New blog!

Hello, all! I have a new blog! I will probably not be using this one anymore.
Click the button on the right or go to www.mrslemonmint.blogspot.com for patterns, recipes, and fun up-cycling ideas!

Again, it's been awhile since I posted anything. But, I have a pretty good excuse. Getting married! Three weeks ago I married my best friend James, and now we are enjoying our quiet little life together. Quiet, because we are fairly boring people who rarely leave home if we can help it; little because we seem pretty insignificant to the big wide world right now. Neither of us is terribly upset by this.

I'm loving that he gets to work from home, so I see him literally 24 hours a day and we are still not tired of each other. :) Seems like a good sign to me!

While my darling husband is working in his study I have been finally getting around to stuff I simply haven't had the energy or desire to do for ages. That would be designing new patterns and setting up an etsy shop. My shop's name is LemonMintKnits and it does not currently have anything for sale, but I am working on it. A few things need finishing touches, some haven't even been started. But once I've got a bunch made I just need to find a friend to model for me and I can get it started.

The design part of my life is going rather slowly as I tend to design as I knit (which sometimes produces less that desirable results). I tend to have more success with a garment if I literally write the pattern before knitting it, but often there is not enough inspiration at the beginning to motivate me to do it this way. My latest design is a pretty little cardigan designed especially for my Mother-in-law. The construction is a little unconventional, but very streamlined. I like it when knitting construction feels streamlined and organic, as if the yarn is making all the decisions; being sculpted, not forced into shape. Once I get the pattern written (and not just a bunch of numbers in my head which I am liable to forget) maybe I will talk to my designer friends who have connections and try to get hooked up with a knitting magazine. I may be biased, but I personally think the sweater is cute enough to be published on more than just my Ravelry page.
Hopefully they do too. :)

Been awhile...

I haven't posted in ages. Not that anybody probably really reads my blog much or anything, but still. Things have been chaotic and messy and rather distressing during the past six months, and I've had no desire to put it all out there on the internet for the whole world to see.

Good news is: God is in charge. He protects me and will deal with the problems and people (and problematic people) in my life in His own way and time. He has also given me an incredible, loving fiance (soon-to-be husband in 35 days), who goes to great lengths to ensure my well-being and sense of security.

If not for them, I'm not sure what I would do.

I want to design more and such, but it seems unusually hard to accomplish anything lately. I can only hope that I will feel less drained of energy and life in the near future.

Museums

In January we hit three museums in Tacoma all in one night! The pic above is the illusive WWI button/pin which the boy's team (James, Joey, and Tyler) found but the girl's team (Mom, Kayla, and me) just couldn't seem to spot, fro the Washington State History Museum's scavenger hunt game.

The next two are the outdoor water sculpture exhibit from the Museum of glass. SO beautiful! The pictures just don't do it justice. It is a must-see, especially at night!


James, Joey, mom, and Tyler doing the scavenger hunt.
Kayla has always wanted to have her own covered wagon. :)

Engaged!

This is a few weeks late, but on February 1st, my boyfriend asked me to marry him! Yay!
(And, yes, I knit my sweater. It is "Louisa" from French Girl Knits, made with one ball of Cascade Yarns Eco Wool.)

It's SO sparkly! He cut out a circle in the introduction of the book and put the ring in it, tied to the ribbon bookmark.

:D

Beginning Crochet Ruffle Scarf

For Renaissance Yarns beginning crochet class

By Lexi Cushing

Supplies

Yarn: 1 skein Cascade Yarns Cascade 128
Hook: K
Notions: 1 large button
Size: 1 size fits all

Pattern
Ch 13

Row 1: Skip first ch, hdc in each ch, ch 1, turn. (12 hdc made)
Row 2: Skip ch, hdc in each hdc, ch 1, turn.

Repeat Row 2 until scarf measures 15 inches or desired length.

Button hole row:
Hdc in next 5 hdc, ch 2, skip next 2 hdc, hdc in next 5 hdc, ch 1, turn.

Repeat Row 2 once.

Ruffle:
3 hdc in each hdc, ch 1, turn. (36 hdc made)

Repeat Row 2 three times.

Fasten off. If desired edge the scarf with single crochet.

Sew button on the end of the scarf which does not have the ruffle.

Weave in ends.

Enjoy!

Flooding cookies... mmm...

