Recycled Knits

I've got kids that wear through clothes like it's going out of style... They get stained, holey and too small all the time. As I was sorting what winter clothes would get packed and which ones were done for I remembered an e-newsletter I gotten around Earth Day that talked about knitting with recycled materials. So, instead of trashing the worn out stuff, I decided to cut it up into strips and try knitting with it.

My first project was with two pairs of holey jeans. I wasn't sure what I was making, I just had a couple ideas in mind. I tried a couple different size needles and ended up having to use my size 50 needles because the jean was too thick for anything else. I was hoping to make a bag of some sort, but the jeans I had didn't go that far. I ended up with a longer cowl-ish, necklace-ish thing. Haha... I was thinking if I add some flashy embellishments it could fit in on Etsy. So, while not what I had in mind, it's certainly not a failure either.

Next I had a pair of PJs that were too small for my daughter. I was able to make a cute little lightweight scarf for her. She thought it was hilarious because she could have people touch what they thought was a scarf and then tell them it was her pjs :-)

So, after cutting and knitting a couple of items I learned some things about working with recycled materials. The most important is to cut out all the seams, pockets, and lumpy parts. I tried working with the seams on my first two and came across two problems. The first being that, especially with jean, it's just too lumpy. Secondly, with the pjs, the seams can become unraveled during knitting and leave you with a hole.

After I cut out all the lumpy parts I start cutting my strips. I try to make the longest continuous piece possible, using the "z" way of back and forth cutting. When I have all my strips I make a ball out of it, just putting ends of strips together, not knotting them together.

I've started on my first unraveling too. The yarn is pretty thin, it was quite difficult to find a starting point, and the process itself is very tedious. I'm not sure how many more unraveling's I'll be doing because my fingers are starting to hurt!

Bag O' Soap

CO 30 sz 7 dpns; K 4 rows; k2tog, yo, repeat; K 5 rows; K, yo, yo; k (drop yo's); K 4 rows; K, yo, yo; K (drop yo's); K 5 rows; 3 needle BO

Stay-put Baby Blanket-Style 2

Another baby on the way in the extended family so I decided to try a different pattern on the blanket. I had plenty of the pastel green Pound of Love yarn so I got to work, casting on 80 again with size 7 dpns.

The first 8 rows are k1,p1 ribbing followed by increasing with row 9. k7, kfb, and repeat. Then the basketweave pattern begins.

R1-3: k5, p4, repeat ending on p4

R4: k

R5-7: p5, k4, repeat ending on k4

R8: k

I continued the basketweave pattern, ending on R8 of the pattern at row 102 or approximately 14 1/2 inches long. I went back to my first blanket pattern to end this one.

R103-107: k1, p1

R108: k7, k2tog, repeat to end

R109: k2tog, k38, repeat

R110: k6, k2tog, ending with k6

R111: knit

R112: k5, k2tog, ending with k6

R113: knit

R114: k4, k2tog

R115: knit

R116: k3, k2tog

R117: knit

R118: k2, k2tog

R119: knit

R120: k1, k2tog

R121: 3 needle bo

Stay-put Baby Blanket-Finished

Another baby project is finished! I am really happy with this one :-)

I left off with 26 rows on my last post about this... I ended up stopping the cable pattern at 106 rows, which was about 14 1/2 inches long. I refered back to the Nocte for decreasing. I had to make some alterations due to the number I'd cast on along with other little things that I wanted to look differently.

Rows 107-111 K1, P1 around.

R112 K7, K2tog, and repeat

R113 K2tog, K38, and repeat

R114 K6, K2tog, ending with K6

R115 Knit

R116 K5, K2tog, ending with K6

R117 Knit

R118 K4, K2tog

R119 Knit

R120 K3, K2tog

R121 Knit

R122 K2, K2tog

R123 Knit

R124 K1, K2tog

I decided I wanted more of a seam look so I ended here and did a 3 needle bind out after turning the piece inside out. One could continue with R125 Knit and R126 K2tog all around and then weave a long tail through the remaining stitches, pull tight, knot and weave the end in.

I can't wait to find out how well it really fits a baby! Got a couple more months for that... but in a few weeks, I'll find out if my knitted items will be well received by the mom-to-be :-)

Stay-put Baby Blanket

Yes, yet another baby item... this is the big one! I wanted to make something that followed the idea of my favorite kind of baby pj's, the baby "bag". Instead of legs, which can be difficult to get a squirmy little baby into, the bottom was just a bag so the baby would keep warm but still have room to kick.

I found one pattern that was closest to my idea, called Nocte, on ravelry. I wanted something more eye catching and decided cables would do the trick. I also didn't feel that the sizing was quite right, at least not with the yarn I ended up using.

I cast on 80 st with Lion Brand Yarns Pound of Love in Pastel Green (unknown baby sex) and followed Nocte in using k1, p1 on size 7 dpns for 8 rows.
Row 9 *k7, kfb, *repeat
Row 10 k
Row 11 *k11, c4b, *repeat
Row 12-14 k
Row 15 k3, c4f, *k11, c4f, *repeat, end with k8
Row 16-18 k

Repeat rows 11-18.

In the picture above I've ended with row 26, so I've got plenty more to go... I'm thinking the length should be around 12-15 inches, but I'll wait and see how it's looking. I'm still a little concerned that the waist isn't large enough, but from all the baby patterns I've read, it should be ok. I guess 4 years is long enough to forget how small a newborn really can be!