T-Shirt Yarn

  Yesterday was extremely dreary.  I love my rainy days but after about three days of nothing but downpours, haze, and constant drizzle, I was going a bit nuts.  So what better time to start one of the many summer projects?

  A while back I saw a post somewhere about cutting up old shirts into strips to make yarn.  I have a bunch of old colorful shirts - the kind you buy every color of at Target or American Eagle?  Yeah, you know the ones - and after years of constant wear and washing they're useless.  They're so colorful and summer-like, and even match my new sheers (yipee!), I couldn't resist.  Re-using over priced clothing (that would have been stuffed in a closet somewhere) for something awesome is pretty sweet too.

  Because the project is a gift I'll to keep details under wraps, BUT here are my first four balls of old (clean!) t-shirt yarn.

  It's an experiment, that's for sure.  I picked up a few tricks on how to cut the shirts in the most efficient way possible and some blogs suggest stretching the strips then winding it into a ball, which yeilds more yarn.  Found via Whip Up, Craft Passion has a great tutorial here.  I personally really like the ragged ends and uneven-ness of my way, which I assume will stretch naturally anyway.  Sorry, Grandma, I really don't like following in other knitter's footsteps (she loves me, but thinks I'm nuts for never committing to a pattern).

  More on this to come, along with my beaded scarf (still in progress) and messenger bag I made for Mother's Day.  Thank goodness it's summer!

A Work In Progress

  With my collection of knitted projects I am so proud of, and the ever-mounting pile of "ideas," I decided to keep log and document my knitting ventures. 

  I learned to knit years ago in a cramped motor-home with my grandparents on our way to Oshkosh, WI for their fabulous air show.  My washcloth became an interesting trapezoid, resembling an overstretched cheesecloth.  From then, my projects were all variations of a simple garter-stiched square or rectangle - if it got finished at all.

  In 2005/06, a friend and I began a Knitting and Crocheting Society, that met in the basement of a local bookstore/coffee shop once a week.  We recruited closet knitters and taught newbies.  It was the most fun I ever had in high school.  Graduation came and passed, as did a relationship or two, and knitting took a backseat to college life.

  Finally in a steady place, I have fallen in love with the fiber world with more passion than I expected.  Life is finally exciting, real, and I plan to enjoy every minute of it.  Not only do I finish projects now (woohoo!!), but I can't seem to knit my ideas fast enough.  Organic cotton, alpaca, bamboo, oh my!  Each project inspires another; the colors and textures of yarn gets me more excited than any purse of pair of shoes could (and I love my shoes and bags).  Life is too short to pick crappy yarn.

  I hope to cataloged my projects, maybe sell some things, and post my ideas for projects with steps along the way!  Bear with my poor writing skills, please.  Here's to knitting and whatever happens between the stitches!

"The heart is a stone and this is a stone bed we throw

Put your hand on the stone

It's the stone of a home you know

They say we will go far, but they don't know how far we'll go

With our legs on the edge and our feet on the horizon"