Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter Warmers

Pretty, white, warm... these are actually made of yarn with a little sparkle in it. This is an evening-length, solid-color variation of the Witch Warmers in Crochet armwarmers pattern. Since there are no stripes, it's all single crochet, working up fast and easy. In addition, you can wear these inside-out for a ridged look. Here's how to do it:

Note: all stitches after the base chain are some form of single crochet until the very last stitch, which is sl st-fl.

1. Using the armwarmers pattern, work only the odd-numbered rounds for the ruffle.

2. When you get to the arm section, work all rounds in sc-fl only. Omit "sl st-bl in first st" and "sk1" wherever found.

3. Work through the Top of Armwarmer section, and add increase rounds until you reach about 1 inch less than the desired length (12" for me, not counting the ruffle). Do not end with a sl st-bl.

4. Skip to the Top of Legwarmer section, and work Top R12-14, omitting "sl st-bl in first st" and "sk1" wherever found. End Top R14 with a sl st-fl instead of sl st-bl.

Fit: this comes out stretchier than the striped version in the pattern, so if you want to go down a size, it will probably give you a bit of negative ease and fit quite well.

You can find another variation for Witch Warmers in Crochet here:
Short Version: Elf Warmers

I'd Open a Vein for You Armwarmers

I love these! The left armwarmer is black... the right arm has the red embroidery, or vice versa if you prefer. Here's how to do it, working from the Witch Warmers pattern.

1. Knit 2 solid black armwarmers using the pattern, but make them evening length. To do this, work extra stockinette rounds at the end of the increase section, to desired length minus 1/2 inch. I stopped at 13" measured without the ruffle. Then continue to the ribbed top section in the pattern.

Right Arm Embroidery

2. Thread a yarn needle with a 6-foot length of sportweight red yarn. Tie a big slip knot in one end.

3. Find the knitted triangle in the ruffle, which leads straight up to the point where the armwarmer increases start. That's the triangle the heart goes on.

4. Using the outline stitch, embroider a heart outline on the ruffle triangle, starting at the bottom point of the heart and working all the way around back to the same point.

5. Still using the outline stitch, embroider a line going up the armwarmer, through the middle of the increase section and stopping just before the ribbed top of the armwarmer. You can make the line look more like dripping blood by shifting to the right or left by one stitch once or twice. Keeping the line perfectly straight gives a nice stocking-seam look.

6. Make an extra straight stitch on each side of the final outline stitch to create a chicken-foot effect.

7. Cut another length of red yarn, this time 3 feet long. Thread it into the yarn needle, and fill in the heart outline with satin stitch.

8. Bring all yarn ends to the inside of the armwarmer, tie off, and work in.

To Wear - line up the heart with your thumb, to show off the embroidery.

You can find more variations for Witch Warmers here:
Yule Warmers
Short Witch Warmers

Herb-Infused Oil

My daughter and her new hubbie made up some varieties of herb-infused olive oil for me for Christmas, and they are so wonderful, I thought I'd share them, uh, bloggingly with you. They are great for a quick stir-fry or for seasoning soups or beans without the picking and peeling and chopping required for fresh herbs or even dried.

Here's what she says about how to make the infusions:

"So for the garlic oil: simmer some oil in a saucepan (a cup or however much you want). Toss in 5 or so peeled cloves of garlic. Simmer until the cloves start to float, then strain into a thing. For the rosemary, do the same with sprig of rosemary, only the rosemary won't float. So just like... time the garlic, and do it for the same amount of time."

Stupid easy, really. I keep some garlic and rosemary in their respective oils mostly for decoration and identification, but I'm sure it does strengthen the flavor over time."

UPDATE: If you leave a sprig of fresh rosemary in the oil for storage, as you use it and the level falls below the top of the sprig, it can become moldy. Maybe this could be avoided with a well-dried sprig--otherwise, just take it out or cut it to be well below the surface.

Yule Warmers

This is a wide-striped variation on the Witch Warmers pattern (knit version). It uses a variegated yarn for 2 stripes, coupled with a coordinating solid. The yarns are both Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" in sportweight: Dark Olive and Autumn Multi. *

Here's how to make them from the pattern:

1. Make a gauge swatch. This yarn knitted up smaller than the sportweight yarn used in the pattern. I had to make a size larger to get a size x-small. I decided not to use larger needles to get gauge, because the stitches would come out loose enough to not be so warm anymore.

2. Follow the notes for the short-version wristwarmers.

3. Knit the ruffle and the first 2 stripes of the pattern in Dark Olive, or your solid main color.

4. Alternate the remaining wrist stripes this way: 2 stripes all variegated, then 2 stripes all solid color, 2 more stripes variegated.

5. Skip to the top section and work all in solid color.

You can find more variations for Witch Warmers here:
Evening Length: I'd Open a Vein for You Armwarmers
Short Witch Warmers



* Photos feature my newly married daughter's beautiful harpist-hands.

Butterscotch Bark: A New Decadence

Here's the new recipe I tried... well, thought-up... this year for Yule and Christmas. With my new step-grandson visiting, I was careful to avoid chocolate and red food coloring, as requested. So, I came up with this super-easy variation on peppermint bark (couldn't find white peppermint candy this year, anyway). It tastes totally sinful!

Now I want to try this with other hard candies, like lemon drops or root beer barrels.

BUTTERSCOTCH BARK

11 oz. (1 pkg.) white chocolate chips
4 oz.(1/2 cup) butterscotch hard candies, unwrapped

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Place candy in a heavy plastic bag, and hit with a hammer to break up into 1/4” or smaller pieces. For best results, do your hammering with a folded towel under the bag, placed on a hard floor or cement. This will leave some candy powder, so a few layers of plastic wrap or paper towels under the bag will help.

Place white chocolate in a microwaveable bowl. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes or less, depending upon the wattage. Stir until smooth, then stir in the butterscotch.

Spread the mixture 1/4” to 1/2” thick on waxed paper placed on a cookie sheet or in the bottom of a large, flat pan . Cool in refrigerator for about 45 minutes.

Break into bite-sized pieces and store in an airtight container.

Wassail

Another one of our Yule favorites is this nonalcoholic wassail. My kids have loved it since they were little.

WASSAIL

1-1/2 quarts (32 oz.) apple juice
2 cups pineapple juice
1 cup orange juice
juice from 1 lemon
9 allspice berries
9 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 small orange (optional)

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Place spices in a spice infuser, tea ball, or cloth bag. The wassail can be made with ground spices instead: use about 1/4 tsp. each.

Combine juices in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add the spices and boil for 1 minute. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or more.

Turn off heat and serve with a ladle, or turn down to a very low simmer to keep warm. This can also be transferred to a crock pot for serving and keeping warm. If desired, you can add a clove-studded orange or orange slices to the punch bowl.

Serves 8 - 10

Note: It comes out sweeter if you use apple juice without vitamin C added. You can also use apple cider, but there will be a bit of alcohol, which is mostly cooked out by the time the wassail is served.