Stupid Samantha

When I was little I wanted an American Girl Doll SO BAD! Samantha, the Victorian era doll, was my favorite, and part of what I liked so much about her was her amazing plaid cape, fuzzy white hat and matching muff. This love intensified when my elementary school frememy not only got Samantha for as a birthday present at her American Girl Doll themed birthday party, but also the matching fuzzy muff she could wear! It was torture!

20+ years later and I’ve finally gotten my revenge with this ridiculously awesome and way better than a fuzzy white muff Granny Square Muff pattern. Crocheted granny squares seamed together and assembled around a knit lining to keep your hands extra warm.

Eat your heart out, Samantha.

Granny Square Muff!

GRANNY SQUARE MUFF PATTERN

Finished Size Muff is 12 1/2” wide and 7” tall.

MATERIALS

Yarn About 500 yards of worsted weight yarn. This is a great stash busting project if you want to make all your granny squares different colors, otherwise get a couple healthy skeins. Main color as shown requires about 300 yards.

Granny Squares FTW!

Needles Size G (6 mm) crochet hook, size 8 (5 mm) knitting needles, and 2 size 11 (8 mm) double pointed needles.

Notions Tapestry needle.

The Knit Lining! Muff Inside Out.

GAUGE

For lining in MC and with size 8 needles, 14 sts and 21 rows = 4” square in St st.

Ravelry Pattern Page

for $3.50

Related Sweatshop Love:

• November 2, 2011 -- Work in Progress Round Up: MOREMOREMORE
• September 6, 2011 -- Half Fabric, Half Crochet Infinity Scarf Pattern and Tutorial
• August 12, 2011 -- FO: Mary Jane Slippers
• August 8, 2011 -- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters Krumm Toilet Paper Cozy

Things are still pretty out of hand around here. I had six work in progress projects last week, and I’ve still got SEVEN this week. And most of them are new!

From Norway With Love

First up is a project you don’t see very often around here – COLOR-WORK! I’m knitting up the Pickles From Norway With Love hat for my sister in law Emily for Christmas. It’s a stranded heart stocking cap and I’m in love with it. I’m using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in three different blue-ish heathers and as much as I hate stranded color-work, this hat is flying off my needles. It must be the hearts!

Mary Jane Slippers

I taught my Mary Jane Slippers class last week, so I got started on another pair of these adorable slippers. I made a pair for myself this summer and knew they would make an amazing Christmas present for a friend. I’m using the left over yarn from my #25 Rib Yolk Topper, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed, so they look crazy-similar to my pair! They crochet up super fast so I’ll be done with these in no time.

Striped Something Something

Super abstract shot of something else I started this week! More on this later.

Entrelac Beret

And another amazing hat project! Remember my Entrelac Beret pattern I wrote for Lion Brand? I’m teaching a class on this hat this week so I’ve got one on the needles. Oh entrelac! I love you! Knit Picks Merino Style and Lion Brand Amazing are two peas in the pod of this hat.

Granny Squares!

Another mystery project: I’ve been granny squaring my little heart out all weekend and it’s going to be awesome! More later.

With all these projects working overtime, I haven’t touched my Ruffle Rose Pillow in a week, but it’s on the mind grapes. And, naturally, Aidez is happening, too.

Is it knitting intervention time?

Related Sweatshop Love:

• November 15, 2011 -- FOs: Entrelac Beret WIN and FAIL
• November 3, 2011 -- FOs: From Norway With Love Hat and Mary Jane Slippers
• August 19, 2011 -- Three New Lion Brand Yarn Free Hat Patterns!
• February 9, 2012 -- WORK+SHELTER Lace Striped Sweaters

So everything was going swimmingly. Saturday morning I was on fire! Went to the gym, did my running around, and was working on my granny squares when I needed more yarn. I’ve got piles of yarn all over the place, and whenever I look for yarn it ends up all over the floor. I bent down to pick up a skein that had rolled under my futon when SMACK!

I knocked my head hard on the arm of my futon like a dummy. I stood up, shocked, kind of laughed to myself, then burst into tears. It hurt! But I shook it off and kept working. I got a headache, then my neck started hurting, and I got really tired. PT had a cold all week so I just thought I was getting a cold, so I canceled my party plans for Saturday night and went to bed, never thinking I might have concussed myself on my futon! I woke up Sunday morning with a headache. I went to wash my face before Holiday Present Prep class and looked at myself in the mirror for the first time since Saturday and I have a huge bump and bruise on my forehead! It all comes together. I’m not getting sick – I just smacked the crap out of my head!