Today I attempted my first cookie flooding venture, and they turned out really beautiful!

Super easy. Super yummy.

(The upside-down T is for my little bro, the car is for my dad, and the heart that says mom, obviously, is for mom)

I started by outlining my homemade gingerbread cookies (which Tyler helped me cut out) with a thick royal icing. Then with thinner icing I filled the space inside the outline with a spoon.

For my sweet friends M and D:

D's kind of leaked at the lower right corner. :( But, hey, it was my first try.

...and James:

This one is for me!

Near perfection!

Fleur de lis for the boy scout in the family:

Everybody's favorite.

Authentic gingerbread men for the foreign exchange students:

(It's not flooding, but it's still pretty cool)

And stars for my grandma:

Ta da! Now, only now that they have had their pictures taken, can the cookies be eaten.

Silver Lining Bag

The Silver Lining Bag

By Lexi Cushing

When I was teaching a friend of mine to knit a few months ago I pulled out a bunch of my finished projects for her inspiration, including this little number (after dumping out my car keys, cell phone, wallet, and half a dozen pens), which I had just finished designing. She spotted it right off and exclaimed, “Oh my word, name your price!” I was loath to part with my new handbag, so I typed up the pattern for her instead.

This bag is simple enough for brand new knitters, and a great introduction to knitting in the round. For the more advanced, it is instant gratification. It knits up so fast! Another thing I love about this bag is that it only takes one skein of yarn,
making it a fabulous last minute gift item.

Modeled by Kayla Cushing

Ode to PLU's deplorable parking

My Bout-Rimés (Pre-Raphealite poetry game) Italian Sonnet for English 452.

Rules: The last word of every line was chosen for me. 14 lines, 10 syllables each. Italian or English rhyme scheme.


A day in the life of a commuter student

Some things are frustrating and make me blue
And there’s a place with colors black and gold
Whose lack of parking spaces soon gets old.
Driving round and round is kind of fun, it’s true,
But I’d rather not spend my day this way.
It’s not too bad in morning at first light,
Or even if I get here late at night,
But often it seems really rather gray.

So from my distant parking space I tread.
My commute would be much faster could I fly.
If I’m lucky I can park in the shade.
And even though I’m feeling angry, red,
And I’m driving in circles crying, “WHY?!”
Once I find a parking space it does fade.

:-P

Today so far

I made pretty good time with my English paper so now, instead of getting a head start on Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad for Modernist Lit, I'm blogging. Because I can. Ha.

My computer's battery is at 25%. Gonna keep it short.

Update:

I'm feeling a little under the weather today. Blah... I didn't want to get up this morning or go to school, but here I am. It should be a pretty good semester though. I wasn't looking forward to it up until now, first-week jitters and all that. It's just going to be A LOT of reading and writing, with few other obligations attached. Sounds decent.

Just had lunch in my favorite comfy chair of my favorite corner of the UC. This particular spot is only high traffic around meal times. It's right next to the cafeteria. Said hi to a few friends.

Has anybody noticed these new space-age hand dryers appearing in public restrooms? I first saw them at PLU a few months ago and they freaked me out. They claim to be "the quickest, most hygienic" way to dry your hands. Says so on the label. But that didn't make me want to stick my hands inside it the first time. I used my jeans the next time. Whatever happened to paper towels?

Paper towel are not "Green" apparently. Hence the super-hygienic, air jet, motion detecting, speedy hand dryers, and the potato starch spoons and paper straws.

Lately I've been seeing them all over. Like those motion sensitive faucets. Those were pretty weird at first. Now I find myself standing at old sinks for a good 15-20 seconds before realizing that I have to turn it on. By hand. Low tech.

And don't you just hate the ones that won't turn on while you stand there waving at them?

Off to English 300.

Joe Cool

This a gift I designed for my younger brother Joey. But it's a surprise for Christmas, so he couldn't see it. I had to recruit my other little bro, Tyler, to model it for me.

Introducing Mr. Cool: Tyler Cushing

Joe Cool

By Lexi Cushing

Materials

Rowan Pure Wool DK:

(Main Color) 1 ball Earth, (Contrasting Color) 1 ball Quarry

Tapestry needle

Needles

#6 dpns

Size

one size fits most

Gauge

22 sts and 28 rows over 4" (height of gauge is not especially important in the pattern, width matters more)

Notes

This color chart is a repeat of 10 stitches. If you think you might need to adjust the size either add or take away 10 sts in the cast on and continue with the pattern. Just remember that if you do your numbers will be slightly different than mine.

