Orion Cowl

I know my Sister-in-law admires infinity scarves (thanks to Pinterest, where she called them "Fall Essentials"), so I decided to make her one for Christmas. I admired Gap-Tastic and Marian, but in the end, I knew I wanted to go my own way. Part of the reason to create a new pattern is that I wanted to try real moss stitch (not seed stitch) where there is a 4-row-repeat. It’s nice!

I used sz 15 needles; I wish I had size 13s, but oh well. My gauge is always small anyway.
I knit mine with with 1.75 skeins of Thick & Quick Metallic. Unblocked it’s 8” wide and 26” in diameter. Very snuggly and stretchy with a lot of nice drape.
92 yards got me 4.5”, unblocked, so you can judge how much yardage you'll need.

Materials:
Super-bulky yarn, about 160 yards. (I used Lion Brand Thick & Quick Metallic in Constellation 140g/ 92 yards each)
Size 13 -15 US needles (9-10mm) depending on your preference and gauge.

Gauge (not super-important): 7.75 sts and 9 rows = 4"

CO 113, then knit 1st & last st together to join. Place marker. Begin pattern:
Row 1) k1, p1
Row 2) k1, p1
Row 3) p1, k1
Row 4) p1, k1

Repeat these 4 rows until it's tall enough (I stopped at 8")
End on row 3.

Bind Off is: k2tog, pass stitch back to L needle, *K2tog TBL, pass back to L needle, P2tog TBL, pass back to L needle* repeat. Nice & stretchy, without a glaring edge.

Block it if you want to, it may stretch out a bit with wear if you don't. I left mine unblocked though, it's just so squishy!

Enjoy your infinity scarf/ giant cowl!

Calyx pattern

The calyx is the ring of leaves behind a flower’s petals. It often is left behind attached to the top of the fruit, as in the case of an eggplant, strawberry, tomato, or persimmon.

We randomly have a lot of royal purple tulle, and so I suggested to DH that he could be an eggplant for Halloween. He loved the idea, but said he needed a stem & leaves, so I knit some.
There weren’t any patterns that were at all what I was looking for, so I made one up.

My original pattern has 4 leaves, and I really wish it had 5, so here’s the pattern re-written for 5 leaves. This (knitted with chunky yarn) fits an average man’s head (not tightly). For someone smaller, use smaller yarn & needles.

CO 8 sts on sz 8 needles.
I-cord 1”
Switch to sz 10 needles, I cord 2 rows.
Join in round, knit one row.
*KF&B* repeat around row.
K 1 row.
*KF&B, K1*.
K 1 row.
*KF&B K2*.
K 1 row.
*KF&B, K4*.
K 1 row.
Make every 4th stitch a purl to delineate the leaves and their veins. Keep these stitches as purls throughout, increasing around them (use stitch markers if necessary).
Continue increase pattern (keeping purl ditches as established) until 80 sts.
Knit 1” (I didn’t do this and really wish I had)

Knit back & forth on the first 16 stitches to make one leaf:
Sl1, K6, P1, K8
Sl1, Purl.
Sl1, K6, p1, K6, K2 tog. (15sts)
Sl1, purl.
Sl1, K1, PSSO, K5, p1, K5, K2 tog (13 sts)
s1, purl.
Sl1, K1, PSSO, K4, p1, K4, K2 tog (11 sts)
s1, purl.
Sl1, K1, PSSO, K3, p1, K3, K2tog. (9 sts)
s1, purl.
Sl1, K1, PSSO, K2, p1, K2, K2tog. (7 sts)
s1, purl.
Sl1, K1, PSSO, K1, p1, K1, K2tog. (5 sts)
s1, purl.
Sl1, K1, PSSO, p1, K2tog. (3 sts)
Last row: sl1, P 1, PSSO, K1, BO 1, tie off last stitch.

Repeat this for the other 4 leaves. Wear & be fruity or vegetable-ey as you please! (Though botanically speaking, they’re all fruits.)

To make this into a strawberry cap, knit the main part of the cap an extra inch or so before splitting off the leaves. Then do the leaves each as 8 sts wide instead of 16.

For a tomato, split the leaves off after an inch, but again make them 8 sts wide, and do extra straight rows between each decrease to make them longer). This gives 10 leaves instead of 5.

How weird are we?

Since March is apparently "National Crafts Month" I thought I should attempt to chronicle the weirdness that is our crafty household. Also at some point I read an article in Sunset about "the next hip food-crafty trends" or something similar. It listed about 6 "new" things all the cool foodies should try. I realized we'd already done 5 of the 6 things.
Also the big interest in Pinterest cracks me up, because it really seems like a site for people that wish they were craftier than they actually are (but instead they spend hours online trolling for pretty pictures of food and crafts). I actually do make those weird, complicated recipes, and craft those cute things.

