#9

is complete

Pattern: Basalt by Brittany Wilson
Yarn: recycled merino from Express sweater
Colorway: Blue waves
Needle: US 11
Recipient: tell you later
I made this much taller than the pattern calls for because it's much looser knit and I wanted it to fold over on itself. The pattern is super easy to memorize and completely reversible... I'd make this one again!
I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do... XD

and here they are

Women's S Hugo Bescati butter yellow 100% cashmere wrap lace…4.99









Women's L Heidi tan 35 silk/25 nylon/20 ramie/12 angora rabbit/3 acrylic/5 wool short sleeve sweater DK… $3








Men's XL Old Navy rust lambswool worsted…. $6 *










Women's M The Limited blue-periwinkle tweed wool/viscose/nylon/silk/cashmere/cotton blend sockweight …$6
(i have another in this colorway in my stash already and one in another color… it’s so soft)






Women's L Express beige merino aran knit … $4











Men's Belmondi brown/black/white tweed 55 merino/20 rayon/10 cashmere/10 nylon/5 angora rabbit crew neck sockweight or heavier…. $4






Women's L SO orange/red tweed 40 silk/30 nylon/15 ramie/11 wool/4 other turtleneck light worsted ….$6








Women's M Gap mustard yellow cardigan 100% worsted cotton (hope the button band is picked up stitches) $2








Women's M Express blue white tweed merino turtleneck heavy worsted/aran… $3







* from the pricey thrift store in town

Sorry about the sideways shots... I forgot to turn them before uploading

And these to felt and make bags, mittens etc


I picked up a few sweaters at Old Navy as well.. 3 cashmere ones for me and a cotton cardigan for mom in a beautiful blue to match her eyes!

rainy saturdays = thrift shopping

and I came home with a bit of a haul
From top to bottom:
cezani 55% silk/45% cotton blend longsleeve crew to wear for 2.45
Neiman Marcus dark fuschia light fingering weight 100% cashmere short sleeve ladies XL for 4.94 (I may save this to wear or give it to my mom)
LLBean pink tweed 55% silk/30% cotton/15% lambswool blend ladies rib turtlenck in a DK weight for 2.60
Visions (never heard of it before) gray marl Longsleeve turtleneck in lookd to be DK 57% silk/25% nylon/13% angora rabbit/2% lambswool for 2.45
Calvin Klein mens XL blue tweed (kind of denimy color) pullover worsted 80% wool/20% nylon for 2.35

I also bought 3 longsleeved cotton T's. 2 were Gap and one Land's End for less than $2 each. (I really need these)

A VERY cute denim jumper with Christmas appliques from Quacker Co (QVC brand) that has 3 adorable wooden pins on it for $7. It's long and if mom wants it, she may have it, but if she doesn't I'll keep it for me. It'll be big but comfy!

The blade on the rotary cutter I had been using for making the wreaths broke this morning… and I found 2 replacement blades for 1.91 Now THAT was serendipitous!

And I bought a CD for school... alphabet with a song for each letter. Very useful for KDG.

I could have hit more stores, but didn't want to push my luck. It was heaven shopping alone. I think I'll go again next week!

This morning, I made another wreath, this time a little 8 incher. It's so cute! Also last night and this morning started cutting out pieces for the Christmas gifts... but I won't be mentioning those for a while.... sorry mom

going green

I've been doing much recycling of yarns lately.. more of that than knitting actually. This allows me to in the future knit with yarns that I could never afford to buy new from my LYS or online. I'll be very excited to try some of my new yarns, especially the cashmere and cashmere silk blends I've recently reclaimed.

As the internet allows us to though I've met a woman, mother of 7, who owns 2 etsy shops that deal with greening up our earth by recycling, both yarns and giving sweaters new life in a felted form. Her name is Julie and her two etsy stores, my 7 kids which sells reclaimed fiber from sweaters and Heart Felt Fun which sells really cute recycled felted and hand-knit items. She's also running a Go Green for the Holidays contest on her blog until December 1st. So go visit and enter!


