It’s been a long time. :::Waves to you from bitterly cold NW Indiana:::

I landed here after doing a google search for “recycled yarn”. when a link for your blog came up i knew i had to click over. You are always so very clever in your creativity so i just had to see what you’ve done in this category.

I have a few random comments:

On Weaving:
Deb (my other half) bought a loom at MDSW 2006 or maybe 2007, not sure which one. she has yet to use it.

On Rag Rugs:
Prior to getting into knitting in 2004, i had made two crocheted “rag” rugs. The inspiration came form the adorable prints in my niece’s little clothes that she was quickly outgrowing, she was in her toddler years. The first rag rug i crocheted was heart shaped and for the floor of her bedroom. I spent i don’t know how many hours cutting up her small little clothes, most of them in shades of pink and off – white. I had the lame brained idea that i needed to sew all of those strips together, i did not cut the garments up in continuous strips. That would have been too smart and would have saved some of my sanity. ;D I have no idea what became of that rug, but it turned out really sweet and i wish i had taken some pics of it at the time.

The second rag rug i made is also crocheted and round. It started out the same way, with some of Julia’s little clothes, but then i decided to buy some fabrics that would pull in colors from a quilt in my own bedroom. I never quite managed the increases properly and the rug puckers in the middle and never lies flat. Within just the past few weeks i have decided that i will wash it soon, rip it out and knit it back into a rectangle…probably buying more fabric to make it larger.

Back in 2002 or ‘03 or whenever it was i started making the crocheted rag rugs, before the knitting obsession took over, i started buying fabrics in the colors of a rainbow to make a rug that would sit outside of our tent when we go camping. At that time, my process was still cutting the fabric with a rotary cutter, sewing the strips together on a sewing machine and then winding that into a ball. The fabric for the rug has sat untouched for years and years, moved from Indiana to Maryland and back to Indiana. It was only after we moved into our current apartment that i decided to just try ripping the fabric and following the joining technique i had seen in Mason*Dixon Knitting…viola! OMG…such a time savings!! My red solid, orange mini-cammo, yellow solid and green frog fabrics have all been ripped, joined and wound into balls! WooHoo!! Now i need to buy some blue and purple fabrics to add to the project and hopefully i will start and finish the project before camping season. ROFL!!

On Recycled Yarn:
I’ve ripped out a pair of socks i made back in 2006. Knit Picks Parade (discontinued) in Forest. My favorite socks i’ve made for myself, so far! They shrunk and for me, the cuff/leg was too short ( i only do a cuff for me no leg, i have lymphedema in my legs and i really have no ankle area, it’s hard to explain. i can only wear my Birkenstock Boston Clogs, can’t wear any shoe that would come up as it would cut into my skin that is rolled.) Anywho…i had given the leftover yarn to a fellow knitter in MD and she’s since used it for iPod & phone cozies. I do have a solid green that Cookie (Shut Up and Knit) had dyed and sent me forever ago and will use that for cuff/heel/toe or just cuff/toe to make a larger pair of socks and still have them made mostly of my favorite yarn. What i need to do is to somehow revitalize the recovered yarn, it’s all squiggly from having been knit up for so long. I know i’ve seen somewhere that someone used a yarn swift to rework the yarn into a hank, tied it in several places, gave it a bath and then dried it hanging it from a doorknob with a small can of something weighing it down just a bit. Hmm. any thoughts? or insight?

On Life:
i really do need to get back to reading blogs and blogging regularly again. My Second Life addiction has run it’s course after two years and i’m back to knitting so much more like i used to. Damn addictive computer games!

Hope you are well and staying warm.

~Suz~