Also note that this pattern assumes knowledge of color work.

Color Chart

Body of Hat

Cast on 100 in MC

Rows 1-7: K2 P2

Switch to CC

Row 8: Purl

Row 9: Knit

Row 10: Purl

Row 11: Knit

Row 12: Purl

Next row: Using both MC and CC work in 10 repeats of color chart

Continue until you have made four 9-row repeats.

Next row: Working in color pattern *knit 8, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Continue working in the color chart for 1 inch, or desired length, keeping in mind that you now have 10 less sts (or 1 less st per repeat). Think about it as eliminating st #10 [in brackets on chart].

Top of Hat

Next row: working in color pattern as closely as possible *Knit 7, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Next row: *knit 6, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Next row: *knit 5, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Next row: *knit 4, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Next row: *knit 3, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Next row: *knit 2, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Next row: *knit 1, k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

Next row: *k2tog, rep from * 9 times.

You should now have 10 sts. Cut MC and CC at about 6". Using tapestry needle thread yarn through all 10 sts and pull the needle out. Gather loops tightly and secure with a knot.

Weave in all ends.

[Please note that this pattern belongs to me. You are free to share it, but not to use it for personal gain. Check out my Creative Commons License for more information. Also, please comment if you find any errors {or if you like it!} and I will fix it as soon as possible. Thank You!]

Joe Cool by Lexi Cushing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Research Papers, Graduation, and 'Charlie, the guy with horses'?

Here it is half way through August and I feel like I haven't accomplished much. My bedroom still isn't as organized as I would like it to be, I haven't designed as much as I planned on, etc.  I keep thinking things will pick up and I will suddenly feel motivated to get stuff done.

I did start writing about a weird dream I had in June. It started out as climbing out of a townhouse fourth floor balcony in New York City (not sure how I got there) to escape from I don't know who and running to a nearby mall to find Charlie (I don't know any Charlies, by the way) and Charlie's horses. Because apparently if I found Charlie and his horses everything would be fixed (Yes, my dreams get weird. One time I flew to Mars in an inflatable spaceship). 20 pages later it turned into an international socialist conspiracy targeting young aspiring novelists at a creative writing conference in Seattle (Mostly because I know more about Seattle than about New York. All the super heroes are from New York anyway. It's overrated). Kinda crazy, huh? All those diabolical colonization strategies I learned about in Post-Colonial lit last semester just might be useful after all. 

But, yeah, that's how my brain works. Believe it or not, there actually was some vague connection between my dream and the story that came of it. I just can't remember what that was. The whole story is a bit confusing, but it makes sense to me. 

So, I'll do some research and we'll see if it turns out as zany as it sounds. 

Research is only fun on my own terms. I guess that's where my little hidden rebellious streak peeks out now and then. If I have to write a paper about something, and if everything has to be just so, then it's really a drag, and I procrastinate. Especially if it's a long one.

The best space-filler trick I ever learned in college was increasing the font size of all the periods and commas in a paper, while leaving the rest of the text at 12 point. Saves me between half and a full page, depending on the length of the paper. *snicker snicker, te he he...* All you Freshmen out there...you didn't get this from me.

I may be a Lit major, but there is only so such to be said about poetry written in a state of intoxication, no matter how classic it is considered.

So now with the beginning of the semester less than 3 weeks away, I guess I'd better hop to it and start accomplishing something.

Paper writing trick: Check!

"Charlie": Check!

Graduation...

I get the question, "what are you going to do after you graduate?" almost daily now. Well, graduation may be only 6 months away, but I never know what to tell people. I've come up with some ideas, but they change almost as often as the question is asked.

The truth is, I don't know what I will be doing. I don't know what I want to do. I had a dream for my future but it may not be an option right now. I've thought about World Vision, being a Literary Agent, working for a yarn company, getting certified to teach ESL and leaving the country, teaching music to home schoolers, editing, interning, writing for a recording studio, etc... Not only do none of those things make me go, "Yeah! That's what I want to do for the rest of my life!", there's no guarantee that I will even be able to get into a particular field should I have the desire to.

I know God will bring me something. He has good plans for me. It would be nice if He revealed them sooner rather than later.

