Story last updated at 10/12/2011 - 12:46 pm
October in Alaska is the perfect month for crafting. Soggy gray days turn dark quickly while the white dust creeps down the mountainsides, so I cozy up with a giant caramel latte and my favorite craft. But let's be honest, the October nip in the air is sometimes hard to contend with as my cold crafter's hands try to stitch and string one more strand. So I've come up with five crafty ways for us all to cut the chill and get back to the task at hand.
Crochet yourself a cozy cap
Get a head start by making yourself a cap for crafting. You'll need one crochet hook, a skein of yarn and a little math. Start with a medium-sized hook, like a J or K, and a worsted weight yarn. Start by teaching yourself one stitch; a single crochet or double crochet can be found online or at your local library with good illustrations.
Start at the crown of the hat by crocheting three chains, then crochet your next stitch back into the first - you've created a very tiny circle. Now mark that stitch with a safety pin as the beginning of your circle or round. For each round you make after this, move the stitch marker along to mark the beginning.
First time hat-makers have the inevitable problem of making a lovely freewheeling hat without marking their rounds, and in most cases the hat ends up with a few uneven lumps and bumps. Whatever pattern you choose make sure that you complete it for one full round and then you can switch to some other wild stitch in your repertoire. Believe me, in the end your round head will thank you.
Tie yourself up in fleece
Once your head is under wraps, get the rest of your mojo cozy by creating an easy-for-anyone tied fleece lap blanket.
Take two large squares of fleece (think blanket-sized), often sold as "panels" at the fabric store. Cut 1" wide strips that look like fringe about 4" deep all around both pieces. Place the two pieces with wrong sides together, and get to tying. This is a great project for the fisher or sailor in your life to show off their knot-tying skills.
Warm the whole place with bread
Now that you're enrobed in cozy wraps, it's time to get the whole house in on it, and nothing does that quite like a cozy oven.
Throw together a quick bread, like banana bread made from older bananas sustained in the freezer, while adding walnuts and a bit of flax seed to pump up the nutritional value. Or warm yourself up by kneading your own loaf of homemade rising bread. Sourdough is delicious and with so many starters locally available you can keep both warmth and tradition alive.
Ready yourself by waxing winter gear
Can't wait to warm up this winter by hitting the slopes? Well, first warm up your iron and get your gear in shape. Find more details in friendly faces at Eaglecrest, but the basics of waxing your skis for the season start with a warm iron, ski wax and an area you don't mind getting a bit messy.
After cleaning your ski bottoms with a base cleaner, heat your iron (any kind without holes for steam will work) to a medium setting. Rub on a thin layer of wax and follow that with a good ironing along the length of the ski. Let the wax cool, scrape the excess and you are set to jet down the hill, as soon at the white stuff makes it down first.
Build a sandcastle
Build a sandcastle on a tropical beach somewhere other than Alaska in October, that is. October is not only the perfect Alaskan crafting month, it is also the perfect Alaskan vacationing month. So if you are bound for fairer locales, keep yourself in a creative mood by building a sandcastle, visiting an art gallery, or just enjoying a well-crafted meal abroad for the rest of us.
Tanna Peters Studt is a crafter and designer from Juneau. View her latest creations at www.alaskacrafter.com. She may be reached at tanna.craft@gmail.com.
