Saturday, March 3, 2012

Japanese Eggplant

I thought normal eggplant was good until I tried Japanese eggplant. It is so sweet and easy to prepare, no soaking or salting, you can even eat it raw. Ever since we bought our house several years ago we have planted it in our spring/summer garden. Ichiban eggplant is generally long and slender and can be straight or slightly curved, it comes in a beautiful variations of purples from dark to almost neon. The blooms are a beautiful shade of lavender.




 What you need:
Worsted weight acrylic yarn
a purple and a green
Size F (3.75 mm) hook
Polyester fiber fill
Yarn needle
Clip to keep place
Scissors


 
Eggplant:
Work in continuous rounds

  • Chain 2
  • Round 1: Work 6 sc in first chain
  • Round 2: Work 2 sc in each sc around - 12 st
  • Round 3: *2 sc in next st, sc in next st, rep from * around - 18 st
  • Round 4: *2 sc in next st, sc in each of next 2 sts, rep from * around - 24 st
  • Round 5:  *2 sc in next st, sc in each of next 3 sts, rep from * around - 30 st
  • Round 6-9: Sc in each sc around
  • Round 10: *Sc2tog, sc in each of next 3 sts, rep from * around - 24 st
  • Round 11: sc
  • Round 12: *Sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts, rep from * around - 18 st
  • Round 13-29: sc
  • Stuff firmly
  • Round 30: *Sc2tog, sc in next st, rep from * around - 12 st
  • Round 31: Sc2tog around -6 st
  • Sew up end 
I found it easier to stuff a little bit as I went along.


 
Top:
 Work in continuous rounds

  • Chain 2
  • Round 1: Work 5 sc in first chain
  • Round 2: Work 2 sc in each sc around - 10 st
  •  *ch 5
  • sc up chain
  • sc 2
  • repeat from * till around
  • finish off leaving long tail to sew to eggplant

The stem is just the tail of yarn from the beginning of the top threaded through and knotted.
Sew top to the smaller end of the eggplant.
Now you have a exotic and delicious looking play food item.
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