The official husband of DGY--fishing!

I sure do hope you had a nice weekend. I know I did because I got to spend some time with Mike and we did some good ol’ fashion grilling and fishing (well I fished for a little until I lost 3 flies in a row… that’s my limit before I lose my sanity too).

But Anne is a fellow Darn Good Yarner and she sent me a great picture of the first hat she ever knitted and it was Darn Good Yarn’s Cute as a Button Hat (click here to check out the pattern)

Remember you just need two skeins of any of DGY’s Yo Yo Diet Thick Thin Wool Yarn

She rocked it out didn’t she?

Thank you for sharing this Anne!

Have a great day everyone!

xoxo

Nicole

click to check out the pattern

Almost like sweaters but depending on where you are in the world, more versatile! And the great thing is that since most of our yarns (like the Premium Recycled Silk Sari Yarn) are lighter, these are great options in case you need to layer over to keep warm moving from the indoors to the outdoors! They also tend to go long enough to go past your patootie a feature I like in case I wear low-cute jeans!

Also, if you ever have a question about how many balls of yarn to get for a pattern, email us! That’s what we’re here for!

http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/bamboozle-tunic.html Wonderful in any of our banana fiber collections except the Landscapes series

http://www.tahkistacycharles.com/media/File/06:13_FreePatSARIKnitBeaTunicSCU.pdf Wouldn’t this be wonderful in a bold solid colored banana fiber yarn?!

http://www.purlbee.com/leah-tunic/ Divine in Recycled Sari Silk!!

http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/tunic/summer_tunic.html Perfect with any of our blends of recycled sari silks!

http://www.knitonthenet.com/issue4/patterns/talkofthetown/ A personal favorite and so easy. Great for any of our banana fiber blends except for the Landscape Series.

Ah, before we get into the knitting pattern, I wanted to share a special woman’s Etsy store site: Rose Young’s awesome store: fuzzballs.etsy.com

That’s where I got that great necklace from in the video.

OK, back to the show!

So some background: I was looking for a sleeve originally for my netbook. I made one, but it’s not terribly useful. I carry too much “stuff” with me. I usually use this at the library and I’m taking notes in a dare-I-say real notebook while I have research happening on the netbook. So, I made this bag more loopy with no real structure. It serves the purpose, it’s quick to make, it’s colorful and best of all.

You can also modify this to make it satchel type bag by lining it and throwing a strap on it.

You’ll need two skeins of any of these yarns located here

Size US 19 needles

Cast on 3 sts,

Row 1, K3

Row 2-7 M1, K to end of row (Row 7 is approximate depending on the size of your netbook. Measure yours and make adjustments as necessary.)

Row 9-12 knit

Row 13-18, k2tog, K to end of row

Row 19 K3

Bind off

Make another panel.

Sew together leaving one end open (your choice of lengthwise or width wise). I used left over ribbon to make closures. But you can use buttons or whatever else your heart desires!

Check it out now! Today, tomorrow ONLY (7/30/2010-7/31/2010) get almost 10% off Our Wild Peacock Yarn (http://www.shop.darngoodyarn.com/product/just-a-little-unrefined-recycled-silk-yarn)

And remember:

Flat Rate Shipping to the US, Canada and the UK

and

Buy 4 of these skeins get the 5th FREE

http://www.darngoodyarn.com/2010/04/knitheadband/

http://www.darngoodyarn.com/2010/01/knit-or-crochet-recycled-silk-sari-yarn-yoga-mat-bag/

http://www.darngoodyarn.com/2009/09/free-crochet-scarf-pattern/

http://www.darngoodyarn.com/2009/08/freeknittinghatpattern/

http://www.darngoodyarn.com/2009/06/recycled-crafting-easy-quick-scarf/

http://www.darngoodyarn.com/2009/06/80-ways-to-save-the-earth-tote-bag/

I came up with a super quick no knit, no crochet Cowl/Scarf. This quick craft project is also easy and fun to do with a child as it requires just the skill of braiding and having fun with the textures.  I find there is such beauty in yarns that it’s sometimes nice to just display that fact on it’s own and that’s where the inspiration came from for this scarf. All you need are three lengths of about 5 feet of Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon . I used my arms length to measure this. You may want more or less depending on how many loops you’d like around your neck or how long you’d like it to drape.

