Pattern: Poke Bag

My nephew who just turned two last month has already seen enough episodes of Pokemon to have his own favorites, leading me to crochet him an Oshawott and a Pickachu (post soon!). Of course, my little buddy's love of Pokemon is just an excuse for his dad, the older of my two younger brothers, to watch.

Actually, we don't make excuses, my brother and I love Pokemon! So, for his birthday I made him a bag to hold the damage counters, status problem markers, coins, etc. that we need to play the Pokemon TCG.

 It's a Pokeball!

The twist on this bag is that it has a flat bottom. So, when you open it and fold down the sides, it turns into a handy bowl to for easy access to grab the tokens during a game.

I actually first thought of this concept some time ago and made a smaller version for my dad. I haven't ever written up the pattern for that, so I'll do that soon. In the meantime, here's the pattern for the Pokeball version.

Materials

Appoximate amounts worsted weight yarn:

90 yards - Red
95 yards - White
20 yards - Black
H Hook

Pattern

For anyone unfamiliar with working in continuous rounds instead of joining at the end of each round: Place a stitch marker in the first stitch of the round, and move it up as you complete each round.
Round 1: Create a magic ring. 6 sc into ring.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around.
Round 3: *Sc in next st, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 4: *Sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 5; *Sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 6: *Sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 7: *Sc in next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 8 - 15: Sc in each st around.
Row 16 - 17: Change to black. Sc around.
Row 18 - 24: Change to white. Sc around.
Row 25: [Sc in next 6 sts, ch 2, skip 1 sc, sc in next sc] repeat seven times around.
Row 26: [Sc in each sc, work one sc around the ch 2 from previous row], repeat around.
Row 27: Sc around.
Row 28: Sc around until 3 last three sts. Sl st into the last 3 sc from previous round. Finish off and weave in tail under the first few sts of the final round to create a smooth edge.

Button (make one):
Using black, create a magic ring. 12 dc in magic ring, sl st to join. Finish off.
Using white, create a magic ring. 12 hdc in magic ring, sl st to join. Finish off.
Center the white circle on top of the black circle and position both on the front of the bag so that the black stripe on the bag is behind the center of the circles. Using white, sew through both circles to attach.

Use white yarn to chain stitch or braid a drawstring or use ribbon. Thread through the spaces created in rows 25 and 26 of the bag pattern.

While it's pretty simple, this is the most complicated pattern I've written so far. So, please let me know if you have questions or if there is anything that doesn't make sense. Enjoy!

Scaled Up Lotion Recipe

Some time ago, I posted my updated skin cream recipe, in a version that makes 2 oz. of lotion. Of course, when I'm making this as gifts, or even most of the time for myself, I make it in larger batches, so I thought others might like to see the scaled up version.

Batch of six 4 oz. jars:

3/4 c shea butter
3/4 c mango butter
1/4 c beeswax
1/2 c c jojoba oil
1.5 tsp vitamin E oil
16 ml essential or fragrance oil (4 ml per jar)

The instructions are the same, you melt all the ingredients except for the essential or fragrance oil in a double boiler. For the essential oil, you can add enough essential oil for the whole batch at once. However, what I usually do is put the amount needed for each jar in the jar, then pour the lotion mix  and stir each one individually.

One final tip: Keep in mind that fragrance oils are generally quite a bit stronger than essential oils. So, adjust accordingly depending on which you use and the scent level you prefer.

Grandaddy's Hat

 Somebody in my family gives my grandfather a sock hat, or something very similar, every year. He's cold-natured, and these hats are his first line of defense. This year, I decided to make one for him by hand, since this is the first year I've had the skill to do something like that.

 I decided to use the Back Loop Beanie pattern by Ryan Hollists, which is available as a free download on Ravelry. I couldn't seem to get the ribbing at the bottom to work right for me (actually, this was a hilariously awful failure so bad that I wish I'd taken a picture of it), so I decided to stick with extra rows of the basic stitch pattern. I used Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn! in Navy, although this picture isn't terribly true to the color.

I also made a couple of sizing changes:

Add row 11: [Sc in next 11 sts, 2 sc in next st] repeat around (six times)
Row 12 - 40: Sc around

When he tried it on, I thought it wouldn't have hurt to have done another increase row or two. I intended it to be long, which it was, so that part worked out fine. On the whole, it's a basic hat, but it worked up nicely and seemed to please the recipient.

Christmas Mittens

I made a few pairs of fingerless gloves for Christmas this year using different patterns. I tried to think about how the recipient might use them and find a pattern that suited that use. For example, I made a pair for my brother-in-law with his outdoorsy businesses in mind that were nice and sturdy. I also wanted to make some that were soft and cozy, so I turned to a different pattern.

