A Bee in my Bonnet

I absolutely love rag rugs and would have a ton in the house if I had more time to make them. My bathroom rugs had died and I seized the chance to replace them with rugs made from sheets. How much more durable can you get? Big problem, Stan's tender feet objected to them. He's had foot surgery and they are very sensitive.

So I moved the rugs to other parts of the house and bought some memory foam rugs. Very soft, but they wear out quick and the first time you wash them the no-slip is gone. What to do?

I was messing around in my sewing room and I spied all the polar fleece in my stash. "Hmmm," said I, "Polar fleece is soft." So off I went.

We'll see, it's quite thick, but pretty soft. I have a no-skid spray I'll put on the back. Might have to reapply after washing, but that's not so bad. I have enough strips cut for an oblong one too, but I'm taking a small break, the fiber particles are pretty thick so I'll likely be working on it outside. If they don't work I'll give them to my son Steve for a house warming gift for his new apartment.

The Boys

Stan and Steve bowl in leagues, and this weekend is the city tournament.  I was to be in charge of Sydney, so I called and asked if Sam could join us for the day.  We went to Burger King and then to the bowling alley for a couple of hours to watch Grandpa and Daddy/Uncle Steve bowl. 

Of course they have vending machines and pinball machines there, and the two tapped out my meager supply of quarters.  One of the bowlers from another team asked if he could buy one of the boys' crowns, so he bought Syd's crown for $1.00.  Then when Syd was making change from the buck, the guy walked up and just gave Sam a dollar bill!  (This was someone Stan and Steve knew and saw every week.)  When we were ready to leave, Sydney went up to the guy and asked him for his crown back.  The little con artist got it, too!

While we were downtown I stopped at Cactus Records.  A couple of weeks ago, I saw a crocheted sweater that kind of looked like tie dye.  I didn't necessarily want to buy it, but I thought it would be a good Christmas project for, well someone special in our family.  (Mustn't reveal too much-I think she reads my blog!)  Today, I went in and asked the girl how many they had in stock, and while she was checking on a size, I snapped a picture with my phone.  I felt kind of bad, but they did not have the right size, and probably wouldn't get any more in.  And I would like to change it a bit.  Anyway, here's my stealth photo.  Anyone know of a pattern for something similar?

When I dropped Sam off the two talked Sam's mom into letting Syd stay the night, so I am here alone until Stan gets home from the tournament.

Needles are Still Clicking!

I've still been knitting.  I decided I needed a really wide, long scarf to wind around my head during these nasty cold days.  We were in Walmart and I grabbed a couple of skeins of Red Heart (I know, but this one is pretty!).

I started out with this:

But I decided it wasn't wide enough so I ripped it out.  This is better:

Then I knitted, and knitted, and....well you know!  I ended up with a scarf about 68 inches long.  I have test-driven it many times this week and I think it was a good move in my part.  My other small fleece scarf just wasn't cutting it.  Now I'm starting leg warmers so when I go out and start my car after a closing shift at work my legs won't freeze.

I look a little loopy in this picture, but maybe it was my red nose.  I have yet ANOTHER cold!

All I did was cast on a bunch of stitches on #9 (US) needles in a multiple of four, and do a checkerboard pattern-K4, P4; next row P4, K4; repeat for two more rows then reverse the order.  It took about 8 ounces of knitting worsted.

Then my friend Lera sent me this pattern she had featured on her blog.  When I commented how much I loved it she e-mailed it to me-wasn't that sweet?!  I had to make one right away and I'm hooked (literally-it's crocheted).  This will go to a certain little girl, but I'm not sure if I'll give it to her now or wait til her birthday in April.  I'll be making more.

Isn't it just fetching?  Gracie will absolutely love it.  It came with instructions for ages newborn to six years so the possibilities are endless!

On a sad note, the fisherman that was lost when his truck went through the ice was found dead a couple of days ago.  My prayers are with his family.

