Fibonacci Scarf

I made this scarf for my mom for Christmas.  It's based on the Fibonacci sequence.  It can be done with any number of colors and any weight yarn.

Suggested Supplies:
Cascade 128 Superwash Chunky
A - #1960 Pacific 32 yds
B - #859 Lake Chelan 45 yds
C - #1910 Summer Sky Heather 64 yds
D - #1968 Rainier Heather 96 yds
E - #1948 Mystic Purple 167 yds
J Hook

Abbreviations:
ch - Chain
sts - Stitches
sl - Slip Stitch
dc - Double Crochet

Throughout pattern, ch 3 counts as 1 st

Pattern:
Ch 27
Row 1:  With A, dc in 3rd ch from hook.  dc in each ch across (25 sts)
Row 2:  Join B with sl, ch 3.  dc in each st across (25 sts)
Rows 3 & 4: Repeat row 2 with Color C
Rows 5 - 7: Repeat row 2 with Color D
Rows 8 - 12: Repeat row 2 with Color E
Rows 13 - 20: Repeat row 2 with Color A
Rows 21 - 33:  Repeat row 2 with Color B
Rows 34 - 54:  Repeat row 2 with Color C
Rows 55 - 88:  Repeat row 2 with Color D
Rows 89 - 143:  Repeat row 2 with Color E
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Potato Corn Chowder

I totally lucked out this year.  Mayu split a CSA basket with some friends.  For those of you who don't know, CSA is Community Supported Agriculture.  At the beginning of the planting season, you buy into a farm and each week you pick up your share of the produce at the Farmer's Market.  Even with splitting the basket, Mayu had a ton of veggies.  When she wasn't actually cooking my meals, she was sending me home with yummy produce, including massive quantities of potatoes and some corn.  What better to make than potato corn chowder?  I made it up as I went along, using what I already had in the kitchen.  Here's my recipe:

2 T butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
3 T flour
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup ham, diced (or cooked, crumbled bacon if you prefer)
3 ears corn, kernels removed
extra milk for thinning, if desired

Saute garlic and green onion in butter until soft.
Add flour and stir until flour starts to color
Add about 1/2 cup cream, stirring constantly until smooth
Add about 1/2 cup chicken stock and bring to a boil, continuing to stir throughout
Add the rest of the cream and just bring to boil
Add remainder of stock, ham, and potatoes, bringing to a boil
Continue to cook until potatoes are done
Add corn and cook a few minutes more
Soup will be chunky and fairly thick.  Add milk to thin if desired.

Makes 4 - 6 servings and freezes pretty well.  I hope y'all enjoy it!

Happy Halloween!

Just a quick note from Mendel and me to say Happy Halloween!  We hope y'all are enjoying the day.  Some of you have seen Mendel's panda costume on Facebook, but here he is again - all angry and cute!  Pattern to come some day when I get it written...

Before:

After:

Random Finished Stuff

Since I'm still trying to get some patterns written for projects I've already finished, I thought I'd take this opportunity to show some of the things I've finished that were designed by other people, mostly.  I'll link to the Ravelry design page or the blog they came from.

Granny Square Earrings (granny squares are the name of a basic crochet motif):




Baby Set:
A friend asked me to make a pumpkin hat for her baby that's coming any day now.  I had some leftover green yarn, so I made the booties and mittens to go along with it.  The hat is my own design and will be posted once i finish writing it ;)



Booties:


Mittens:


Laptop Case:

 

Star Baby Blanket:


And lastly, for this time, Little Owlets:

Yarn Dyeing

I'm really excited about this.  For months I've been seeing pictures on Ravelry of people who dye yarn with everything from Kool-Aid to food coloring and I've really wanted to try it.  I finally decided to do it.  A couple of notes: Ravelry is a sort of social network for yarn crafters - knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, and dyers.  There are all kinds of people and companies available for help and information.  I think I spend more time there than anywhere.  One of the groups I joined does monthly Harry Potter based challenges and classes.  Both of these dyeing experiments were for that group.

The first experiment was with wine (the challenge was to use tea, coffee, or wine to dye yarn).  I had a couple of bottles of wine that didn't weather the Summer very well and turned to vinegar (I really need to get a wine cooler for those couple of weeks that get seriously hot).  I didn't want to waste it and it was more than I could cook with in a very long time, so I tried the dyeing.  I used organic cotton yarn and pinot noir.

Ingredients:

Boiling wine + Yarn:

End Results:

I don't really love how it turned out.  I think a wool might have been better and also a wine with a little more color saturation, like a burgandy.  Lessons learned.

The second challenge I dyed for was to dye in a Fall color.  I used turmeric on an angora/bamboo yarn.  This one turned out much better.

