Blue Dog’s Blog

This is a pattern for an easy-to-make baby sweater. A good first project for someone who has learned their basic stitches on the knitting loom. Please feel free to contact me about it if you have any questions. Detailed instructions and pictures will be coming next week. I wanted to familiarize you with the pattern first before stepping you through it. The pattern was written for the gauge listed below. You may find that you need to use a different loom to knit to that gauge (that’s OK!). If you would like to use a different loom and need a different gauge, you will need to convert the pattern. Please contact me for help if you need it. I will post this same pattern converted to use with a Knifty Knitter and chunky yarn soon.

Infant Sweater

Infant Sweater byRebecca Novelli is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Pattern Information

Loom: DA ESG Wonderloom
Gauge: 4 sts 5 rws per 1″, Twisted Stockinette St
Yarn: Pymouth Jellie Beenz, Baby Blue
Estimated Ydg: 220
Main stitch: Twisted Stockinette St (knit tbl (e-wrap) stitch)

Suggestions

Cast-on: Crochet cast-on
Bind-off: Provisional and Crochet bind-offs
Increase stitch: Bar increase

Loom Knitting Instructions

Back

• Cast on 41 sts.
• Estab rib pat on Row 1: *K1 , P1.
• Repeat from *. End K1. Work 7 rws. On row 8, increase as below using a bar increase. [1.5″].
• Rib-to-Body Inc Row:[Work 6, inc 1 in next st] 5x, work 6. (46 sts)
• Work in pat st until piece meas 6″ [row 22]. Place underarm markers.
• Cont in pat st until piece meas 10.5″ [row 46].
• Bind off all stitches using a provisional bind-off using a different color yarn. Do not gather. (Stitches will be used as: 15 shoulder sts, 16 back neck sts, 15 shoulder sts.)

Work Front. (below)

Front

• Work as for back, including all shaping, and, at the same time when piece meas 8.5″ [row 34]
• Begin Neck Shaping: Work to stitch 20. Bind off center 6 sts using a provisional bind-off using a different color yarn. Do not gather.
• Attach another ball of yarn on opposite side of bound off stitches and complete the row.
• Work both sides at once. Bind off 2 sts (each side) at neck edge 1 x using provisional bind-off. Use the same yarn used for the center stitches.
• Dec 1 st at each neck edge by binding off as above, every other row 3x.

The bind-off will be a wide “U” shape around the neck. These stitches will be picked up when you finish off the sweater.

• Cont in pat st until each side meas 10.5″ [row 46].
• Leaving a long tail on each side, bind-off as for back but with separate yarns holding each side.

Work sleeves. (below)

Sleeves

• Cast on 21 sts.
• Work same as body rib for 7 rws [1.5″]. On the next rib rw:
• Cuff-to-Sleeve-Inc Row: Work 5 [inc 1 in next st, work 4, inc 1 in next st, work 5] 1 x, [inc 1 in next st, work 4] 1 x.
• Sleeve Shaping: Work one (odd #) row.
• Begin sleeve shaping: Inc 1 st on each side every 2nd rw 1x, then every 4th rw 5x.
• Cont in pat st until piece meas 6.5″[row 26].
• Leaving a long tail, bind off using a provisional bind-off using a different color piece of yarn (total of 36 sts). Do not gather.

Blocking

Some people choose to skip this step but it’s a mistake. It makes a difference, even with acrylic and it’s your chance to “fix” uneven fabric.

• Wet block by spray. Do not press.

Finishing & Assembly

Sides

• Place RS Front and Back fabrics facing each other.
• On the left side, join the seam from the bottom up to row 22 where the underarm markers are located and then again for the top 6 rows.
• Repeat the the right side.
• Weave in all ends.

Finish each shoulder. (15 sts)

Shoulders

• With the sweater inside out, place the stitches from both fabrics for the left shoulder onto a loom (first 15 stitches)
• Knit off all stitches
• Bind off using the crochet bind-off.
• Weave in ends.
• Repeat for the right shoulder (last 15 stitches).

Finish the Neck.

