Bracelets for Friends

Ellie and I made a few small presents recently.

This is a cool project using a ball chain as part of the weaving for a friendship bracelet. You can find an excellent tutorial here.

This is a more typical style of wrap bracelet that I made with semi-precious stone beads. She looks cute using it as a necklace instead of a bracelet.

This hexnut bracelet looks fun, too. You can find the tutorial to make it over here.

Ellie's Winter Hat to Match the Team Uniform (Plus the Knitting Pattern)

This year the team changed their colors from red, black and white to green, black and white. That meant that I had an opportunity to make a new hat. The last one was much more subtle. Ellie decided that she wanted this one to be pretty full of pattern and fun.

It actually took three times to get this hat right. The first two were variations on black, white and green checkers. I just could not get it right. They were too tight. I guess that I have not figured out how to work the tension on carrying two colors.

I simplified my idea and went back to two colors. This one worked out nicely. Here's the instructions:
Ellie's Fun Patterned Hat

Needles & Yarn:

Size 1 16 inch circular needle
Size 1 double pointed needles
Size 4 or 5 16 inch circular needle
DK weight yarn (black, white, green)

Pattern:
Using the size 1 circular needles, cast on 98 stitches. Knit the first row without joining it. You can opt to do a *k2,P2* if you like. Next, straighten the knitting on the needles to make sure it is not twisted. (This is a secret Larr's Aunt Lynne taught me. It helps reduce the chance that you end up with a twisted, modius, round.) Place a marker and then join them, beginning to knit the ribbing with *k2,P2*. Continue this until you have achieved the desired amount of ribbing. Elli'e hat has about 1.5" of ribbing.

Switch to the larger circular needles and begin the body of the hat. I knit 6 rounds of stockingette

Patterns -

* = Black
O = White
G - Green

Jagged Lines 1 =

*GGGG*GGGG
*G*GG*G*GG
*G*GG*G*GG
*G**G*G**G
**********

Knit 3 rows of green.

Checkers =

OOOOOOOO
**OO**OO
**OO**OO
OO**OO**
OO**OO**
OOOOOOOO

Knit 3 rows of green.

Jagged Line 2 =

**********
*G**G*G**G
*G**G*G**G
*G*GG*G*GG
*G*GG*G*GG
*GGGG*GGGG

Vertical Cheveron =

**********
*OOO*OOO*O
O*OOO*OOO*
OO*OOO*OOO
OOO*OOO*OO
OO*OOO*OOO
O*OOO*OOO*
*OOO*OOO*O
**********

Repeat Jagged Line 1.
Knit 3 rows of green.
Repeat Jagged Line 2.
Kint 2 lines of black.

Begin Decrease to shape crown=
Place marker, Using the black yarn, knit 8, place marker. Repeat to the end of the row.
*K2tog, K7* repeat to the end of the row.
Knit 1 row.
*K2tog, K6*repeat to the end of the row.
Knit 1 row.
Switch to the size 1 ciruclar needles.
*K2tog, K5*repeat to the end of the row.
Knit 1 row.
*K2tog, K4*repeat to the end of the row.
Knit 1 row.
Continue in this fashion, changing to the size 1 double pointed needles when needed.
*K2tog, K3*repeat to the end of the row.
Knit 1 row.
*K2tog, K2*repeat to the end of the row.
Continue until you have between 10-12 stiches left on the needles. Cut your yarn so that you have a tail that is about 10" long. Use a crochet needle to move the remaining stitches from the double pointed needles onto the yarn. Pull to tighten and weave in. Use the tail to attach a pom pom, if using one. Weave the end of the yarn into the inside of the hat.
Weave in the loose ends from the color changes.
Block the hat as needed.

Cyclo-X - Snow Much Fun in the Cold!

While driving home from the cyclocross race on Saturday morning Ellie noticed a car with a bike on the rack. She remarked casually that she wondered why anyone would want to ride their bike in such snowy, cold weather, and then caught her self, "Oh wait, I just rode my bike in the snow. It was really fun." Then we both laughed quietly to ourselves. It was, after all, great cyclocross weather. Only the hardy show up to race.

She was sporting her brand new winter coat, an early Christmas present, and did not mind the cold.



She likes riding in the deeper snow. This race was a bit more like singletrack, so she had a few chances to ford through the fluffy, cold stuff.

Earlier in the season Davis borrowed Ethan's bike to see if he liked cyclocross. It turns out that it is not his kind of biking, but he is a great sport who helps his younger sister get prepared to race. He is a really nice young man. After the awards were given out we went back to their house. The kids watched a movie and I helped their mom move big stuff from their apartment.


We had been planning to spend the afternoon in Colorado Springs, but the road were too icy to chance it. In the afternoon the sun came out, making it a perfect winter day.

----
Here's what I am cooking up in the crock pot:


Honey Garlic Chicken
slightly adapted from More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow
Via: Taste and Tell Blog

serves 4

prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 3 to 4 hours, on high
6 to 8 hours, on low

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 garlic cloves, chopped or grated
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup honey
fresh basil, shredded, for garnish

Place the chicken in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, soy sauce, ketchup and honey. Pour over the chicken and cover.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Remove chicken, place on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Transfer the remaining sauce to a saucepan and reduce down over medium heat until desired consistency is reached. Serve over the chicken and garnish with fresh basil.

Serve over rice.

A Small Purse for the School Auction

The school live and silent auctions ended on Monday. People were generous with their bids. I usually make jewelry, but this year I wanted to mix it up a bit.

I was smitten with the handmade bags over at 7 Layers Studio blog. I decided that I needed the patterns to make the Infinity Bags. Graciously she gave me permission to make them for sell since it was to benefit the school.

Ellie helped me pick out the fabric. We selected thicker material so that the bags would have some strength. As we began to assemble the choices we could tell that we had Katie in mind. We opted for black and white zebra, bright pink solid and multitone pink cheetah canvas prints. The button is from a vintage sweater that once belonged to my Aunt Zora. The photo is not really very complimentary, but the bag is pretty fun. I made it more useful by adding pockets on the inside. I also quilted the main body with hot pink thread. It was a fun touch, I must say.

We paired my bag with a box set of pink lip glosses and got a very nice price for it. Although several people placed bids, it did end up with Katie, just has we had thought might happen.

Recipes and Riding