Fiber Tuesday: Give Your Coffee a Warm Hug

I love coffee, but sadly for health reasons I should stay away from it. Sometimes I can purge my system of all caffeine, but it never lasts that long. The smell is a siren calling me into its dark waters, then the warm rich taste renders me docile and powerless to swim away.

Okay, that got weird. Sorry about that.

Since I don’t indulge that often I make it an experience when I do. I pull out the whole beans, coffee grinder, and the French press. I love my French press but it doesn’t keep the coffee hot enough for me, and once I pour the milk in it’s practically lukewarm. Since my French press gives me warm hugs on the inside, I decided to give it a warm hug from the outside—and insulate my coffee while I’m at it—with this French press sweater vest. Your coffee will say merci beaucoup.

Measurements approximately 10 inches x 12.5 inches

Yarn I used a bulky yarn that recommended size 10.5 needles. It doesn’t take much, so any wool or insulating fiber will work. You can even use scraps from other projects.

Needles straight needles size 10.5 or needles to match your yarn.

Notions 4 buttons

Pattern

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: Purl

Row 3: Knit

Row 4: *K1, P1* repeat to the end

Instructions

Cast on 30 stitches and begin working the pattern until your work measures 12.5 inches from the cast on row. Cast off.

Button loops

For the button loops make 4 I-cords approximately 3.5 inches long with enough tail on each end to tie on to the sweater vest. When sewing on the loops and the buttons, space them out evenly along opposing edges. Make sure they match up.

Bobbles (make 2)

For the bobble cast on 2 stitches

Next row: On each stitch knit through the front and back and through the front again leaving 6 stitches.

Next row: purl.

Next row: knit.

Next row: purl.

Next row: slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over, slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over.

Cast off remaining 2 stitches.

Leave a 16 inch tail.

Tuck in the short tail from the cast on (not the 16 inch tail) into the bobble, sew around the edges, and pull them together, forming a ball

Thread each bobble—one from each end—through the loops created from the k1, p1 rows. Attach the tail to the end opposite the bobble.

To use: button at the handle side, buttoning around the handle. Once you pour in the coffee and hot water, pull the drawstring to close around the plunger. Try to wait for your coffee to brew and enjoy.

It All Starts with One Stitch

No matter how many projects I complete, it never ceases to amaze me that an entire sweater begins with one stitch. One lonely stitch on the needle. I don't always take the time to appreciate that first stitch, but this time I am, because this is more than a stitch, it's a beginning, a promise of more to come.

This small bit of yarn, twisted thoughtfully into a slipknot has bigger dreams than just being beautiful yarn that is soft to pet. (For you non-fibrephiles out there, yes, we pet our yarn. Sometimes we rub it on our cheeks and coo gently to it) There's nothing wrong with being beautiful yarn left in a skein. Yarn alone can be aesthetically pleasing.

I display my yarn stash proudly on an open shelf in my office because I love to look at the textures and colors. It's a shelf full of possibilities. And, yes, those baskets on the bottom are filled with more yarn. :) I have pared it down quite a bit after the move, believe it or not.

But I digress. Back to my current yarn inspiration. There is a customer who frequents the store my husband manages who is also a fibrephile, which means her stash is also out of control. We can't help it we see yarn and we buy it, not for projects but for possibilities. She had recently begun paring down her stash to make room for more and she graciously gave some to me through my husband who told her that I, too, love to knit. I say gracious because this is high quality yarn. 

This is Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. 55% merino wool, 33% microfibre, 12% cashmere. It's luxurious. And it's pink!! My favorite color! She gave me enough of it to make a sweater. I have saved this yarn for something special. I didn't want to waste it. I needed a project worthy of the size of the gift. I have flipped through piles of knitting magazines and books and swatched with every pair of needles I own (which is a lot, almost every size in straight, circular, and double pointed; and in metal, bamboo, rosewood, birch... I have a lot of needles.) I have finally found the perfect pattern for this yarn. 

It is simply called Scalloped Edge Pullover form KnitSimple's Spring/Summer 2008 issue. I usually don't knit with a yarn this small. Bulky yarns knit up quicker, and my drive for instant results makes a bulky yarn appealing. The finer yarns make such a pretty fabric though. And I tend to be hot natured and would be a lot more likely to wear a lightweight sweater over a thick bulky one, and the yarn is too beautiful to waste. So I gathered my gumption and started. I made the first stitch.

That one stitch will loop into another stitch and another until it becomes a row. Then another row will join followed by another. Pretty soon you have a section then the whole back and then all the pieces to sew together. 

And finally it will be a sweater, and I will wear it proudly. Sometimes I will study it and look at all the individual stitches. Maybe if I'm bored I will try and count how many stitches make up the entire piece. But the sweater would not exist had it not been for the first stitch. 

The longer the journey, the harder it may seem to begin. The accomplishment of completing that journey is always worth it though. Once this journey is complete, I will post pictures of the whole sweater.