So to anyone who has asked me about it recently: I have no answer for you and no answer for myself. I had hoped to have it figured out by now, but I don't, and I'm not sure when I will.

I feel like my life is still on hold until then.

Visit to Bethel Church

Bethel was amazing. I learn a lot just being in that atmosphere. Good things happen there.

We got there Friday evening and went to the Finale service for their Kid's School of Supernatural Worship. It was packed. Lots of kids. Lots of parents. Lots of guests (like me). We ended up sitting on the bleachers in the back, which would not have bothered me at all except that one of the worship songs involved jumping and sort of shimmying to the right and left. Which everyone did, of course. Crowded bleachers + bouncy, joyful, worshipers = a potentially hazardous situation. Other than making me a little nervous that part was great. The sermon was about the sensitivity of children to the Holy Spirit. Very cool.

Saturday we spent about 3 hours in the Encounter Room (the waiting area for healing Rooms). There were tons of people so they ended up turning the whole space into the Healing Room. Their staff came in and people started getting healed, set free. There were angels all over the place. I even saw some feathers. A bunch of white, fluffy down floated in front of my face. I tried to focus my eyes on one of the bigger feathers, which fell to my left. I glanced back up to see where the other feathers were going, but they were gone. And on the chair next to me was, not a white feather, but a blue one, which I picked, examined, and set back down. I turned to tell my mom about it and when I looked around again, there were no feathers to be seen anywhere. 

A girl prophesied over me that I was a dancer and God was going to give me a group friends to dance with. She said my movements released the Spirit and power. Prophecy is pretty cool. I'm not very experienced with it yet, but I want to do more. I like getting prophecies too. Right now I'm getting the same word from multiple people: That God will give me the desire of my heart.

My mom and I spent the afternoon in the Alabaster House, Bethel's prayer room. Sunday we went to all 3 services. During that weekend we went through a fire tunnel 4 times (not always the same fire tunnel). Now that was fun. If you've never been through a fire tunnel...well...you're missing out.

Word was great. Worship was great. At Bethel the people really love each other and honor each other. Not a negative word was spoken. It's a culture of honor. It makes a HUGE difference.

If it wasn't so hot (it was between 95-109 degrees while we were there) and there were more jobs available I would pack up and move down to Redding TODAY (after getting the okay from the big guy upstairs, of course).

After Sunday we were kind of bored because there was nothing else to do at Bethel, so we went shopping. Then we swam, then shopped, then watched people get attacked by anacondas and train unruly dogs on Animal Planet, then we found this amazing mineral makeup shop at Mt. Shasta Mall - I think it's called Spa Dolce - and a place that does threading, and visited Turtle Bay Exploration-something-or-other (which wasn't a bay and had no turtles). Turtle Bay Exploration-whatever-it-was was kind of an everything-museum. It had birds, fish, an arboretum, geological type stuff. A tiny bit of everything. We both concluded that the great Northwest and it's museums are far better (and bigger). Oh, and we did bumper boats too, in Oasis. Over the weekend we went to Sundial bridge (it really is a sundial) and tried to swim in the Sacramento river, but it was freezing cold. We drove home with two friends on Tuesday night and got back at 4 a.m. the next morning.

One of the biggest things I brought back with me from Bethel was the joy of the Lord. It was already starting to thrive. Going to Bethel was like adding Miracle Grow to our garden vegetables.

I don't think I fully understood the joy of the Lord being my strength until now. I've always been prone to slipping into depression when things get tough. My mood goes south. I can't knit. I can't crochet. I can't open a book and devour it. Even eating, drinking, and sleeping lose their appeal. But everything changes when the joy of the Lord is there.  It never made sense that I could be joyful and sad/anxious/terrified/lonely/hurt/etc. at the same time. Apparently it's possible because I've been doing it for a month now. If I'm too distressed to move, suddenly I get the urge to dance. The trouble is still there; it just doesn't matter so much anymore. It's a good feeling; a better one than the dark, bitter stillness of depression.

Now it's back to work. I've been away from the shop for 2 whole weeks! It will be nice to see everybody again. Now that my house guest are gone I feel like I can finally get some things done. I'm planning to get some new designs up on Ravelry within the next month. And hopefully my handbag pattern get published in Knitty. Fingers and toes crossed!

That's it for now.

