I’m not the best knitting teacher.  I’m left-handed, and knit sort of funny, and made up my own way of holding the needles.  And I’m merely competent, not  expert.  But I’ve come to realize how deeply I believe in this process–teaching one another to knit.  In this time when we learn so much through technological interface, how subversively countercultural to sit with a friend around a heap of natural fiber–wool, cotton, flax–and stand in lineage with generations of women (and men, of course, but that’s newer…) in sharing this peaceful, practical art.

So here’s a simple gift for you:  Package up some homemade knitting needles with a skein of wool, an easy scarf pattern, and a heartfelt promise to teach your friend to knit.  Choose wool rather than cotton for yarn–it is more forgiving, and much easier for learning.  This is a wonderful last minute present–you get credit for woollen-knittiness, but you don’t actually have to knit anything!

Making knitting needles is really fun.  For US size 9 needles, cut two 11 inch lengths from a  1/4 ” dowel (they can be shorter–10 inches is good for kids–or a little longer if you like).  Use an old fashioned pencil sharpener, the kind that attaches to a wall, to sharpen one end of each needle.  Sharpen it until it looks like a knitting needle, but don’t worry if it gets too sharp–you’re going to sand it down.  Take some medium-grain sandpaper and sand the whole needle, including the tip–take care with this part, the needles should be very slippery, and the tip nice and round.  Finish with fine-grain sandpaper.

Rub on a thin coat of mineral oil, furniture oil, lavender oil, or sesame oil, and use a clean cloth to wipe off the excess.

Let your imagination guide you in finishing the flat ends.  Today we used buttons, but I also like to roam the neighborhood and see what the natural world has to offer–hazelnut tops, dried seeds, and shells all work.  Stick your chosen end on with a healthy dollup of strong craft glue, and stand them in a jar to dry.

If you are an experienced knitter, you might find knitting on wood to be a little “slow,” but they are great for beginners.  And if I am crabby or stressed, I like to knit with wooden needles–something about the combination of wood and wool is very calming (I can’t explain this, you’ll just have to try it yourself!).

Pretty Ruffled Scarf
I named one of my recent knitting projects  The Sweater From Hell.  It was a pretty Mission Falls pattern, with lots of gorgeous colors, but I had to pay all kinds of attention to it while I knit, counting, and doing math.  Who wants to do math while knitting?  I kept thinking, “When I finish this sweater, it’s going straight to the homeless shelter, and I’m going to recover by knitting a one-color garter stitch scarf.”  Which is exactly what happened.  But to make the scarf a bit more fun, I put a little ruffle at each end.  I was astonished to find that I got more compliments on this scarf than anything I’d ever knit before.  Part of it might be the pretty robin’s egg blue color,  but I think it is also the combined simplicity-and-whimsy.  Anyone who has mastered garter stitch can knit this scarf.  The perfect one-skein pattern to include with your needles/yarn gift.

When my mom saw mine, she wanted one, so I knit hers in soft green alpaca.

I made these scarves of worsted, but any weight will do.  Choose needles to get the texture you want, and decide how many stitches you need for your desired scarf width.  Using worsted weight wool and number nine needles, I made an 18-stitch-wide scarf.  Cast on 4x this number.

First Ruffle:
Row 1:  Knit
Row 2:  Knit two together across row
Row 3 and 4:  Knit
Row 5:  Knit two together across row
Then knit every row until your scarf is the desired length.  Sip eggnog.

Second Ruffle
Row 1:  Knit into front and back of each stitch across row (this will double your stitches)
Row 2 and 3:  Knit
Row 4:  Knit into front and back of each stitch (again doubling)
Row 5:  Knit
Bind off looslely.

The only tricky part here is the increasing of the last ruffle by knitting into the front and back of each stitch.  But if you’ve knit yourself all the way to the end of a scarf, you’ll be ready for it–it only sounds mysterious.  Any troubles?  Knitters LOVE to help beginning knitters.  Ask, and you’ll see.  Enjoy.

