New pattern! Meet the Structured Cowl!

Meet the Structured Cowl!  This pattern is wonderful and fast, great for gift giving.  You can button it where you like, so it can be a traditional neckwarmer, an infinity cowl, or just a simple cowl, buttoned in the back or the front.  I hope you love it as much as I do - available in my Ravelry Store, my Etsy shop, my Craftsy Store, and my Unravel Me Designs Website

Chair Socks!

Quick blog post!  Or, how I made my chair socks (your results may vary).  Fun to make, and if they get dirty wash 'em!  If they wear out, make more!  

First of all, my chair legs are about 1 1/4 inches wide on the bottom, and they taper slightly upward.  I made these chair socks slightly smaller to stretch over a bit, so they are less likely to fall off.

You will need:

Tiny amount of worsted weight yarn - I used little bits of leftover cotton in several colors from making LIKE A BILLION apple cozies.
Size G (4.25 mm) hook
Stitch marker, darning needle, scissors

Rnd 1:  Starting with magic ring, ch 3 and work 11 dc into ring, join with sl st to top of beg ch-3 to join round.  Tug up tightly to close.  12 dc

Rnd 2:  Working in BLO, ch 1, sc in same st as join, pm for beg of round, sc around, do not join.  (You can join if you prefer, but it looks prettier if you don't).

Rnds 3-6:  Sc around, moving marker up as you go.

Join with sl st to beg sc after round 6.  Fasten off and weave in ends.

Now, if your chair legs are larger, try adding a round or two of sc after your first dc round and before working your BLO round.  You can also try to go up a hook size or two, but I find they are sturdier if you use a smaller hook.

Have fun, and don't be afraid to experiment!

Simple 3 x 1 Knitted Rib Scarf

So, I've been meaning to put this simple pattern up as a freebie for a very long time now.  Here is a super simple and unisex knitted 3 x 1 scarf.

Wanna make one?

CO 27 sts.

K 4 rows.

K3, P1 across to last 3 sts, K3.

K4; then P3, K1 across to last 4 sts, K4.

Repeat last 2 rows until desired length.

K 4 rows, BO.

Knit on with your bad self.

Some more shots:

Chevron Bonnet Giveaway Winners!

Who's ready?? Drumroll please....


Winners of the 10 Chevron Bonnet patterns:


Marco G

Allison P

Marlies I

Ashley B

Susan S

Tina D

Kountry Girl Kreations

Debbie P

Tracy O

Rachel/Silly Stitches


Winners of a kit with pattern and choice of 2 balls of Knit Picks Comfy Worsted yarn:


Sophie C

Amanda P


And lastly, winner of the gift card from Knit Picks:


Cassie M


Thank you to everyone who entered! If you are one of the winners and purchased the Chevron Bonnet pattern already, you will be refunded. If you hadn't purchased it yet and won, I have also emailed the pattern to you.


For those who won the kits and balls of yarn, if you don't hear from me, please contact me so I can get your items to you, thanks!

Chevrons and a Giveaway !!

Finally, a new pattern!  Almost there - off to the testers last night and the final draft should be ready by Tuesday, May 28th.  These self imposed deadlines are so fun.... :)

Meet the new Chevron Bonnet -

I have to admit, this was one of the most fun designs I've ever created.  I love playing with different color combinations, and I've made about 20 of them so far in various colors.  This can be a great stashbuster project as well, and there are 8 sizes available, ranging from 0-3 months all the way to Adult.  Here's an example of one in adult size and 4 colors:

I'll be giving away 10 copies of the pattern, 2 kits including pattern and 2 balls of Knit Picks Comfy Worsted yarn in your choice of colors, and 1 $25 gift card to Knit Picks!!  Would you like to win one of these 3 prizes?  Well....here's all you've got to do to enter:

First Entry:  Be one of the first to buy the pattern at the pre-order price of $4.99.  Regular price will be $5.99 due to the amount of sizing on this one.  Get your copy here through 05/27 at this introductory price and you will be automatically entered to win!  You might ask "What happens if I order a copy of the Chevron Bonnet during the pre-sale and then I win a copy??"  That would be a good question!  If that happens, I'll refund you for your purchase.

Second Entry:  Share this blog post via your facebook page - be sure to come back here and post a link to your facebook page in the comments below to prove you did it (I will be checking).

