Monday, March 31, 2008

Felted bag



A thrift store cardigan with embroidered red, white, and black flowers turned into a felted bag. The cardigan label read "Karen Scott" 100% wool. The button band came off first; I unraveled that and used that yarn to sew the bottom and front shut. Then felted all by hand. The sleeves, with ends cut into three strips, were braided together to form the handle. There's a pocket on the inside, and the top edge is folder over and sewed, so I can thread in a cord if I want to pull it together at the top.

The button is from the vest in my previous post! I kept the lovely shell buttons from this cardigan for a future project.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Vests




I stopped at the thrift store this week for another sweater to unravel, but ended up with two wool vests, both of which probably won't get unraveled. The top one is a handmade, like-new, gray, basketweave-cable vest knit in the round for $5. My dad likes to wear wool vests, so I'm hoping he will give it a new home (pssst... let me know). The second vest is woven, says "A Dafydd Snowdon Design, by Craftcenter Cymru Wales"... I'd been thinking about a felted project and this may be the raw material for that. Like the black/white/gray graphic design.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Second yarn harlot scarf



I knit another one of these for a friend in Phoenix - who assures me people in Arizona do need scarves. This time it's 100% wool, Moda Dea Cartwheel, Sea Blues.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Blanket beginnings



Here's the start of my first project using my recycled and hand-dyed yarn. The yarn was from a Gap 100% lambswool size xl sweater acquired from the thrift store for $3.50.

The original color was a gray blue. I took the yarn divided it into five skeins, and dyed each one a different color. You can see the first two colors here. I'm making this with the idea of sending it to Afghanistan through the "Afghans for Afghans" group. They say that the color green is especially beloved there, so two of the five colors are shades of green.

The pattern for this blanket is from "Knitting for Peace", specifically, it's the "Project Linus Security Blanket". I really like the scalloped edges.