Sunday, February 12, 2012

'Orange' you glad we're valentines?

 At work, we're doing an elementary school-style valentine exchange.  Everyone is getting a little something for everyone else.  I came up with this cute, if somewhat elaborate, sight gag.

I bought a 5 lb. box of Cutie mandarin oranges and devised this little fruit cozy to put on them since I figured taped cards might fall off.  Plus, I think people will enjoy a bit of fruit during the deluge of sweets on Valentine's Day.  All in all, each little orange cost me less than 30 cents to put together, and it's a lot more thoughtful than a store bought card.




And here's the pattern that I made up for these.

With orange:
Rnd 1: Ch 5, sl st to form a ring.
Rnd 2: Ch 3, [DC, Ch2] repeat x6 (into ring). Finish with a sl st to the top of the Ch 3.
Rnd 3: Ch 3, [DC, Ch2, DC] into DC of previous round.  [Ch3, group] repeat x6 (group is DC,Ch2,DC)
Rnd 4: Ch 3, [DC into Ch2-sp. Ch 2. DC into Ch3-sp. Ch 2.] repeat around. Finish with a sl st to top of Ch 3.
Rnd 5: Ch 3, [DC2TOG, Ch3] repeat x6
F/O

With green: (leaf)
Ch 5
sl st in 2nd ch from hook, SC, SC, 4 HDC in last ch.
On other side, SC, SC, sl st.
F/O

Slip in your fruit and use a bit of yarn to loosely weave in the last round to be used as a drawstring.  Before tying a bow in your drawstring, make a little tag and slip that onto the yarn. 

Enjoy :)

3 comments:

  1. I think this project is sooooo adorable!! I really want to use it, so thanks for posting. However, you didn't provide a materials list, and for a project like this, (since it has to be a certain size to fit around the clementine) it would be helpful to know what size hook you used, as well as the weight and brand of yarn. A gauge check would also be helpful. But other than that, I love it!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment! I hope you see this, here is a link to my Ravelry pattern page: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/valentines-fruit-cozy

      I pretty much always use a G hook with Red Heart Super Saver yarn (the basic cheap-y worsted weight stuff). I think gauge is not super important here because of the relatively large amount of stretch in the stitch and pattern. That being said, I might suggest putting more than 6 DC (8-10) in the ring in round 2 to accommodate for a slightly larger orange (although not as big as a navel orange!) since the pattern lends itself well to additional sizes.

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    2. Thanks sooo much!!! I can't wait to try it out!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!

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