Here is a wonderful knitting pattern from the good people at
Unique One in Camden, Maine. They have a very nice hemp section in the store, complete with Vote Hemp brochures in the display. Unique One also donates their leftover packing peanuts for Vote Hemp to use in shipping their donation gifts. This pattern comes from their current newsletter and is reproduced here with permission.
It was 1972. People were getting back to the land, wearing daisy chains in their hair and love beads around their necks, listening to Joni Mitchell, and the words of the day were "peace" and "love" - or possibly "groovy, man." Ah, the good old days. Luckily, if you wait long enough, the good old days circle back around, at least in the fashion world. For the next newsletter, I knew I wanted to make a swingy little summer bag, out of hemp yarn, and with 1972 on the brain, here is the result:
Yarn:
AllHemp6, by
Hemp for Knitting (DK weight; 150 yards/3.2 oz. skein) - 2 skeins. The model was made in color 30, periwinkle.
Needles: sizes 3 and 5 single point; 2 size 3 double pointed needles for the i-cord strap.
Gauge: 5 sts = 1 in. in st.st.
Finished size: 9" X 10"
Special Stitch Instructions:
triple yo: insert right needle into next st, wrap yarn around needle 3 times, complete knitting the stitch.
cluster st: with yarn in front, [sl next st, dropping extra 2 yo's] 5 times, [bring yarn to back between needles, sl 5 sts back to left needle, bring yarn to front between needles, sl 5 sts to right needle] twice.
i-cord: cast sts onto double pointed needle; knit them; slide all stitches to right side of the needle and knit them again, pulling the yarn around to the beginning of the row.
Daisy Chain pattern (multiple of 6 sts + 1):
Row 1 (right side): K1, *[triple yo] 5 times, K1; rep from * to end.
Row 2: K1, *work cluster st over 5 sts, k1; rep from * to end.
Row 3: Knit (including each cluster st.)
Rows 4, 5, & 7: Knit.
Rows 6 & 8: Purl.
Rows 9 & 10: Knit.
Row 11: K4, *[triple yo] 5 times, K1; rep from *, end K3.
Row 12: K4, *work cluster st over 5 sts, k1; rep from *, end K3.
Rows 13, 14, 15, & 17: Knit.
Rows 16 & 18: Purl.
Rows 19 & 20: Knit.
Directions:
With larger needles, cast on 49 sts. Work the 20 rows of the Daisy Chain pattern three times (total of 60 rows). Switch to smaller needles and knit 4 rows. Bind off. Make another piece in exactly the same manner.
With right sides together, sew the sides of the bag together. Turn bag inside out and sew across the bottom of the bag just above the scalloped bottom edge formed by the Daisy Chain Pattern. Create lining, if desired, and sew into bag.
Make i-cord strap: Using size 3 double pointed needles, cast on 4 sts and work i-cord for 48 inches. Sew each end of the strap to sides of bag at the top.
Further tips:
• Try knitting the textured-stitch rows in an alternate color for a different look.
• Lining the bag is optional - but the "daisy" chain holes will allow small objects to fall out if the bag is unlined.
Today is one of my son's birthday. He has been asking for me to make him a strawberry rhubarb crisp. Since our rhubarb plants are producing quite nicely this year and today is his birthday I though that he would love it for breakfast. Mom sent him out to cut some rhubarb while I did some quick recipe development. While I was making it he asked that half of the nuts be shelled hemp seed instead, so I sent him and one of his brothers down cellar to get the five pound bag of
Nutiva shelled hemp seed I just received. It turned out quite nicely, but a tad sweet. I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup for this recipe.
I have added this to the
Hemp Report Recipe Index (password required for login). For those of you who have not registered as a Hemp Report subscriber here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
Fruit mixture:
3 cups cut strawberries (approx. 1 lb.)
3 cups cut rhubarb (approx. 1 lb.)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp. salt
Topping:
1/2 cup shelled hemp seed (2 1/2 oz.)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (2 1/2 oz.)
2 cups rolled oats (8 oz)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (4 oz.)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (4 oz.)
Method:
Hull the strawberries and cut them into pieces of about 3/4". Put them into a medium sized bowl. Trim the ends off of the rhubarb and cut into 1/2" pieces. Put them into the bowl with the strawberries. Mix together the sugar, corn starch, and salt and add to the rhubarb and strawberries. Let sit for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Chop the pecans into small pieces, depending on the texture you like. In a small bowl mix the shelled hemp seed, chopped pecans, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Drizzle in the melted butter and mix well. Let sit to absorb the butter.
Put the fruit mixture into a 16 x 10 x 2 inch Pyrex baking dish (it says 38 x 25 x 4 cm on the bottom of mine), press it down lightly and spread the oat-hemp seed mixture on top. Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes or until done. Serve while warm.
Notes: The rhubarb should be reddish pink and no bigger around than your thumb. If it is larger you may need to increase the amount of sugar by 1/2 cup. You can omit the pecans and use 1 cup of shelled hemp seed instead. I really like to use a Zyliss Food Chopper for chopping nuts.
This has been one of those weeks that hemp supporters dream about! The North Dakota Department of Agriculture issued a News Release on proposed rules for the production of industrial hemp in that state. Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson has scheduled a public hearing for 10 a.m., June 15, 2006 in Lecture Room B in the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck, ND. Farmers in North Dakota won't be joining their Canadian counterparts in planting hemp this spring, but perhaps they will in the near future. Vote Hemp issued a Press Release on this subject as well.
As you can imagine, most of the week's hemp news was in response to these two press releases. Two of the stories were by James MacPherson of The Associated Press. One story was "N.D. Pushing Ahead With Hemp Farming Rules" the other "State's first hemp farming rules aimed at clearing federal hurdle". It is an interesting exercise to compare and contrast the two stories. The quote by DEA special agent Steve Robertson "It's very simple for us: The law is there and we enforce the law. We are law enforcement, not lawmakers." is technically accurate, but DEA does have pretty wide latitude in creating rules. It would be possible for DEA to create rules under existing law that would accommodate hemp farming. Jon Gettman mentioned the possibility of negotiated rules in the story "Plan B: a new option for breaking the impasse on US hemp policy" in Hemp Times, Spring 2000. H.R 3037 Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005 could pass as well. Who knows how this will all turn out for those of you in the States.
Also interesting was the fact that the story about the proposed hemp farming rules in North Dakota was also mentioned in ag publications like Agriculture Online and Agri News as well in small blurbs in the farm sections of papers like the York Dispatch.
Please be sure to vote in the poll in the story ND AGRICULTURE: Plan would allow hemp which was the best of the bunch.
There were also stories about the possibility of hemp legislation in the state of Wisconsin, very interesting to see all of the law enforcement objections to industrial hemp and the Wisconsin players mentioned all in one place. Another on the sixth annual Hemp Hoe Downsixth annual Hemp Hoe Down, at the Elk View Campground near Piedmont, South Dakota starting this Friday, May 12th. More information is available at the Hemp Hoe Down web site. And lastly one on hemp clothing, the newest trend in fashion.