Neck

• On a circular loom, place the 16 sts from each fabric around neck edge for a total of 32 stitches on the circular loom.
• Work in single rib (*K1 , P1; rep from * to end) for 1″ or desired length.
• Bind off loosely using a crochet bind-off.
• Weave in ends.

Finish each sleeve.

Sleeves

Work with the sleeve RS out and the torso WS out.

• Setup a FG Wonderloom as a 36-peg circular loom.
• Place each sleeve row from the torso onto a peg. Remember that the WS should be facing out, down the loom.
• Push the RS-out sleeve down the torse and place each stitch on top of a stitch on the loom. There should be two stitches on each peg when you are finished.
• Knit off.
• Bind off using a crochet bind-off.
• Weave in ends.
• Repeat for the other sleeve.

Happy November! This delicious stew is perfect for this time of year. It has a distinctive Moroccan flavor but using some ingredients that you may not find in that area. It’s best slow cooked in a tagine (also spelled tajine), slow cooker or solar oven but it can also be prepared in a pressure cooker. If using a pressure cooker or solar oven, you’ll need to decrease the amount of liquid.

Moroccan-style Lentil & Yam Stew

Ingredients

• 2 lbs garnet yams, peeled and cut into 1-2 in chunks
• 1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/2 inch crosswise slices
• 1 cup French lentils*
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 cup honey or 2T agave syrup
• 1 tbl vegan non-hydrogenated margarine
• 1 tbl olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
• finely ground salt & pepper to taste

If using a solar oven, you’ll need to soak the French lentils overnight.

Directions

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Brush the onion slices with olive oil on both sides. Place them on a baking sheet and broil, turning them until they are lightly browned on each side. Reserve.
3. Place the lentils, garnet yams, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, honey (or agave syrup), vegan non-hydrogenated margarine, and water in a slow cooker.
4. Place the reserved onions on top.
5. Cook until done:

• A couple of hours in a slow cooker on low
• 45-70 minutes in a tagine at 350º
• 2-3 hours in a solar oven
• 10 minutes at high pressure in a pressure cooker, allow it to come down naturally

6. Add salt & pepper to tast.

Serve alone or over couscous. Enjoy!

We had a beautiful day in the Seattle area today. Anyone who lives here will tell you that we enjoy the sun whenever we can this time of year. I celebrated by working on my homemade solar oven. It’s not something that I’ll be using often this time of year but I will use it when I can. I can’t wait to use it in the summer — bake cakes without heating up the house. :-)Solar ovens are easy and fun to make. They make great projects for kids and they’re useful when backpacking or camping in an RV not to mention at home. I plan on using my solar oven like a slow cooker: sit it outside in the morning and have a hot cooked meal when I return home in the evening. The food will be ready in 2-4 hours but it won’t burn if you leave it in longer. You can prepare the sames things in a solar oven that you would on the stove top or in the oven: pastas, soups, stews, bread, cake, cookies, pizza, etc. Temperatures in the type of solar oven I am building will get up to about 225-250º F. This is a real oven, not a toy.Some commercial solar ovens can reach temperatures as high as 425-450ºF and will cook things in the same amount of time it would take for conventional cooking. However, you may have to reposition the oven as the sun moves. You can use it as I plan to, though, but cooking times will be a little longer than a conventional oven. Two commercial solar ovens that reach high temperatures are the Sun Oven and the Tulsi Hybrid Solar Oven. The Tulsi Hybrid allows you to use solar alone, electricity alone or a combination of solar and electricity making it a year-round oven even for places like Seattle.But unless you have time constraints for cooking your food, there’s no reason not to start out with a homemade one from cardboard boxes, foil and glue (or wheat paste) and see how you like it. They are inexpensive to make and you should be able to finish a simple one in 1 hour (panel style) to 3 hours (box style). If you don’t have boxes around the house, go to to a grocery store and ask for some of theirs. Or go to an appliance store and ask for a large piece of cardboard from a refrigerator box (perfect for the panel solar ovens).