Warm face, warm ‘ands, warm feet
Aow, wouldn’t it be loverly?
–Eliza Doolittle

Cloth bags of heated grain are great for warming the bed or soothing sore muscles–much cozier than hot water bottles, and a nicer quality of heat.  I kept seeing them in boutique shops with shocking price tags, and whenever I asked what the bags were filled with, the shop proprietors would say it was a secret.   But one day a few years ago I saw one that had a suspicious little pile of rice in its packaging, and as soon as I got home I whipped up a bag for myself using rice from the pantry, and added a fleece cover while I was about it (no wonder the filling was a secret–who would pay $30 for a little bag of rice?).  I made one for each of us, and for my mom and dad and sister and in-laws and sundry friends.  We don’t know how we survived past winters without them.  At our house we put the warmed bags into the bed a few minutes before we crawl in ourselves. It makes such a huge difference.  These make great simple, handmade gifts, and you probably already have everything you need to stitch a few up.  Here’s what you do:

With a piece of standard copy paper as your pattern, cut two 8 1/2 x 11″ pieces  of cotton (muslin or calico works great).  Using a 1/2″ seam allowance, sew them together on three sides, wrong sides out.

Clip corners, turn, and press.  Fold the top edge in 1/2″ and press.

Add 5 cups of dry rice.  Any kind will work–I just use whatever’s cheapest in the bulk bins at the local coop.

Pin, and stitch 1/4″ from the edge.  You will want to hold the heavy bag up with one hand as you sew.

It’s nice to make the bag a cover–keeps it clean, and fleece feels so good.  Cut one piece of fleece 12 1/2 x 20 inches.  Finish the ends:  turn one of the short ends in 1/4″, and stitch.  Turn the other end under 1″ and stitch close to cut edge.  Topstitch 1/4″ inside of first stitching, if you like (this will be the side that shows on the outside).

With right side in, fold the end with the wider, topstitched hem up 5 3/4″ , and the side with the narrow hem down 4 3/4 “.  The edges will overlap in unequal thirds.

My mother gave me this pin cushion when I was seven. She made it when she was a Brownie, just seven years old herself. Sometimes a little of the sawdust filling comes out, but I love it.

Stitch the sides, clip the corners, and turn right side out. Slip the rice bag inside and you’re done!

Take the cover off to heat the bag in the microwave.  We usually heat ours for between 2 and 2 1/2 minutes–the time will vary according to your own oven.  The first couple of times you heat it, the bag will smell like cooking rice, but this is temporary–if the bag is a gift, you may want to heat it a couple of times before you give it, so your friend won’t be alarmed.  But don’t let the bag get wet before you heat it, or the rice really could cook, and then molder (this has never happened to me, but it could, don’t you think?).

Use the bag to warm the bed, snuggle it while reading on a cold winter’s night, or apply to tense, sore muscles.  Between these bags on our toes, and the hats on our heads, we stay warm at night and, here in temperate Seattle, we’re able to turn the heat off most nights all winter.  Enjoy!

Soule Mama's Favorite Knit Hat 3 ways: aubergine alpaca for me, rose for Claire, and multi-colored leftovers knitted into stripes with a tassel.

For inspiration, I want to share my favorite knitted hat pattern.  It’s everything a knitted hat should be:  quick, easy, and super-cute. The pattern was created by Amanda Blake, and is shared on her Soule Mama blog. It can be whipped up in a day or two, or a very leisurely three, and makes a perfect winter gift for knit-worthy friends and loved ones.

If you know how to knit and purl, you can make this hat.  Knitting is the most peaceful, grounding, and practical of pastimes, and if you don’t know how to knit, I hope you’ll consider learning this winter.  There are lots of good books and online tutorials, but the best way to learn to knit is from a friend, or uncle, or sister, or mother, or neighbor.  Most local knitting shops have circles where people gather to knit and share knowledge.  You will never, ever feel like a nuisance–everyone LOVES to help a beginning knitter.

A note on Amanda’s pattern:  It is knitted on short circular needles (double pointed work fine, too), in a multiple of six stitches.  She has you start with 67 stitches, assuming you will lose one when you join the round.  If, like me, you don’t lose a stitch when you join, then start with 66 stitches.  Enjoy.

In autumn, we make a “Falling Leaves” chandelier. In winter, of course there are glittered snowflakes; in spring, hanging homemade paper flowers; in summer, little lanterns…Fun.

