Saturday, May 25, 2013

In Celebration of Caffeine

Of all my molecule knitting charts, the Hypercaffeinated Caffeine Coffee Cozy is my most popular pattern.  It  makes sense, caffeine is probably the most recognisable molecule by non-scientists.


I knit the original sample of this pattern using remnants of an unknown wool/acrylic blend.  I never kept track of the yardage required to complete the project.  I decided to re-knit the cozy to be able to provide better estimates to fellow Ravelers.  (And to update the pattern page accordingly.)  

I used size 3 (3.25 mm) knitting needles and KnitPicks Wool of the Andes worsted weight yarn in Coal (black), Dove Heather, Red and hand-dyed blue.  The project consumed 29 yards of Dove Heather, 4.5 yards of Coal and ~1 yard of the blue and red scraps.

It is a bit fun to re-knit this pattern.  I miss caffeine terribly (I stopped drinking it about a year ago) so now the only caffeine in my beverages will be in this cozy!


I may not always honor request for sports teams knitting charts (due to my personal affiliations), but I am more than happy to create new molecule knitting charts.  Any requests?

6 comments:

  1. Can you make a pattern for the THC molecule?
    And since you're really good at creating cool patts, can you please make a pattern for a kintted canning jar cosy? That has a bottom on it thick enough to function as a thermal and water mark guard? That would be lovely!
    p.s. does green tea have it's own molecule?
    Thank you.

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    1. You're in luck, there is already a THC Knitting chart on ChemKnits! (http://www.chemknits.com/2009/01/molecule-knitting-charts.html) It was one of the first batch of molecules that I ever published.

      As for the canning jar cozy idea - that is a great idea. Is it something that would be used while you're waiting for the cans to cool? Are there reasons for wanting the heat to remain in the jars longer? I would recommend some kind of felted cozy, and I'll have to look to see what I can find.

      You're right! Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is an antioxidant in green tea that may have therapeautic uses. I will add it to my list of molecule charts to create.

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    2. Hello, Rebecca,
      I really appreciate your response, thank you.
      An EGCG chart would be great, and of course the THC chart has already been done:)
      As for a canning jar cosy, to be the one to tell you this- oh my.
      You see, some people- casual peeps, like myself-like to drink from jars. An old habit,an unbreakable <that is a pun< habit and for sure at least one step removed from drinking from tin cans. Which I have seen.
      Drinking from canning jars is a year round endeavour. You're correct, the point of a cosy is to keep the warmth inside the jar and/or absorb condensing moisture. You can set a cosied jar on wood and it won't mark.
      They are portable with a lid, and oh for goodness sake, just email me and I'll send you a sampler. It's a good habit to get into. Mary,
      mpike@livedotcom

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    3. Oh, Mary, you made me giggle. I've drunk from my share of canning jars, but SIL does a ton of canning so my head went straight to the canning process.

      One thing that might work well for jars are patterns taht are geared towards beer cans rather than beer bottles since those are wider. Alternatively, any of the travel mug cozies or coffee cozies can be modified by knitting a few extra round and then following one of the decrease patterns from a beer cozy.

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  2. Purrrr Nepetalactone would be cool.

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    1. Great suggestion! I'll try to whip something up!

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