Flowers [crochet]

These can be made with any weight and any hook size you wish.

Pictures to come...

Simple Flower

Chain 2

Round 1: Sc 5 in second chain from hook.

Round 2: (sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc) in each sc.

Fasten off.

Round Petal Flower

Ch 2

Round 1: Sc 8 in second ch from hook.

Round 2: (sl 1, ch 2, dc 2, ch) in each sc.

Fasten off.

Layered Flower

[Petal sequence: sc 1, hdc 2, dc 1,tr 1, dc 1, hdc 2, sc 1]

Ch 4, link ends to form a loop.

Round 1: work in 7 sc. Join, ch 1.

Round 2: Hdc 2 in each sc. Join, ch 1.

Round 3: (sc in first st, ch 3, sk one st) all the way around. Join.

Round 4: One petal sequence in each ch 3 loop.

Round 5: (Sl in back of sc of round 3, ch 4) all the way around.

Round 6: One petal sequence in each ch 4 loop.

Round 7: (Sl in back of sc of round 5, ch 5) all the way around.

Round 8: One petal sequence in each ch 5 loop, but this time double the number of dcs in each petal. Join, tie off.

Notes

a You can add as many petals as you desire. Simply add more or fewer single crochets in round #1 of your flower.

a If it looks like a flower, it is a flower.

Strawberry everything

I found the most amazing and easy Strawberry mousse recipe online yesterday!:

http://southernfood.about.com/od/strawberries/r/bl50221h.htm

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum...

The only thing I did differently was put everything in the blender instead of mashing the strawberries. It gave the mousse a super smooth consistency. That's how I think mousse should be. It has been in the freezer for almost 24 hours. The only thing I'm worried about is that ice crystals might form in it. It would still be yummy, but the texture would be off.

If you make it in the blender remember not to make more than one batch at a time. Unless you have a HUGE blender.

My mom and I made jam yesterday and had six full pints of strawberries left. She asked me to make some freezable desserts with them since we'll be having company pretty soon, and the strawberries were already very ripe.

I made strawberry pie, but that didn't use up very many [It didn't last very long either, mmmmm...]. This particular recipe had egg whites in it. You know, you simmer the stuff on the stove and then the egg whites go in. Apparently I didn't get the egg whites beaten well enough because a few stringy chunks of egg started to cook in the strawberry mixture [I scooped them out and no one noticed]. I've done worse than that. One time I was making something along those same lines and mindlessly put the yoke in the saucepan too. When the breakfasty scent of scrambled eggs filled the air I knew I had really messed something up. I also used to read forward, backward, up, and down all at the same time. Great for scanning literature, quickly gathering information. Not so great for cooking. 

Don't worry. I've come a long way. That hasn't happened in quite a while.

 I haven't had much to blog about lately. Not much is going on. I know some people can pull out deeper meaning, hidden truths, and all kinds of things out of small everyday events. That's really cool. But it's not me. At least, not right now. Anything metaphoric or philosophical is temporarily blocked from my brain, thanks in part to the new low tolerance for utter nonsense I have developed over the last year. It is or it isn't. It was or it wasn't. "Let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no' [can't remember where exactly in the bible that is from. Gospels, I think. New Testament, for sure. I'll look it up] Take it or leave it.

But I digress...

Anyway...

Strawberries. :-)

Yes, strawberries. I managed to use up almost all of them. Now I am onto a new task for today:

Christmas gifts!

10 down, 22+ to go. Most of those involve baking, so they can't be done until a few days before Christmas. Well, I guess I could bake them now, but, you know... The rest are larger projects which will require more time, thought, and effort. I have only 178 days to do it all. That would be tons of time if it weren't for school and all that. Here we go...!

The problem I always run into is finding a place in my room to store all this stuff. Last year it was my closet. As soon as the Christmas tree went up I got it all out of my room asap. This year I have dedicated an entire plastic tub to the cause. And it even fits under my bed. 

I just put up a Christmas widget on my dashboard. The count down has begun...

Wow, that was really disjointed. Oh, well.

Opposites Attract

Who says red and green are only for Christmas? Or scarves only for winter? Not this knitter!

Opposites Attract

{crochet scarf}

By Lexi Cushing

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, by Cascade Yarns. One ball of Sage {color A}; one ball of Red {color B}. Any worsted weight will do.

