Merry Christmas--Free Cowl Pattern!

You're cutting it pretty close to the deadline if you're just now looking for a free cowl pattern, but I humbly offer this one as my gift to you, gentle reader.

A one-skein project, it's quick enough to knit, but the broken rib pattern adds just enough to make it interesting. The broken rib pattern also makes the cowl completely reversible.

Bulky Broken Rib Cowl

Approximate Finished Size: 8” tall, 23” around

Materials:

Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande: 1 skein

Needles: one set of US 13 16” circular needles

Yarn needle to weave in ends and Stitch Markers

Gauge 3 sts per inch

Abbreviations:

CO: cast-on or cast-off

K: knit

P: purl

pm: place marker

Directions:

· Using cable cast-on method, CO 60 stitches and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist your stitches. For a slightly narrower cowl, feel free to cast on 56 or 52 stitches.

· Round 1: pm, K3, P1 to end of round.

· Round 2: P1, [K1, P3] to 3 stitches before marker, K1, P2.

· Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until work is approximately 8” tall, finishing on Round 2.

· Cast off using Round 1 stitch pattern.

· Weave in ends.

Copyright 2010— You are welcome to make and sell cowls from this pattern, but please don’t copy my written pattern for commercial uses or post it elsewhere.

_________________________

I'm about to hit the road for a few weeks, so may be offline for a bit. Merry Christmas!

Time for Some Vegetables

Dots:

• All the grades are done and submitted. I read some amazing in-class final essay exams. One student correctly used the adjective "Brechtian" twice and mentioned "the fourth wall." Why the hell didn't he speak up more in class?
• The dance workshop and gig went reasonably well as did the post-gig dinner for 30+. Next gig is not until 1/8. My throat held out until halfway through the third set, and I was able to cover up the fact that I could no longer speak.
• The student, he-who-never-had-turned-in-any-writing, never did turn in any writing.
• House guest has gone home, but left a tray of homemade baklava, which may or may not have been my primary form of sustenance for the last two days.
• I need to make a homemade red velvet cake tomorrow and because I am an icing snob, I also need to make cooked icing (cream cheese is too obvious).
  
• I still have a million things to do before Xmas, and my friend has pressured us into leaving a few days early, but I think I can reasonably knit without guilt once again.
  

Four Hours Later

On the Desk

• 1 final exam to write for my Shakespeare and Film class (due Thurs)
• 44 final exams to grade (due next Monday)
• 13 four-page papers proposing a solution to a community problem (due today)
• 20 two-page papers saying something about The Tempest (due Thurs)
• 6 two-page papers on The Taming of the Shrew (due Thurs)
• 1 very sore throat

Incoming

• 20 final essay exams in a tidy stack of blue books (Thurs)
• the potential of 3 papers from a student who has not turned in a single scrap of writing all semester
• 1 house guest (Fri)
• 1 rock star gig and 1 fairly intensive dance workshop to craft, complete with handouts (Sat.)

Final deadline: Monday, 5:30 p.m.

Operator Error

Yesterday, Steuben got one of Natalie's hand-knitted dog kerchiefs. I confess to having dropped a few strong hints along the way.

Steuben tried humping the bejeezus out of Natalie's dogs before he got fixed. Even the three-legged one managed to evade his amorous advances, but that didn't stop him from trying.

Natalie said she made the kerchief blue so that it would be manly, given all Steu's excess testosterone.




Steu feigned ignorance/innocence.
____________________
Lest I be thought cruel, I have received notice that my semi-annual dots postings are the main reason people read my blog.


Y'all are sadists, I say.


Done (in the last 2.5 days)

• 22 four-page papers proposing a solution to a community problem.
• 1 final exam written, then rearranged to make it look like 2 different exams
• 1 rock-star dance gig, to which came, I kid you not, Swedish tourists, 2 drunk homeless guys (who ended up leaving in handcuffs), an entire 14-person wedding party complete with bouquets and a team of photographers, and a field trip from a school for the blind.

On the Desk

• 1 final exam to write for my Shakespeare and Film class (due Thurs)
• 21 final exams to grade (due next Monday)
• 21 four-page papers proposing a solution to a community problem (due today)
• 20 two-page papers saying something about The Tempest (due Thurs)
• 6 two-page papers on The Taming of the Shrew (due Thurs)
• 1 very sore throat

Incoming

• 21 final exams
• 20 final essay exams in a tidy stack of blue books
• the potential of 3 papers from a student who has not turned in a single scrap of writing all semester
• 1 house guest
• 1 rock star gig and 1 fairly intensive dance workshop to craft, complete with handouts

You just want to see me suffer.

