Off to Ukraine!!

We are off to Ukraine! My dad and I are going to Ukraine on a mission trip! We are flying out early Thursday morning, and I probably won't find time to post tomrrow, so I am posting this now. We are coming back On July 19th. I will not be posting on this blog while I am gone, but you can follow our journey on my other blog - http://www.ukrainemissiontrip2010.blogspot.com/. I will try to post on that blog, but we are not sure how good the internet connection will be in Ukraine. When I get back, I will post pictures here of all of the slippers I made on the plane. I am also working on making a kitchen set for the cooks over there that are going to be cooking all of our meals for us. On the plane on the way back, I am planning on making a teddy bear for fair.

Fair Projects!

I have been working really hard on county fair projects lately. Below are pictures of what I have completed so far. I also have my afghan done. On the plane on the way back from my trip, I am planning on making a teddy bear. And after that I will be officially DONE with my crocheting fair projects!!! :D

3 of my fishy dish cloths - the pattern for those can be found here.

Here is a baby set that I made. The hat is the same pattern as this pattern, except using a J hook, and two strands of yarn. The pattern for the sweater can be found here.

This was my first time making baby booties, so I am surprised they turned out so well! The pattern for them can be found here.

Two pot holders. I made up the pattern, and it can be found here.

This hat is an exact copy of the one I made for my little sister Rebekah. I also made hats like this for my brother Isaac, my sister Anna, and I made a bunch of them for my grandpa to send to Mexico. The pattern for the hat can be found here.

Slippers - The pattern for these can be found here. This is the pattern that was used for the 23 pairs of slippers for Ukraine.

I have had this scarf done for awhile, and I have probably post pictures of it before, but I thought, since I have it done, I might as well bring it to fair.

More Garage Sale Finds!

We went to more garage sales last weekend and I found more stuff. I found 8 more old crochet magizines, and some yarn. I think the magizines were 25 cent each, and I don't remember how much the yarn was.

All of the magazines

I got this red, white and blue yarn to make granny squares with for the Contest (see last two posts).

Why to weave in your ends instead of cutting them off!!

I am making some squares for the Red, White, and Blue Contest (see post before this), and now since I am done with them, I have to weave in the ends and get them sent in. But did I ever tell you how much I weaving in ends? (You can't crochet ends in on a granny square.) And 6 ends a square (because I am switching colors so much) is a lot of ends for a 6 inch square! So after weaving in the ends of two squares, I tried just cutting the ends off with out weaving them in. Thankfully I only did it on one, and that one you can see pictures of above. I have learned my lesson, and now since I have to fix this one, and them weave the ends in, I'll never do it again! :-)

Subway Gift Card Contest! - Red, White and Blue Granny Squares

I follow several crocheting blogs (ok, not several - a lot), and one of them I follow is Deb's Crafts. She is hosting a Subway Gift Card contest on her blog. For every red, white, and blue granny square you make and send her by June 30, she will enter your name once in a drawing for a $10
Subway Gift Card. She is going to sew the squares (like we did for the Block Party) together to make lapghans (lap blankets) for the veterans in her local nursing home. Her requirements are - they MUST be a traditional granny square, they need to have 5 rounds, and be 6 inches square. Please keep in mind the American flag when choosing your colors and use only acrylic washable yarn. This is the link she posted for a pattern for the granny square, but you can also use this YouTube video to learn how to make the Traditional Granny Square. You can email Deb at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com for the address to send your squares to or if you have any questions. You can read the rest of her post, and find out more information about it here.

Pot Holder/Hot Pad - Free Crochet Pattern

Pot Holder/Hot Pad - Free Crochet Pattern

These pot holders work great because they are so thick, and they make great gifts.

The pattern looks more complicated than it is because of the colors. It is actually really simple!

You hold three strands of cotton yarn together throughout the whole thing, and that's what makes it so thick. In the example above, I used two strands of white and one strand of black in the one on the left, and on the one on the right, I used two strands of black, and one of white.

Important Notes:
*You are welcome to sell items made from this pattern, but please do not sell this pattern. I would love it if you linked back here though!
*If you think any corrections should be made to this pattern, please let me know!
*All abbreviations used in patterns are explained here.

Finished Size:
About 9 inches wide

Materials:

-J hook
-3 balls of Sugar'n'Cream or Peaches'n'Cream 100% cotton yarn in colors of your choice
-Yarn Needle

Pattern:

Pattern Notes:
*Exact gauge isn't necessary for this project.
*Hold three strands of yarn together throughout as if they were one.

Pot Holder:
ch 23
Row 1: Sc in second ch from hook, sc in ea ch across. (22 sc)
Row 2-26 (Or until square): Ch 1, turn, sc in ea st across. (22 sc)
Border: Ch 1, sc down left side, 3 sc in corner, sc across bottom, 3 sc in corner, sc up right side, 3 sc in corner, sc across top, sl st in first sc made at beginning of border, fasten off.
Weave in any ends. You're done!

Frosty the Snowman

Awhile ago, I was looking here at online patterns for things made out of plarn. (If you aren't familiar with it, plarn is plastic bag yarn.) I found a pattern for a snowman made out of plarn. You can find the pattern here. He was so cute, I just had to make him! :-) So I started making some plarn. I used only Wal-mart bags, and other blue and white bags, so the snowman would be white with blue speckles. Once I finished the snowman, I made his scarf. In the pattern, the scarf was supposed to be knitted, but since the snowman is a fair project, and I was entering him in crocheting, I figured I better not make a knitted scarf. So I made up a pattern for a a little scarf. Then I made the hat. Since I could not figure out the pattern for the hat, and the hat wasn't turning out right, I made up my own pattern for a hat. I have made lots of baby hats, and his head wasn't much smaller than a newborn baby's, it wasn't hard to make up a pattern for the hat. Then I added a pom pom to the top of the hat. I named him Frosty. :-) He took a long time to make, but he is worth it because he is so cute. I haven't found any googly eyes yet, (I'm surprised my sister doesn't have any) and I haven't figured what I am going to do for the carrot nose, so he doesn't have a face yet. But, I'll post pictures of him with a face when I finish his face. :-) I probably used about 100 bags, and he's stuffed with the handles and the bottom of the bags (and all the pieces that broke).

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty without his hat and scarf