Rationalizing

I've really been trying to stay out of stores for a while now. Not only because I'm trying not to spend money, but also because I've been scolding myself about my stash taking over my living space! As you know, I love thrift stores. I (almost) always find something that begs to go home with me to be rescued.

Today, I found myself with an hour between clients in an area close to THREE thrift stores! What a dilemma!! Well, I succumbed to the call...kind of.

In one shop, I found these lovely handknit wool mittens for 99 cents. While they were a pretty shade of yellow, it's just not a color I wear often. A little Kool-Aid later, and I had bright cherry-red mitts!!

I then embroidered them with a bit of recycled white yarn and some sparkly beads. Ta-dah! Christmas mittens!!

My second find was this lovely linen tablecloth. It's hand-embroidered and is in pretty good shape. There is one small hole (about 1 cm) that I think I can cover up with another flower. Not bad.

Okay, so I didn't strictly stay with my "no-stores" plan. I did, however, keep it in control. Kind of like having a bite of a cookie instead of the whole package, right? (I love rationalization, don't you?!)

Hats in All Sizes

It's been Hat-Making time around here. Following is just a sample.
More to come!!

Very Small
(set for a baby shower gift)
Hat Pattern: here
Socks Pattern: my own
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Delft

Medium
(for an 8-year-old friend)
Hat Pattern: here
Yarn: Mostly Lion Brand Wool-Ease

Extra Large
(for Zak)
Hat Pattern: my own
Yarn: my recycled wool in charcoal with a touch of burgundy

Katarina

Here it is! My first real FO for 2008 (I made socks earlier, but had to frog them). I absolutely love this sweater!

The Katarina design is great. The slightly belled sleeves are flattering and comfortable. The lines of the garter neck and fronts make it cozy without being overwhelming. And I had forgotten how the simple beauty of garter stitch can enhance garments.

The yarn worked out great, too. The natural brown wool with the little silk nubs give the sweater a hand-spun look and feel. No one could ever guess this yarn was recycled!

I probably will make another of this design in the future. Possible variations would include: lengthening the body another inch and adding another half-inch to each front (prior to the ribbing). I'm thinking it would also work well in a linen yarn.

Button, Button

A number of times recently, I have had my project all finished except the buttons. Then the hunt begins. Good, affordable buttons are getting harder and harder to find. There are fewer fabric shops around. And their selection is often lacking. More than once I have set my project aside due to "lack of closure." I have also been known to purchase buttons first, then design the sweater, or what have you, around them.

A couple of yarn shops in my area have some nice buttons, but I've also had difficulty finding the right size or quantity. Then there's the price...those lovely little tokens often cost more than all the other materials put together.

Shopping online hasn't netted me much either. I spotted a couple of Etsy shops that had some fun buttons for sale. Then the shipping costs were almost double the cost of the buttons, themselves.

So, here's one of my solutions. Since I'm already out in thrift shops and yard sales watching for sweaters to recycle, I'm now checking lots of other garments for buttons! Occasionally I find a rather ugly jacket or sweater that has terrific buttons. I feel no guilt in purchasing that item, stripping it of the buttons, and either re-donating or recycling the fabric. The example shown below was an ill-fitting, poorly made sweater. And yet, it had a zillion (not quite) colorful buttons around the yoke, cuffs and bottom! Aren't they pretty?!

New Year, New Project

Like I really need a new project! But it's been a couple of years since I made myself a sweater. So, in the spirit of the new year, and goal setting, I cast on for a new sweater.

I've had this yarn for a while waiting for the right design. It's formerly an Eddie Bauer sweater of 76% wool/24% silk in a natural brown. At about DK weight, it should make a nice indoor garment.

Katarina is by CocoKnits. I love the simplicity of the shaping. It looks like it will be pretty flattering for a variety of body shapes. I'm casting on for size large.

Folk Mitts and Hot Chocolate

I haven't done any colorwork for a while. Playing with bits of my hand-dyed recycled sweater yarns, I came up with these bright and cheerful "Folk Mitts." They are happily keeping my hands warm while I knit up the rest of my Christmas gifts. Check back...I'll post the pattern later.

And here's one more gift ready. It's a simple beanie for Zak. He likes things plain...no designs, no bright colors. So to make him a hat that he will actually wear, I had to reel myself in. But I don't like to get bored, either. To satisfy both of us, I whipped him up a "Hot Chocolate" beanie with my hand-dyed recycled sweater wool in dark brown and black. The color changes are very subtle and not even noticeable unless you're up close and personal!