For these, I used the same pattern I used to last year to make a pair for my yarn mentor. This pair was for a woman with smaller hands who likes to work outside. So, I made them slimmer and in a dark color that wouldn't show much dirt. As it turns out, she told me she's worn them inside to read and type when it's particularly cold. The yarn I used for this pair was Caron's Simply Soft in Dark Sage.

This pair was for my brother, who has very large hands and drives a lot. I find that fingerless gloves are perfect for driving. I knew he'd prefer something basic for the color, and it doesn't get much more basic than a nice, neutral black. In this case, I went with Caron's Simply Soft in Black.

One of the great things about this pattern is that it's easy to size. To make them longer and wider for bigger hands, you just begin with a longer starting chain and work more rows. For a smaller hand, reduce the starting chain and work fewer rows.

If you're interested in more detail on my crochet projects you can find all that over on Ravelry.

Solid Perfume

Since I started making body products last year, I've been wanting to expand and make a wider variety. I have all the supplies I need to start soapmaking, but so far, I haven't had the time to get started. In the meantime, I did find a recipe for solid perfume and decided to try it first.

I based the proportions of the carrier ingredients, beeswax and sweet almond oil, on this recipe from Soap Deli News, which contains and links to numerous DIY projects.

Because I wanted to be sure my perfume would have a strong, lasting scent, I used proportionally more essential oil in my recipe. So, here's what I ended up with:

2 tbsp beeswax
2 tbsp sweet almond oil

Heat these two ingredients in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stir until it's liquid. Then add the essential oil:

Citrus Splash - 2 ml orange essential oil, 1 ml litsea essential oil, 1 ml bergamot essential oil

This recipe makes two ounces. The texture is a little stiff, particularly in these pots, meaning you have to rub it a good bit or warm it in your hands to get it out and onto your skin. Next time, I'll either use a little more almond oil to make it softer or try putting it in lip balm tubes.

As you can see from the pictures, I also made a rose-scented version using Rose Geranium oil and something else, but try as I might, I can't remember the second ingredient. It was something I added to lighten up the rose scent and add a fresh note, but I'll just have to try something new next time.

Warm and Stripey Scarf

I'm still working on posting all the Christmas gifts I made this year, so next up is the scarf I made for my other favorite brother-in-law.

I made this scarf using Lion Brand Jiffy Solids in Wine and Black and a K (6.5 mm) hook. I just wanted a straight forward striped scarf, so rather than use a pattern, I decided to improvise my own.

Ch 191 in first color.
Row 1: Dc in fourth ch from hook, dc across, turn.
Row 2: Add second color, ch 2, sc across, turn.
Row 3: Carrying first color up the side of the scarf, switch to first color. Ch 3, dc across.
Row 4: Carrying second color up the side of the scarf, switch to second color. Ch 2, sc across.
Repeat rows three and four until the scarf is as wide as desired.
To finish, work two rows of single crochet into the sides the stitches on each end of the scarf.

The thing is, once I got started, I realized I don't really know the right way to switch colors like this. So I just kind of made stuff up. Then, I worked two rows of single crochet in black into the side of the stitches on each end to cover up whatever I did. The end result looks nice, I think. Still, I'd rather do what I'm doing intentionally, not to cover a lack of knowledge. So, I've made a New Year's resolution to learn how to (correctly) change colors.

Updated Lip Balm

If I had to pick the bath and body gift everyone seems to love most, it's definitely my lip balm! However, as I mentioned in my post on last year's recipe, I really wanted something a little heavier and more nurturing, since I tend toward painfully chapped lips in the winter.

So, armed with a year's worth of research and experience making this sort of thing, I decided to create my own recipe.

The new recipe has a few more ingredients:

3 tsp cocoa butter
1 tsp shea butter
1 tbsp beeswax
2 tsp sweet almond oil
3 ml essential oil (optional)
1/4 tsp stevia sweetener (optional)

I melted the first four ingredients in an improvised double boiler, then removed it from the heat and added the essential oils and stevia. The essential oil blends I used were:

• Citrus Spritzer: 2 ml orange and 1 ml lemongrass
• Minty Fresh: 2 ml peppermint (2nd distillation), 1 ml spearmint
• The Cranberry Fig was made using a fragrance oil.

I purchased very fine stevia powder sold for the purpose of lip balm, so I don't know it would work to use the grocery store kind.Used in this small amount, the stevia didn't actually make the lip balm sweet, but just counter acted the slight bitterness of using the essential oils by themselves.

I'm very happy with this recipe, and I can't really think of how I'd improve it. I may experiment with using a tiny amount of honey instead of stevia, so I'll let you know how that goes after I order some more tubes.