I first knotted the three ends together. I then loosely braided the Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon together for about 7 inches, then knotted it off. I then jumped about 4 inches and put another knot in the ribbon, braided the remainder and tied to the end to make a loop. You don’t have to loop it. You can just knot both ends and where it as a long slinky scarf that’s perfect for summer. And that’s it! This yarn is so darn rustic and funky and artsy, I wanted to make a simple items that shows it off and I think this does a lovely job doing it.

A variation I did with the ribbon was cut my favorite sections from the Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon and then tie them back together so that way I could make sure I got all of my favorite colors in the piece. I can’t wait to wear it out! you Buy the Sari Ribbon By Clicking HERE!

What do you think?

Nicole at the Recycling Center!

OK, I admit it. I’m addicted to free patterns. I love printing them out and thinking oh I’m going to do this one and that one (and yes, one day I will…girl scouts honor). But my great friend Beth just reminded me that I need to tell everyone my favorite sites to get some cool free patterns from.

If you don’ t know, I’m a knitter, so my crochet list might be limited but if you have a favorite LEAVE A COMMENT! If it’s good I’ll put in the post with “props” to you.

Let’s all work together to make this an awesome resource for us cheepies/budgeters/thrifties/savers!

Knitting

http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/index.php (My fav!)

http://www.knitty.com/

http://ravelry.com (OMG!)

Crochet

http://theartofzencrochet.blogspot.com/ Super Creativity Going On Here!

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/

http://ravelry.com (OMG!)

www.allfreecrochet.com (Thanks Tweeter: @AllFreeCrochet)

Now it’s your turn… Help Me Help US!

Maggie the Dog Loves Headbands made from Darn Good Yarn

Check out what Debbie made! Aren’t these colors divine?!

Made with Silk Sari Ribbon

Made with Silk Sari Ribbon

Made With Silk Sari Ribbon

Check out what Fay did:

Click to get the yarn

and now the inside...

Have you checked out this awesome etsy shop yet? Feride is a Darn Good Yarn wiz! Check out a few of her awesome craftiness!

Click here to get the yarn

Click here to get the yarn

OK give it a second… there is a video you should watch that will load right here.

Click here to get the Premium Recycled Silk Sari Yarn

This cool headband is super easy to make and it only takes a 1/2 a ball of Darn Good Yarn’s Premium Recycled Silk Yarn.

So, you can use size 5 needles and it will make a nice tight stitch.

On DPNs or circulars, CO 3 and make an i-cord for about 4 inches (or however long you want the tie tails to be and how you’re going to tie it in the back). Remember, as you break the silk in and wash it, it will stretch a little so if you’re not sure, go shorter.
After you have the first side of the tie done, you’ll start some very simple increases by making one at the first stitch and last stitch of the row for every row until you have the desired width. I brought mine out to 11 stitches. You can increase in your favorite fashion. Your hair will cover it up probably so don’t worry too much. I like KFB (knit front and back).
Now, here is where you get to be creative and you should think about how many stitches you should have on your needles now. You can go straight garter (all knit stitches) or you can really play around with the stitch pattern. Remember to account for the number of stitches you have on your needle. For example, double moss stitch (which is fun and easy and doesn’t allow for too much stretching) is created in multiples of 4′s so you would only want 12 stitches on your needles.

If you started on DPN’s and you haven’t moved your work onto straight needles you can do that now. If you’re on circulars, you can keep the work on there. You’re not joining the work in any way but working back and forth as you would on straight needles.

Put your work down for a second and measure your head. Where are you going to wear your headband toward the front of your hairline, behind your bangs? Measure it from the middle of your left ear, over your head, the the middle of your right ear.  This is a great approximation of how long the body of your work should be. Again, remember, there will be some breaking in over time so while it seems short, it’s not.

About 12-13 inches will do though in case you don’t have a tape measure handy.

So after you’ve knitted the body up, start decreasing one the first and last stitch  of the row down to where you have three stitches. Straight needles users, put your work onto DPN’s and circular needle. Make up that i-cord for the same length you made the first one. Bind off and weave in any ends of course.

You’re done… that was easy yes?

Recycled Silk Sari Yarn Headband Free Knit Pattern

Recycled Silk Sari Yarn Headband Free Knit Pattern