It’s winter here in California and while our weather here can’t compare to other places in December; it’s chilly in the Bay Area. Since we do tend to have mild winters here, we seldom turn on our heat in order to save a few dollars and minimize our electricity use.

One thing that needs to keep warm, other than my toes, are my cultures. In our house we ferment quite a few things and always have 3 main cultures brewing, jun, kombucha, and water kefir. Our pantry, where my cultures live is cool and dark. Perfect conditions most of the time but we need to keep a closer eye on my scobys this time of year.

With that in mind, I created a very easy and quick knit project using a heavy gauge yarn. These only take a few hours to create and are a great way to use up odds and ends in your yarn stash.

My pattern is meant only as a basic guideline, you can be as creative as you’d like when creating your own. Our pantry has a few with different basic stitch patterns such as seed stitch, stockinette, and a basic rib. Honestly, anything goes with this so you could use this pattern to practice whichever stitch pattern you’d like.

Here’s what you’ll need for a 2 Quart Mason Jar:

• Size 13 circular needles or DPNs
• Stitch marker (to mark the start of your round)
• Yarn needle
• About 45 yards extra bulky weight yarn (for this project, I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Coney Island)

Gauge: 9 stitches by 12 rows in stockinette stitch for a 4×4 inch square with size 13 needles

Cast on 40 stitches and join in the round, use caution not to twist the stitches. Place stitch marker and work in 1 by 1 ribbing (K1,P1) for about an inch. Continue in stockinette stitch (K all stitches) until you are about 2 inches from the top of the jar (about 30 rounds). You should be at the shoulders of your mason jar. Try it on as you go to ensure you get the sizing right.

Create shoulder decrease. K4, K2tog, repeat for 1 round (30 stitches).

Work neck stitches in ribbing to prevent curling (K1,P1) until just above rim of the jar (about 10 rounds). Bind off in ribbing and weave in all ends.

There you have it, a very quick way to cover your cultures to protect them from the light and temperature variations. This could easily be used to cover pickles or even just a mason jar you use for storage.