Here's an eagle picture hubby took on his last fishing trip:

Oh, and I got sort of a promotion at work.  I will be a core associate in the Linens department.  The department manager actually approached me about the job, and after thinking about it and being reassured by her that I can get time off for my trips I took it.  I got a nice raise and my hours will be set-no Sundays and a mix of day and evenings.  I will have a 3-day weekend every other week.  Can't believe my luck-plus now I can fatten up my IRA-haven't put much in there for a while.

Wardrobe!

I got everything I had cut out done for the dolly.

A nice warm coat complete with hood. It's lined and I learned the hard way that I should have hemmed the sleeves before sewing the side seams. Got to be kind of a pain given the tiny openings

A dress to match-this is what I lined the coat with too. Both the dress and the nightie are open in the back and close with snaps-easy for a 6-year-old. Sorry for the bedhead-the poor thing has been in Gramma Liz's closet for about 40 years. Might have to hire a dolly hairdresser.

The nightie is made of the same flannel that I used to make pajamas for Gracie. I thought she would appreciate the thought, but I did have to put a seam in the front to make it work-almost didn't have enough fabric. It's OK-it's just for sleeping, after all!

Petticoat and undies-I tried to snap the panties too, but the clever little doll wouldn't let Blogland see her undies. She looks kind of bored with the process anyway.

This dress is one that Gramma Pat started before she died. It's really supposed to fit one of those 20" bed dolls, but I adapted it. She had crocheted around the neck and sleeves, so I added the ruffle at the bottom:

I made some button loops and sewed buttons on the back-about 1" in from the edge so it would fit snugly. She got a ribbon around the waist, too.

I'll try to find shoes and socks, but even if I can't, this will still be a really meaningful Christmas gift for a little girl from several people that love her.

Flip Flops

Of course all the youngsters and a few oldsters wear flip flops. And the trend now is to decorate them, which up to now I've resisted. I hate wearing them myself, but I decided that the granddaughter might like a pair. So today, after I picked her up for an overnight stay, we headed to Michael's. They had their flip flops for half price, and I got to thinking that, since I had a whole skein of that eyelash yarn (bought at some clearance sale somewhere), maybe I should make a pair for Gracie's best friend Sierra too.
I've seen these everywhere-every craft show has at least one vendor that sells a ton of them-but I wasn't too terribly sure how they went together. So, I just made a slip knot, joined it to the strap and started single crocheting from one side of the strap to the other, pushing the stitches back to make as tight a coverage as I could. I then cut the yarn and tied about a zillion knots so it wouldn't come apart with a five and a six year old's wear and tear.


Cute, huh? No, you won't find a rack of these in my craft show booth, that would probably be overkill, but it's nice to know just how easy they are.

Update: Granddaughter showed her treasures off to her neighborhood girlfriends and now they all want a pair. My DIL says I should go into the flip flop business after all! (Still don't think so)

And We Have Rugs

Way last winter I decided that my bathroom rugs were on their last legs, so I decided to crochet some rag rugs. I've been wanting to do that for years and figured it was time to get off my duff and just do it! The best thing to use, I discovered after cruising the Net, is old sheets. Heck, I have tons of old sheets! I'm sleeping on old sheets. Not really, I just upgraded the sheets for our bed thanks to an unbelievable clearance sale at Kmart.

The center was not made from sheets, but a very large piece of very cheap navy fabric from my stash that I was anxious to get rid of. Then I started culling sheets out of my closets.

The lighter green is from a queen size set from our bed, and the darker green is a twin sheet someone gave me. It was fitted so I had to cut off the elastic and square it up. All of my strips were made with a rotary cutter, and I cut them all 1". Then I went scrounging again and found a twin set the boys used to sleep on in a light blue print. I thought that would be enough but one of the things I learned doing rugs is more is not only better but essential! Now what?

I kind of dropped the project for a couple of months, but the other day I decided to give the bathroom rugs their last wash. No dryer, just a gentle cycle and lay flat to dry. I put them in and left for a few hours. When I got home my hubby showed me the rugs-nothing but a big pile of fuzz! They weren't even that old! I had to get busy again.