Ingredients:

Boiling water + Turmeric + Yarn:

FInished Product with my inspiration (leaves from the tree outside my office):

I really enjoyed the experience and I will definitely be trying some other techniques.

Promises, Promises

Maybe I'm not responsible enough for a blog.  When I started this I was all "Sure, I can make it happen once a week."  You've seen how well that's going...But I'm back with a new plan for productivity and some new ideas and a lot of lessons learned (like pattern writing is hard and it takes a long time).  It's probably going to be pretty yarny for a while, but I hope even the non-yarners will find it fun. I have recipes, finished projects, and patterns to share.  This week there's even going to be some expirmenting! (I'm insanely excited about doing and sharing my results).  So, stay tuned!

Easy Peasy Scrapbooking

A lot of people are doing digital scrapbooking now, but I still like the good old fashioned paper kind.  I'm very good about keeping up so every now and then I need some time to cram in as many pages as possible.  This weekend was one of those times.  Caryn and I spent the whole weekend being "crafty" and for me that meant doing about six months worth of events (now I'm only a year behind!).  I want my pages to go quickly, but still be nice.  Here are a few layouts from this weekend that require minimal time and paper.

Title page:
This one works well for single pictures, like school pictures, that don't need much in the way of explanation.



Jenn's Wedding:
This one is actually one page of an eight page set.  I wanted the few pics I had from the actual ceremony to have their own page.  A little backing for the photos with a contrast strip on each side helps them stand out from the background.



Fort Vancouver:
This is once i come back to time and time again.  It takes almost no time - just a strip down each side and some contrasting colored backing.



Gardening:
The second page of this was fun, though not what I originally imagined.  Just crop 8 photos to 3x3 and do a  little checkerboard.



Pickled:
Sometimes a have a lot of photos but I still want a fun background.  2 strips down one side and one across the bottom or top is an easy way to do it.

Broccoli Slaw

Okay, guys.  I'm pretty exhausted and just don't have the energy to write a pattern or any complicated crafting directions.  Next week, I'll be back to the fun stuff, but for today you get a recipe.  This is one of my favs for summer and is a more nutritious substitution for cole slaw.  I often make it at the end of the week from my veggie leftovers.  These quantities make about 4 - 6 servings.

Ingredients:
2-3 Broccoli stalks peeled and julienned
2-3 Cauliflower stalks peeled and julienned
1 Carrot julienned
Red cabbage shredded for color

Sauce:
3 T Olive oil
3 T Cider vinegar
1 t Sugar
1/4 t Celery seeds
1/4 t Dry mustard
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Toss all veggies together.  You can substitute additional broccoli stalks for the cauliflower and the carrot and cabbage are optional, but I add them because they're often available and pretty at the farmer's market.

For the Sauce, whisk olive oil and cider vinegar until emulsified.  Add sugar, mustard, celery seed, and pepper and whisk until combined.  Pour over veggie mix and toss (I like to put it in a large container with a lid and give it a good shake).  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but over night is best for maximum flavor absorption.

Your very own IGOR!

Every mad scientist needs a sidekick and this one is mine!



He's really pretty simple to make.
Materials:
Color A: 40-50 yds black worsted weight yarn
Color B: 5-10 yards tan worsted weight yarn
2 10 in lengths 26 gauge wire
1 plain black round button
1 15mm doll eye with backing
G size crochet hook
Needle
Polyfil

Since you can make him as big or as small as you would like, the yardage for the yarn is approximate.

Stitches/abbreviations used:
ch - Chain Stitch
sl - Slip Stitch
sc - Single Crochet
dsc - Decrease Single Crochet
Rd - Round
sts - Stitches

