Knit and Crochet

Christmas gifts–Hand Crocheted RBG collar

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In September, we lost Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was beloved by many for her words and values. Her passing inspired a trend of crocheted collars.

This picture is the cover of her memoir. Click the picture to go to the book in Amazon.

Hand crocheted RBG collars were the right gift for a few of my peeps. Here’s the version I made:

Supply list and product links:

*From one spool of ‘Red Heart #3 crochet thread’, I got three (3) of the collars described below.

Time commitment: Each collar took somewhere between 2 and 4 hours to crochet. If you like to watch college basketball, you can crochet while watching two games and you’ll likely finish crocheting the collar during the second game.

Work in progress.

My Version of the Collars (caveat: This is a listing of my rows and what’s in them, but not professionally-written crochet instructions.):

  • Row 1: Chain 77
  • Row 2: Turn. In every other chain stitch, single crochet + chain 1
  • Row 3: Turn. *Chain 3, single crochet in space between Row 2 single crochets, repeat from * to end.
  • Row 4: Turn. *Chain 4, single crochet in chain 3 space in Row 2, repeat from * to end.
  • Rows 5-7: Repeat Row 4
  • Collar end: Turn and single crochet 8 stitches along end.
  • Repeat two more single crochet rows.
  • Chain 8 for button loop, and attach loop to neck edge with slipstitch.
  • Neckline: In each chain 1 space, single crochet + chain 1 to other end of collar.
  • Collar end: Turn and single crochet 9 stitches along end.
  • Repeat one more single crochet row on end.
  • Add button at neckline and tie off thread ends.
Close up of the stitches and back closure button:

Shrink and block the collar.

  • To shrink, I soaked the collar for a few minutes in a cup of boiling water, and then tumble-dried it in a hot dryer. It came out in a compact ball.
  • To block the collar, stretch it back into shape by pinning it to padded cardboard, cover with a press cloth and steam it with the iron.

Then sew on the button.

For easy gifting, the collar fits in a greeting card. Hint: The flatter the button the better for mailing in a card.

Other patterns:

For ideas and inspiration, I studied these two RBG collar patterns:

MORE ABOUT RBG

Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg

Notorious RBG tour: Take a virtual tour via Zoom, of this special RBG exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum through February 20, 2021. https://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/rbg/ (Pre-registration required.)

On the Basis of Sex (movie): “The true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4669788/

Several of the usual streaming services offer this movie. Here is the link to stream on Amazon Prime. https://amzn.to/2WzmbRw

**The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, meaning if you click and buy, I may receive a few cents from Amazon, which will help me offset the cost of my blog, which I’m committed to keeping ad-free.

We interrupt this blog for a football game…

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Go Kansas City Chiefs!  I’ve enjoyed the week of memes building up to this game.  “Pat > Pats”, etc.  While I watch tonight’s AFC playoff game, I’ll be wearing my vintage Chief’s jersey, kc chiefs jersey rsr

To keep my nervous hands busy, I’ll be knitting this fun scarf.  The pattern is a free download from the Lionbrand website.  I’ve made this pattern once before.  It makes a handy, warm scarf that stays in place.

Click on the picture to go to the Lionbrand pattern download page.

Here’s the SIP (‘scarf in progress’), in Lionbrand Hometown USA yarn.  The color is ‘Tampa Spice’.  I wanted it to be something red.

scarf in progress

The weather forecast for the game is absurdly cold.  It will be single digit windchill at game time, in the outdoor stadium.  In the stadium, that will feel like sub-zero temps.  Hopefully everybody there will have a way to stay somewhat warm.

I’ll have a cozy fire going in my room with the TV, and will make Honey-Sriracha Chicken legs in the Instant Pot and Air Fryer (stay tuned for future recipe post).

Go Chiefs!  (I know, I said that once already.)  Enjoy the game, fellow football fans.

Boxing Day!

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Happy Boxing Day!  I hope you had a lovely Christmas day.  Here’s some of what came out of my kitchen over the past few days:

Soup mixes for my family who have pressure cookers. 

Soup mixes RSR

Homemade treats for the pup cousins, using this simple recipe from another blogger.  

Pup treats aw RSR

I tried baking a small carrot cake in the Instant Pot.  It came out dense like a brownie; not light like a cake.  The flavor was good though, so I hastily frosted it (aka the best part), and put it away for my own snacking later.  We shall not speak further of this failed cooking experiment. 😉

Carrot cake baked in PC RSR

Carrot cake ruled out, I ended up making my fail-safe pumpkin bread to take to the family gathering.  

Pumpkin bread aw RSR

Prep for the road trip to KC involved bottling a supply of hot coffee for me, and packing a bag of food, toys and blankets for Myrtle the foster pup.

Thermos etc a w RSR

While I was in the kitchen doing Christmas prep, this cute little booger was in the other room producing a spectacular array of shredded stuff.  Look how proud she is of her work.