Hubs and I hit a couple of garage sales and I thought I was in business. But when I got home I realized the "new" sheets were in better shape than the ones I had on the daybed in the guest room, so I washed them and dug out my sheets. I filled an old laundry basket with sheets for future rug projects. I found, in the back, a queen set that isn't deep pocket and is fairly worn-kind of a blue/green/burgundy plaid. I didn't know how it would work but I think it's just fine. I discovered that I finished the center on the oval rug wrong and it's lopsided, but I decided I didn't have to be that fussy for my own bathroom. They sure look different with the different strips, don't they?

I did a single crochet, but I only made the stitches into the back loop of the previous row to give it dimension without making it too thick.

You probably notice a pattern here-blue/green/rose or burgundy. I love the color combination and can't make myself change it. My wardrobe yes, but my house is mostly these colors.

Purple Flowers

One of the pieces of fabric I bought in Mazatlan was a pre-smocked dress length for Gracie. I knew it had to have either pink or purple so I figured this orange with purple flowers would suit the Miss. All I had to do was sew up the back seam (which of course I sewed then serged for a clean finish), hem and add straps. The fabric store had decorative elastic strap that was supposed to go with the fabric, but I was in a hurry, there was a language barrier, and Judy wanted me to help her find dress fabric for her. I thought, "Of course I can find that back home." Not! I ended up with purple grosgrain ribbon which is fine, and in fact matches the yarn in the second part of my project.

I was browsing the Lion Brand website when I found this cute little cardi pattern. Of course, even though I'm more of a knitter than a crocheter, I had to give it a go. It was really simple and fast AND I just happened to have some purple yarn just the right color in my stash!

The pattern didn't show a closure, and I was supposed to do a slip stitch up the front, around the neck and down the other side. I decided I liked a single crochet better, and added a chain loop at the neck with a cute button so it would stay on better. I'm not a very tight crocheter, and wasn't very comfortable with the looser stitch I was getting, but I think it turned out OK. I did switch to a smaller hook when I got to the neckline to make it just a bit smaller.

Now Gracie has a summer church outfit with a cardi for the chilly Montana evenings.

Travel Project

I want to be able to knit on the plane and since those seats are so tight, I've set up a sock project. But first I had to finish what was on my needles.

This yarn is not really a sock yarn, but I thought I could use it anyway and end up with some warm boot socks. I do not recommend this yarn for the size 2 needles I used, or for socks. It is not spun together like conventional yarn and would twist into a knot if I pulled too much out of the skein at a time, and it split like crazy. It took me twice as long to finish these socks because I had to make every stitch carefully to keep from having all those little loops because I didn't pick all the threads up when forming a stitch.

I made it, though! And they will be nice boot socks for someone on my Christmas list. They really are a full purple color but, even though I love my camera, it hates purple and won't show it right.

You might remember this brand of yarn from here.

I absolutely LOVE this yarn. As with the last color, it's 50% merino wool, 25% bamboo, and 25% nylon. It knits up quickly because it's so easy to handle, and this particular skein is one of the self striping colorways that I love. Not sure who'll be getting these, I claimed the last pair. One DIL is allergic to wool, so I felt I had to sacrifice and wear them myself.

I scoured the Internet to find a toe-up sock pattern-found a nice one on Ravelry. I've pretty much gotten the hang of the Kitchener Stitch for finishing the toe, but I don't like how it looks, I'm shaky about how well it will wear, and I want to be able to use up all the skein and make the sock as long as possible. I'm already a convert, and next I'm going to try the Magic Loop using one circular needle. One thing I did, though, was to bury the starting thread right away. I spent much too much time pushing that thread out of the way, so away it went. When I'm done, I just have to bury the thread at the cuff. In order to make both socks identical, I pulled out enough yarn to match colorways on both skeins, and I even made the beginning slipknot on both, tucking the knot for the second skein back under the label. (We'll see how that travels-no biggie-I can redo it) The only thing is I'm so hooked on it I'm almost done with the foot on the first sock. I have to go to town today, so I'd better hit JoAnn's again for more of this yarn to tuck into my suitcase.

I am so looking forward to sitting on my balcony, sipping coffee, watching the ocean, and knitting. Yep, that'd take anybody's stress away!