Busy Relaxing

That's what I did this weekend. I had a very relaxing time, but also got a lot accomplished. In addition to the necessary chores of housework, laundry, shopping, etc., I had plenty of time to create. I love it when things work out that way.

Summer Berry Hat - Lion Cotton


It's a Hot Summer Bag - Paton's Merino
(pre-felting, embellishing)
All except Black are hand-dyed with Kool-Aid
(Lemonade, Orange, Cherry)


Lion Wool (Winter White) hand-dyed with Wilton Teal


Donegal Irish Wool (recycled) hand-dyed with Wilton Violet

Ta-Daaaa!!

Sisters Hat

Here's today's design. And it's available FREE here.

It's made from my "dyeing mistake." Thanks to the encouragement of others, the yarn has been resurrected into yet another hat. Thanks, all!

Score!

Lookie what I found today for half-price at Goodwill!

The top layer is 2-1/2 yards of cotton fabric in green and oatmeal. I have been looking for the right green to use as a lining for another recycled sweater bag I'm working on. Perfect! Plus there is plenty for another project.

Second is an Old Navy Collection mohair blend sweater in a natural white. I am imagining it is destined to greatness as a scarf/shawl in its next life.

And last in this stack is a wool Gap sweater in a pale green. It's very nice as is, but I decided it will be happier in another form...maybe hats? An added bonus is the cute little button on its back.

I also snapped up a bag with four balls of unlabeled yarn in a natural oatmeal color. I'm never sure about these sealed bags, but since it was only $1.99, I decided it was worth the risk. At home it passed the burn test for wool and weighed out at over 16 ounces! Lots of options for this one. Yipppeee! I love good thrifting days!

Yes and No

In a science lab, some experiments can go very well and others can go very wrong. That is the story of today's dyeing experiments. There is good news and there is bad news.

First the good...

As I have already stated publicly, I am a confirmed Kool-Aid addict. Today, I divided a skein of Paton's Merino in Winter White into three (almost) equal portions. Then I dyed them in Lemonade, Orange, and Cherry Kool-Aid. I am pleased with the outcome and I'm envisioning a Flame Hat, or maybe a Fake Isle, or maybe a stained-glass effect, or maybe....

Now for the bad news...

Today's dyeing experiment involved Wilton's Delphinium Blue. I used the same technique as with my Moss Green. Remembering that a little goes a very long way with the Wilton, I started with just a bit. The yarn kept taking up dye, so I kept adding more...about 3/4 teaspoon total. This was about four-five times as much as I needed of the green. Another odd thing was happening... the yarn was not turning blue. Instead, it was streaked with fuchsia. Even my spatula turned the same color.

I continued to work with it, hoping the blue would take over, but it just never did. When the yarn stopped taking up dye, it was an odd blue/purple and fuchsia streaked mess.

I am not at all satisfied with the results, and I am now curious why I got these results. (My science professors would be pleased.) I am guessing it had to do with the vinegar. Since this was the last of my recycled yarn from this sweater, I'll need to wait to do any more experimenting with the "Definately NOT Delphinium Blue."

Green Hat Number One

A very quick post with a shot of my first FO for the Green Hat Along. This was made up from the recycled wool handyed with Wilton Moss Green and my own design.

Fruit Basket Hat

Taa-Dah!!! Here's what my Fruit Basket Yarn became...

I modified for my adult head the Children's Cotton Hat in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.

I'm pleased with the way the colors in the yarn worked out. I had originally thought about making a hat for my great-niece, but...the wool was a little scratchier than I wanted for her. It is, however, just right for me! So in celebration of the last day of the Kool-Aid Dye Along, I made myself a hat!!

And one more...

This is the same recovered thrift sweater yarn, dyed with Wilton Icing Color in Moss Green.

When they say concentrated, they mean it! I used less than a half-teaspoon for my pot of water, and it was way, WAY, WAY TOO MUCH!! I used the same microwave technique as for the Kool-Aid, with the addition of about a cup of white vinegar as mordant.

After I was certain the yarn had absorbed enough color, I rinsed, and rinsed, and rinsed, and then rinsed again. I finally had clear water and pruney fingers, but I think I am happy with the color -- a grassy-moss green. I'm considering using it for the Green Hat Along.

