Hanging Litter Basket for RV

This hanging litter bag is intended to be used with a disposable liner. A plastic bag or small paper bag from the grocery store is suggested as a liner.

Using a 5mm hook, in HDC start with a base of 10 sts. Work in continuous rounds increasing 10 sts each round to 100 sts, about 7 inches in diameter. Work in straight continuous rounds for 12 rounds. Decrease 10 sts on next round to 90 sts. Work in straight continuous rounds for 8 rounds. Decrease 10 sts on next round to 80 sts. Work in straight continuous rounds for 4 rounds. Finish top edge with knitted applied i-cord including a 2-inch loop at the end of round.

Litter bag will be about 11 inches tall when finished.

Update: My husband discovered that the plastic tub that our dishwasher pods come in is a perfect fit to be a rigid liner for the hanging litter bag, making it easier to neatly tuck away the top of the plastic litter bag between the crocheted cover and the pods tub. Genius!

Chocolate Syrup Poncho

I liked the way Rose's Slytherin-By-the-Sea poncho turned out, so I decided to make another one for myself. I know the yarn says it's named "Coffee," but the dark brown color reminds me more of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.

Here I used an i-cord tab cast on of 4 rows, then picked up 3 stitches in the center for a total of 9 stitches on the needle. Worked following the Sheep Wagon Shawl pattern instructions on the 3 center stitches with the addition of the 3 i-cord stitches on each side. (I-cord: Knit 3 at beginning of row; sl3wyif at the end of each row.)

Joined to work in the round after row 57. Yes, this pattern requires a lot of purling while working flat (have to purl every return row), but that's the price you pay for wanting a design in classic, classy stockinette. Once you join to work in the round, however, you're on all-knitting easy street.

Update 5/14/15: I started out knitting this poncho with size 9 needles (5.5 mm), but the fabric was just turning out to be way too dense. So somewhere around row 70, I ripped the whole thing back and started over with size 10 needles. Painful to lose that much work, but I'm much happier with the fabric the second time around.

HoB Mitts free pattern

I've been itching to make something using Lion Brand's Cotton-Ease yarn ... but it has been nearly impossible to find it. I guess all the yarn stores in my area just don't carry it. Yeah, I know, that doesn't make sense to me, either.

But I finally found some in stock at JoAnn. I'm not too sure about the color (Taupe), but I bought what I hope is enough to make a shawl.

In the meantime, I decided to experiment with a pair of fingerless mitts. This HoB Mitts pattern by Mechee Meador is very nice - quick and easy.

I used a provisional cast-on of 35 stitches so I could add an i-cord edging to the finger opening and also graft the side seam after working the thumb gusset. The other thing I did differently was to work the entire mitt in garter stitch, omitting the stockinette panel.

1898 Hat free pattern

I recently discovered this wonderful free "1898 Hat" pattern and went a little crazy making up a bunch of these hats.

There are so many reasons to love this design:

• The double-thick band is extra warm and provides complete protection for the ears.
• Because the band is worked in garter stitch, it's soft and squishy and kind of feels like you're wearing a lightweight but insulating and ooshy-cushy pillow wrapped around your head.
• It's easy to vary the finished size of the hat while using the stitch counts as written by simply altering the yarn weight and/or needle size.
• The style works for practically anyone: male or female, young or old.
• The crown design can easily be modified to achieve different looks (even though the ones I've made thus far are plain). Find a bunch of creative ideas by browsing the pattern's gallery of finished projects.
• The construction is very straightforward and not at all difficult. I especially love the modified i-cord technique used at the bottom "crease" of the hat band.

And here it is in I Love This Yarn's Jazzy Stripe colorway: