Molecular Tea Cosy

About six months ago (maybe more, this year has gone so fast!), I came up with the idea of making a tea cosy embroidered with some of the molecules in tea.  After a few stops and starts and side projects (laptop sleeve, hats that look like strawberries, assorted cute thinks like robots, zebras and german shepherds, a sweater that I'm never going to finish...), I've finally finished it!

I can't remember what the stitch the tea cosy is worked in is called.  It's some sort of variation on double crochet that gives a nice slant that helps with the embroidering of the hexagons.  It's surprisingly difficult to get a proper run down of the molecules in tea, but after some digging I found (and have since lost) a couple of documents that had some structures.  I was quite limited in what I could use because due to size constraints, but I managed to fit a representative range.  The molecules are:

 Gallic acid on the top flap (top photo)

Hesperetin (a flavanone)

Caffeine (awesome)

Quercetin (also a flavanone)

Theanine (an amino acid)

There are also a number of water molecules in prime hydrogen bonding positions (yes, I'm a nerd).

GF Lemon And White Chocolate Cookies

150 g softened butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups flour (2 parts rice, 1 part corn, 1 part tapioca plus 1 tsp guar gum)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
~100 g white chocolate, chopped into chunks
rind and juice of 1 lemon

• Mix butter, sugar and egg together until smooth
• Add vanilla and mix through
• Add flours and baking paper, mix until combined
• Stir in chocolate and lemon rind and juice 
• Roll in to balls and place on a tray lined with baking paper
• Bake 10-15 min at 180°C until lightly browned

Variations:  To make a lactose-free version, use dark chocolate and margarine.  

The recipe works with just rice flour - use only 1 tsp baking powder, and add about a tablespoon of water

This is a very versatile recipe, so play around with different types of chocolate, with or without lemon.  I particularly like using a mix of white and milk chocolates, with no lemon.

Super Lemony Gluten- and Lactose-Free Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry

125 g chilled margarine, cubed

250 g gf flour (I use 2 parts rice, 1 part corn and 1 part tapioca)

1 tsp guar/xanthan gum

2 Tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg yolk (keep white for meringue)

2 1/2 Tsp cold water

• Sift flour, sugar and salt together 3-4 times to make soft and fluffy
• Add cubed margarine and rub into the flour, lifting as you rub to ensure there is lots of air
• Whisk egg yolk and water together
• Make a well in the centre and pour in egg
• Mix through by 'cutting' rather than stirring (or use dough beaters)
• Form the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for 30 min
• Once chilled, roll out or press into a 23 cm tin
• Blind bake for 15 min at 180°C, then bake for another 15-20 min
• Allow to cool to room temp

Lemon Filling

3-4 large lemons

100 g margarine

1 cups sugar

2 eggs, beaten

• Grate lemon rind and squeeze juice into a saucepan
• Add eggs, sugar and cubed butter
• Stir constantly with a whisk over a low heat until sugar has dissolved
• Chill for ~an hour in freezer, or overnight in fridge

Meringue

4 egg whites

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/4 tsp salt

• Beat egg whites and salt together
• Slowly add sugar while beating
• Continue beating until stiff

Putting Together

• Mix 2 Tsp meringue through the lemon filling
• Pour lemon filling into cooled pastry shell
• Spread meringue evenly over the top
• Bake ~15 min until the meringue top is light brown

Turtle Tea Cosy

Tea Cosy

The base tea cosy is worked in star stitch:

Beginning star

ch 3, draw up loops through 2nd ch, 1st ch, dc from previous round and centre of last star (5 loops on hook).  YO and draw through all 5 loops.

Star Stitch

Draw up loops through centre of previous star, the same stitch as the last loop of previous star, the top of the star from the previous round and the centre of the star from the previous round (5 loops on hook).  YO and draw through all 5 loops. (There are several tutorials on how to work star stitch available if you google it)

r1  Foundation sc in multiples of 2 + 1 until length is about 1/3 longer than the width of one side of the tea pot at the widest part (About half way up, between the the points where the spout and the handle start).  The fabric won't settle into the proper size until about 3 rows of star stitch have been worked.  It might take a bit of trial and error to make sure the piece is the right size.

r2  ch3, draw up loops through 2nd ch, 1st ch, sc at base of chain, next two sc (5 loops on hook).  YO, draw through all 5 loops.  *draw up loops through centre of last star, the sc of the final loop of the previous star, next two sc (5 loops on hook).  YO and draw through all 5 loops.*  Repeat between * * til the end of the round.  Dc in final sc.

r3  Beginning star, then star stitch until the end of the round.  Dc in the top of the last star of the previous round.

Repeat r3 until the piece reaches the top of the spout.  Fasten off.

Make a second piece of the same size, but instead of fasting off, do another row and continue the row over the top of the first piece (make sure the stitching is going the right way!).  I joined the two by making a star stitch with a couple of extra loops over the two dc at the ends of the pieces.

Continue repeating r3 until the piece reaches the top of the handle.  Join the two ends together with a sl st.  You can either continue making a dc at the end of each row, or change the dc to another star stitch.

Continue working the star stitch rows in a round until the tea pot begins to get smaller at the top.  Measure the height of the remaining tea pot, and measure how many rows this height equates to.  Divide the number of rows into the number of stitches.  This is the number of stitches you need to decrease in each row (e.g., if there are 6 rows and 36 stitches, you'll need to decrease by 6 stitches each row).  The way I work a dec in star stitch is, instead of drawing up the 4th loop through the top of the star stitch from the previous round, draw it through the centre of that star then draw the final loop through the centre of the next star.

