Turn a Mason Jar into a Travel Mug: Knit it a Cozy!

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. A few weeks ago I was rushing off to work at some ungodly hour of the morning, made myself some coffee, but WHERE IN GOD'S NAME IS MY TRAVEL MUG??? So I dumped it into a mason jar and played hot potato all the way to work. And I thought, "Gee. This would actually make a pretty decent travel mug if I just knit it a little sweater..."

I am, of course, not the first one to think of this. I went home and pulled up dozens of them in a Google search, even specially designed lids for the express purpose of turning mason jars into travel mugs (from Cuppow, a company birthed for this product alone).

You can also turn a mason jar into a travel cup for cold drinks, but creating a hole in the lid for a straw. Here are three slightly different, but equally wonderful ways of doing it:

with a metal washer, from Fine and Feathered

with a rubber grommet (spill-proof!), from The Chick n Coop

with a plastic yogurt lid, from Crunchy Can Feel Good

For the love of mason jars! This is a great little knitting project for your scrap yarn; I finished mine in under 3 hours!

Gauge: 15 sts = 4 inches

On size 8 double pointed needles, CO 14 sts on each of your 3 needles (42 sts).

Join your first round and knit in a 1 x 1 rib for 5 more rounds.

Switch to size 9 double pointed needles.

Make 1 st at the beginning of your sixth round. (As you continue with the k1, p1 pattern, this extra stitch will transform your 1 x 1 rib into a seed stitch.)

Continue in seed st until piece measures 5 1/2" from CO.

Flat Jar Bottom: 

Knit 1 round in stockinette stitch.

*K1, k2tog, rep to end of round.

K 1 round
*K2tog, rep to end of round
K 1 round

Cut your yarn, leaving a tail of at least 6". Using a tapestry needle, thread this tail through your remaining stitches and remove the needles. Pull the yarn towards the inside of the cozy until the hole closes. Weave in the remaining tail of yarn and snip off the excess. Weave in the tail from cast on edge, and you're finished!

A note about knitting on double pointed needles:

A lot of people are afraid of double pointed needles. If this is you, trust me! They aren't nearly as scary as people make them out to be. The most difficult part is keeping your stitches tight between needles. So just pull tight between needles and everything will be okay. Be adventurous! Give it a try! However, if you don't want to, this same pattern could be knit on straight needles, then sewn up the side. Leave a longer tail at the end, and after you close up your last stitches, use this tail to sew the sides together. Piece of cake!

With love,

Knitting in Progress: Baby Smock Dress

I am seriously behind on my knitting. I've been working on this smock dress for my cousin's new baby since July. I intended to give it to newborn Eva. Now I'm just hoping I can get it to 6 month old Eva for Christmas. Good thing I knit it in the biggest size!


This is the pattern, from Debbie Bliss...

Excruciatingly adorable, right?

I altered it slightly, using a different smocking stitch...

This is my new favorite stitch pattern. It's much easier to keep track of than the cabled version that Debbie Bliss provides. It requires practically no counting at all!

Ribbed Smock Stitch
Knit over a multiple of 8 sts + 2 sts.

Row 1: *p2, k2 to last 2 sts, p2.
Row 2: *k2, p2 to last 2 sts, k2.
Row 3: rep row 1
Row 4: rep row 2
Row 5: *p2, wrap 6 sts, k2tog, k1, p2, k2 to last 2 sts, p2.
Row 6: rep row 2
Repeat rows 1 - 4
Row 11: p2, k2, *p2, wrap 6 sts, k2tog, k1, p2, k2 to last 2 sts, p2
Row 12: rep row 2

To clarify rows 5 and 11:
To wrap 6 sts, insert your right needle between the sixth and seventh stitch on your left needle. Wrap your yarn around your right needle as if knitting normally. Pull this yarn back through and place the loop back on your left needle. After wrapping stitches, you will always k2tog, knitting this extra loop you've created in with the next proper stitch, so as not to add stitches. This is the stitch that creates the smock effect. Otherwise, this stitch pattern is nothing but a 2x2 rib, plain and simple!

With love,

2013 Day Planner DIY and Freebie!

I have something very exciting to share with you!

Given my recent explorations into bookbinding, I decided to make my day planner this year. I've been using the Moleskine version for years, which I like, but you know, there are a few things I'd do differently if I made it myself. So I spent a whole bunch of hours creating a document that you and I both could print out, slice up, and bind into your very own, homemade 2013 day planner. Choose your paper, choose your cover, assemble and enjoy!

Click the image below to download your very own printable planner pages...

Things to know about using this document:

• It should be printed double-sided.
• Every double-sided page = 8 book pages. Every printed page needs to be cut in half, hamburger-wise. (If you remember kindergarten perhaps you understand... If you're printing on 8 1/2" x 11" pages, each page will become two 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" pieces of paper.)
• To ensure your calendar remains in calendar-order, pay careful attention while constructing your signatures. This document assumes signatures of two full, double-sided printer pages, a.k.a. four pieces of cut, 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" paper. They are ordered as intuitively as possible, I hope: 
• Take your first two full, double-sided pages, cut in half. Stack the top half of page 1 on top on the bottom half of the same page. Stack these two on top of the top half of page 2, and finally stack them all on top of the lower half of the second page. Fold this stack in half to create your first signature. (See image below) Repeat until you've grouped and folded all pages into signatures.

If you don't know how to assemble your signatures into a text block, check out my tutorial from September:

For my cover, I pulled out the sewing machine, some brown suede and blue binding, and put together a cute little envelope cover. Remember to make your cover about 1/4" bigger than your text block, all the way around, and get creative!

With love,