Project Spectrum
Last year, Anjo the Crafty Modster made and gave away awesome mix cds for each month/color combination of Project Spectrum. Alas, Anjo hasn’t posted since October (I hope she’s ok!), so Heather made the first two PS mixes this year and I will be making the second two.
The colors for June-July are red, black, and metallics – each song or artist will have one of these colors in title or name. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the cd, please send email to my contest email address by 6 pm CDT, June 1. Three winners will be randomly selected. Only entries sent to my contest email address will be included in the drawing! You will not receive a confirmation email back. You do not need to be participating in Project Spectrum to win a cd.
Curious about what music will be on the cd? Some of the artists include Okkervil River, the Builders & the Butchers, the Mountain Goats, Blue Skies for Black Hearts, Joseph Arthur, the Sad Little Stars, Pete Yorn, Joseph Plunkett & the Weight, Thin White Rope, and Radiohead. Hey, I have notoriously eclectic and obscure taste. 🙂
Knitting: Java Jacket Pattern
To avoid having cold, soggy fingers when drinking iced coffee drinks in the summer, I knitted some java jackets from leftover Cascade Fixation. I have one at home, one in the car, one in my purse – you get the idea!
It’s a quick pattern for those of you who drink iced coffee or 20-ounce bottles of soda. For cans of soda or beer bottles, I would recommend casting on fewer stitches.
Materials
- Cascade Fixation or Elann Esprit
- US size 4 dpns/long circular/two circulars, depending on your preferred method (or size to get an approximate gauge of 5 st/in)
- Beginning of round (BoR) marker
- Darning needle
Cast on 36 stitches for seed stitch border or 37 stitches for ribbing. Join by knitting the first and last stitch together and place BoR marker before this stitch: 35 stitches (seed stitch) or 36 stitches (ribbing) remain.
Knit 6 rounds of seed stitch or 2×2 ribbing. Knit 20 rounds plain. Knit 6 rounds of seed stitch or 2×2 ribbing. Bind off and weave in ends. My bind off edge is a bit tighter than my cast off edge, which works well with a tapered cup. If you are planning to use these on cans or other non-tapered beverage containers, make sure you bind off loosely.
For a change, the cats were completely uninterested in all of this.
“Birds!” -Mayhem
“Darned screen. We could so get those birds… although since we are on the third floor, maybe the screen is a good thing.” -Chaos
They should come visit Tig who spent the day staring out the laundry room door at the chipmunks who fell into the window well 7 hours before! Love the “hand coasters” Great idea – I hate wet fingers on yarn.
That is such a great idea!
Hee hee…guess what the guys are doing right now?!
Man, iced java cozies! Brilliant!
Neat idea!
That’s what the dogs do except that they watch the squirrels and sometimes the cat who taunts them by sitting on the AC unit and “talks” to them!
Not just one but two cat butts!
Chris- Neat idea-
but I bet they started out as “Kitty Basque’s” ala Vivienne Westwood.
You know I’m right!
Love the Java Jacket! I don’t drink iced coffee, but soda or iced tea? Yeah that would work.
I can just picture those tails twitching in sync. The ears are even at the same angle!
Ooo, I could probably make that work for those pint-sized ice cream tubs….
Of course here I am pondering subsitute yarns…. lol. Spifftastic idea!
And catchenal bummage is a catchenal sight indeed.
Cats always land on their feet Chaos, no worries. Except maybe sore kitty feet!
That java jacket is a great way to use up that fixation I just can’t seem to wrangle into socks! Thanks for the pattern!
It’s funny though as great minds think alike I just made some felted beer bottle cozies this weekend to keep my fingers dry & my beer cold while at a picnic!!
Your Java Jackets (and your kitties) are so very pretty today!
Oh and I just happen to have some leftover Fixation. Thanks!
Katie has been spending her mornings looking at birds outside the kitchen window. Trust me, Chaos, the screen is a good thing. Every now and then Katie forgets there’s a window there and bashes herself into the window.
cool java jackets! love em’
And that cd.. what, no rollin’ stones “black is black?” –
are those artists’ really that obscure, or am I just getting older??? (grin)
Great idea for the leftover fixation!
Cute kitties as always!
Thanks for the Mountain Goats recommendation. Holy moly – “Woke Up New” was written for me and my head lately.
love the pattern…great idea!
your two furry children are too funny for words
Great idea.. I switch from hot tea to iced coffee for the summer months and hate “sweaty” glasses while I’m trying to knit.
