Recycled Yarn for the Stashing

I just finished pulling apart another one of the sweaterdresses my sister gave me, so now I've got lots of this great heather gray yarn to work with. According to the label it is 60% cotton, 20% nylon & 20% wool, and the wraps per inch measurement puts this yarn at a lace weight (18 wpi), and a sport weight (12 wpi) when doubled up.

I need to dig around my house (or go to Home Depot or something) for a 3.5 foot two by four or something to make a skein measuring board*. I really have no idea how many yards I've got. But then again I'll probably make another beanie anyway, so I'm not all that worried. Or maybe I should make some fingerless mits. Hmmm...

* Hammer 2 nails 3 feet apart on a 2x4. Since 3 feet equals one yard, one complete wrap around the two nails is 2 yards.

sketchbook: March 18, 2010

It's been a while since I've posted any drawings, so here's a bear taking a nap.

Yarn Harvesting

This was my first try at recycling yarn from old sweaters, and washing yarn. It's kind of insane how much yarn I got out of that sweater. I don't have a swift or a winder, but doing everything by hand wasn't really all that hard. I learned a lot from this first try, and I got a few more sweaters to rip up, so I'm pretty stoked about how much yarn I'm going to have. Recycling is awesome.

recycling: Collage Wrapping Paper

I upcycled some magazine ads into wrapping paper for some Christmas gifts this year. I used spray adhesive to mount them onto 18"x24" pieces of newsprint.

basketry: Coil Basket

I was inspired to make this cute little coil basket after seeing a PBS program called Craft in America. It's made with hemp string and measures ~3.75 inches (~9 cm.) in diameter.