Kombucha Jar Cosy/Sweater!

So I am going to pick-up on my blog ... well, my second blog ... I don't want to mess with my first one.  This is my recovery/surviving blog and all that goes along with that!  I guess I could/can/might use this forum to share my trials/successes/less than successes with knitting patterns and my newly-found love of Kombucha and home brewing -- houseplant propagating and whatever else feeds my need for whimsy or productivity.

80 oz. pickle jar and 1 gallon dispensing jar

I'm a knitter and have created a bunch of patterns for fingerless gloves, baby bonnets, teapot cosies, socks and stuff -- and most recently, Kombucha Jar Sweaters (Cosies).  Many have suggested that I sell them on Etsy, but I really get the most joy out of making them for my own brewing needs or for people I love who have adopted a SCOBY from me and want to start brewing their own.

I am trying to figure out how to create a pin on Pinterest but in order to share my pattern, I have to give it a link!  So that's what I'm doing here.  I have a very basic, easy pattern for a Kombucha Jar cosy.  You can easily alter it to make it your own -- by adding cables, or stripes, or buttons or whatever -- but it's a good, solid foundation pattern. FUNCTION is the main purpose here -- to shield the brewing KT from direct sunlight and to keep it warm and at an even temperature in a chilly house like mine.

1 gallon jar with spigot

Some of you are thinking "What the heck is Kombucha!?"  Some of you know I'm making it because of Facebook or Instagram.  Some of you might already be enjoying this tangy probiotic beverage that my daughter never lets me forget I stuck my nose up at -- I mean who wants to try "fermented tea," I ask you!?  Well, if she had immediately followed-up with, "It's flavored and fizzy and refreshing following a second fermentation process," I would have!  (Not to mention the really nice and handsome lumbersexuals who brew it and let you try samples at the city market ... yeh, that's a thing :-)  Rockin' the man bun.

1/2 gallon square jar
SCOBY Hotel!

I will follow-up with my tried and true Kombucha brewing technique/instructions in a later blog.  It's easy, fun and not too labor-intensive.  If you're thinking about it, start by purchasing some grocery store 'bucha and save the bottles!  Start out with small amounts -- like 8 oz -- and follow with equal amounts of water.  If you're already a sauerkraut eater or a kefir drinker -- or even a regular yogurt eater, it shouldn't upset your tummy too much -- but a little upset is a sign of balancing your system.

So for this first blog in a very long time -- I offer you the Kombucha Jar Sweater/Cosy!

Kombucha Jar Cosy

for 1 gallon beverage dispensing jar

(with alternative directions for 80 oz pickle jar 

and short ½ gallon storage jar)

Materials:        size 9 double-pointed needles, set of 5

                       any worsted or bulky yarn (4 or 5 weight)

                       row counter

                       stitch marker

Cast-on 56 stitches, and transfer to four needles thusly: N1-16/N2-12/N3-16/N4-12. 

Join and place marker for knitting in the round. 

[for 80 oz. pickle jar, cast-on 44: N1-12/N2-12/N3-12/N4-8]
[Alternatively, you could knit on straight needles and simply sew a back seam, leaving an opening for the spigot.]

Work 5 rows of k2/p2 ribbing.

On the next row, knit every stitch, increasing 4 stitches evenly [k13, kfb] 4 times – 60 stitches. Knit evenly for 39 more rows (40 stockinette). 

·       20 rows stockinette for ½ gallon square jar; skip to garter stitch rows and base

·       for 80 oz. pickle jar inc. 6 sts:  k6, kfb 6 times, end k2 - 50 stitches; then knit for 52 rows, and skip to garter stitch rows and base

Spigot Opening:  Move the marker up to the working row where N1 and N4 meet.

Work in stockinette stitch as if you’re working on straight needles.  Knit across the four needles then TURN your work.  PURL back across to the marker.  TURN and knit across, etc. for a total of 8 rows. 

With right side facing you, as if to knit, JOIN needle 4 to needle 1 to being knitting in the round again.

Knit 4 rows.  Then …

Garter stitch base rows:

Purl 1 row.

Knit 1 row.

Purl 1 row.

Knit 1 row.

Decrease for base:

(shifting a stitch from one needle to the next here and there to accommodate the k2tog’s)

Gallon & ½ gal. jar                                            80 oz. pickle jar

Row 1:  k8/k2tog around.                               Row 1:  k3/k2tog around.

Row 2:  k7/k2tog around.                               Row 2:  k2/k2tog around.

Row 3:  k6/k2tog around.                               Row 3:  k1/k2tog around.

Row 4:  k5/k2tog around.                               Row 4:  k2tog around.

Row 5:  k4/k2tog around.                               Row 5:  knit around.

Row 6:  K3/k2tog around.                               Bind off.

Row 7:  k2/k2tog around.

Row 8:  k1/k2tog around.

Bind off.