Crocheted Flip Flops!

My niece, Emily, wearing her flip flops and getting ready
to go shopping with her purse!

Aren’t these just the cutest little baby flip flops?! If you are anything like my husband, you’d say, “They don’t offer any support whatsoever,” or “She can’t even walk yet!” 

But, I think quite differently than my husband (at least when it comes to crochet projects!) So, when I found this pattern, I just knew I had to try it for my niece, Emily. She was almost one year old at the time. 

Working hard on putting her flip flops on (and taking them off again!)

I bought a cute outfit for her in some turquoise/purplish colors and I wanted the shoes to match, so I decided to go with a light and dark purple flip flop. 

Turquoise version

The pattern includes both the pattern for the shoe and the flower. Here is the free pattern I used: http://melodyscrochetitems-melody88.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/crochet-baby-slipper-pattern.html

Pretty simple! I made two soles for each show to make it a little bit thicker. Then, I decorated them with a tiny flower. Sooooo easy and soooooo adorable.

I used a 4.25mm crochet hook and "I Love this Yarn" from Hobby Lobby. They have so many colors to choose from!

I made another pair for a friend of mine who recently had a baby girl. They make a perfect girl gift and are cheap to make because they use such a small amount of yarn. 

    

Ready to roll!

Chevron Baby Blanket in Gradient Colors

Adorable Evelyn Elaine about a week old. 

I met my dear friend, Lindzee, when she moved to North Dakota a few years ago. We hit it off pretty quickly. Both of us have a love for kids (that’s where we met – working at the YMCA Early Learning Center). I was the lead teacher in the infant room and she was the lead teacher in the younger preschool room. 

Lindzee and I are both pretty geeky. We both have an adventurous spirit. My husband, Jon, and I got Lindzee hooked on one of our hobbies: geocaching. We have spent many hours together on geocaching road trips. We’ve trudged through snow, gotten lost in the woods (Ok, maybe not COMPLETELY lost – we do have GPS devices on us!), gone camping together, pulled ticks off each other, and even ended up in the ditch together on an icy winter day. Lindzee was always up for something fun. She even joined my Mom and I for a 5K Run or Dye event. 

Lindzee, me, and my Mom after our Run or Dye event. ;)

Sadly, Lindzee didn’t really care for the North Dakota winters and decided to move back to South Carolina last year. I miss her dearly. She is one of the most caring, lovable, spirited, generous people I have ever and will ever meet.

My husband snow blowing our back yard. I don't know why you wouldn't like these North Dakota winters!? 

Now, Lindzee is married to a wonderful man, Brandon. He is a lucky guy. Brandon and Lindzee just had their first baby – a GIRL! Baby Evelyn made her grand entrance into the world at 6:19 a.m. on June 11^th weighing 7 lbs 9 oz and measuring 20 ¼”. Can’t wait to meet her! I couldn’t be more excited for them.

The whole happy family!

Sweet baby Evelyn 

 Of course, after hearing that she was expecting a girl, I HAD to crochet something for her. Anyone who knows me knows that crocheting something handmade is a way I show love for people around me. Especially when it involves a baby! J 

Lindzee looking stunningly beautiful for just having a baby!

I have long wanted to do a blanket in one color scheme with a color gradient theme. I wandered around JoAnn Fabrics for a few hours looking at their yarn aisles and trying to decide what color scheme to go with. 

My twin sister, Elisa, was a great help to me. She is an artist and has an eye for color schemes. I was texting her pictures left and right. She helped me narrow it down to a few choices. I went with purple. A perfect baby girl color. After pacing the aisles and checking out every shade of purple yarn I could find, I decided on 4 different shades and a white for contrast. 

The yarn colors I went with include: Big Twist in color White (371 yds), CARON Simply Soft in color Lilac (812 yds), Red Heart with Love color in Lilac (370 yds), Big Twist in color Blueberry (371 yds), and Big Twist in color Damson Purple (371 yds). I needed only one skein of each (what is pictured) to do this blanket. Using coupons, it cost me around $16. 

Here is the link to the free pattern:  http://daisycottagedesigns.net/crochet/ripple-blanket-crochet-pattern/


I have done several chevron patterns before, but not this one. This one is super simple – once you figure out the pattern, you just do the same thing over and over! 

The only thing you have to decide is when to switch to a different color. I decided to do two rows of each color before moving on to the next color. To switch to the next color, drop the current color and yarn over with the new color when you are pulling through the last stitch of the row. 

Starting to work on row 1. You can see the chevron pattern already!

The entire blanket is done in double crochet stitches, some increasing and some decreasing. There are always 4 double crochets in-between the increasing and decreasing stitches. Super duper easy! 

You could decide to repeat the light and dark rows like I did or just do one row of each. When you reach your desired length, and are at a good cut-off point, tie off the yarn. I ended up with 80 rows. 

Two rows of white stitches and two rows of light purple stitches completed.

I must say, I love the color combo and the chevron pattern together. And, since I bought SO much yarn (not knowing how much I’d need and wanting to make sure I had enough of each color), I have enough of the different purple colors to make another blanket….look for another blog post down the road. ;)

Two rows of each of the colors completed.

If you are anything like me, you like to snack while you crochet.  I made some delicious bruschetta bites and swallowed them down with some even more delicious blackberry merlot. Isn’t crocheting fun?! 

Cuddled up with an electric blanket, bruschetta, and wine. My favorite way to crochet. :) 

The finished product (minus tying in loose ends). Total of 80 rows (remember each skinny stripe is 2 rows).

So, I decided to repeat two rows of the white and the darkest purple but you could do just two rows of each color so the stripes are all the same thickness. 

Can't wait to see Evelyn in the hat that I 
gave away in an earlier blog post.

Matching hats for Lindzee and her baby girl!

Isn't she absolutely precious?!
 I just want to snuggle her!

Since I had an extra skein of each color left, I played around with another color gradient pattern. I'll post about that blanket in a couple months. :)