....one more thing....SIZE K......To me that means FAST! I have used the pattern as is, double stranded for worsted weight, adjusted stitches for smaller or larger sizes and they all turned out great!

Materials
Bulky (#5) Yarn - H-K depending on desired guage/Yarn Needle

Abbreviations 
CH = chain, SLST = slip stitch, SC = single crochet. DC = double crochet, TR = triple crochet, ST = stitch

Instructions

DC 10 times into Magic Ring, Join with SLST to 1st DC {10}
CH2, place 2DC in each ST around, join with SLST to 1st DC {20}
CH2, DC in each ST around, join with SLST to 1st DC {20}
Repeat round 3
Repeat round 3
Repeat round 3
CH2, DC in next 15 STs, leave remaining 5 un-worked. Turn {15}
CH2, DC across, turn {15}
Repeat round 8
Repeat round 8
Repeat round 8
Repeat round 8
Repeat round 8
Repeat round 8
Repeat round 8
*You can continue to repeat round 8 until you've reached the desired length**

Fold the heel of your slipper so right sides are facing together, SLST the slipper heel closed
Fasten off and weave in ends

CH1, SC evenly around, join with SLST to 1st SC
Fasten off, weave in ends. I also like to do two rows of DC here to create more of a boot effect.

These were made for my cousin Carly who is a freshman at UWM. These were made with the single chain finish. GO BADGERS!!

This pair was made for my cousin Rebecca, who is in high school and very girly. I added the flowers and rhinestone buttons to jazz them up a little bit.They have a sincle row of DC around the edge.

This pair was made for my favorite 8 year old friend. Every year Ava gets a new pair of slippers because she keeps growing and growing and has bad eczema and needs to keep her feet covered.  Here I added some flowers and beads and I added two rows of DC to create more of a bootie.

The pair highlighted at the top of this post were made for a dear old friend I worked with in college. I haven't seen her in more than 20 years but reconnected through Facebook.  It was a family run restaurant, and we hostessed the crazy Friday night fish-frys together. She was one of her many family members who worked there and part of an amazing family!

In an effort to organize my Life............One more time!

Endless pieces of papers or notes have been stuffed into a variety of binders, drawers, drives and folders, and when I need them the most they are never easily found.  It recently took me two months to find a simple pattern my mother requested. Ugggghhhhhh!  This is another attempt to organize the patterns, albeit few, that I have acquired and used over the years. 
I am not a fancy knitter, mostly baby gifts and slippers for those I love. Recently learned to crochet and am a simpleton at that as well. Both serve me well to relieve stress and keep the digits moving in an attempt to manage my arthritis. 
 Like my other blog......I am hoping to eventually get all my papers, files, notes, pins and accounts into this one location. I may never make it but I am going to try. These pictures are of items I have made, but are really an attempt to remember how to post photos on a blog, I am rusty and seem to recall nothing I learned years ago.