BODY (Color A)
Worked in rounds.  I like to join each round at the end with a sl, but it may be worked in one continuous rd if preferred:
ch 3
Rd 1:  6 sc into 2nd ch from hook.  sl into first sc.
Rd 2:  Ch 1. 2 sc into same st.  2 sc into each next 5 st.  sl into first st of round. (12 sts)
Rd 3:  Ch 1.  2 sc into same st.  *1sc into next st.  2sc into next st.  Repeat from * 4 times.  1 sc into last st of previous rd.  Sl into first st of rd (18 sts)
Rd 4:  Ch 1.  1 sc into same st.  *2 sc into next st.  1 sc into next 2 st.  Repeat from * 4 times.  2 sc into next st. 1 sc into last st of  previous rd.  Sl into first st of rd. (24 sts)
Rd 5:  Ch 1.  1 sc into same st.  *1 sc into next st.  2 sc into next st.  1 sc into next 2 st. Repeat from * 4 times.   1 sc into next st.  2 sc into next st.  1 sc into last st of pervious rd.  sl into first st of rd.  (30 sts).
Rd 6:  Ch 1.  2 sc into same st.  *1 sc into next 4 st.  2 sc into next st.  Repeat from * 4 times.  1 sc into next 4 st.  sl into first st of rd. (36 sts)
Rd 7 - 28:  Ch 1.  Sc into each st of previous rd.  sl into first st of rd. (36 sts)
Rd 29:  Ch 1.  Dsc over first 2 sts of previous row.  *1 sc into next 4 st.  Dsc over next 2 st.  Repeat from * 4 times.  1 sc into next 4 st.  sl into first st of rd. (30 sts)
Rd 30: Ch 1.  Dsc over first 2 sts of previous row.  *1 sc into next 3 st.  Dsc over next 2 st.  Repeat from * 4 times.  1 sc into next 3 st.  Sl into first st of rd. (24 sts)
Rd 31:  Ch 1.   Dsc over first 2 sts of previous row.  *1 sc into next 2 st.  Dsc over next 2 st.  Repeat from * 4 times.  1 sc into next 2 st.  sl into first st of rd.  (18 sts).
Rd 32:  Ch 1.  Dsc over first 2 sts of previous rd.  *1 sc into next st.  Dsc over next 2 st.  Repeat from * 4 times.  1 sc into last st of previous rd.  sl into first st of rd.  (12 sts).  Fill body with Polyfil before beginning next rd.
Rd 33:  Ch 1.  Dsc over 2 sts from previous rd.  Repeat 5 times.  Sl into first st of rd.  (6 sts).  Tie off and sew up any opening that remains at the bottom of your Igor.

FACE (Color B)
Ch 9
Row 1:  sc into second ch from hook.  Sc into each ch.  Turn(8 sts)
Rows 2 - 4:  Ch 1.  Sc into into each st of previous row.  Turn (8 sts)
Row 5: Dsc over first 2 sts of previous row.  1 sc into next 4 sts.  Dsc over next 2 sts of pervious row.  Turn (6 sts)
Row 6: Ch 1.  1 sc into each st of pervious row.  Turn (6 sts)
Row 7:  Dsc over first 2 sts of previous row.  1 sc into next 2 sts.  Dsc over next 2 sts.  Turn (4 sts)
Row 8: Ch 1.  1 sc into each st.  Turn (4 sts)
Row 9: Dsc over next 2 sts.  Repeat.  Turn (2 sts)
Row 10:  Ch 1.  1 sc in each st.  (2 sts).  Tie off.
Attach round black button and doll eye to face in desired positions.  Embroider mouth with Color A.
Sew face onto body.

ARMS (Color B)
Attach yarn to side of body about 1/3 of the way down.  Ch 25.  Tie off  leaving a 1/2 inch tail.
Weave wire up back side of ch.
Repeat on other side.
Bend wires to desired arm shape.

Here We Go

I'm not really sure where to start, so I'll just jump right in.

Aurora Borealis Necklace:
This is a crocheted wire piece.





Materials (for an 18 - 20 inch necklace):
4 - 4 mm light green square beads
5 - 4 mm clear bicone beads
5 - 4 mm light blue bicone beads
5 - 4 mm smokey blue bicone beads
9 - 6 mm clear round faceted beads
4 - 6 mm light green beads
4 - 6 mm clear bicone beads
4 - 6 mm light blue bicone beads
4 - 6 mm smokey blue bicone beads
2 - clear seed beads
60 inches 28 gauge silver wire
2 crimp covers with hooks
2 inches sliver chain
lobster claw clasp
1 sliver head pin
I size crochet hook
Wire cutters
Crimpers
Round needle nose pliers

String all beads onto wine in this order (I find it's easiest to do this while the wire is still on the spool and then cut it when I'm done crocheting):
Round clear
smokey bicone
small bicone clear
small square light green
large light blue bicone
Round clear
large clear bicone
small smokey blue bicone
small light blue bicone
large light green bicone

Repeat 4 times.  Add one additional clear round bead at the end.  You should be left with 3 small bicone beads: one each of light blue, smokey blue, and clear.

Leaving a 6 inch tail, begin a loose bead chain stitch, pulling up one large bead or 2 small beads for each stitch.  You can find a few tutorials on crocheting with beads on youtube but the basic idea is to slide a bead up next to you hook, then chain as you normally would, trapping the bead in the stitch.



Once all the beads have been crocheted, cut the wire, leaving another 6 inch tail.

At the beginning end of the wire, thread your wire through one crimp cover and one seed bead.  Thread the wire around and back through the seed bead and pull tight. Slide the crimp cover over the bead and close.  Clip the any unused wire.  Repeat at the other end.

Attach the lobster claw clasp to the hook of one crimp cover and the length of chain to the other.

Thread the 3 remaining bicone beads onto the head pin and fasten to the free end of the length of chain.  Your necklace is now complete!