So here is a list of our homestead-craftiness:

Gardening:
* 124 square feet of raised bed garden space.
* Additional beds of strawberries & garlic, plus blueberry plants, rhubarb, 4 fruit trees, and hops on the garage.
*Herbs and flowers in the front, as well as a hedge of raspberries edged with artichokes.

Food:
* Homebrewed beer, all from the grain (as opposed to extract- it's like making a cake from scratch vs boxed mix), often using home-grown hops.
+ Home-fermented cider (from apples we press ourselves, grown by us & Matt)
* Homemade rootbeer (from extract, but still)
* Homemade cheese: mozzarella, ricotta (both milk and whey-style, queso blanco
* Homemade sausage. R loves doing this, I just help turn the handle because I hate raw ground meat.
* homemade sauerkraut and pickles, the lacto-fermented REAL version, not the add-vinegar quick way.
* home canned peaches, jams, tomatoes, chutney, and all sorts of other preserves.
* I often bake complicated cookie/ dessert recipes, usually involving some kind of caramel. The last ones I made were copycats of GSA Samoas. All treats in our house come from scratch, not a box or a mix. They taste 500 times better that way.
* Homemade candies: caramel, fudge, divinity, lollipops, fondant eggs, praline, chocolate frogs, marshmallows, beer brittle, toffee.
* We bake bread, sometimes by hand, sometimes in the machine, often using the 3-min-a-day recipes. Also pizza crust.
* Homemade pasta. We haven't done it in a while, but making squash raviolis are on the list for next week's dinner.
* Sssmokin! R got a smoker for Christmas a couple years ago and has smoked: tofu, salmon, many kinds of cheese, almonds, scallops.
* And let's not forget the contribution of eggs by our 3 chickens. :)
* We often try new recipes from all over the world. We've made etouffe, gnocchi, Mongolian hotpots, lemongrass beef noodle bowls, caponata, spanikopita, borscht, schnitzel, tikki masala, chili relleno, Ethiopian lentil stew, tagine, potstickers, ceviche, sushi, wood-fired pizza, kalua pork, etc. Tonight's dinner is pad see ew.
* Also this is not crafty, but trendy- we source all our meats locally from small, sustainable farms (4-H kids, if you want to know) and catch our own clams and crabs.

Crafty:
* I've knit over 200 things, including probably 30+ sweaters.
* I dye yarn about 3 times a month, and am learning more about using natural dyes (as opposed to food coloring, which I use now).
* I now create yarn on my spinning wheel! The other day I spun 5 oz of fluff that I dyed myself and got 315 yards of lightweight wool!
* We make our own soap from the melt & pour glycerine. I currently have 25 lbs of goat-milk base R gave me for Christmas. ;)
* I'm in the midst of sewing a green pleated skirt for St. Patrick's Day. I've made a couple other skirts, pillows for our couch, tote bags, the dog bed, etc.
* Woodworking- R has made shelves, spice racks, tables, display racks, a sweater cabinet, a nice box for my knitting, a cribbage board, etc.

Construction:
R built our garage himself, aside from the concrete and framing, which had to be done by professionals. He's also built several retaining walls, our garden shed, a stone patio, a pergola for the grapes over the patio, a trellis for wisteria, and the chicken chalet.

I'm sure there are a million things I'm forgetting, and things that don't really have a good space like "we make our own granola." But yeah, we're foodies, and we're weird. Apparently that currently makes us hip. Crazy.

for those not interested in knitting

Right, so I know if there are still people out there who check this blog, they will be disappointed that my latest post in months is a knitting pattern. Sorry. Here's a real post!

Things are going well here, though work is very scarce since the district went to a 4-day school week. But I'm getting knitting done, I guess.

R is still liking his promotion to Mr. Manager, though he is certainly working more hours now.

We spent Christmas in Seattle, and then went to Cabo with my Mom just after Christmas. It was warm, but it was a very atypical vacation for us- we're not used to the "sit around the pool at the giant resort" kind of trips. We did get to do a bit of snorkeling and a lot of walking though, and took a sunset boat ride. Cabo is crazy, it made me a bit uncomfortable how everyone spoke English and tried to sell you things. That's not the "Mexico" I want to visit. But it was nice to be in warm weather for 10 days, particularly since we came back and had to flee the snowstorms in Seattle, only to arrive home in time for a small typhoon.

Spring is going to be busy though, I'm traveling to visit Vicky in LA later this week (and going to my first ever knitting convention- must not buy ALL THE YARN!), seeing "Wicked" in Portland Easter weekend, and then going on a road trip through the Southwest with my Mom in late April. It'll be fun, though I'll miss R and the dogs.

There is not much exciting news to tell for now, I'll report back after my adventures!