Kitty butts! Mine is spending all of her time on the deck attempting to catch birds… or at least chittering at them.
i *love* the Slinky Sleek Black Cats Looking Out Window picture!
that made me very happy this a.m.
Love the java jacket. I think May and Chaos are planning something in that picture.
Y’know Mayhem’s tail makes Chaos’s look sorta skinny…. (but don’t tell him that ok – he might get a complex)
Nice pattern, thanks! I should make a couple of those to keep in the car.
Hmm. I must be really old and/or really out of sync..I don’t know a single one of those musicians/artists.
You know, I would throw the cup cozy away with the cup. I would, believe me. Then hours later, you’d see me digging through trash cans. Great idea, not for me tho. 😉
I should whip up one or three of those jackets… I have some extra fixation lying about as I decided I don’t care for it as socks too much. I’ve also contemplated knitting Ben & Jerry’s or Hagen Daz cozies with it…
Yes, Chaos, the screen is a good thing. I lost a kitty who managed to push the screen out; I miss him very much.
The iced java jacket is great! I think I’ll be making a few myself. I have a couple of the cup covers from Dunk*n Donuts right now (I call them cup condoms), but they are getting pretty dirty looking. It’d be fun to have a variety of colors 🙂
Thanks for the cute pattern! I never thought about how wet those iced drinks can get when it’s hot outside! As always, your furry ones are too cute!
That’s a great use for all the stretchy leftovers. I’ll have to try it.
Thanks for the pattern and all the links!
Thanks for the little pattern! I’ve been wanting to make some but never got around to working out the details.
Maybe they are only feigning interest in the birds and are really showing you their backsides because your knitting at the moment isn’t of interest to them?? (Great idea with the iced drink holders!)
Lurrrrv the java jacket! I know I have fixation ends laying around somewhere…..so if we make them that means we HAVE to go out and buy an iced coffee…I like this idea.
I am glad you didn’t get any kitties to model it…it would have been a scary Kitty Dicky Thingy!
Okkervil River song from the new album!
As always I love the pics of the kitties! Thank you for the pattern also. I think I’ll be making a few. Perfect for those iced coffees!
Java jacket – so clever! And from the list of artists, I’m already loving the mix. 🙂
Those are fantastic! I always end up with little dribbles on my clothes. Which, of course, never look like what they really are. Especially when they happen to land on my *cough* lady lumps.
Btw, I can’t believe I just used “lady lumps” in a sentence. I think I’m making everyone’s IQ drop just for having to read it.
Cool Java jackets! Thanks for the pattern!
Hehe..love that butt picture!
Love the butt shot! Pretty soon that’s what my windows will look like too!
Thanks for the pattern! Cute picture of the kitties too.
I was contemplating making a java jacket for hot coffee – those thin things don’t cut it on my walk home holding hot coffee. Cute pattern!
Aw. The kitties that bond together by plotting the demise of several bird species stay together.
The java jackets are a great idea!!
I can’t believe you posted abt the cup holders!! I was just going thru some of my patterns and came across this and thought, PERFECT FOR SUMMER! Apparently I wasnt the only one thinking that!! LOL
And adorable shiny black kitties as always. Your kitties remind me of my original three……I’ve got 2 black kitties now, but they have white patchwork.
Your cats are so attractive from the rear…
Nifty pattern! I always grab a cardboard cozy for my cold Starbucks goodie, but this is a much better idea. The kitties would love my new toy – a big bird feeder that not only attracts the birds, but whirls the squirrels into the bushes. Great fun for all.
Gosh – Mayhem is almost as big as Chaos!
Oh I love love love this pattern…gotta do it! And what a GREAT shot of the kitties…how many years did it take to wait for that one??
lol
(((Hugs)))
Yay! I need to knit one of these already. Now, if only I can find some appropriate yarn…
I was happy tos ee the side by side picture of them, May has really grown!
Hmm, I have a LOT of Fixation about since I’ve only made one cup cozie out of it. I may have to try this pattern for some variation!
thanks!
Hey- nice iced java jackets! I’ve knit for my hot coffees before- but I love the idea of being spared that cold cup ‘sweat’ on my summer drinks!
If you happen to see a woman followed by 6 little people at a coffe shop somewhere in the twin cities- it may be me… I love coffee, I love coffee shops, and I love to see how many little people fit into some teeny tiny independant shops! Some days… other days, that’ll be my big red van pulling through the drive-thru!
Happy knitting-
ali