Barack your coffee

Greetings from deep within the heart of Red Texas five miles from the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

We only have a month before the election. I am talking to everyone about Obama and hope that everyone else is, too.

Here is a knitting pattern to make a coffee cup cozy that might help spark a conversation. The chart is from http://emileeknits.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/obama/. I knit these using a modified Armenian knitting method in which I catch the yarn not in use every stitch. This is minimize snagging on floats when the cuff is pulled on and off coffee cups.

I found that I enjoyed knitting colorwork with this method much more than intarsia. I have always found it difficult to keep even tension working intarsia.

Barack your coffee cuff

Red Heart sports weight or other sports weight yarn
Size 6 and 8 double pointed needles

# 6 needles, with main color (white yarn) cast on 36 st, divide onto 3 needles, 12 st per needle
k2 p2 ribbing for 4 rounds"
Change to #8 needles, Stockingette Stitch for 4 rounds"

Start chart:

Color work can be done with intarsia method. I started color with beginning of round, catching yarn not in use each stitch.

Knit 12 on 1st needle

Work the 12 st of the chart on second needle

Chart at http://emileeknits.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/obama/

Knit 12 st on 2nd needle

increasing 1 st at end of rounds
on rounds 4, 8, 12 of chart. Increase by
knitting into stitch below last stitch

Change to Stockingette Stitch 4 rounds
k2 p2 ribbing for 4 rounds, ending with P1 since there were 3 increases in the body. If unevenness bothers you, increase in the last st and you will have K2P2.

Bind off in ribbing, work in ends.