A Crochet Project - Granny Square Slippers

I cut my teeth with yarn projects teaching myself to crochet. My Nanny taught me to chain with a hook at the same time she taught me to knit. I didn't pick it up again until several years later. I taught myself with one of the Coats and Clark how-to pamphlets. I made lots of dishcloths and some pineapple doilies. I have also made some amigurumi projects. When I saw these slippers at Purlbee, I had to try them! This is a pretty simple pattern, especially if you already know how to make granny squares. If you don't know how, that's no problem either, because Purlbee has a great granny square tutorial. I had to go down a hook size to get the correct guage. Gauge is very important for these, because even a 1/4 inch difference in square size will make a much larger slipper. I hooked these for my Mom's birthday gift. They were a perfect choice because she loves bright, cheerul color.

Here are the specs:

Pattern: 'Granny Square Slippers' from Purlbee

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver: Turqua, Cornmeal and Soft White

Hook: Size F

Size Made: Women's 7-9 1/2 US

'Meet The Robinson's' Meets Me

You all, (or y'all) what can I say? I have been blogging for, well, I guess about 4 years now, off and on. I often talk about my family, life in general, some of my frustrations learning to knit, etc....I have neglected to talk about my belief in God and how my Christian belief has began to transform my life. That has to change. I became a Christian in College. I met my husband through church, we raised our children in church. We have always believed in Jesus and His walk on this earth as the Son of God. We have tried to follow his teachings, though never perfectly. Starting about 1995, or a little before that, some tragic events occurred in my life, over the span of about 10 years. I don't necessarily believe that they were wrought of God. I think bad things happen and can happen to anyone. They are a trial, though, by fire, if you will. I honestly felt that my life had been burned down to a knub and that it would be necessary to rebuild it. I believe Jesus called it pruning. I don't want to argue the cause of all this too much. Let's just say, these things happened. They happened and transformed me from a person full of hope and general good will to others into a person full of anger and bitterness. I found myself in a vicious cycle of self sabotage and I couldn't get myself out of it. I had become so reckless and vicious (at times) that I did not care who I hurt or how I looked to anyone. I kept to myself and trusted no one. Not God, not my husband, not my Brother and Sisters in Christ. No one. I knew God was there, but didn't want to go there, maybe because I didn't want to face and fix my problems. I sought to cover them up with food, television, knitting, sometimes alchohol and prescription drugs. I have learned. You can't cover up your pain. It doesn't work. God is the only one who can take your pain and cast as far away as the east is from the west. Now that I know that, I am recovering myself. That is to say, when I look in the mirror, I recognize myself. I don't see someone I don't know staring back at me. At one point in this ongoing journey. I did not recognize the person I saw in the mirror. I had transformed from Mike Yagoobian (from Meet The Robinson's) to the Boler Hat Guy. Think I am exagerating a wee bit? You'll see.
I want to write about these struggles here, mostly because they are true. Hopefully, what I have to say, might be helpful to someone else. I hope so.

One Tam And Another Pair Of Mitts

Finished this and started the Red one. (actually, it's more of a burgandy) Must give them both at the same time. Didn't this turn out great?! Here are the specs:
Pattern: Lace Tam and Scarf (Rav Link)
Yarn: Knit Picks 'Swish DK' Delft Heather
Needles: Size 4 16" (Options Nickel Plate Fixed)
Size 2 24" circular(Options Harmony Wood Fixed Circular)
Set of size 4 Options Nickel Plate Double Point needles.
Size: Followed pattern, only one size, but did knit one extra repeat for the ribbing. Knit mine with the 1 1/2 " Icord tab.

I think Kate will love this:)






These are more of the Fast and Easy Mitt pattern from Lisa Beamer. They are for Emma. They fit her almost perfectly. A little big actually, but not too big. She loves them.
Pattern: Fast and Easy Fingerless Mitts
Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino - purple
Needles: Boye Size 7 Straight needles
Size: One size in pattern. These came out bigger with the Paton's than they did with the Peruvian Highland Wool (KnitPicks). I knit them exactly the same-following the pattern exactly. Now for a pair for my sister for her Birthday!

The Perfect Fingerless Mitt Pattern

1. I officially love this pattern. I have been looking for a simple fingerless mitt pattern for some time now and I finally found one here. Thanks, Lisa:) They are called Fast & Easy Fingerless Mitts.

The pattern is written for them to be knit flat, which I did. But, I think they could easily be adapted to knit in the round.

Fast & Easy Fingerless Mitts
by Lisa Beamer
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool Of The Andes, 'Pampas Heather'
Needles: Size 7 Aluminum straights
Size made: Followed pattern and they game out a little small with my gauge
(5 sts./inch) It wouldn't hurt to go up one size needle to make a bigger mitt, but the pattern is adaptable enough that you could add a few sts. to increase the size as well.

Tam Times Two

Would someone please tell me why I thought I could knit a tam (albeit a lace tam) with only 123 yards of wool? Shouldn't I know better? Shouldn't alarms have gone off? I mean, I know the mistake I made...using Ravelry, I looked at several of the projects knit in Swish DK and, picked the first one listed. Under the category Yarn Used, the knitter entered 'Swish DK,' but under the How Much? listing, they entered '1 skein=110 yds,' so I foolishly thought, "Oh! Okay, so I need one skein of each color to knit two tams. Even though, the yarn amount actually needed was listed clear as day on the pattern page. Gheesh! Guess I'll have to order more yar...no,I'll have to wait a week to get paid, then order more yarn, then wait for said yarn to arrive, then finish the hats. I have only myself to blame. Hopefully, I'll have enough common sense to order another skein of *each* color when that time arrives. (228 yards is the magic number needed, by the way)