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I had some left over yarn form the hackey sack I made for christmas and have been drooling over the nice teal colour ever since. Also, I think I have a bit of Spring fever which really is a shame since tomorrow only brings February! Anyway, I was too excited about the colour and a pattern that was what I wanted, so I started working “Eva’s Shawl”…With the hook and yarn combination, I’m getting a nice, soft, drapey and even springy fabric. I’m pretty happy with it and wonder how far the 90 or so grams will get me before I have to buy another ball. The fact that I probably will need to buy some extra yarn was supposed to be my rationale for not beginning any new projects until the 15 or so started/queued were done. I guess if its only one ball I have to purchase and I come out of it with an entirely new ‘garment’, then I can justify it. Though perhaps its only the colour speaking!
Eva’s Shawl – Pattern « Without Seams
I’ve never “pressed” anything before (directly imported the link into a post while tag-surfing, incase the terminology is different beyond the realm of wordpress), but I just had to say that this shawl has just creeped onto my list of things to make. The shawls I have queued are not “quite right”, but this is what I was seeking-a nice spring-like/non-intrusive light shawl! Someday when my technical skill is developed enough, I’ll certainly write and share all the patterns I can dream up, but for now, its all about relying upon the generosity of others out there.
Yesterday I fused two t-shirts together, to extend the wear of both of them. I only ever wore the yellow shirt as pajamas, or during the weekends under a sweater or hoodie. I’ve been wearing the blue shirt, however, almost weekly for the past 6 years and the wear was showing. (Its from www.philosophyfootball.com) With the bleach marks, etc, I began to relegate it to weekend wear as well, which makes me sad because I love the anti-racism message.
This was the first time I’ve stitched together – and cut out- two t-shirts. I measured where I would put the blue shirt, cut it out, and put it face down on on the inside of the shirt, zig-zag and then regular stitched it to the yellow. I turned the yellow shirt right side out and cut through the front of it to reveal the blue shirt.
Since they were both knitwear and need flexibility, I thought the zig-zag stitch was necessary, but it was ugly and after removing it, I’m much happier with the overall look. You can see the ugly extra stitching in the photo of me wearing it.
I just came across Co-op America’s list of “21 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Recycle”…and while the list of things I didn’t know is much smaller, I’m particularly excited about the lightbulbs at Ikea (number 6) and the idea of the toothbrushes. It is a US-focused list, but a mobile phone recycler, etc, is easily found anywhere I’d suspect. Various organizations certainly compete for our old mobiles in the UK. Back to the toothbrushes, a company called Recycline (located near my alma matter, it turns out) allows you to purchase recycled toothbrushes and return theirs for later recycling. Too bad regular toothbrushes cannot be collected, but it doesn’t seem difficult to get in on the cycle. I’m guessing that since they’re made in the US, if you purchase them there, (my current toothbrush, I just checked, was made and purchased here in the UK) the shipping still comes out better because of the post-consumer content!
Besides the new years diet and holiday booking advertisements, television is trying to brainwash us right now into more thoughtless and panic-stricken consumerism than usual.
I guess the message reverberated somewhere within me as I thought about how it would be nice to return to work/research with a new outfit. This wasn’t really frivolous shopping though, since I really do need some new jeans and other trousers (without holes) to wear to the department. Falling asleep on Thursday night I had the feeling that Friday morning was going to be a good time to browse the charity shops, and it definitely was.
I’m even getting better at practicing restraint and I did not purchase a single item that was not ready to wear. I did try on a few shirts that would’ve needed to be taken in or that I would’ve stopped wearing after a few outings, but placed them back on the rack remembering all the alterations awaiting the scissors and needle. Just because it costs £2 does not make it a worthwhile purchase if I’ll only wear it once. In the past, I had rationalised purchases I wasn’t head over heels with by thinking “oh, its a donation to charity. If I don’t want it anymore, I’ll just donate it again”. This time, leaving a charity shop with one prized item rather than multiple items I was temporarily excited with, or leaving empty handed after rejecting some, was extremely satisfying.
This satisfaction was heightened by the passers-by who rushed from one retail establishment to another, arms full of bags with brand-new, factory-fresh garments. In fact, one of the charity shops I was in had two identical shirts in the same size, and I felt a small unease by the idea and only realised why when I passed by a large “January Sale” sign in a store window, with a full rack of mass-produced sameness.
While my personal wardrobe refashion pledge is now technically over, the feeling I have towards regular stores and clothing reinforces the importance of the pledge and I am going to try and keep it as long as possible. I am therefore placing a three-month ban/pledge on myself.
And now, on with the show:
A pair of cargo-cords that are very comfortable, two cotton sweaters in almost-new condition (the green one was made here in Scotland, and the grey one was 99p), and from two weeks ago, a linen ‘jacket’ (fitted and unlined) and seed necklace I’ve worn with the jacket three times already. The one ‘impulse’ buy, was a shirt that caught my eye in the second (out of 6 I visited) shop: the words “Bucks County, Pennsylvania” caught my eye since that is where I grew up! The patch carrying these words was sewn to a Boy Scout uniform that ended up here in Scotland! I picked it up, put it back, took a phone picture of the patch, decided I was only buying it to be sentimental, tried on clothes, and went back to grab it. As a lifetime Girl Scout, I felt a bit wrong about this, but then realised “hey, they’re sort of my neighbours”…and was content at the end of the day.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Now that all my recipients have unwrapped their gifts, I can post the pictures here.
Most presents were finished in plenty of time, except for the knit scarf I sat trying to finish all day on the 23rd of December…While it was stressful at times, I really had an enjoyable day sitting next to my partner who was working on a complementary crochet scarf, as we watched hours and hours of Christmas movies.
The one gift that is not yet complete, is my partner’s Gryffindor blanket. It is my first real piece of colour-work, or tapestry crochet and the crest took much longer than I expected. Before the holidays I only worked on it while home alone, but can now work on it at any time which is speeding up the process. The image was taken off google and run through this program, which charts any image you upload!
Overall, we did pretty well with low-waste gifting. Most presents were handmade and others were locally sourced “art” such as the Arran Stonemen we purchased from Reg Morgan’s workshop (and effectively, gallery) on the Isle of Arran. The variety and detail in his work is amazing and browsing for the perfect gift is almost magical. Here’s an example of his work. A few others received books and recyclable (cardboard) gift-cards. Next year, I’d like to work even more locally and hand-made, but I’m proud of our efforts this year.
Other gifts made: A knitting needle roll, local wool scarf and beanie set (orange), a jean rag-rug, hakey sack (dried mung beans are the perfect weight and shape for the fill), and the aforementioned matching brown scarves in knit and crochet.
