Spork Sweater tutorial

Because of all the plastic spoons that restaurants, fro-yo places etc have, and how much I don't want to be using them- my family considered various solutions for a while before settling on SPORKS! So now we all have our sporks. TG and her dad carry small stainless steel multi-tool ones on their key rings, William and I have Snow Peak Titanium Sporks. They got a great reviews because they have deep tines that are polished smooth and nice deep bowls.

But even with polished tines it needed protection so it wouldn't snag things in my purse. The other thing that I needed for a spork holder in my purse was no buttons or ties to snag on other things. So I designed this spork sweater! It's worked from the bottom of the spork up, then has a flap like an old fashioned sandwich bag that flips over to close.

Because sporks come in different sizes, and because I use Boye steel hooks which are sized differently from the other major hook brands- this is a tutorial instead of a pattern. Because it's a tutorial rather than a step by step pattern, just use whatever hook size works for you and the thread you choose.

I used size 5 thread- Bernat Handicrafter Crochet Thread in Iris, it's a very soft, easy care acrylic fashion thread.

sc= single crochet
sl st= slip stitch
st or sts= stitch or stitchs
ch= chain

Start by chaining a length as long as the width of the handle of your spork. Chain 1 extra to turn, and slip stitch down the length to reinforce the chain.

Rnd 1:Ch 1 tightly to turn, and single crochet in each stitch on one side of the slip stitched chain, at the end, 3 sc in that stitch, sc in the other side of each stitch, 2 sc in last st, slip stitch to join.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st to join to first sc.

Repeat Rnd 2 until it's long enough for the handle of your spork.

The next part is a little trickier, you'll be widening the cosy to fit the bowl of your spork.

Single crochet until you reach the stitch that's on one side of your round, 3 sc in that stitch, put a piece of a contrasting color thread or a small stitch marker in second stitch of the 3 sc, go down the other side, and do the same on the other side. slip stitch to join.

Ch 1, single crochet in each stitch. Slip stitch to join.

Now it's all up to your judgement, for my spork, I did another plain row, then increased on the next row. Each increase will be 3 stitches centered in the side stitches, so marking the middle stitch makes it easy to find where the next increase goes. Mine was mostly 2 or 3 plain rows, then an increase until each side was 12 stitches, with the 1 stitch on each side for 26 stitches around total.

When it's wide enough for the bowl of your spoon, keep crocheting plain rounds until it's long enough to cover the bowl, and one extra round past that.

Break off thread.

Join in thread in the edge stitch on one side, leaving a long tail to sew down the flap. Single crochet to the edge stitch on the other side,
Chain 1 to turn, and single crochet across. I used reverse single crochet every other row to keep it from developing the ridges in single crochet, but single crochet works too.

You want to do 8 or 10 rows of single crochet. Break off thread, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Fold the flap over the top of the cosy, and sew down the flap along the sides using the tails of the thread, Knot off securely and weave in ends.

Book Review- All You Need Is Less

I'm a second generation hippie so most of this book is things that I know, it's the way that I grew up. That didn't stop me from reading it (nearly) cover to cover in one sitting.

It's funny, there are parts that I read out loud to my husband because they made me giggle. The style and pacing is informal, well-written and breezy with a good dose of humor. The author talks easily about the silly moments that make up day to day family life and joy. The chapter I skipped was the one about diapers. My own children are young adults, it's a non-issue at this point. There are some adult topics covered, and some adult language, but nothing that I'd have a problem letting a 14 year old read.

There are some great tips in here, for easy ways to change up little things in your routine to live a greener lifestyle, but unlike a lot of books about living in a more eco-friendly way- the emphasis in this book was on reducing. On getting away from consumerism and improving your quality of life and the things in it.

It has lots of the tips and solutions for getting away from harsh chemicals and using more natural things in day to day life and less petroleum by-products. Instructions for cleaning sprays, how to shine your stainless steel, how to wash laundry in less harmful ways. There is a good chapter on gardening for the absolute beginner with some truly helpful tips. She also talks about shampoos, scrubs and skin care.

The author isn't crafty, she freely admits that cooking isn't her strong point and that she's never touched a sewing machine. This is truly attainable greener living by making small changes. My favorite part though was when she pointed out how much redundancy there is in neighborhoods, so many people owning the same things when people could be sharing. It's something to think about.

It's also really funny. She talks about the weird looks you might get when you choose to use a pickle jar for coffee, and how to avoid to being THAT person, you know the one. The one who is so green and smug with it that people try to avoid them.

Yes, I do recommend this book and plan to share it with friends.

You can find the author's blog HERE.

--------the part that isn't going on my Amazon review and it's just for my regular readers-------

I do have one quibble about the whole thing. She talked about how to get rid of DANDELIONS.
I yelled at the book at that point "You just lost major hippie points."
You all know how I feel about dandelions right? They are one of the first foods available for bees, they are bright and pretty, fried dandelion blossoms are a favorite food in my family and we plan to try sprouting dandelion microgreens soon. We eat the leaves in tacos and salads, and they are what I consider the "first crop of summer".
Why would anyone want to get rid of dandelions? I've watched kids come to my yard to gather handfuls for their moms- and they can because my daughter made so many wishes when she was little on them. She also used to pick them for me.
Be kind to dandelions.
(disclaimer- I do understand that sometimes your neighbors or landlords object strongly to dandelions, so knowing how to kill them without using toxic chemicals is a good thing. I just really, really love dandelions)

Published by Viva Editions



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