Distinguished Gentleman's Wig pattern

Distinguished Gentleman’s wig
This pattern was created for a Pirate-themed birthday party I had a couple years ago. You can’t be a proper British Naval Captain without a powdered wig! It was inspired by Hallowig, but I had to basically make up my own version, so here it is. If anything is confusing, it might help to glance at that pattern though. This wig is knitted in 3 pieces, the two sides (which will roll up to form the curls) and the ponytail, which are later connected in the round when the bangs are cast on.
This pattern hasn’t been tested or tech edited, and it was written up about 2 years after I knitted it, so if you find problems, please let me know! You may note in the photos that my wig is very short (you can see the natural hairline in the back), I adjusted the pattern to make it longer.

Materials: Size 8 US (5mm) circular needles, plus an extra needle (of any sort) about the same size for BO
Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool (or any worsted-aran weight, off-white wool), 120 yards.
A bit of ribbon.

Gauge: approximately 19 stitches and 24 rows = 4” You don't need to swatch, but it has to fit your person’s head, so check as you go.
Size- Should stretch to fit an average adult

Sides (make 2)
Cast on 18
Row 1) K1, P1, *knit until last 2 stitches* P1, K1. This purl ditch will keep the sides from rolling too much.
2) P1, K1, *purl until last 2 sts*, K1, P1.
Repeat until piece is 3.75” long from beginning.
Then start increases: K1, P1, Kf&b, *knit until last 3 sts* Kf&b, P1, K1. (20 sts)
Work 3 rows in pattern.
Repeat these 4 rows once more. (22 sts)
Repeat increase row. (24 sts)
Work one row in pattern.
Repeat increase row.(26 sts)
Work one row in pattern. (Finish on the Wrong side.)
Cut yarn; put the sides on stitch holders or spare yarn. (Piece should be about 5”)


Back:
Cast on 6 sts.
1) K1, p1, K2, p1, K1
2) P1, K1, P2, K1, P1
3) K1, P1, K2 tog, P1, K1 (5 sts)
4) P1, K1, P1, K1, P1
5) K1, P1, K1, P1, K1
6) repeat row 4
7) repeat row 5
8) repeat row 4
9) Start increases: K1, P1, Kf&b, *K until last 3 sts* Kf&b, P1, K1
Work 3 rows in pattern (knit the knits, purl the purls)
Repeat these 4 rows 6 more times. 19 sts. Ponytail should be about 5.5” long. Cut yarn



Connect the sides and back:
Knit across one side (continuing the one purl stitch just inside each edge), then Kf&B across all ponytail stitches, Knit across second side. 90 sts.
Knit back-and-forth in pattern (all stockinette except the 4 edge stitches) for 3 more inches. Sides should measure about 8” total. End on a wrong side.

Crown:
Knit around the side, back, side, Cast on 15 stitches for bangs and join in the round. P1 (edge stitches of next round), place marker for new beginning of row. 105 sts.
Continue in pattern, including the established ribs at the beginning and end of rows. Continue this K1 P1 pattern through the newly cast-on bang stitches. (Row should K 88, *P1, K1* to end of row, ending with a purl. There should be 17 total ribbed stitches, including the already established edge “ditches”).
Repeat for 2 more rows.
Then knit all stitches except the 2 purl “ditch” rows at the edge of the 2 sides, outlining the bangs. Knit until 1” from ribbing.
Set up for decreases:
*Knit 21 sts, place decrease marker* repeat until bang stitches.
Decrease:
*Knit to 1st marker, slip marker, k1, ssk, K to 3 sts before next marker 2, k2tog, k1, slip marker. * Repeat for other 2 markers. Work the bang stitches as established (knitting all but the 2 purl edges).
Work the decreases every round until 6 sts remain between markers (15 decrease rows). AT THE SAME TIME, Every other row, decrease the bangs as follows: P1, K1, SSK, Knit until last 3 sts, K2tog, P1.
The bangs should measure 3” and be almost all decreased at this point.

Remove st markers, put the first half (between center front and center back)on one side of the circular needle, and second half on the other side of the needle.
Flip inside out, and do a 3-needle BO.

Finishing: Weave in all ends. Turn right-side out. Roll up the bottom 3-4” of the sides and tack down to form the curls. They should be located just at the bottom of your ears. Feel free to make a couple extra 4" squares if you want more curls, just roll up & tack on! Tie a ribbon around the narrow part of the pony tail. If you want to be really fancy you can make a tassel and sew it on the end of the ponytail. The wig may need to be felted slightly to fit, but that will make it more realistically wiggy!

Wear to all important Royal events, or to capture scurvy sea dogs.

Note- if you want it to be more of a novelty hat and less of a costume wig, knit your favorite ear-flap hat pattern as the crown, placing the wig curls and ponytail at the proper spots (either sewn in or knitted on).