The Spring chandelier

To make a Falling Leaves chandelier, collect leaves of different sizes, and dry them for a couple of days between newspapers with heavy books on top.  If you want the leaves to stay nice and flat all season, you’ll have to dry them longer, changing the paper frequently–about two weeks.  But I am not that patient.  Leaves dried just a couple of days will curl up eventually, but not as much as if you hadn’t dried them first.  Hang leaves from string, ribbon, or invisible nylon thread.  Tie a bead or two to the bottom to give a little weight.  This year I added curling twigs from a willow pruning, tucking them around the light before adding the leaves.  I love weaving indoors and outdoors, especially at the table–another reminder of the continuum between our home and the natural world that occurs in the sharing of meals.

We made them from Speedy Carve–an eraser-like art medium for creating your own rubber stamps. Our friend Audrey showed us how, and this was one of our first efforts.  We think they’re pretty darn cute. If you don’t have a crafty friend to teach you, check out this nifty tutorial at Geninne’s Art Blog.  It’s easy as pie.  (Strawberry pie.)

I love the little rubber-stamped labels.

They aren’t fancy.  The turned-in top edges are finished with pinking shears,  and the drawstrings are just bits of yarn.  The fabric is always from some quilter’s scrap pile, and often the bags are made of two or more colors of cloth.  So simple, but so delightful!  I treasure them, and use them for all manner of things.

With these as my inspiration, I’ve been making cloth bags for gift wrap.  If you have a sewing machine set up, then it truly doesn’t take any longer than wrapping a gift with paper, they can be used again and again, and they’re super-darn cute.  It’s fun to wonder what the recipient will do with the bag–wrap someone else’s gift, stow doll clothes, keep freshly-baked bread?

Here are two I made this afternoon for a child’s party we’re attending tomorrow.  Strictly scrap bag affairs.  Any dig through the fabric scraps is a sentimental  journey:  the larger bag is tied with ricrac leftover  from a dress I made for Claire when she was three, and the gingham is from some long-ago kitchen curtain that didn’t turn out as I’d hoped.

Pinked edges are quick and entirely functional for a little project like this.

Drawstring bags make an excellent first machine-sewing project for kids (or adults for that matter!).  If you don’t know how to make a drawstring bag, find directions here.  But remember–if you are in the mood to just whip a few bags together, you don’t even have to turn the top under twice.  These bags are for light use, and pinking the edges works perfectly well.  (Of course, it is nicer to iron the edges under, and only takes one more minute, but we do have options!)

We so often think of sewing as a big production.  We have to “get set up,” plan a project, shop for matching thread, and find other ways to make it into an ordeal that can be put off.   I’m trying to remember that sewing can happen in a a few minutes, with a pile of scraps and bit of white thread.  Enjoy!

The very cute Sister Monika Ellis, OSB, and her fab bag.

On a recent visit, Sister Monika Ellis told me about a market bag she’d crocheted.  I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.  For “yarn,” she’d cut sixty (SIXTY!) plastic grocery bags into half-inch strips.  She snipped them in loops, from seam to seam, so they could be strung together like rubber bands into a long, long line, then rolled into a ball.  This she crocheted into a strong, beautiful, open-work bag using a free pattern she’d found on the internet.  I love how different colored bags were used to create a striped pattern.

Many of the sisters at St. Placid spin and knit wool from the fleece of local sheep, and the resulting creations they offer for sale are often wondrous, but this bag is something new altogether!  People want to buy Sister M’s bag, and she says, “You want me to make more of those?  Are you kidding me?”  But she has provided a demo roll of the plastic yarn, along with directions to inspire people.  “If I need something, I always try to figure out if I can make do with what I have first,”  Sr. Monika told me.

The bottom of the bag is reinforced with two discarded CDs, covered by crocheted circles.

In Seattle, the city council recently passed a “bag tax”–twenty cents for every new plastic bag we take at the grocery checkout line.  Good heavens, from the resulting outcry you’d think they’d told us we had to sacrifice our first born children.  The detractors provided some astonishing math.  It would cost $1 every time we shopped!  In a year, we would spend the same amount on plastic bags that we would have spent on 77 gallons of milk!  200 loaves of bread!  (Um, not if we bring our own bags…).  It didn’t take long to gather the 20,000 signatures needed to get a “Repeal the Bag Tax” referendum on the ballot.

When I think of all this, and when I find myself feeling unmotivated to make the simplest life-giving steps in my own everyday life–out of laziness, or hurry, or cynicism, or lack of creativity, or even despair, I try to remember Sister Monika, patiently transforming our refuse into something practical, lasting, and beautiful. Thank you Sister!