Luckily I didn’t put it together Saturday or I probably would have made myself crazy thinking I had a concussion. But I’m alive and this morning my head is feeling good. Still bruised up! But feeling good.

I did find the canola oil in the fridge this morning, however, so there might be some permanent damage.

Granny Squares!

Despite my stupidity, I did manage to click almost everything off my list! I didn’t tackle the sewing pile because sitting up hurt for most of the weekend, and I didn’t do too much reading because that hurt, too.

But I did make 36 freaking granny squares!

One!

Two!

Three!

And made three pairs of granny square slippers!

It’s really too bad that I’m refusing to make another granny square for as long as I live, because I would like a pair of these for myself. They are so ridiculous and so ugly-amazing that they are kind of hard to resist! The best part is that I got to use up left over skeins from projects I never got to, or yarn I bought on sale with nothing in mind for it.

One!

Two!

Three!

These were a lot of fun to make. And the instructions from The Purl Bee couldn’t be any clearer. The woman takes a picture of every aspect of putting each granny square together. It was so helpful! I don’t know if it was the head injury or if it was just hard, but even after making six slippers I couldn’t put them together for memory.

Trio of Granny Square Slippers

Three lucky people on my Christmas list, including my Sweatshop Secret Santa recipient, will be getting a pair of these.

PT is flying back to Chicago at this very moment! Leave it to me to almost kill myself the first weekend I’m alone in months and months.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• December 14, 2011 -- Granny Square Muff Pattern
• November 2, 2011 -- Work in Progress Round Up: MOREMOREMORE
• December 23, 2009 -- A Holiday Knitting Season in Review
• November 14, 2009 -- Boyfriend VS No Boyfriend

PT unexpectedly left town last night for the weekend (nothing bad! He just got an unexpected vacation from work) leaving Velma, Pudge Rodreguez, and I to our own devices. In my case, ‘devices’ means being ridiculously productive.

I’m usually really productive; when you are a one woman show you have no choice. What you don’t do just doesn’t get done. But when you live with someone there is more downtime:  Discussing potential Saturday afternoon activities. Taking long lunches. Snuggling.

Wine Cozy

So now that PT is out of town it’s like I’m on speed. He left last night and I’ve already  done a lot of reading, finished this wine cozy for PT’s mom’s Christmas present, and crocheted 8.25 granny squares.

Granny!

I forgot how fun it is to make granny squares! It has been so long that I had to look up instructions to remind myself.

I’ll be making a lot of granny squares today for an undisclosed project. I’ll tell you soon.

I got up this morning at 6:30, played with the kitties, cleaned up a little, made some tea, and am now trying to organize my weekend. MY weekend.

I’m a relationship kinda girl. I’ve been in one pretty nonstop since I was 17. I’ve had a live in boyfriend pretty nonstop since I was 21. I love it, it is how I am. Even when I say to myself after a break up, ‘Allyson, chill for a while and be single,’ that resolve never lasts long.

So, I appreciate this time. This fake single time. I know he is out there, surely sleeping at this time, in the little bed in the upstairs of his mom’s house in Minnesota, but here I am with a nice long to-do list full of crafty and Sweatshop-related things and two entire days to myself.

Sewing Pile

-A Crafty and Sweatshop-Related To-Do List-

Three Granny Square Projects (36 granny squares!)

Write a newsletter for Monday

Go to the gym

Go to Target

Pre-write some blogs

Tackle sewing pile

Finally make message board

Read more

-Maybe-

Get started on Turtle Shell Legwarmers <- oh yes I did

It’s kind of like writers who think they need to be drunk and miserable to write, or artists who think they need to be depressed to paint. Do I get more done when I’m single? Yes. But luckily I’m smart enough to recognize the fact that I like having a boyfriend. I’m happier when I’ve got someone who is ridiculously supportive of all the silliness. The piles of yarn everywhere. The long gchat explanations of what a swift is. The long blog entries full of pros and cons about our relationship (sorry, PT!).

That to-do list isn’t going to finish itself! I love when I look at the clock in the morning, think about everything I’ve already accomplished, and think, ‘And I’ve still got 13 1/2 hours until I’m meeting Rachel for a drink!’ I can get a lot accomplished in 13 1/2 hours.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• December 14, 2011 -- Granny Square Muff Pattern
• November 2, 2011 -- Work in Progress Round Up: MOREMOREMORE
• December 23, 2009 -- A Holiday Knitting Season in Review
• November 23, 2009 -- The Land of Dial Up Internet Connections; or, Christmas Present Update: Rachel