Team ESST Vintage---Oldies but Goodies :)

I'm a member of the Etsy Supply Street Team, and this lovely slide show (which I didn't make, see credit at the bottom) showcases some crafty vintage finds! Check it out, and check them out! Search Etsy with Team ESST to find the best supplies on Etsy!

Team ESST SlideShow by RunswithScissors4

Adventures in Recycling...

I've wanted to recycle my own yarn forever, but I haven't had the courage to try it before now. I found this really excellent tutorial on the process the other night and summoned up the courage to try it. I went out thrifting yesterday and found this glorious sweater at Goodwill. The yarn's a 60/40 Cotton/Acrylic mix, and the colors are dreamy. Plus, it only cost me $2! (sorry, the picture's icky!)

When shopping, I checked for 1)types of seams 2)weight of yarn (I really wanted heavy worsted yarn, lots of sweaters are made with smaller yarns and I didn't want to go that way on the first try) 3)price (because why pay a lot for it when I don't have to!)

If you want to try this yourself, it's important to know what to look for before you get started. There are only certain sweaters that can be unraveled, some can't be due to the way they were constructed. I can't get a good detail shot of the seaming, I'm expecting that's partially due to the colorway of this sweater, and also my lighting. Look at the tutorial above which shows really good detail example of the types of seams to look for. Once you get that down pat, the rest should be easy.

So, I've got my sweater with the right seams, and I started unraveling. The tutorial says to cut it, but I'm kind of a chicken, so before I started cutting, I spent some time with a small crochet hook unlacing it a bit. You can see the fine thread that the sweater's sewn together with, and once you know how to look for it, it's easy to cut. The sweater pulls right apart.

When I got to the sleeve section, I found that the sleeve would come straight out, just like frogging stitches. This is the hole where the sleeve would be attached.

After the sleeve is seperated, I went across the shoulder and around the collar. The collar was horrid! At this point I've figured out that the stitches used to connect all the pieces are slip stitches, and that if you can find them on the side and cut every few stitches, it comes apart easier and you run much less risk of cutting the sweater yarn. Once I finished the neck, I went across the other shoulder, back around the second sleeve, and back down the other seam.

Here are the 4 pieces, two sleeves and the front and back panels.

After this, I looked around for a corner, found a tied off spot, and started unraveling. :) This is the yarn from the front and back panels, I'm guessing it's about sport weight.

I haven't unraveled the sleeves yet. I'm excited about giving this sweater new life. I'm thinking the yarn shown here will be a nice scarf, double stranded, and the sleeves could definitely make some gloves. It's sooo soft, so some nice stuff will come from this.

I love the process and will definitely do this again! :)

Giving a little back...

This time of year makes my brain start thinking about charity. I always try to do little things to give back year round. I donate clothing to my local non-profit instead of tossing it in the trash (people don't do that, there's always somewhere local that will take things!) and when we use them, I also donate my soda cans to the same place (because they get them crushed for money.)

Sometimes I'll randomly give a dollar or two to some foundation, but it really takes cold weather and the holiday season each year before I start thinking harder about giving back.

Every year the above mentioned local non-profit organization, Appalachian Outreach, (which just happens to be a branch out of my alma mater) does a Coats for the Cold drive here locally. I always try to give something, or at least help out with collecting coats and accessories from other people. This year, I just happen to be downsizing in my Etsy shop and I've got bunches of hand-crafted scarves and hats that haven't found happy homes. So I'm making a box full and taking them down to AO to be part of the Coats for the Cold drive next week.

I highly encourage everyone to find out if there's a local Coats for the Cold drive in your area any time in the next few weeks, and if there is, to find something that you could donate for the good of others this winter. Or do something to give back. I'm a pretty big fan of Toys for Tots too, and I try to do that every year, or another local toy drive. Even if it's just something little, it makes a big difference to people who maybe can't afford a new coat, or scarves and hats for that matter, or kids who aren't going to have a great Christmas for whatever reason.

So, go and give a little back! Right now! :)

I keep on fallin'...

IN LOVE!

Have you heard of Pandora yet? It makes my heart sing! It's Internet radio, and not just random Internet radio either, but customizable radio! You enter an artist, or a song, and it compiles a streaming radio station based on music from that artist and other similar artists.

You can't pick a specific song and start with it, nor can you browse the list once it starts, it just streams. You can tell Pandora if you like or dislike an artist or song as it streams into your playlist, and it remembers and builds your list based on that.

And the best part?

It's totally free!

Pandora gives you 40 free hours to listen each month, and you can make lots of different lists too! If you go over the 40 hours, you have the option of paying 99 cents for the rest of the month unlimited, or you can subscribe to a more advanced service that has more services and unlimited listening.

I really like how it's helped me discover several new artists just based on one artist that I like, Anya Marina, who rocks my socks off. :) This is an Imeem playlist, since one thing Pandora doesn't do is let you compile and post specific lists, I had to use another site.

Some of the songs are only 30 second clips but you can listen to the whole song on the Imeem website. If you look in the top of the box (next to the artist photo on the right side) while listening to a 30 clip you'll see a ? and you can click it to go through to Imeem to listen to the full song, and you should be able to do that without an Imeem account. Enjoy, and go check out Pandora!

Pandoras Box

Fall Scarf Fun!

The weather lately has been wonderfully cool, finally! It snowed in Colorado a few weeks ago!!! (right after I got back from there, of course *frown*)

Cool weather makes me start dreaming of pulling out the long sleeves, coats, sweaters, and scarves. I've been rearranging my Etsy shop lately to showcase some of my favorite fall designs. Here are a few of my favorite fall friendly scarves. There's a ton more where these come from, so check me out! :)

White Chocolate, $18

Mardi Gras, $30

Cirque, $25

Adventures of the Traveling Scarf!

As I've mentioned before, I spend a lot of my time over at the HPKCHC (Go Slytherin!). Well, this glorious idea came about to start a round robin type traveling scarf group, and it was so overwhelming received that it got its own Ravelry Group.

There are about 50 people in four different groups currently making scarves. I'm just blown away by how neat of an idea this actually is. I didn't take a picture of my square (because I'm a bit of an idiot sometimes, really) but I've requested one from Australia where my scarf currently is. Yep, Australia! Isn't that the coolest?

By the time my scarf arrives at me again, it will have visisted several spots in Australia, England, and have taken a scenic tour of these United States. There are 12 of us total in each scarf group.

I only recently got the first scarf from the person above me on the list (she's in New Hampshire). We each add our own yarn and pattern/stitch of our choice to each scarf, following some basic rules set by the owner of the end scarf. I really hope she's not out there somewhere, about to read my blog, because I'm about to post a picture of her scarf on it. :)

waits to make sure....

Okay then. Her starter piece was this nice little knitted cable section, sooo soft and pretty. I started on the same end as her cast on and did a nice little front post/back post ribbed section in a pretty green. Even though I can knit, I'm not planning on knitting on anyone's scarves unless they want knitting only, as I'm not very good at anything except basic stockinette just yet.

I feel really special to be taking part in something so cool, and I'm going to share pictures of the scarves as I get them and work on them.  I'm hoping I can still get a picture of my original starter from Australia without anything else on it yet (I want my scarf to be a surprise) and I'll post that too. So, that's me, how are you?

The pics of knitted glory...

Or not knitted glory. But there are pictures, nonetheless.