Puzzles

Ever since I was a kid, my family has assembled a jigsaw puzzle on Christmas day. As an adult, I've kept up the tradition.

This year, a puzzle store (the home base of an Internet business) opened near school and I finally got a chance to stop by and pick out my yearly puzzle.

Check out the knitting ones:

I did the above puzzle last year, although I swear it was missing a piece. I can even recognize some of the yarns. I spy Poof and Koigu and Malabrigo Silk and Squiggle and . . . For some reason, the designers threw in a few skeins of DMC floss just for fun.

Of course, there's the ubiquitous cats and knitting.

I already said they were ubiquitous, right? I actually really like this one, called Principles of Knitting, although I generally choose photographic puzzles over ones of illustrations. I have a feeling the knitted white afghan would make me crazy though.

This amazing piece is a Huichol painting made out of yarn glued to a board.

The puzzle to the left, called "Yards of Yarn," seems to be sold out at the moment. I got the chance to check it out in the shop last week and can testify that the title should really be "Yards of Floss."

That title doesn't alliterate though.

What is it with puzzle makers confusing floss and yarn?

I almost bought this one, but decided to opt for a non-knitting puzzle this year.

Wanna know what I picked?

HPL

The lovely and talented but blogless Suzanne (she of the stitch markers) and I have been trading lessons. I taught her hairpin lace and she taught me Tunisian crochet.*

I thought it would be fun to see how a single project, this bookmark, looked in different fibers.

• Multi-color silk from Mystical Creations Yarn:

• Some variegated crochet cotton (sans label but purchased at Hearthstone):

• Suzanne's version in Cotton Warp from Dyeabolical:

___________

*Tunisian, it turns out, is not my craft. I'm glad I know how to do it, but seriously, not my thing.

Oh Dear

When I get home this evening, I really hope to find this kerchief still sitting where I left it.

I posed it for crappy photos in the early dawn, then still half asleep, left for work, forgetting that I had left an angora kerchief in a room with a dog who looooooooves bunny rabbits.

_______________

I realized this weekend, that I hadn't written about food in awhile. I'd experienced a bit of cooking languor for a few months due to a crazy schedule, but then let go of some activities and some expectations, and started going through my cooking magazines again.

With the cold snap, I harvested the last of the tomatoes, whether ripe or not. Plus, LB came home from a Civil War reenactment with a literal truckload of produce: cabbage, onions, and apples. We're not the type of people who can afford to turn down free food.

I generally try not to freeze stuff--meals that goes into the freezer never seem to come back out, but I'm giving it a shot--I made and froze applesauce, tomato sauce, and caramelized onions.* I do better with frozen ingredients (onions and peppers can just be chopped and frozen; I also pre-cook and freeze rice) than I do with entire meals.

The apples were the easiest to use up: applesauce, apple pancake, chopped apples in oatmeal, apple crisps, apple custard pies, apple tarts, and more. I've only got eight leathery apples left.

The cabbage has been harder. We've had Bavarian cabbage (a vinegary cabbage w/ onions and apples--a threepeat!!), fennel/cabbage salad (also with chopped onion and apple), cabbage and knackwurst. I also foisted at least two cabbages on everyone who crossed our threshold. I have three wilty heads left.

Next week will be onion week. I still have more than a bushel to go.

_________________


*To caramelize onions, slice as many as will fit in your slow cooker, add about 3 T or less of olive oil and cook on high for 11 hours. Freeze or turn into French onion soup.

Grading, grading, grading

Enjoy the pretty picture:

Stampin' Up

This Sunday, December 5, Knitorious is hosting a workshop to make tags for hand-knit gifts.

I had seen a LYS in Urbana hosting a similar class and found out a way to bring it to St. Louis. There's still time to sign up.

At the class you’ll create 6 Make ‘n Take projects using high-quality Stampin’ Up! paper and inks. You’ll be able to embellish the projects with some of the beautiful fibers and yarns available at Knitorious.

At The Class you’ll create:

• 5 different “hand knit” gift tags, perfect for dressing up your knitted holiday gifts.
• PLUS a ‘hand knit’ greeting card

These items are perfect to use yourself or put them together and package them as a wonderful handmade gift for a special knitting friend.

Class Details:

Date: Sunday, December 5th

Time: 2 to 5 pm

Location:Knitorious, 3268 Watson; (314) 646-8276

Class Cost: $15 (All supplies needed to create your 5 gift tags and greeting card are included in this fee)

If you like the stamp set (and it's super cute!), you can order it at the event.