Green Coffee Press Cozy

Take some Recycled Wool yarn and dye it with some Recycled Coffee Grounds. Knit it up and add a few Recycled Mismatched Buttons, and TA-DA! Warm coffee!

Kool-Aid Blues

Meet my most recent Kool-Aid dyeing experiment: I call it Blue Water.

I used Blue Raspberry, Grape, and Lemon-Lime. Rather than using the colors as is, I did a little mixing to get some different shading. It was then steam-set in the microwave. I did not, however, do a very good job documenting my process. Guess this means I'll just have to do it again. Darn.

I used about 100 yards of a lovely bulky wool that was recycled from a thrifted sweater. It's so soft and took up the dye easily. It'll be a great garment worn next to the skin.

And here is my yarn knitted into a Thorpe, a great design from Kirsten at Through the Loops. I dyed a bit more for the trim that was just a mixture of Blue Raspberry and Grape. I love the effect.

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?!)

A Socktoberfest Mystery!

Autumn just sneaked up on me this year. There I was... having a lovely summer, knitting away...and, WHAM!!! I got hit upside the head with October!

School's back in full swing and I'm continuing my part-time (summer) job as well. This means life is much busier, and now we're counting down to all the October/November family birthdays which just slide right into the holidays. Wheeeeeee!!!

So to kick off the season, I'm participating in Socktoberfest by joining Through The Loops' Mystery Sock Knit-along! I'm using some Knit-Picks Bare Donegal that I kettle dyed into a faded-jeans-shade of blue. I'm enjoying the color, but I'm not yet sure I like the yarn. It's knitting up fine, but I'll have to see how it wears.

Here are a couple of shots of the progress:
Clue One: The Cuff

Clue Two: The Leg

I'm always amazed at how many interpretations there can be of the same pattern. Kirsten's design is simple and elegant. It's set up to work with or without cables. (I've chosen without.) Take a look on Ravelry at all the different versions!

Thank you, Felicia!!!

One of my favorite events has been The Hand-Dyed Yarn Swap. We just finished up Round Four, and here's what I received:

I am so thrilled with my package from Felicia!! Just look at this gorgeous yarn!! The photos do not at all do it justice. It's wonderfully muted shades of greens and blues, with a bit of yellow. Felicia dyed this yarn for me with Superwash Merino in sport weight. She calls it "PG Getaway" after her home in Pacific Grove, California.

Along with my beautiful yarn, Felicia also sent me some really fun gifts. There is some lavender-scented vegetable oil soap, some "beak balm" (not sure what to do with that, yet), a lovely Lantern Moon notepad, and a postcard with a photo of the beach at Pacific Grove. Each item is fabulous!

Now, on with the search for the perfect sock design to showcase this beautiful yarn. Thank you, Felicia!!

I lovvvvve thrift stores!!

Finding new life in someone else's cast-off is actually quite fun. You just never know when you are going to come across a treasure that was on it's last stop before the landfill. Some days, you may find nothing but picked-over junk. And other days can be filled with gems.

Today was a great thrifting day. Just take a look.

This Wagon Wheel blanket is in excellent condition, and was obviously made with love. It's crocheted with fingering-weight yarn and I can imagine it took the artist a very long time to complete.

Just look at all those colors. I'm so happy it came to live at my house!

And how fun is this?! Two tubes of linen. It's rather fine...probably 10/2. Since I don't weave, I'll need to find the perfect crochet pattern to show it off. Each tube was marked $2.99 and I had a 20%-off coupon. Yipppeee!!

This partial skein of yarn had obviously been looked over. It was hanging out by itself, while most of the other yarns were grouped in bags. This is the type of yarn I grew up with...this and Red Heart WOOL. Feeling a bit nostalgic, I had to bring it home, too.

Happy thrifting. May your day be filled with gems!!

Mittens for Winter

Remember this yarn? I love the colors, love the yarn, but just didn't enjoy the scarf I knit from it. I decided bright mittens for this winter would be best. So I frogged the scarf and knit up these babies. I didn't follow any specific pattern and had almost exactly the right amount of yarn for them. I love them, and will enjoy the bright colors in the gray of our NW winter!

But I digress...

I've been working away on lace socks. In fact, I have two different pair on the needles and more queued. I needed a bit of a little-or-no-concentration-necessary project to break it up.

Pair #1 of Summer of Socks 2008

Brigid is a quick, easy knit that shows off a variety of yarns. In DK-weight yarn and size 4US needles, it felt a lot more chunky than the light-fingering/size 1US that I've been using.