Space the dec evenly throughout the the row (i.e., for 6 dec in 36 stitches, dec every 5th stitch).   When there are only a handful of stitches remaining, fasten off.  You can either sew the hole closed, or leave the hole open and pop the top of the lid through it (see the above pictures).

Sew the bottom together at the sides, sewing up to the base of the handle and spout respectively.

Turtles

Head

r1  ch2, sc in 1st ch, draw up a loop through 1st ch, ch1 in first loop on hook, yo and draw through both loops

r2  ch1, 2 sc

r3  ch1, 2 sc

r4  inc x 2

r5  ch1, 4 sc

r6  ch1, 4 sc

r7  ch1, dec x 2

r8  dec, fasten off and tuck in thread

Flippers (make 4)

r1  ch2, sc in 1st ch, draw up a loop through 1st ch, ch1 in first loop on hook, yo and draw through both loops

r2  ch1, 2 sc

r3  ch1, 2 sc

r4  ch1, 2 sc.  Fasten off and tuck in beginning thread

Tail

r1  ch2, sc in first chain

r2  ch1, sc

r3  ch1, sc

r4  ch1, sc.  Fasten off and tuck in beginning thread

Shell (Make 7)

r1  6sc in magic circle

r2  2sc in each stitch.  sl st in 1st st.  Clean fasten off (Cut thread, pull loop through last st, thread the end through the next st around (2nd st).  Thread the end back through the last st of round.)

Putting it Together

Sew 6 of the shell pieces around the 7th by sewing 3sc of each piece into 3sc of the central piece (the 3rd sc will need to be shared with the next piece).  Sew the 6 pieces together by 5 adjoining sc.  Sc around the base of the shell (there should be 2sc left from each shell piece, plus do a sc in the last sc that makes up the join between adjacent shells (4 sc per shell)).  Attach the other pieces to the shell by sewing one per shell piece in this order:  Head, two flippers, tail, the other two flippers.

Attach the turtles to the tea cosy by first sewing on the shell (add a little bit of stuffing to hold the shape), then sewing around each of the limbs.

Dr Oodberg!

Ever since I started crocheting the Goth Vampires, my boyfriend kept on bugging me to make him a crochet Zoidberg.  After putting it off for a while, I decided to make one for him for Valentine's Day.  It took a bit of scheming, as I had to make it in secret, and a fair bit of trial and error to get the tentacles right (I used a mix of patterns from Creepy Cute Crochet), but I was reasonably happy with how he turned out.  However, I only had black eyes, so he ended up looking a bit like an Ood from Doctor Who.  Not that that's a bad thing (I might actually make an Ood properly one day...).  So here's Dr Oodberg!

Textured Crochet Hat

Awhile ago I made some fingerless gloves from Crafty Beaver's pattern, and wanted to make a hat to match.  After spending hours trying to find a pattern that I liked, I decided to frankenstein one up from a few different patterns, plus a bit of random adaptation, and this was the result.  I made the same hat in black for a friend who wears it with crochet flower badges that match her outfits.

Textured Crochet Hat

Pattern uses:
4 mm crochet hook
~ 50 g 8 ply wool

r1         ch2, 91 foundation sc, join with a sl st
r2         ch1, turn.  *Skip first (next) sc, (sc, dc) in next*.  Repeat * * around (45 clusters)
r3-r25   ch1, turn.  (sc, dc) in each dc around.
r26       ch1, turn.  *(sc, dc) in next 4 dc.  Skip next sc, sc in dc, skip next sc, dc in dc*.  Repeat * * around (8 times).  (36 clusters)
r27       ch1, turn.  (sc, dc) in each dc around.
r28       ch1, turn.  *(sc, dc) in next 3 dc.  Skip next sc, sc in dc, skip next sc, dc in dc*.  Repeat * * around.  (27 clusters)
r29       Repeat r27
r30       ch1, turn.  *(sc, dc) in next 2 dc.  Skip next sc, sc in dc, skip next sc, dc in dc*.  Repeat * * around.  (18 clusters)
r31       Repeat r27
r32       ch1, turn.  *(sc, dc) in next dc.  Skip next sc, sc in dc, skip next sc, dc in dc*.  Repeat * * around.  (9 clusters)
r33       Repeat r27
r34       ch1, turn.  *Skip next sc, sc in dc, skip next sc, dc in dc*.  Repeat * * around.  (4.5 clusters)

Tie off, leaving a longish tail.  Use tail to sew closed the hole.


This hat is a snug fit on my large (59 cm) head.  The pattern can be adapted by using fewer stitches (Start with multiples of 2 + 1 stitch).  Try and keep to multiples of 5, or you'll need to change the decreasing rounds as well.  For shorter heads, use fewer rounds between r3 and r25.

Selling My Stuff

A few months ago, I bought Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden, an awesome book full of zombies and ninjas and robots, oh my!  After making a number of the patterns from the book, I had a play with making individualised goth and emo vampires for my friends for xmas and birthday presents.

These went down so well, and I had so much fun making them, that I decided that I'd make a bunch more and sell them on Etsy.  

I've made a handful so far, these just being three, my favourites being the guy with the mohawk, and the one with the pigtails.  My Etsy user name is DontLickTheSpoon, and I've put a bunch of these little guys in my store already.  Hopefully in the future I'll also put up other things, I'll see how I go...