Speaking of stress, the DIL that is staying with me is Bi-Polar. Things are pretty stressful in their lives right now, so the other day I loaned her a crochet hook and gave her a skein of yarn. I coached her a bit and she is really going to town. She says the crocheting has carried her through several Bi-Polar episodes already. Between that and the supplements I'm pouring down her, she might be much happier when they finally move out!

Oh, and the knee is healing just great! Still tender if I touch it right on the bump, but the swelling is gone and I have most of the flexibility back. Lighthouse here we come!

Crocheted Swiffer Duster Cover Tutorial

Finally, as I have promised for two months, I've finally put together a tutorial for these covers.

Materials & equipment:

4-ply acrylic yarn-about three or four ounces. Use the bargain bin cheap stuff-static is a good thing with these dusters. This is a great stash buster. You can use one color or have a different color for the loopy part and the base part.
Size H crochet hook (gauge isn't important)
Yarn needle

For base, chain 21.

Round 1. Do 3 sc in 2nd chain from hook. Sc across to last chain, 3 sc in last chain. Do not turn.


Rotate work and do 3 sc in the other side of the last chain. Sc down second side and 3 sc in the other side of the first chain you did the 3 sc in. Join to the first chain with a slip stitch.


Round 2. Chain 2 and start dc around, making dc ONLY in the back loop of the stitch, and making 3 dc's in the center sc in the 3 sc in the previous row. This forms the corner. Dc down side to next 3 sc, 3 dc in middle sc. Dc around to next corner, 3 dc in center sc of the 3 sc. Dc to fourth corner and make 3 dc in center sc. Dc across end to ch 2 and join with a slip stitch, making sure that both ends have an equal number of double crochets.


Round 3 & 4. Dc around in the same manner as Round 2, being sure to only catch the back loop of the previous round and that your ends have an equal number of stitches.

Get your Swiffer out and lay your base on it. Mine is the Pledge brand and I don't know if there's a size difference, but if there's a big difference in size, just do one more dc round. It should be somewhat smaller than the Swiffer.

Round 5 . Ch 1, sc around in back loop of previous round. This is forming the sides, so you don't have to turn the corners from here on. Join with sl st to ch 1.

Round 6. Ch 1, sc around in BOTH loops, join with a sl st to ch 1.

Round 7, 8, 9. Ch 1, sc 4, dec. in next two stitches. Repeat around-if your single crochet count is off, its okay, we're just making kind of a sleeve that stays on the Swiffer base. Cut yarn and pull through loop.

It kind of looks like a funky slipper.


Now here's the fun part. Make a slip knot and starting in the center, insert your hook into any of the loop we left when we single crocheted the first round. Attach it with a slip stitch. Chain 4, slip stitch in the next loop. Continue around, and slip stitch in the first loop.

Chain 4, move to the next round and slip stitch in a loop. It doesn't matter which one, just be sure to start in the center round and move out-much easier to keep track of. Where you joined your base rounds with a slip stitch won't have a clear loop, so just pick up any thread-this is for the floor after all, and you can't see it when you're done.

Continue all the way to the last row that has exposed loops. You should have 4 rounds of ch 4 loops.

Cut yarn, pull thread through. With yarn needle bury threads.

Ta daa! You could use this either wet or dry, so far I've only used mine dry and LOVE it!


Note: I have changed the pattern a bit. Check out row 6-there are no decreases. This will be much easier to put on and off the Swiffer.

If you have found my pattern here and have tried it, I would LOVE to have you leave a comment so I can see how it worked for you.

What A Hectic Life!

Sorry I've been so behind in posting lately. We've had one thing after the other occupy our time and my blog went by the wayside. Hopefully soon I'll have the swiffer duster tutorial done, and I have a couple of aprons cut out that I'm dying to share. I was going to make this old-fashioned little girl's apron for Gracie for Christmas but I can't wait that long, so as soon as I get back from town with the right colored thread I'll get going on it and take lots of pictures. I have another Memory Bear to do out of leather, so that has to happen this week too. Add all that to the fact that Saturday is Belgrade Fall Festival and my 40th high school reunion, WHICH Stan and I are catering. Whew!

I Was Blogged About Today!