The yarn is some of my recycled sweater yarn...a very soft yellow lambswool. I hand-painted it with Jacquard dyes in olive, brown and a touch of orange. The result is perfect for next fall.

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.

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!

More Experimenting

I've been playing again! I wanted to see what would happen when I handpainted recycled yarn with Wilton's. Here's what I got. I think I like it!

First, the finished sample: knit on size 4US needles.

Here's how it started out: a gold Eddie Bauer man's sweater of a lace-weight wool/rayon blend.

Handpainted with Wilton's and ready for the microwave.

Ta-Dah!!!!!

I think I will be playing some more with this technique!

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!!

More!

Check out these beauties!!! Available here!


Lace-weight wool/silk blend
(SOLD)


Worsted-weight wool/mohair/angora blend
(SOLD)


Worsted-weight 100% wool
(SOLD)

Recycling Eddie Bauer

I have been really enjoying ripping things apart lately. Especially wonderful sweaters!!! It's good therapy. I can take out all my aggressions on someone else's knitting and not feel a bit guilty!

I've been stockpiling thrifted sweaters for a while, but hadn't really started pulling them apart until the past few weeks. My home smells a bit like wet (clean) wool, and I have skeins hanging in almost every room! I'm loving it, but my son is a bit put off by it all. My plan is to get more up and ready for sale in my new shop.

I must admit, it's hard for me to decide to let them go. Being such a yarn addict, I want to keep them all!! But alas... they must find new homes. Take a look. And more will be available soon.

Tidepools

First, a big thank you to Larissa for including me in the test knitting for her upcoming book. It was great fun to have even the tiniest part in it. After having a peek at a few of the zillions of things that have gone into the book, I am so looking forward to seeing the finished product!!

On top of that, I was one of the lucky recipients of a skein of Blue Moon Socks That Rock yarn! The colorway, Tidepool, was designed especially for Larissa to compliment her color theme for the book. It's so special. I wanted to make sure what it becomes is equally great.

I tried at least four different sock patterns, and each of them "pooled" the colors way more than I could tolerate. I don't mind some pooling. In fact, I like the effect on lots of things. However, I was getting ALL the purple on one side of the sock... yechh...

Finally, I was able to get more of the effect I wanted with a "wavy" stitch... plus I like the puns!

With apologies to the Yarn Harlot, I took an action shot of my sock at Urgent Care this week. My allergies and asthma got way out of control. I'm new to this asthma thing, and I ended up going in for a breathing treatment. (I'm okay now.) But my Tidepools kept me company while waiting. (The lighting in the clinic sure washes out the color. No wonder EVERYONE there looks sick!)

More to follow....

T-Shirt "Yarn"

I've been playing with "Calamari Knitting" (and crochet) as shown in the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I love the idea of using old T-Shirts for knitting and crochet, but the double strand of fabric makes a very thick "yarn," precluding its use for most items. While it is wonderful for a cushy bathroom rug, I would not want to wear it.

Instead, I have been cutting the torso of my worn shirts into single long strips.

After trimming off the hem, I cut a 1/2" to 5/8" continuous strip (around and around and around...) up to the arm pits. As I wind the resulting "yarn" into a ball, I slightly stretch the strip. This causes it to roll back on itself (it's stockinette stitch), and make a more rounded yarn (rather than a flat ribbon). Depending on the width of the strip, the yarn is a bulky-weight gauge that can be knit or crocheted into a dense cotton fabric.

And the sleeves??? They certainly could be used to make something else fun (patches? pockets? bag linings?). I like to use the soft cotton for cleaning cloths. No waste!!

Silly me!

I printed up some Jan-Knit business cards this weekend. Then I needed a case to protect them in my big bag. I found myself looking at some in the nearby office supply store, and being disappointed in the selection. Then it hit me (oww)...make your own, silly girl!!! So a couple of On-Demand movies later, here's my new card holder...

It's crocheted out of recycled gray wool, embroidered with some of that thrifted crewel wool I found a while back, lined with a bit of cotton scrap from a sewing project, and fastened with a leftover blue mother of pearl button. Ta-dah!! Beat that, Office Max!!

V-Stitch Shawl update

The main body of the shawl is now complete and being blocked. I am still consider multiple options for finishing...fringe, beads, edging... I decided to wait and see how it drapes after it's blocked and dry... to be continued.

Oh, and the little colors peeking through are happy flowers on my sheets! I love them!