Home Alone a

Myrtle mess gif

Not from the kitchen, but this was my first-ever attempt to knit a tiny sweater tree ornament.  It was my ‘hostess gift’ to our aunt and uncle who had us all at their home. (Free download pattern here.)  

Tiny sweater a RSR

The family gathering was special, as always.  Myrtle got lots of attention from the foster cousins, both human and canine.  The cat cousin Willie opted to hide out in the bedroom.

Back at home, where my Christmas decorating is bare-bones, this print is one of my treasured holiday items.  

I Believe in Father Christmas 2 a RSR

Can’t leave out Adam Sandler’s masterpiece.  🙂 

One pattern; Two very different sweaters

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This is the knitting pattern.  It’s a free download from Lionbrand.  Link: http://www.lionbrand.com/knitting-pattern-sideways-cable-pullover-1.html

Knit-Pattern-Sideways-Cable-Pullover-L32178-a

The pattern calls for Vanna’s Choice yarn, which comes in a lot of colors, is economically priced, and easy to find in the required quantities.

The first time I made the pattern, I stuck to the script, using the prescribed yarn and sizing for the cropped waist-length style.  The yarn color was called ‘Goldfish’ (not offered now).  I think it’s a great Autumn color.  The only variation I made was adding the thin pink tips for interest.  I really enjoyed making the sweater.  It has traveled well.  I have loved wearing it; usually paired with black jeans and boots.  The big fold-over neck is a built-in muffler under a coat in cold weather.  IMG_20181026_174022972a

Pumpkin sweater-aw RSR

Its latest wearing was this past week, to a local art gallery where Cartoonist-to-The-Beatles, Ron Campbell was appearing and exhibiting his works.  This was a no-photos event, so I can only show you what he has published on line.  You can check out his webpage, and this very cool 11-second time-lapse video.

I wish I’d had more advance notice; to plan, shop and decide on one of his prints.  The prices were enough that I’d want to plan ahead rather than purchasing on impulse.  Watching these videos, I badly want another chance to shop his prints.

Sweater #2

The second making of this pattern came when I fell in love with a skein of vibrant teal Red Heart Soft yarn in the bin at Joann’s.  The store only had the one skein in that color, but the label said ‘no dye lot’, so all I had to do was wait for the stock to be replenished, right?  Wrong!  When more of the color came in, it had a noticeably greener cast.  Drat.  I had already knitted an entire sleeve with the ‘good’ color skein.

I knitted on, incorporating two other yarns as stripes to keep the different teal colors separated.  One of the yarns is reflective.  I also added two additional cables to the bottom for a less-cropped shape.  I was disappointed even as I continued to knit, because I had initially envisioned a solid colored sweater in that gorgeous teal color of the first skein.  I wasn’t sure I wanted a striped version.

It became a UFO (unfinished object).  When the pieces were all knitted, I left them sitting in a pile for the rest of the winter.  Then, late last Spring, I finally picked them back up and decided it was worth seaming them together to at least see how the sweater would look.  The result was a surprise.  I loved it.  But with warm weather on the doorstep, the sweater was boxed up after just one test-wearing.

Teal sweater2-aw RSR

Lindsey Buckingham!

Fast forward to this Fall, and the newly-finished teal sweater with reflective bits finally got its first full outing–to a concert.  Lindsey Buckingham brought his solo show to our area.  He was witty and had great stories.  His live music was exceptionally good.  His energy never waned.  Neither did the crowd’s, because who can sit still when you’ve got visions of the Family Truckster careening down a Kansas road?

Lindsey Buckingham1 RSR

His band is really superb.

Lindsey Buckingham2 RSR

Wrap-up of the sweater projects:

  • The most basic advice, that you already know:  Buy all of the yarn you need for a project before you start.  ‘No dye lot’ on the label does not mean no variations in color.
  • Here are the yarns used in the blue-teal sweater:
    • Red Heart Soft, color Teal–The gauge was very close to Vanna’s Choice, but this yarn is softer and has less body.  It is comfortable on the skin, but the collar will need some added support to hold its shape.
    • Red Heart Reflective, color: Peacock –Slightly bulkier gauge, but was fine for stripes and cuffs.
    • Big Twist Premium Solids, color:  Peacock–This line has been discontinued per Ravelry.  It’s a medium/4 weight, but slightly more dense than Vanna’s Choice and RedHeart Soft.
  • I recommend the pattern, if you love making cables and bobbles like I do.
  • The sweater is knit all in one piece, so it gets to be a bulky parcel to carry around.  The blue sweater was more ‘portable’, since I broke it into pieces.  But that meant more stitching pieces together at the end.

More of Lindsey….

[When he gets to the last minute or so of Never Going Back Again, I wonder how the Mac ever decided it was a good idea to part ways with this performer.]

A surprise fave from the concert was I Must Go.

He never actually said the name of his former band, but he closed his encore with an inspired version of Treason.

Lindsey’s got a new album coming out early next year, with more touring planned.