Recorder Flute Case

My class has music the last period on Wednesdays. They are dismissed by the music teacher at the end of the day. Since they do not return to my class or their lockers, they must take their recorder flutes with them. Sometimes the recorders get jostled around or pulled apart when the kids jam them into their backpacks. Here is my solution below. I decided to make a class set of these (20, in this case) for my students. They only take 45 minutes to complete so I'll be done in no time at all. Well, fifteen hours of crocheting overall, but really, who's counting? They are being modeled in the pictures by the lovely Sarah.




Materials and Equipment

About 2 ½ oz of worsted weight yarn
Crochet hook size J

Directions:
Form loop with end or thread.
Round 1: Ch 1, 6 sc in loop. Close this round and all rounds with sl st in top of first st.
Round 2: Ch 1, 2 sc in each st. 12 sc
Round 3: Ch 1 , sc in 1st st, 2 sc in next st, (sc in next st, 2 sc in next st) around. 18 st
Round 4: Working back loops, Ch 2, 5 dc in 1st st (one shell made), sk 2 sc, sc in next st, sk 2 st, 5 dc in next st, sk 2 sc, sc in next st, sk 2 st, 5 dc in next st, sk 2 st, sc in next st. Close this round with sl st in top of first stitch.
Round 5: Ch 1, sl st to 3rd dc of shell, ch 1, sc in same st, (shell in next sc, sc in 3rd dc of next shell) 3 times. Close with sl st in top of 1st sc.
Round 6: Ch 2, shell st in same stitch as ch 2, sc in 3rd dc of next shell, shell in next sc, sc in 3rd dc of next shell, shell in next sc, sc in 3rd dc of next shell. Close with sl st in 1st dc of beginning shell.

Rounds 7-28 Repeat Rounds 5 and 6.

Round 29: Ch 1, hdc in same st as joining, ch 1, skip one st, (hdc in next st, ch 1) around. Sl st to top of beg hdc to close.

Drawstring: Working with yarn doubled, ch 30. Run chain through ch 1 spaces of last round. Tie ends together.

Strap: With yarn doubled, connect yarn to center dc of one shell in last shell round made. Ch 80, sl st to 3rd dc of corresponding shell in round 4, turn, sc in each chain.

Weave in loose ends.

TA-DA!

I finished the Lacy V Scarf I was working on for mi primita Nora. I referred to the scarf in the "Sometimes I Feel Like a Genius" post below. It came out cute. Check out the picture below. I just have to admit this: Ahem, <clears throat> I hate blocking my work. I wish it would come off the needles ready-to-wear. That said, the picture shows the scarf blocking on some light blue foam board I picked up at Lowe's. I paid about $7 for this big-ass sheet of foam that the kindly store employee scored down the middle so it could fold easy for storage. I had such a Lucy-and-Ethel moment trying to put this in my car. Even if there was no Ethel to my Lucy, the sight of me wrestling with a big piece of sky blue foam was filled with enough comedy for two bumbling, block-hating knitters. Well, enough reminiscing. Here's the scarf.

Sometimes I feel like a genius

I decided to make this scarf for my cousin for her birthday. Now, when I knit lace, I can't see the pattern forming before my eyes and I must always read the directions or the chart. I love knitting lace, but it takes a lot of effort on my part. This scarf is a 14-row repeat. So far it's knitting up quickly. Here's why.

I copied and pasted the directions for the 14 rows into a table, one row's worth of directions per cell, on Microsoft Word and made the font bigger to accomodate my middle-aged eyes. Then I printed the directions off on cardstock and cut apart the cells into cards. I stapled them together at the bottom in order from first row to 14th row.

Now as I knit, I just see one row at a time and fold down the card to reveal the next row. I use a binder clip to keep the cards from folding back up. Seems to be working for me.

Halloween Things


Thanks to Nan Dodge and her help with this pattern. I found a pattern on the Internet that was 110 stitches on size 6 DPNs, but that hat turned out way too big. Nan suggested less stitches and a pattern for me. Click here to find a video for the The Two-handed Fair Isle Technique used to knit the green and orange rounds. Here's the pattern I used:

Nan’s Pumpkin Hat

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES:
Orange worsted-weight yarn
Green worsted-weight yarn
Size 6 DPN
Locking stitch marker

GAUGE: 5 stitches = 1 inch

DIRECTIONS:
With orange CO 80 stitches
Join and knit for 7-8 inches. Mark first stitch with stitch marker.
Join green and knit (7 orange stitches, 1 green stitch) around.
Next round knit (5 orange, 3 green) around
Next round knit (3 orange, 5 green) around
Next round knit (1 orange, 7 green) around
Next round drop orange and continue with green. Knit this round.

Crown:
(K6, k2tog) around 70 stitches
Knit one round
(K5, k2tog) around 60 stitches
Knit one round
(K4, k2tog) around 50 stitches
Knit one round
(K3, k2tog) around 40 stitches
Knit one round
(K2, k2tog) around 30 stitches
Knit one round
(K1, k2tog) around 20 stitches
Knit one round
(k2tog) around 10 stitches
Knit one round
(k2tog) around 5 stitches
Knit one round
Continue on these 5 stitches making an i-cord stem to the desired length.

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Next up is Sarah Lou's candy corn hat.