Mood Lighting

Right, so I don't usually "do" Home Dec, but I saw these tea lights on Etsy or somewhere...and I couldn't resist!

[socks for mason jars!]

[they look really nice with a tea light]

They work best if the jar has "shoulders". But they're a great way to upcycle old pasta sauce jars!

recipe
ingredients: sock yarn (3 large jars' worth in 50 g) and 2mm or 2.25mm needles

preparation:
cast on 12, sts, start increasing thusly:
R1 and all odd rows: K
R2 KFB all sts (24 sts ttl)
R4 [K1, KFB] to end (36 sts ttl)
R6 [K2, KFB] to end
R8 [K3, KFB] to end
R10 [K4, KFB] to end for 60 sts ttl
R12 [K5, KFB] to end for 72 sts ttl

KFB = knit into the front and back of each stitch (increase)

For large jars (1 litre size) I found 72 sts to be about right. For the small sized jar (500ml) I used 60 sts.

Now knit straight for a few rows until you round the bottom of the jar. Fit it on as you go and you'll see when you've hit a good height to start the lace.

Now for the best part, crack a stitch dictionary and pick a nice lace pattern with a 6 or 12-st repeat. For the large jar you can use 8 and 9-st repeats as well, because they divide evenly into 72!

To finish the top edge, I just knit a few rows straight stockinette, and then ran the working yarn though the live stitches on the needle, removed the needle, put the sock on the jar, and cinched up the top.

Alternatively, you could do a row of [K2tog, YO] and then more stockinette, to make an eyelet row, and then thread a ribbon through. That's fancier!

A friend suggested to me that I fill these jars with dry ingredients, tuck in a recipe, put on the lid, and BINGO, Christmas gifts!

Other suggestions: knitting covers for inflated balloons and then starching them to make covers for patio lights or lanterns...of course, these are closely related to knit lampshades, which are a class unto themselves.