Life is a cycle. Even in the coldest, darkest, desolate times beauty can be found. Look to nature for hope; it serves as a reminder that better days will come and life will continue. Don't overlook all of life's miracles. 

Fruit Cozy with Ties

I created this pattern because I was looking for a type of fruit cozy that could be adjusted to fit different sized fruit and did not include buttons.  It is free on my Ravelry store too!  If you make them, let me know.  I would love to see your finished products!!

Fruit Cozy with Ties

This is a crochet pattern for a fruit cozy with ties.  It can be adjusted to fit different size fruit.  Ties may be placed where desired.

Yarn: Worsted weight

Hook size: G-6

Stitches & abbreviation used
sc: single crochet
hdc: half double crochet
dc: double crochet
sl: slip stitch
ch: chain
sc2tog: single crochet two together
adjustable ring (see http://www.stitchdiva.com/custom.aspx?id=54 for a good tutorial)

Special stitches:
Make tie: [ch 21, sl in 2^nd chain from hook and across (20 sl)]. 
Directions

Round 1: Begin using the adjustable ring, ch 3 (counts as dc), 14 dc in ring. Sl to chain 3 of beginning chain.  (15 dc)

Round 2: Ch 3 and dc in same stich. 2 dc in each dc around.  Sl to chain 3 of beginning chain. (30 dc)

Round 3: Ch 2, hdc in back loop only (BLO) around.  Sl to top chain of ch 2. (30 hdc).

**From here on do not join rounds, work back and forth in rows**

Round 4: Ch 2, hdc in BLO around, DO NOT JOIN (30 hdc). Turn.

Round 5: Ch 2, hdc in front loop only (FLO) around.  DO NOT JOIN. Turn (30 hdc).

Rounds 6-9: Repeat rounds 4 & 5 two more times.  (add more repeats if you wish to make a taller cozy).

Round 10: Ch1, sc2tog around, BLO (15 sc). Turn

Round 11: Ch 1, sc FLO around (15 sc). Turn.

Round 12: (edging round)

• ·      Ch 1, sc in both loops across (15 sc).
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sc in last stitch you sc’d in.
• ·      Place 8 sc on edge of cozy around opening, until you reach the 6^th round.  [If you want to place ties in a different position, sc until you get to that spot].
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sc in last stitch you sc’d in.
• ·      Sc around until you reach 6^th round on other side of cozy.
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sc in last stitch you sc’d in.
• ·      Sc until you reach top of cozy.
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sl in 1^st sc of the 12^th round.

Finishing: Cut yarn and bind off.  Weave in ends.

Please help me raise money

In April, I will be walking with the Cancer Crushers in the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women to support cancer research.  This is a terrible disease and needs to be eliminated for good. Please help me by donating--even $1 or $5 dollars helps! 

Thank you so much!!

You can access the donation page by clicking here.

Northern NJ Yarn Crawl

Recently I and knittylindsey and I participated in the Northern NJ Yarn Crawl.  This event took place February 19-21st and we crawled on the 19th and 20th.  In those 2 days we visited 6 different yarn shops.  There were raffles, discounts, free yarn (at some shops) and chances to win prizes!!!

I think my favorite store that we visited was The Blue Purl located in Madison, NJ.  I just loved the atmosphere of this shop.  It was roomy yet quaint and had some of the prettiest yarns I've seen.  I wish I took pictures in the store :).  Since I already have quite an extensive yarn stash, I decided to only purchase 2 skeins of Madelinetosh DK to make another Honey Cowl.  The color way is called glided and I'm completely in love with it!

From there we went to The Stitching Bee in Chatham, NJ.  This shop was packed with yarn from ceiling to floor.  It was smaller than The Blue Purl, but still fun!  They even gave us free sock yarn and a pattern here!  I purchased 2 skeins of Berroco Vintage to probably make another cowl :).

Free yarn :) for the socks

The final stop for 2/19 was in Morristown at Accents on Knits.  This store was much different than any other yarn store I had ever visited.  Here, they had all of the yarn organized by color rather than brand.  It was pretty to look at, but confusing to navigate.  The prices were at the end of each aisle on a laminated paper and you had to look up the yarn to figure out the price.  However, they did have a room of sale yarn :) which was a lot of fun to dig through.  I ended up buying one skein of Kudo yarn.  I've never tried this yarn before, so it should be fun experimenting with it.  Also, they offer a new customer discount of 10% I believe and I think they had some sort of discount on the day of the crawl :).

Sunday 2/20 we went out again, this time exploring all of the shops close to home, in Montclair :).

First stop was Modern Yarn.  Unfortunately, this is one of my least favorite yarn shops because the staff is not friendly nor helpful.  Perhaps I always catch them on a bad day....Anyway, I didn't buy any yarn here :) only entered into the raffle!

Next stop was at Stix-n-Stitches my favorite yarn store in Montclair!!!  I just love how friendly the staff is and their yarn.  I chose a nice cotton called Luna by Cascade :).  It was on sale and I bought all they had in this color way.  I think I might make a vest out of it or some sort of wearable for myself :).

Finally, our last stop of the day and also of the crawl was at Connie Sloan's Needle Craftique which is located on Valley Road in "The Mews" which is a little area off the beaten path of the street.  It is a quaint store with a lot of yarn.  Here I got a yarn called Ruca by Aranucania.  It is made from sugar cane and is very very soft.  I hope to knit either an open work scarf with it or a shall for myself :).  

This was a very fun time and I'm so happy I got to spend the day with Lindsey and do the crawl!  I spent a bit more than I should have, but now I have a good amount of lovely yummy and delicious yarn!!!  Can't wait to craft it all up!