Hook size: J

Gauge: 12 hdc and 12 rows in 4 inches.

Notes: Don't worry if the gauge is a little off. It's just a scarf. Also, if wool is usually too warm or too itchy for you, try something smoother, like Sweater, by Spud and Chloe.

                   

Scarf:

Using color A, ch 139

Row 1: Sk first 2 sts, dc in next ch, *ch 1, sk next st, dc in next ch, rep from *. Ch 2, turn.

Row 2: Hdc in each st across. Ch 2, turn.

Row 3: Dc in first st, *ch 1, sk next st, dc in next hdc, rep from *. Ch 2, turn.

Rows 4-5: Rep row 2.

Row 6: Sc in next 30 sts, ch 12, sk 12 sts, sc in remaining sts across. Ch 2, turn.

Rows 7-8: Rep row 2.

Row 9: Rep row 3.

Row 10: Rep row 2.

Row 11: Rep row 3.

Fasten off.  Weave in ends.

Flower Button:

Using color B

Petal sequence: sc 1, hdc 2, dc 1,tr 1, dc 1, hdc 2, sc 1

Ch 4, link ends to form a loop.

Round 1: work in 7 sc. Join, ch 1.

Round 2: Hdc 2 in each sc. Join, ch 1.

Round 3: (sc in first st, ch 3, sk one st) all the way around. Join.

Round 4: One petal sequence in each ch 3 loop.

Round 5: (Sl in back of sc of round 3, ch 4) all the way around.

Round 6: One petal sequence in each ch 4 loop.

Round 7: (Sl in back of sc of round 5, ch 5) all the way around.

Round 8: One petal sequence in each ch 5 loop, but this time double the number of dcs in each petal. Join, tie off.

Weave in ends.

Fringe:

Cut 42 6” pieces of yarn, tie on ends of scarf in groups of three.

Abbreviations:

Ch= chain

Sc= single crochet

Dc= double crochet

Tr= triple crochet

Hdc= half double crochet

Sl= slip

Sk= skip

Rep= repeat

St[s]= stitch[es]

[Please note that this pattern belongs to me. You are free to share it, but not to use it for personal gain. Check out my Creative Commons License for more information. Also, please comment if you find any errors {or if you like it!} and I will fix it as soon as possible. Thank You!]

Opposites Attract: (crochet scarf) by Lexi Cushing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Seed Stitch Neck Warmer

This has been a nice summer so far. It's really great to have this break from school. I needed it. By the end of the semester I was pretty much exhausted. 

There hasn't been any drama in my life recently (as in the last few weeks), the sun finally came out, I've just been knitting, working, baking, trying to jog more often; everything is pretty quiet. I don't have much to talk about. Really, that is kind of a nice problem to have.

So, in all my spare time I've been designing. :-) Christmas is just around the corner, you know. This pattern I actually designed last summer, but have only just edited it. That being said, here is my contribution to all you knitters looking for quick Christmas projects:

[Please note that this pattern belongs to me. You are free to share it, but not to use it for personal gain. Check out my Creative Commons License for more information. Also, please comment if you find any errors {or if you like it!} and I will fix it as soon as possible. Thank You!]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Seed Stitch Neck Warmer

 By Lexi Cushing

                              

Materials 

Elsebeth Lavold Chunky Al (50% FS Alpaca, 50% Peruvian Wool; 50g = 75 m / 82 yd) [or any heavy worsted]

Main color: One ball dark red 

Contrasting color: One ball black 

Tools 

Size 8 needles 

Size K (10 1/2) crochet hook 

Gauge 

15-16 sts in 4 in.

Size 

One size fits most. 4 1/2 in. wide, 27 in. long.  For a longer neck warmer, get a second 

ball of dark red and continue in pattern until desired length. 

Pattern Notes 

Separate about 6-7 yards of main color before starting. 

Picot sequence: *3 sc, ch 3, sl in front loop of last sc, rep from * 

Neck warmer 

With main color, cast on 15 

Row 1: K1, *P1, K1, repeat from * until the end of the row. 

Next row: Rep. row 1 

Continue in seed stitch for 2 1/4 in. 

Button hole 

Next row: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, bind off next stitch, attach the 6-7 yard length that 

was set aside earlier to next stitch, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1 

Next row: continue in seed stitch, keeping the two balls of yarn and sides of the button 

hole separate.  When the button hole has reached 2 1/4 in. long move on to next row. 

