Raspberry Chocolate Triangle Bar

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 (10 ounces) box frozen raspberries in light syrup, thawed and undrained
  
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 1 large orange, depending upon the orange)
  
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
  
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
  
• 3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
  

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil.

Whisk together flour, sugar, and cinnamon until evenly mixed. Cut in butter with a dinner fork until mixture is the texture of large crumbs. Remove 1 cup and reserve for topping. Press remaining crumbs into the bottom of the prepared baking pan with a spatula or your fingers to make a smooth even layer. Bake 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place thawed raspberries with syrup and orange juice into a small saucepan. Add cornstarch and confectioner's sugar. Heat, stirring constantly, until bubbles begin to form around the edge. Cook for 1 minute, continuing to stir until thickened. (If you do not want seeds, strain now.) Let cool for 10 minutes.

Knit Tote Bag

This bag would be fun to use to carry your knitting projects around. I know I always like to have my knitting projects with me because every line that I stand in, and every waiting room I’m in, I bust it out and start working on it.

The bag is knit on circular needles and finished with DP needles.
 4 balls of TRIO, 2 balls each in 2 colors
 shown in colors (A)9090-kiwi/white & (B)2856-circus/celery

Size 11 circular 26" CPY Bamboo Needles; 8" DP size 11 needles

With 26" circulars, cast on 79 sts loosely with color A and join to form circle being careful not to twist sts when joining.
Note: A cable cast on is suggested since you will be adding I-cord to this bag edge later. (See here if you don't know how to do a cable cast on.)

Begin Bag (knitting from top down):

Work in Seed St (k1, p1 for round, then p the k's and k the p's next round, keep reversing sts each round.)
Knit to finish ball of color A.

Tip: Make the I-cord handles and top edging on the bag using color B before knitting color B in center band of the body of the bag so that you can use up the rest of Color B in the body of the bag. See below for I-cord instructions.

Back to body of the bag: Change to color B and continue in Seed St on 79 sts. Use up the rest of Color B from which you made the I-cord handles and trim in the body of the bag.

Change back to Color A. Knit 1/3 of the height of the first band you knit in Color A and begin decreasing.

Dec round 1 by working in Seed St for 5 sts, k2 tog - repeat 9 times, 70 sts [Note: some of the dec will disrupt the seed st, you will have some k or p sts next to each other - this is OK.] Work another round.

[Change to DP needles when the circumference gets too small for circular needles.]

Dec round 2 by working Seed St for 5 sts, k2tog - repeat 10 times, 60 sts. Work an additional round.

Dec round 3 by working Seed St for 4 sts, k2 tog - repeat 10 times, 50 sts. Work an additional round.

Dec round 4 by working Seed St for 3 sts, k2 tog -10 times, 40 sts. Work an additional round.

Continue in Seed St working 2 sts, k2 tog until down to 10-12 sts, now repeat k2tog until you can bind off last sts.

I-Cord Handles and Trim

If you need it: Here's a How-To for I-cord and here is an animated how-to

With Color B make two 4-st I-cord pieces each 14" long (or desired length) using the DP needles.

With Color B make a 3-st I-cord trim for the bag. I did this by casting on 3sts and then picking up 1 st at a time from the outer edge of the cast on edge of the bag. Knit the first 2 sts of the I-cord tog (that is 1 st from the bag edge and 1 st from the I-cord needle). Slide 3 sts to opposite end of DP needle and repeat, again picking up the next edge st and k2tog for next I-cord row, continue all around the bag's edge. Stitch the finished end to the beginning end of the I-cord. Use a sturdy cotton thread to sew.

Sew the I-cord handles using sturdy cotton thread.

A Good Cause- Surfrider Foundation

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Click Here to find out how you can help.

Coiled Bracelets

Here is an inexpensive, easy way to make coiled bracelets that will accessorize any outfit in a fun, flirty way. Whether it’s with a white tee and jeans, or a cocktail dress for a night on the town, these bracelets will make an impact on any outfit.

Materials:

Memory wire (bracelet size), Beads (your choice), Round needle nose pliers, Flat needle nose pliers, Wire cutters

Instruction:

Cut a piece or your memory wire to desired length for bracelet. Use your pliers to create a loop on one end of your coiled memory wire so that the beads have a “stopper”. Then you can string beads on to the coil freely. This is where it gets fun and you can get creative and personalize the bracelet with your favorite color or type of stone. You can add beads that are all one size and color for a more simple look or add all different types of sizes/shapes/colors/textures for a more bohemian look. Leave yourself about an inch to work with so that you can create another loop to have your last “stopper”.