Free Knitting Pattern Blue Ridge Shawl

Hello, my Friends! I hope you are looking forward to a happy weekend ahead!
Today I want to share one of my paid patterns, Blue Ridge Shawl, free of charge!
As you know, I love to crochet, but I also love to knit. Blue Ridge is a great pattern to make as a gift because it's knit in worsted weight yarn and it was designed to be knit with one skein of Malabrigo Worsted or Manos Del Urugay Maxima.

Be sure that your gauge is correct when you begin this shawl. If you don't, one ball may not be enough to finish it!

Here's the link to the pattern...I hope you enjoy it!
Blue Ridge Shawl

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Craft Adventure - Dying Yarn with Food Coloring

I have always wanted to try dying wool! I enjoy making yarn with my spinning wheels and spindles, so I thought it would be fun to try dying some of my handspun.  I do not have professional dyes at the moment, and the koolaid I bought to dye with has long been mixed and consumed by my children:0)
So, I looked into dying with simple food coloring and I only need 4 ingredients:

~yarn
~water
~white vinegar
~food coloring

For my little experiment, I used some hand spun and plied Cormo wool from my stash, approximately 75 yards. Cormo is extra soft and squishy when it's spun. I love it!

I also used a store brand set of liquid food coloring.  In my research, I read that food color gel can produce somewhat richer color, but I wanted to use what I had.

yarn dying ingredients

I mixed the color with warm water and a splash of  vinegar.  The vinegar helps the fiber accept the dye more quickly, so I soaked the yarn in a vinegar/water mixture for approximately 20 minutes before actually applying the dye.

I used apple sauce cups to mix my dye. These are sturdy and have many uses around my household. I filled each cup a little more than halfway with warm water, added a glug of vinegar to each one and then added my red and yellow food color.  The cup on the left has more red than yellow and the cup on the right is mostly yellow with a small amount of red.

After my yarn had soaked, I squeezed out the excess water and laid it in a 9x11 glass baking dish. This is where I applied my dyes.  This works well as it keeps the mess to a minimum.

I was pleased with the way the yarn accepted the darker hues and lighter hues as well.
So my yarn has a mottled effect throughout of dark and lighter orange, which is what I was going for....Yay!

After that, I had to heat the yarn.

I moved it and the remaining dye water to a smaller dish that would fit in my microwave.

I should point out here, there are two things that cause wool to felt, heat and agitation. Since I was using a 100% wool and had to use heat to set the dye, it was important to keep agitation to a minimum. That's why you should gently squeeze and not twist the yarn as you work with it.

This dish worked well because each section allowed for more dye water and it is easy to see that there is still more orange in the water/vinegar mixture that the yarn has not absorbed yet.
I placed it in my microwave for 2 minutes.  When it was finished processing, I took it out and allowed it to cool down completely. I then microwaved it again for 2 more minutes and checked the water.

As you can see, the water is clear, meaning all the dye has been absorbed by the yarn.  I allowed that to cool and then rinsed my newly dyed yarn in some cool water and gently squeezed as much water out as possible.

I hung it to dry for a few hours and, voila!

Hand dyed, hand spun yarn!

Free Crochet Pattern Candle Cozy

There's something about candles I just love!  They are a zen experience for me.  The warm glow and flickering of the flame are calming, somehow.  Last year, my son Ian gave me a wonderful gift for Mother's Day...a WoodWick Candle! I adore these because I love the crackling noise they make as they burn along with their rich aroma.  The only thing I don't love about them is their price, between $15 and $30, depending on the size you buy.  So you can understand how excited I was to find these at Dollar Tree!! 

Yup! That's a wood wick candle on the right! SO excited!

But, I think both of these need a little something, don't you?  Maybe a nice crocheted cozy, perhaps? Yes!

Now, that's better! I will share this pattern with you! It only takes a small amount of cotton yarn, 62 cents worth of Peaches and Creme (and you know I did the math), bringing the entire cost of this project to $1.62 + tax. (yarn bought at Wal Mart) Not bad! If you use stash yarn, about $1.07!
Here's the pattern!

Size Approximately 2.5 " high and 8" in circumference, depending on gauge. My gauge for this project was 3.5sts and 4 rows = 1" This cozy will fit most 3 oz glass jar candles.
Materials
Approximately 50 yds of Peaches and Creme yarn or any other worsted weight yarn. I used colors #1006 Ecru(left) and #1725 Blueberry(right) for this project.
Size G (4mm) Crochet Hook
Darning Needle, Scissors
Abbreviations
ch - chain
st - stitch
slst - slip stitch - insert hook in next st, yo and draw up a loop. Pull loop through 1st loop on hook
sc - single crochet - insert hook in next st, yo and draw up a loop. Yo and draw through both loops on hook.
blo - back loop only - work in back loop of stitch.


Pattern
Make a Magic Ring, ch1.
Rnd 1:  6 sc in magic ring, join with a slst. (6 sc)
Rnd 2:  2 sc in each sc around. Do not join. (12 sc)
For the next few rows, work in a spiral. Place a stitch marker in the first stitch of this round and move it up each additional round. I did this to avoid a visible seam. Of course, if you'd rather join every round, by all means, do so.
Rnd 3: 1 Sc in next st, PM, 2 sc in next stitch. *1Sc in next stitch, 2 sc in next stitch; rep. from *, around. (18 sc)
Rnd 4: [ 1sc in each of next 2 sts and 2 sc in next stitch] around. (24 sc)
Rnd 5: [ 1 sc in each of next 3 sts and 2 sc in next stitch] around. (30 sc)
Rnd 6: 1 sc in blo of every stitch around. (30 sc)
Rnd 7-11: 1 sc in each sc around, moving marker up at the beginning of each round (30 sc)
Rnd 12: 1 sc in each sc around, join with a slst to marked stitch.
 Check sizing at this point. Slip your cozy onto the candle to see how you like the fit. If you are happy with it now, work Edging. If you need it to be a little taller, work another row of sc, joining with a slst at the end of the round.

Edging:
Rnd 1: Ch1, sc in same stitch. [Ch2, skip 2 sc, sc in next sc] 10 times. Join with a slst in 1st sc of round. You should have 10 ch2 spaces.
Rnd 2: Make 4 sc in each ch2 space around. [Join with a slst to 1st sc of round and finish off the usual way and weave in ends or do not join with a slip stitch and use my Invisible Finish, below.

Do not join after last stitch

Cut yarn and bring through.

Bring yarn under both loops of beginning stitch

Insert needle into center of last stitch of round

Pull tail gently through to complete join. Weave in ends.