Closing the button hole 

Next row: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, cast on 1, tie off smaller ball of yarn (saving extra 

for the flower button), K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1 

At this point you should have 15 stitches on the needle again. 

Continue in seed stitch pattern until you have about 24 in. of yarn left.  Bind off. 

Picot edging  

With contrasting color, attach yarn to a corner of the neck warmer. Using picot sequence 

work in 30 picots (counting the corners) on each long side and 4 on each end of the 

neck warmer, in the corners work in 3 sc in same stitch while keeping in picot pattern. 

Flower button 

Layer #1: With contrasting color, cast on 30. 

Row 1: K30

Row 2: P30 

Row 3: K2tog 15 times 

Row 4: P15 

Row 5: K2tog 7 times, K1 

Row 6: P8 

Row 7: K2tog 4 

Row 8: P4 

Bind off.  

Sew side seam together to make a trumpet shape. 

Layer #2: With contrasting color make a second flower using the 8 row layer #1 pattern.  

Do not sew side seam. 

Coil layer #2 into a spiral and place on top of layer #1.  Using crochet hook, attach, 

looping yarn through several times to hold the two pieces together securely.  

Attach main color to the edge of layer #1 and, with crochet hook, sl sts along the edge.  

Rep for layer #2. 

Attach main color in center of flower: *Ch 5, sl in original st, Rep from * 2 times, ch 7 sl 

in same st. 

Finishing 

Attach flower button to neck warmer 4-5 in. from end furthest from button hole. 

Weave in all ends.

Flutterby

One of these days this will be  a crocheted shawl. I woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks ago and had to get up and sketch it all out. Still gotta figure out all those angles and lines. But eventually it will be a pair of butterfly wings. Impractical maybe, but I used to daydream about stuff like this when I was 9...or 11...or 16...or...whatever. 

Deutsch sprechen macht mir Spaß!

I am starting to miss going to German class. Every now and then I start thinking about something in German, or, even more often, nearly responding in it to an English question or comment. Especially when I'm tired.
In April I went to this Cajon workshop in Seattle with my dad for Music and Culture class. A Cajon is a big wooden box with a hole in the back. To play it, you sit on top and bang on the front. Well, Cajons are from Peru, and our teacher spoke only Spanish (Okay, she could say "Thank you", "four", and "stop", but that's it). When she asked me (in Spanish) if I spoke her language, I replied in German that I did not. Oops. It had been a long week.
I've downloaded 4 German audiobooks in the last 6 months, but have only listened to one of them (which, naturally, is Der König von Narnia, or The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe auf Deutsch). The rest are murder mysteries, one is even an Agatha Christie. But since my vocabulary isn't all that big yet those three go right over my head. Listening to them is mentally exhausting. Poirot is enough trouble to figure out without having to do it in German. I know how to talk about food, places, people, animals, and stuff you would buy at a store, and that's about it. Anything beyond that and I can only smile and nod. My goal for the summer is to get through those audiobooks (and maybe even understand what's going on in them). Der König von Narnia is nice because I know it in English like the back of my hand (that, and it's written for children).
That's it for now. Tschüss!

Because 120 characters or less is never enough...

Maybe summer is not the best time for me to start a blog. I get most of my material for any clever, satirical remarks from school and the quirky things that inevitably happen in class. There is never a dull moment when a former hippie is teaching Shakespeare, or a walking-encyclopedia-of-entirely-imaginary-facts sits in front of you in Post-Colonial Literature opposite a quick tempered professor. And yes, messy grammar and spelling bug me.


Such is the life of an English lit major.


Anyway, today we are cleaning the bonus room/library. I've thrown so much stuff away. Hopefully nothing important. I guess if everybody has gone this long without needing those things they won't notice they are gone. Right? I was mostly just stuff like old coloring pages, torn rubber snakes and bouncy balls.
I worked mostly on the getting the books semi-organized and back on the shelves (and throwing things away, of course). Hopefully soon it will no longer look like a hurricane came through.
Let's see, what else?

Umm, it's just about time to start making Christmas gifts. I always feel like I won a prize or something when December rolls around and most of my gifts are already finished or in progress. With all this cool weather I feel like knitting cool weather items (Fall and early winter are when I am in my element!). Besides, one can only knit so much summery lace.