Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's officially winter which has seen an increase in requests from friends and family for knitty and crochet goodies.


Firstly are these Braided Mitts (Ravelry log on required if you want the pattern).  Made for a friend who is a gent, was worried they were going to be a bit small, but the sizing was perfect.  Used Deramore Stylecraft DK in Grey for them, on size 5mm circular needles.  I knit in the round on two circular needles, I find this the easiest way to knit in the round for smaller diameters. A video tutorial for this  can be found here.

These pretty wee things are Diagonal Eyelet Hand Warmers this time for my Filipino friend who always feeds me delicious food.

These were knit flat and then seamed, leaving a gap for the thumbs rather than knitting up a thumb gussett.  This made them super easy and fast to make up, and the eyelets make an interesting pattern.  Used around 2/3 of a 50g ball of Moda Vera 100% pure wool..  They looked small when made, but the eyelets actually allow a bit of stretch.

Jelly Crystal Meringues

These are a super easy treat that are quick to whip up, even if, as per normal meringues, they take a while to cook.  Using jelly crystals means they are flavoured differently depending on what flavour you pick.  







INGREDIENTS
3 egg whites (size 8s preferably, use 4 eggs if smaller).
1/2 c caster sugar
1 packet of jelly crystals

METHOD
Combine the sugar and the jelly crystals until well combined.  In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peak.  Once this stage is reached, slowly add the sugar/crystal combination a table spoon at time, ensuring that each addition is well mixed into the egg whites.  Once it is all combined, keep mixing for a further two minutes, ensuring well combined.

Line a tray with baking paper and pipe the meringue onto it.  Bake at 120 °C for 40 - 50 minutes depending on your oven. They don't need much cooling, are good to go practically straight away.

I have baked this as a whole like a pavlova, and it came out just fine.  Be aware that due to the gelatin in the jelly, the middle is a different consistency to a normal pav, it is more chewy, but it still has that delightful crust.  Actually it has MORE of that deliciousness, which is my favourite part.

Baby Afghan

The pattern for this afghan is called Stashaholic's Brain Dead Afghan but I don't really want to call a gift for a baby that, even if the Zombie loving part of me kinda likes it.  What the name means is that it is so repetitive and easy that you will mow through rows and rows of it and then all of a sudden come to  a point where you think it's long enough and that's it.

I used a 4.5mm hook and alternated between 5 rows of maroon and three rows of grey (it's for a baby girl and I wanted the "girly" colour to dominate a bit more).  I used 200g of the maroon and not quite 100g of the grey. I should also mention that the maroon was 100% wool and the grey is 100% acrylic but it feels alright, looks alright and the telling will be in the wash and wear of it.

The always popular Calorimetry headband

This pattern is hugely popular on Ravelry - there are 15781 finished posts of it on Rav and I have made around 20 myself.  They knit up super quickly, only takes around a couple of hours and uses about 50g wool, 100g if you double strand which I do, making it super chunky.  On 5mm kneedles, this is a great pattern for new knitters, it's the closest "instant gratification" project out there.

Some important info before you jump into the pattern; the original pattern knits up HUGE.  So, for adult size ones I cast on 90 and repeated row five 9 times and even this has proved pretty generous on those with smaller heads.  For kids, I cast on 70 and repeated row five 7 times.  Because this is a rib knit, it has a bit of give, so knitting it smaller is highly recommended.  Conversely, I have in the past put buttons on both ends on opposite sides; the pattern makes a number of different holes for the buttons in a decorative manner, so it can be made smaller if needs be.

You b*tches better appreciate the photo of myself that I included.

Spiderman Blanket

Loved this pattern.  Easy to follow and crocheted up really quickly.  You can find the pattern here.

I used 3 x 100g red and 2 x 100g blue Moda Vera.  Thinking of doing the black and white (Venom) style one at a later date.