We're going green in this house for Christmas.... I can't give any details, you never know who might be reading ;-)

still alive

I've been busy finishing Wild Stripes. The knitting is done. I've wrestled with the backing for a couple of days now.. I think it's high time I follow the pattern instructions. Step one is to block the correct size. I'm really sick of this blanket and can't wait to get it out of the house!

I've also been harvesting yarn from thrift store finds like crazy. I think I've finished 5 sweaters. So there's plenty of yarn to knit from.

The last thing I've been doing is contemplating Christmas gifts. I want to devote most of my knitting time to DH's vest knit with my handspun. So I have some other ideas for gifts up my sleeve that I hope will be well received. I know I'd love it if someone gave this gift to me. Then after the holiday I'll finish the BSJ that's been hanging around and see if there's enough wool for the poncho (I can't believe I may have messed up my calculations on that one) And of course there are socks to be knit!

On Saturday we took all 3 kids plus 2 more to the pumpkin patch. We have more pumpkins that I care to think about. But I did get one gourd that was already dried (from last season I guess) that I want to knit a beaded cover for to make it an axatse. I figure, it's a relatively cheap way to get a cool instrument and the kids at school will be so itrigued if I take it there to do the work.

I have no pictures to put in because those from the weekend aren't uploaded yet.

I'm really tired these days. Tired and weary and just plum empty. Hope I get some kind of mojo rejuvenation soon!

now this I like!

I'm a Mercedes SLK!

You appreciate the finer things in life. You have a split personality - wild or conservative, depending on your mood. Wherever you go, you like to travel first class. Luxury, style, and fun - who could ask for more?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Yesterday I stopped at 2 thrift stores looking for 100% cotton sheets to tie dye and make curtains for my room in the new school so I wouldn't have to look into the messy storage area the custodians have... no luck. Only found cotton/poly blends which don't dye so well. I'll keep my eyes open. But I did find a men's L American Eagle Outfitter sweater in a dark terra cotta tweed that was cable knit. It was marked 4.99 but the tag was the color of the day so it was 50% off. I frogged it and got 1365 yards of sportweight yarn that is 80% lambswool and 20% nylon for $2.50! I think it will make great felted pumpkins and may mix it with a bit of orange (I'll ply them together) from my stash. The color kinds of reminds me a lot of Peace Fleece's Sheplova Mushroom

I'm 2/3 of the way through wild stripes. If I had knitted instead of harvesting yesterday I may have been finished. Just needed a break from all that stockinette.

It's pouring rain today. I was going to work in the garden. Should have done that yesterday I guess. Oh well

thrift hit

I hit American Family Services at their Easton store today while in the area doing some errands and came home with 4 sweaters :-)


Christopher Hayes XL men's 100% wool sweater made in Ireland. I love the colors of this sweater although this picture doesn't do them justice. This one cost $1.91!







A brand new men's XL Gap 100% wool in red 4x2 ribbing. It was only $4.94. I offered it to DH but he doesn't do sweaters. So to the frog pond it goes!









Another new sweater, this one is an Eddie Bauer Men's XXL 55 lambswool/45 acrylic. I had to give $2.92 for this one. I'll probably overdye it, although I'm not too sure.










A Woolrich mens XL 100% wool pullover. I'm wondering if this could make great hunting socks. This was the best bargain as I only paid $1.91 for it.





I also got DD a potholder loom kit for less than $4. She's busy making one right now!


Last weekend I stopped at Good will and picked up a couple gems as well. This is a Simpson & Reed men's M 100% virgin wool. It really feels silky. I had to pay $2.92 for this one.









This one is 100% silk and is a men's M manufactured by Tullo. It has a mock turtleneck. I'll need to be very careful frogging this one. It was a bit expensive at $4.99. If it's too thin I may use it to ply with something else.









I also bought this Alfani XXL men's extra fine merino placket sweater. This was expensive at $3.99


I was making real headway on Wild Stripes until I left it at school on Friday.. argh I hate stupid moves like that. So this weekend I'm working on a baby kimono for someone elses baby. Will make a hat and booties to go along with that.

well off to put my baby to bed. He's feeling a bit under the weather and needs some extra loving.