Thursday, October 23, 2008

One million acts of green knitting

Ten Acts of Green Knitting & Crochet

CBC has launched it's One Million Acts of Green, which is populated by a list of Planet Saving habits and changes. My next change of habit is to turn off the power-bars at night (at work and at home) and to unplug my phone recharger when it isn't in use. I'll also take my air conditioner out of the window for the winter and fill in the little holes with spray foam.
 

But we are about knitting, so here's a list of Acts of Green Knitting & Crochet (all the links will be Ravelry, so if you don't have an account you should get one!):


1. Make a SHOPPING BAG
and carry it with you for daily incidental purchases.

2. Make a COFFEE CUP SLEEVE COZY and forgo the extra paper sleeve.  Scratch Espresso even sells them!

3. Hand wash your woolies in cold water with Eucalan.

4. Make new Christmas ornaments from your leftovers:

5. Buy closer to home: Mission Falls, Brown Sheep Company, Cascade, Manos, Misti: Mission Falls is milled in Montreal and Brown Sheep is in Nebraska, Cascade & Misti are Peruvian, Manos is from Uruguay, so they have a much shorter distance to travel than other more international products. Also, ships create three times more carbon emissions than airplanes, but overall truck and train have a smaller environmental impact.

6. Organicly dyed yarns are not necessarily more eco-friendly.
The processing of oragnic/natural dyes takes twice as much energy are regular chemical dyes. Now, I'm not says you should forgo the oraganics, less chemicals is no doubt good, but it's not a panacea.

The following Ideas consist of making things to warm yourself so you can turn down the thermostat (much of the green house gases are created through heating & electricity`):

5. AFGHAN/THROW BLANKET:

6. FAST & SIMPLE SWEATER:

 
7. SOCKS:

 


9. SLIPPERS:


10.GAUNTLETS/ARMWARMERS/WRISTWARMERS:










Friday, October 17, 2008

Free Cowls Collected

mmmm, cowls (reincarnate of neckwarmer) are sooooo cozy, i will certainly need one or two this winter!

Fingering Yarns

cowl2.jpg

Cashmere Cowl: worked on 5mm needles! sub Misti Alpaca Hand Painted Lace or Solid Lace


Ice Queen: any kid mohair, but I say go for the kid silk haze, it's only 1 ball!


Aran, Worsted & DK Yarns

Aspen Cowl: i've already made this one, it's a welcome part of my winter wardrobe in deep winter. sub Misti Baby Alpaca Worsted,  Suri & Silk, Manos Silk & Wool.


Dark Side Cowl (Ravelry): sub Manos Silk, Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed or Cascade 220 Heathers.


Morning Side Cowl (for men and women): sub Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed for the tweedy look.


Chunky Yarns

Limulidae Cowl (and hat!): sub 2 strands of Nashua Brushed Alpaca held together, Misti Baby Alpaca Chunky, Cascade Eco, evem Lamb's Pride Bulky.


Cherry Garcia Cabled Cowl: sub Lamb's Pride Bulky, Misti Alpaca Chunky.


Bulky Yarns

Sophia Knits Cowl (on ravelry): sub brown sheep Burly Spun or Estelle Woolly Bully, only 1 skein of either.


Envy Cowl: i really like the cable up the sides! no need to sub this one.

Totally Cute Boot Toppers from Berroco

Freebie for Friday!




Totally Cute Boot Toppers from Berroco, much prettier than the cheap  acrylic faux-fur that feels like barbie hair after a date with a hair dryer.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Free & New

New Freebie!


Classic Elite La Gran Mohair Mittens

mmmmm, soft & fluffy mittens. i am not keen on the mohair they are pushing in the pattern, i would be inclined to substitute Nashua Creative Focus Brushed Alpaca (holding 2 strands together to make it nice and thick & warm).  I think i will take muself up on that as soon as i get a chance to breathe.


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Primo Freebies!
Good Freebies! - Docs & Spreadsheets


Lana Grossa's "Model" of the Month (is that like a pin-up for knitters?) from Filati Magazine 36, Model 18

here are other models of the months on the Lana Grossa web site


Thursday, October 09, 2008

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Friday, October 03, 2008


Posit: Sweaters as Carbon Credits?



Above is a capelet I made for Kim, one of the sales reps over at Scratch. She liked the ones in the show but is currently into purple, so i made one in Amethyst Brown Sheep Burly Spun on 12mm needles, using the smallest size from the Quick Button Capelet pattern. It looks great in the Burly! I thought the texture might look bland but it's great, the stitches are large enough to create al lot of definition and contrast.

So let's talk ..... I was discussing the economy and the crash in the stock markets (don't stop reading, it gets to knitting) with mt family last week. My cousin says to me (please read with dry wit laced with dark humour): "it's a good thing your money is tied up in wool since people will have to wear sweaters this winter when they can't afford to heat their homes or drive their cars."  LOL!  Don't worry, the economy here is not really as bad as all that, but who wants to spend more money, right?

This morning I received my weekly letter from Berroco (below, or read link). Now I've always been a fan of cardigans and layering, but I never thought of it as an energy saver. And if sweaters help us save energy, then wearing them is kind of a 'green' initiative, isn't it?  but  I don't think cardigans are the be all end all. there are lots of ways to warm up, what about shawls? capelets? wool socks? lapghans? cardi-wraps? I wonder if I can get carbon credits for outfitting my friends & family in woolies? Do they print them up like food stamps? or maybe they just come in the form of more wool? ;-)

Cardi Mania!
Keep the Thermostat Down

Cardigan ManiaMy autumn knitting queue is full of cardigans. They are fantastic for layering, especially during in-between seasons when weather can be unpredictable (and downright tempestuous here in New England). Cardigans also save money in unexpected ways. President Jimmy Carter famously wore a cardigan during a fireside chat, sending a sartorial message about conservation and practicality. According to the Farmer's Almanac, we're in for a colder than normal winter. With the upward trend of energy costs, President Carter's fashion advice is ringing in my ears.

I'm always torn between making cardigans in sensible neutrals or standout brights. A black or grey cardigan becomes a wardrobe equivilant of a security blanket, but a strong shade like magenta or chartruese will set off more subdued outfits. Scrunch is a clever assymetrical ribbed cardigan knit in Geode™ which comes in a variety of deep base shades with hints of color throughout. Lichen is a study in texture and its uncluttered silouette puts the focus on your favorite shade of Trilogy™. Either way, cardigans are fall's smartest garment.


Thursday, October 02, 2008

knit-tube

since this is a knitting blog i suspect you may want to watch this VIDEO
what i did on my vacation

it wasn't a real vacadion, just a blog vacation. actually, i was just busy with other store stuff.

 
1. I made 3 capelets from old T-shirts for the T-shirt show at Scratch Espresso (Gallery) for Art Walk last weekend. i probably should have blogged about them, but they hacen't sold yet and scratch is keeping the t-shirt show up, so you can go see them (of if you want you can buy one too!  they are verty affordably priced at $65.


 
2. at the same time i was working on a pattern for a thick wool cardi-jacket, something fast and easy for fall. i also madeu sure there was as little seaming as possible, especially around the armhole (shoulder and armhole seaming with bulky wools never seem to end with a happy story).

 

3. then i made a pattern based on the t-shirt buttoned capelet in real yarn. those capelets knitted up so fast and easy and look and feel so good! i wrote up the pattern, printed up copies for sale, loaded it to ravelry and the website for PDF downloads. anyway, the above model was made in Estelle Woolly Bully. I knew the lavender colourway would come out beautiful but it's really a super stunner!