Stitches, Dishes & Stories: The Great Gatsby Edition

Step into the Jazz Age’s glamorous, glitzy world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby with a bubbly minted Prosecco gin rickey cocktail to sip while dressing the part with a whimsical twisted crochet headband. (This is the first post in my new series Stitches, Dishes, and Stories here on An Edible Mosaic!)

Welcome to Stitches, Dishes & Stories, a new series on An Edible Mosaic where I choose a classic work of literature and use it as the inspiration to make a crocheted item and a recipe. If you’re a reader, crocheter, or home cook, we can nerd out together over timeless stories, yarn we love, and good food and drink to go with it.

My first feature is none other than F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, set in the whimsical Jazz Age and chock full of richly descriptive writing and profound meaning. Inspired by the flappers of the era (but made into a piece I’ll get use out of), I crocheted a twisted headband. And combining the two cocktails mentioned in the novel (a mint julep and a gin rickey), I made a minted gin rickey cocktail with bubbly Prosecco added for a little sparkle.

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past.

– F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

The Story: The Great Gatsby

To kick off this series, I decided to start with one of my favorite classic works of literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Ever since high school, I’ve been captivated by the symbolism of this story and the era it takes place in. The fact that this story speaks symbolically in metaphors and similes about so many abstract life concepts is made even more interesting by the fact that F. Scott Fitzgerald was only 29 when this book was published! Set in Long Island, New York, let’s step into the Jazz Age of the 1920s.

There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.

– Chapter 3

The Stitch: Rose Gold Twisted Crochet Headband

Keeping in mind the roaring 20s setting, I thought some kind of headband would be the perfect piece to crochet. At first I considered a flapper-style headband, but functionality won out over form. I decided to crochet a simple twisted headband that I’ll actually get use out of!

For the color, I knew I wanted to use a shade of gold (or a color in that general family) because what better to exemplify the level of opulence present in this novel?

The book starts with this opening paragraph:

Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;

If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,

Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,

I must have you!”

– Thomas Parke D’Invilliers, as quoted by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby’s epigraph

Additionally, Daisy Buchanan, the object of Gatsby’s affection, is described as “the golden girl” with a “voice full of money”.

And I happened to have the perfect yarn on hand in my stash!

The Yarn

I used a mauvy, dusty rose gold-colored fingering weight yarn for this project. (Expression Fiber Art’s CashSilk Sock yarn, a 4-ply blend of 75% superwash merino wool, 15% cashmere, and 10% silk, in the color “quintessence”. I am enamored with their yarn, it’s lovely to work with!)

Twisted Crochet Headband Pattern

I used Pretty Darn Adorable’s chunky twisted headband crochet pattern for inspiration for this project. It has a slightly lacy, floral feminine look to it, which I think is perfect for the Gatsby era-look I was going for. I don’t know what the stitch she used is called, but the stitch pattern is easy: a single crochet, followed by a chain 2, and then single crochet all in the same stitch, skip the next stitch, and repeat. (This pattern is very similar to the primrose stitch I saw on Nordic Hook!)

I made the following changes to the original design:

• Instead of bulky yarn and a 6.5 mm crochet hook, I used fingering weight yarn and a 4.5 mm crochet hook.
• I crocheted the headband length-wise instead of width-wise. (This was such a simple piece, I didn’t bother with stitch count except to make sure that I chained an even number for my foundation row. And then to make sure it would fit, I wrapped the foundation row around my head with just a little bit of leeway when I started the project.)
• Before creating the twist, I crocheted one row of single crochet all around the headband to create a straight edge instead of a scalloped edge.

The resulting crocheted headband is a cute wardrobe piece that can be dressed up or down, and is also functional (I’m always reaching for a headband when I wash my face!).

The Dish: Minted Prosecco Gin Rickey Cocktail

In Chapter 3, Nick Carraway describes the food and drink at a lavish Gatsby party.

At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded agains salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials…

– Chapter 3

And then on that scorching hot day in Chapter 7 that changed the course of all their lives when they were still at the Buchanan residence with Gatsby, Jordan, and Nick there as well, Daisy asked Tom to make them a drink.

…Tom came back, preceding four gin rickeys that clicked full of ice.

– Chapter 7

Then at Daisy’s suggestion they drove into New York City and ended up in the parlor of a suite in the Plaza Hotel, or what Daisy called “a place to have a mint julep”.

I wanted to make a fun drink to commemorate this novel, taking inspiration from the two cocktails mentioned in this book, a gin rickey and a mint julep. But with an added bubbly component as a wink and a nod to the facade of the showy, yet fleeting Gatsby lifestyle that’s effervescent and alive one minute, and then gone the next. I had a bottle of Prosecco in my fridge that wasn’t earmarked for anything, a mint plant thriving in my kitchen window garden, a bag of fresh lemons in my fruit bowl, and a bottle of gin in my cabinet. ‘Twas fate, I tell you.

I served these cocktails in coupe glasses because 1) vintage glasses felt in keeping with the theme, and 2) as a play on Gatsby’s car (a creamy yellow colored Rolls-Royce), which he called a coupé. Also, I’ve heard it rumored that the coupe glass was the original glass of choice for serving Champagne until the invention of fluted glasses, so it really is the perfect option for this sparkling beverage.

If you’re looking for a fun, refreshing spring or summer libation to try, I highly recommend this!

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Shake. Add the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, the large sprig of fresh mint, and ice to a cocktail shaker glass. Make sure the lid is secured, shake vigorously for 15 seconds, and then strain the liquid into a coupe glass.
2. Serve. Pour the Prosecco into the glass, garnish with fresh mint, and serve.

Gin Rickey Frequently Asked Questions

Little Nibbles to Serve With This Minted Prosecco Gin Rickey Cocktail

• Homemade Mini Sausage Rolls with Puff Pastry
• Chicken Salad Finger Sandwiches
• Crispy Air Fried Salmon Bites
• Maple Miso Chex Party Mix