More Coffee Please!

 

Well I have just been having a grand old time making up coffee cuffs from left over scraps around my house. The cuff above is made form left over Berocco Borealis yarn that I made my mittens from about a week ago.  And the cuff below is the left over yarn from my Slope hat made from Chloe & Spud Outer.

 

The Borealis cuff I decided to alternate a seed stitch with a stockinette. I like ribbed coffee cuffs because they grab the cup better - but I get tired of the standard ribbed look. I thought this would be a nice change and it worked out well. I will include my pattern notes for this one below and you can also find them on my Pattern notes on Ravelry.

 

The spud cozy is just a simple seed stitch pattern. I used under 11 yards of this yarn on size 17 needles. Cast on 8 stitches and worked seed stitch until I ran out of yarn. I stretched it a bit to get it to fit the mug - but it grips nicely! Simple wip stitch the ends together. Easy as pie! You can find my notes for this on Ravelry as well.

 

Pattern for Coffee Cuff a'la Borealis

 

Size 10 needles.
Cast on 12 stitches.
I did seed stitch with chunks of stockinette to give it a little bit of a ribbed effect without being a traditional rib. The one I made took less than 20 yards (18 meters) of Berocco Borealis yarn.

1. k1,p1 across
2. p1, k1 across
3. k1,p1 across
4. p1, k1 across
5. k1,p1 across
6. p1, k1 across
7. k1,p1 across
8. p1, k1 across
9. knit across 10 purl across
10. knit across
11. purl across

I repeated these 12 rows 3 times. Then I measured against my coffee cup and I was a little short, so I added a row or two more of stockinette, and then added a little more seed stitch until it fit around the mug perfect. Then I bound off and wip stitched it together.

A Cuppa Joe

 

 

 

Our local Target has a Starbucks in it, so after a shopping haul I will occasionally indulge in a nice big cuppa Joe. This last time I pulled out a cozy I knit to wrap around my coffee and it was so icky. You know how stuff gets when it's been in the bottom of your purse too long and even though your pets don't go in your purse somehow (magic?) their hair does go in your purse and will collect on any knit item you carry. So I was a little embarrassed by my hand knit cozy covered in paper scraps and dog hair and decided to make myself some new ones.

 

The Pattern: It is a free pattern on Ravelry called "Woven Cable Coffee Cup Sleeve" by Linda Thach.

The Yarn: I used left over worsted weight Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride 100% wool. I used 21 grams which is about 36 yards (33m) of yarn.

The Needle: I knit this on Size 5 needles, and I used double points. I just thought it would be easier with the cables to have the double points. When I make this again I will do it on straight needles instead of double points, but I will probably keep the dp's handy for the cables and for the provisional cast on.

The results: I really like it. I learned how to do a provisional cast on and then kitchnered the two sides together in the end, although you can cast on anyway you like and then just stitch it together as well. I had never done a cable like this before either, so it was fun to learn a new cable. I almost always hold my stitches the wrong way when I cable, and this was no exception. I had to rip out after a pattern repeat and start over. (Why do I find Front and Back so confusing?) Anyway - now that I have made this once I am eyeing other left over balls of yarn and thinking about how many coffee cozies I could have in a week or two! What else can you make with 40 yards of left overs?

 

My project notes on this can be found on my project page on Ravelry "Pretty Pink Cable Cozy".

 

 

Fall Borealis Mittens

FINALLY these are done! I had a false start and had to rip them out completely, but now they are finished!

The Pattern: Woodhaven. This is a free pattern form Berroco yarns.
The Yarn: I used Berroco Borealis yarn. Even with my yarn eating modifications I used less than one skein. A very pretty yarn and fun to work with.
My Mods: I knit the cuffs 4.5 inches in length rather than 3 inches in length. I wanted a nice long cuff to fit under my jacket. Anyone who has had to remove snow from a car knows a long cuff is a good thing.

If I made these again I would add a few rows of knit stitch between the ribbing and the thumb. The directions call for only one row of knit before you start the thumb up and that ends up with the ribbing not stopping at your natural wrist - rather it is up on your hand. I would like more of a transition there.

I would also add a little more length to the thumb. The pattern does not have you pick up any stitches from the body of the mitten when you make the thumb - and this leaves a pretty nice size hole in the area I call the thumb crotch. (I put picture of the hole in the "thumb crotch" up on my Ravelry Project Page here if you want to take a look and see what I mean.) When I went to stitch the hole closed it really pulled a lot on the thumb and made it tighter. I think a row or two more added to the length would help this out.

Over all not a bad free project. I am thinking about making them again to use as a liner for some of my super bulky mittens that are a little over sized for me. It would be great for that I think. I am in love with this yarn - Hope it wears well!

A Hat!

 

This was almost an instant hat and I am so happy I did it!

I have been admiring this pattern on Ravelry for a while now. The pattern is for Spud & Chloe and was created by Susan B. Anderson and is called "Slope Hat". I had avoided it for awhile because:

 

* It's not available as a download.

* Spud and Chloe charge kind of a lot for their patterns. $8.00 for a hat pattern is a little hard to justify for me.

* The yarn for their patterns is also expensive. Outer runs around $16.00 and you get 60 yards. Ouch.

 

So I kind of resolved myself to just admire the pattern and never make it. Then I clicked on a link for kpixie on Ravelry and found out I could get the hat and pattern for less than the cost they normally charge for just a ball of the yarn. I ordered it almost instantly! I didn't have a choice in the color of the yarn, but I was ok with the Hedge Green. I really liked the deal I got from kpixie, the yarn came very fast and they offer some great deals on their site. (I will be shopping there again!)

 

So I cast on with size 15 7" circulars and would have finished it in one sitting if I hadn't been so darn tired. I made myself stop when I got to the point I needed to switch to double points and finished it off the next morning.

 

I really like the yarn! It's superwash wool and cotton and it felt almost soapy to me when I was knitting (I can't find any other way to describe the texture - Soapy was how I described it to my hubby.) I love how it lays in the pattern, the cable looks really nice. The hat fits really well and I know I will wear it a lot this winter.

I am already looking through my stash for more yarns to work this pattern in. It only used 50 yards of the Outer! I have a fantasy of making several more in outer and then making something out of all the left over 10 yard chunks. We will see. I am pretty sure my yarn budget is already destroyed for 2013.....