Benefits

There are many advantages and benefits to using a solar oven. Here are a several reasons directly from the solar cooking wiki:

• Food needs little attention while cooking, leaving the cook free to attend to other matters.Scorching is very rare, so clean-up is simplified.
• Most of the preparation for a meal can be done early in the day, so there is less last-minute fuss.
• While food cooks in the sun, the kitchen stays cool.
• The gentle cooking preserves flavor and aroma, so the food tastes better.
• Foods can be preserved for out of season use at no cost in power, either by solar dehydration or, in the case of some acidic foods, by canning.
• In some climates, the fact that a panel cooker has potential to be used at night as a chiller could be very useful in preserving some types of short-term fresh foods or leftovers.

I hope you’ll consider giving it a try. For those of you who have looms on order from Decor Accents, Inc., the shipping box makes a great box for a solar oven. You’re part way there!

More Information

For more information on solar ovens and solar cooking, check out the following resources:

• Plans for building your own
• Solar Cookers International
• Solar Oven Society
• The Solar Cooking Archive

Looking for an easy way to add organic produce to your diet during the winter? Sprout ‘em! Growing sprouts is easy, takes very little space and time and a great way to get your fresh veggies during the winter. This video is one of the easiest ways to grow sprouts.

The lids can be made or bought from your local health food store. If they don’t sell them, you can always purchase a lid from Sprout People. I use a three-tray Biosta sprouter. It holds the perfect amount of water in each try and has a large yield. The downside is that it takes up more counter space than using a jar but probably not more once you factor that you can grow three different types of sprouts at once.Sprouts are said to be the most nutrient dense food and they are highly digestible. These are two reasons why they are promoted by advocates of raw food diets. Curious about what the nutritional value of sprouts actually is? Here’s a table of some of the most common sprouts folks like to eat. Nutritional data is from the USDA.

Nutrients per 1 cup
Nutrition Info	Alfalfa	Mung Bean	Radish	Soybean	Wheat
Calories	10	26	16	86	214
Protein	1.3 g	2.5 g	1.4 g	1.3 g	8.0 g
Fiber	3% DV	4% DV	n/a	3% DV	4% DV
Vitamin C	5% DV	23% DV	18% DV	5% DV	5% DV
Iron	2% DV	4% DV	2% DV	2% DV	11% DV
Folate	3% DV	9% DV	9% DV	3% DV	10% DV

Safety

There are some health concerns associated with eating sprouts that can be easily avoided.

• Toxins: Some legumes contain toxins that is reduced during the process of soaking, sprouting and cooking. If you are eating sprouted legumes raw, it’s best to limit the amount to 20 oz or less a day which is still quite a bit.
• Phototoxic: If you each large quantities of sprouted buckwheat, you may become sensitive to light. See an article by Gilles Arbour for more information.
• Salmonella and E. coli O157: Some people believe if you sprout your own seeds, you won’t have to deal with these issues but that’s not true. If the bacteria are present in or on seed, they can grow to high levels even under clean conditions. If this is of concern to you, do not eat the sprouts raw.

It’s the bonus round! I received my looms today from Decor Accents, Inc.. Sam makes the most wonderful looms! For those who are not familiar with loom knitting, it’s a form of knitting that creates fabric with the same (or similar) stitches to needle knitting but uses a loom instead. It’s great for those of us with arthritis who find it next to impossible to hold needles.I caught “loomingitis” almost 2 years ago now. As a result, I put up the site Loom Knitting Help which is an encyclopedia of loom knitting. It’s not completed yet — there’s always more to write — but I’m working on it. I’m currently writing a web application that will automatically convert needle knitting patterns to loom knitting patterns. I’ve put up directions to do this by hand but I know some would prefer to have it done automatically.If you are new to knitting, this is a great way to start. You can start out small (and cheap) with Knifty Knitters and then branch out to handmade looms like Sam Phelps makes. For those of you who like to use super bulky yarns, consider using one of the looms made by Cliff of Kiss Looms. Cliff’s looms work like Pocket Looms but he allows you to adjust the gauge from large gauge up to extra large gauge.With the cold weater arriving, I bet it would be nice to have a pair of socks to kick around in around the house. Here are some patterns to get you started. Stay tuned for more patterns. I have a baby sweater waiting to be posted as well as an adult women’s sweater. I think you’ll like the look and feel of both. Plus they’re easy to do!