Saturday I went to a book signing for the book, Crochet Adorned, written by Linda Permann. I showed her a variation of one of her patterns that I had made, and bought her book.

What a nice gal! She is so natural and chatty it was like meeting an old friend. She even recognized Sydney from my blogs, which means she has been reading them, so cool! Her stuff is super cute, too, and the book is full of interesting and helpful instructions.

I'm now all fired up to crochet flowers and trims-I actually have small amounts of fancy yarns that I've picked up at various sales, so they should really work up cute in one of Linda's patterns. Check me out on her blog, I'm definitely not the prettiest one in the picture but Sydney is really cute.

Finished Object

Got the green sweater done. Actually I finished it several days ago, I've just been lazy about posting it. Sydney really likes it.


The worst thing about knitting a sweater-sewing the dumb thing together! I know, use circular needles, but I hate them, they're not comfortable for me and there are still seams that have to be sewn.

Syd isn't mad in this photo-afterward he said, "What did you think of my funny face, Grandma?" The buttons don't show up very well but there are three cars and two trains in various colors. I bought enough for Sam's sweater, which brings me to the next project.

The color isn't true in this photo, it's darker, close to a wine color. I thought about bright red, which is Sam's favorite color, but decided the slightly darker color would wear better. By the way, Sam is improving nicely. Millie is able to change his dressings at home, and he only has to go to the wound clinic once in a while to have the dead skin scrubbed. (Ouch!) He was well enough to go to Vacation Bible School today.

I finished Gracie's pants, hope to post some pictures in the next day or so. I have to finish my last pair, but there's just a bit left. I should be sewing right now.

The other day I decided to make Linda Permann's Swiffer cover. I just love how it cleans the floor-much better than the purchased cloths. I decided I wanted a tighter fit, and being the glutton for punishment I am, I made up my own pattern. I have one finished and am very pleased with it. I might make these for Christmas. (Millie, you didn't read that!) I hope to post instructions, or maybe even a tutorial soon.

I had my coffee date at the Co-op today. I need to go back more-I was checking out some cheddar potato chips that, at first look, seem to be "safe" for me. I should eat there more often-they serve wonderful food. I had a heavenly flourless chocolate cake, oh my!

Don't Forget My Giveaway

Don't forget to stop by my post to sign up to win the purse. I only have one entry so far and we should keep it sporting, so be sure to leave a comment.

I want to hear from all of my readers-I love meeting people from all over the world.

Come on, guys!

A Giveaway!!

Since I've reached my 100th post (actually 101-got away from me), I'm having a giveaway to celebrate.

A hand-crocheted purse, made from a bulky acrylic, approximately 16" by 11."

Fully lined, with pockets in the lining. The lining is hand-stitched in. The blue is actually a steel gray-gotta learn how to tweak color!

This is a small way for me to thank all my bloggy friends. Thank you so much for reading my rantings for over 100 posts.

If you would like to enter, just comment on this post. Be sure to have a way for me to contact you. I'll draw on Monday, July 6, to give leeway for the 4th of July holiday.

Hope to hear from lots of you and good luck!

Three Friends

I finished the bunnies. Blue to Sydney, red to Sam, and pink to Grace. Don't they look like three friends all lined up?

This is a Lion Brand pattern. It calls for Wool-Ease, but I was a very good girl and used bits from my stash. I wanted two blue bunnies, but didn't have enough yarn left so I went with the red.





The last time I gave them stuffed animals, Sydney became extremely attached to a dog with hearts on it-a Valentine's clearance toy. He named it Fred and it has to go wherever he goes and sleep with him. I wonder if these guys will be as loved.

Arrrrgghhh!

Whatever happened to spring? This is supposed to go on for a couple of days. And after such a warm and sunny Easter!In order to stave off cabin fever, this is what I've been doing:

I know, Easter is past, but the inspiration only hit me on Thursday. The little ones will like them anyway. The blue one is done, it will be for Sydney, the pink for Gracie, and I have red yarn for Sam. Sam likes to have lots of red because it's Lighting McQueen's color. Maybe looking down at the red will keep me from gazing glumly out the window!