I will definitely use Wilton again...lots of fun colors you can't get with the Kool-Aid, it's safe (I have a problem with the fumes and chemicals that some dyes have), and it didn't cost a lot. Single colors were $1.69 at my local Michael's. Sets of four colors were $4.39. They also had some larger sets (12 colors).

I wanted to play with a green that wasn't the Kool-Aid apple. The Wilton Juniper Green was good, too. But I had to pick just one.

Fruit Basket Yarn

So it's nearing the end of the Kool-Aid Dye Along at Get Stitchy and I feel like I've got a good handle on how it works. But then I saw Allie's yarn photos...she dyed her yarn in balls rather than in hanks. Hmmmm...I start getting ideas. What if....

So I took a 100-yard ball of the wool I just reclaimed from a thrift store sweater, and dyed one end in Watermelon Cherry.

Then I drained it, flipped it over and dyed the other end in Orange.

Because I was concerned about the dye reaching the center-most portion of the ball, I wound it loosely. After dyeing, it looked like this.... mmmmm, fruity....

Even though I soaked it well, wound it loosely and allowed the yarn to take up all the dye, I still found some undyed areas near the center. But I like the effect. I'm thinking it will make a cheerful little hat for a darling little girl I know.

Tabula Rasa

Clean slate. Starting from scratch. Empty canvas. Blank paper. January.

I love that feeling. Every January, as I pack away the holiday decorations, clean up from all the celebrations and look into the year ahead, I see such wide open options. I have been making resolutions; some the same as every year (health, finances, relationships), and some new. I am finding a renewed excitement in my "hobbies" of knitting, spinning, and the like. I am now looking at options to create a revenue stream. I'm still seeking my niche.

I am also doing more experimenting with recycling and refashioning knits. This week I bought a Banana Republic men's wool sweater. The poor thing had been worn, but probably never washed. I imagine the guy that owned it saw the tag that said, "Hand Wash, Dry Flat" and decided to just donate it to the thrift store. I could see it was worth saving.

I frogged one sleeve to see how it would handle. (I had to cut off the cuff...it was just not salvageable.) It made a skein of just over 100 yards of beautiful soft wool with little slubs. The fronts and backs should yield at least another 400 yards. It would be gorgeous as is or hand dyed. The other sleeve (also sans cuff) was unseamed and then felted in the washer. It made a very soft lovely fabric. I may use it as part of a bag, or ?? The possibilities are almost endless... I love that feeling!

Grape Hat

I am the Queen of UFO's. And if not THE Queen, I am definitely a full-fledged member of the sisterhood! One of my New Year's Resolutions is to work on that habit, and maybe even give up my throne.

My single skein of Paton's Merino that I dyed with grape Kool-Aid has been sitting here staring at me for the past couple of weeks. I dyed it as part of the Get-Stitchy Kool-Aid Dye Along. It was a great experiment, and needed to become more than just a pretty purple ball of yarn.

I finally got my hands on a copy of Fiber Trends' Felted Hat pattern. This was it. The pattern was extremely easy to follow. It's knit with a double strand on size 11 needles, so worked up very quickly. Having heard horror stories about light-colored wool yarn not felting, I was a little concerned about this skein. Remember, it did not start out purple.

I didn't need to worry after all. With just one and a half cycles through the washer, the hat was just the right size. I used an upside-down gallon jar to block it. Now, I am pondering embellishments...

...to be continued.

Black Cherry Pi

I have been reading The Opinionated Knitter. Every time I read or re-read anything from Elizabeth Zimmermann, I am thoroughly inspired to become a better knitter. I love her enthusiasm for the craft and her straight forward writing style. I am so glad her works live on.

For some time I have been considering making an EZ Pi Shawl. Remember this? Well, based on her design, it became this...

Alas, I did not have quite enough yarn to make the shawl as large as I wanted. I like the pattern, but by the time I was at 288 stitches, I was getting a bit bored with the stockinette effect and decided to add a lace stitch. I bound off with a picot edging to conserve yarn. When it was blocked, it was only about 36 inches in diameter...not really shawl size.

I had Kool-Aid dyed the yarn in variations in strength of Black Cherry. When worked up, I didn't really like the effect, so re-dyed the finished shawl in yet another vat of Black Cherry, this time with a slosh of white vinegar. There are still some light and dark areas, but I find these acceptable and indicative of hand-dyed garments.

Here is is all blocked and just the perfect size to be a side table tidy. Of course, it's next to my knitting chair! (The orange tone is due to the lighting.)