While i was hunting around for the rest of my costume for Hallowe'en, I saw sweaters at the thrift shop .. pretty nice shades of green that I liked .. and I thought .. I bet I could frog this and re-use this yarn for something that **I** like instead of someone's cast off .. (blinding nova light moment .. ) Well geeze why can't I?? so the mental plotting began .. but I didn't want to do this alone ... this seems like the perfect thing to do with your friends .. thrift shop shopping, frogging and knitting!! Yeah i was a wee bit pumped on it
I mentioned it to my one friend, Helene and she really likes the idea and is almost as excited as I am about it! Another friend of ours (Gina) was out of town and we've not had a chance to mention it to her yet, but I'm sure that she'll get kick out of it and be in full speed ahead .. (update .. Gina's in ;) )
I want to invite anyone that wants to recycle yarn for a knitted / crocheted project are more than welcome to join us .. we are all on ravelry, so it makes sense to do it there with postings to our blogs, web albums, etc etc etc .. Or if we opt not to do a ravelry group, we can use my blog here for links or even create a new one .. plenty of options to choose from!
Rules / Recommendations .. random thoughts ..
- The basic plan is we start this in january 2010, you MUST use a recycled knitted garment garment / sheet / blanket etc.
- Suggest frogging it from the collar down (thanx for the reminder T - who is joining us on the challenge ;))
- This challenge is year-long - no rush for it .. something to pick and do when the urge pushes you
- Yarn type, weight, colour, preferences are totally yours
- You can do any pattern, but we are pushing for a sweater / jacket / cardigan type thing
- For Yarn related projects, I recommend getting the largest size sweater to frog to ensure you have enough of that yarn colour - Men's sweaters can also be scooped for this
So this will be a recycled yarn knit a long (KAL) materials project for 2010 .. if you get it done before then, great .. start another if you'd like
I think this is going to be great - no group has been made on ravelry as yet - the logistics of it still have to be worked out, and of course there are ladies I want to invite personally before the group is active.
So welcome to the 2010 recycling challenge KAL .. If you're interested please drop me a line by email, here by leaving a comment (please include your return email addy so I can contact you) or send me a message thru my ravelry profile If your not a member of ravelry, you might want to join - if only for the pattern database. It seems to have the largest database in one spot for free patterns that I've found!
I look forward to hearing from everyone that wants to join us and sharing our projects and adventures while shopping for it!
One thing I should add .. if you don't knit / crochet, but want to do a recycle challenge .. then thrift shop clothing could be great for a quilt, new coat whatever .. as long as you use someone's castoff .. the whole idea of this challenge is to reduce / reuse / recycle ..
Great recycling idea, but I will have to do mine with cast off clothing :) I have been frogging some baby clothes to make patterns and once the pattern is made I use the pieces for charms in baby blankets or patchwork toddler clothes for my DDGD, Lydia. Now I do have a lot of yarn, mostly in skeins but not really one color but should work together nicely for whatever. Hope that works for this challenge. Another Idea! for your challenge Gracie: Thrift or collect the sweaters, cut them into squares or circles and make afghans from them--they are all the rage and really pretty.
ReplyDeletecarm what an awesome idea!! Not only is this challenge going to be great for repurposing but we are going to get great ideas for ways to repurpose / recycle other materials .. one lady i work with is going to do fur (fake and real) to make bears!! How awesome is that!
ReplyDeletehuggles
bertie asked me on the knitless post about how to substitute yarns .. while this isn't the only way .. this way works for me ..
ReplyDeleteHi Bertie .. You can substitute and yarn that has the same gauge .. If you look on the pattern you can that it is so many rows and stitches per inch, you can substitute any yarn that has that same gauge .. Now with recycling a sweater, you might not know what that is off the top of your head .. Let me see what the gauge is for that one ..
16 sts and 22 rows = 4" in st st using larger needles – size 9 (pattern link - http://www.unicornbooks.com/pattern_RTwavylacecard-SQL3.asp)
This looks like a worsted weight .. I’m going to google the yarn to know for sure okay .. I’ll send you the links I use so you can follow my thought process ..
First off, the yarn they recommend - Lana Grossa Royal Tweed - I googled this ( http://tinyurl.com/yf47yk4) .. First hit has a blurb that says this is an aran weight – this is just a bit heavier than worsted .. But not by much .. You can use either ... And sub them out at will so to speak
I’ve a few sites to share with you .. This one shows by weight and stitches .. GREAT for subbing yarns ..
http://www.yarnandfiber.com/catalog/yarnbyweight.php
You can see that worsted and aran (under medium weight are in the same category) Then to find out for sure what exact weight it is when you actually have it unravelled, http://www.woolfestival.com/articles/WPI.htm this will show you how to determine the exact weight of your yarn ..
As for knowing if it’s the right yarn before you start .. You’ll just have to do it by eye .. This weight is the most common weight used for fall / winter sweaters, afghans and the like .. Spring / summer use double knit / sport weight which is lighter and sock and baby things will generally use fingering or baby weight .. May I suggest that you check out the yarn in a skein for this weight and you’ll be able to tell by eye if it’s the right one .. Sport and worsted are easily told apart due to their size ..
I hope this helps bertie and glad to have you aboard .. Feel free to post on my blog or email my directly and questions that you might have
Huggles!!!