Third Entry:  Purchase ANY pattern via my Etsy Shop, Ravelry Pattern Store, Craftsy Store or at Unravel Me Designs between the dates of 05/24 and 05/27 and you will be automatically entered to win.

Do you have to buy something to enter?  Nope - even if you don't purchase anything, you can still get one entry in by sharing on your facebook page.

Up to 3 entries per person only, thanks!

Winners will be chosen via random number generator on 05/28, thank you for your support!  I couldn't do what I love without you!!

Disclaimer:  This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook or any other company.  Participants are providing information to Unravel Me and not to Facebook or any other company.

UPDATE:  Winners chosen and contacted, thank you all for participating!

Refried Beans Anyone?

All right.  After deliberating on whether or not to let my secret out, I've decided to go ahead and let you know how to make my favorite refried beans.  These are so simple and yummy.  If you want to keep them fat free, you don't even have to use oil - just cook them and mash them up if you like.  However, we use a tad of bacon fat to give them a nice smoky flavor.  Yes, I said BACON.  Oh no!

This recipe has been tweaked a few times now, and I think I finally have it where I want it.

Let's go!

Gather together:

3 1/2 cups dried pinto beans (no need to soak first, but definitely rinse 'em well)  I know some of you think I'm nuts, but trust me - you don't have to soak them.
1 large onion, diced
2 large roasted green chiles, diced (or one large can diced green chiles, 7 oz)
5 cloves garlic, peel and leave whole (dice if you prefer, but not needed)
3 tsp Real Salt (or good fine sea salt)
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp good quality chili powder (I make my own, similar to this recipe by Alton Brown, but tweaked as most of my recipes are - seeing a trend yet?)
1/2 tsp baking soda
9 cups filtered water

Throw it all in the crockpot and cook on high heat for 6-8 hours until the beans are soft.

Divide your beans at this point, water and all, into 4 equal 25(ish) oz containers or freezer bags and freeze them until you are ready to mash 'em up.  I freeze 3 of the 4 containers and make some fresh ones out of the 4th most of the time.

When you are ready for some yummy beans:

Throw 1-2 TB oil of choice in a pot over medium heat and melt it baby!  We use BACON FAT (you don't need much, but feel free to leave it out if you want to go fat free, these beans are yummy as is).
Add beans and 2 tsp ground cumin (this is in addition to the cumin you already added, cumin is goooood).
If you want to add more heat, mince a serrano pepper and cook it a bit in the oil before you add the beans.
You don't even have to defrost the beans first, though it's easier if you do.

Cook them up for 15-20 minutes and then mash 'em up.  A hand held stick blender works very well here.  If you find the beans are too runny at this point, just cook them a little longer until they look right to you.

Obviously change it up a bit if you are making a bigger batch, remember this is for 1/4 of the cooked beans.  I've been asked if the whole pot could be fried up and then frozen, and I don't see why not.  Try it and let me know how it works for you.

That's it, that's all!

P.S.  Try to make your own chili powder.  I promise it is worth it - sooo much better than store bought.  I use mine in place of taco seasoning, chili seasoning and in my homemade salsa (I'll share that one in a future post).  My family always requests me to make it for them, so I have to make quadruple batches every time.  Trust me.

The Avery Infinity Cowl

It's not often that a project comes together so quickly and just right for me.  But this one did.  I'm very proud to present my newest pattern, the Avery Infinity Cowl.  Of course, there is a short version for those of you who don't want to have to wrap it or those of you who, let's face it...have that lonely ball of Malabrigo that you didn't know what you were going to make with it but it was sooo gorgeous you had to buy it!  Whew, how's that for a run-on sentence?

I'm working on getting my new Unravel Me Designs website up and running, so there's not a whole lot listed there yet, but you can pre-order your Avery Infinity Cowl crochet pattern here (and save $1) and I will email the finished pattern to you on or before October 8th.  Pre-sale is only good through October 7th!

In the meantime, I'd like to offer up a copy of this pattern for free!  Simply share this blog post or the pre-sale posts on my Facebook page and leave a comment here telling me you've done so.  I'll pick a random name October 7th to win a free copy!  Don't worry, if you've already paid for your copy, I'll refund you.  :)

Disclaimer: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook or any other company. Participants are providing information to Unravel Me and not to Facebook or any other company.