Saturday, November 17, 2007

Recycling

Tah-dah. The pullover is now a cardigan. I cannot begin to tell you the anguish I exper-
ienced when I cut up the center of my work. Even though I had machine stitched up both sides of the center stitch to secure the yarn, it was torture. It didn't help that the yarn is so dark. Allison's downstairs studio has a huge picture window and I sat right in front of it for the natural light and snipped just a couple of stitches at a time. One of the plies of this yarn was a llama blend and the sweater is hot. I know I'll wear it as a cardigan now, but I wouldn't want to do this again any time soon.

Here's a close-up of the buttons. I got to Jimmy Beans yesterday morning early enough that I was the only customer, so Jeanie was able to spend quite a bit of time helping me select buttons. It was hard because their buttons rock. I feel so lucky to finally have such an awesome LYS. We went through years of LYS drought. After all the work I have invested in this sweater, I didn't want fabric store buttons. You can also see my gorgeous heathered yarn. It's brown Targhee and grey llama. If I knew then what I know now, I would have omited the llama, but you have to admit that the colors, overdyed with hibiscus Gaywool Dye are pretty nice.

And another recycled item. Ian took the dogs for a ride out in nowheres-
ville, looking for deer and antelope. He said he saw the legs of this sticking out of the brush, so stopped the truck just out of curiosity. It had a pad that snaps onto the chair but it was disgusting. Don't you wonder how it came to be parked in the high desert sagebrush? It's a glider and works great. In fact, I sat in it to knit up the button banks and finish off my sweater - temps were in the 60s today. The wood is completely bleached from exposure.

I had to make yet another batch of soap today. I really wanted to read, but soap has to age four weeks so I really had no alternative. I bought a huge bag of sodium hydroxide from Sierra Chemicals when I first started making soap. I figured it would be cheaper then Red Devil, even if I never used it all. We I have just about used it all and was trying to determine how many more batches I can make before buying more. I was stunned to realize that it's a product of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When have I ever bought anything from them??

That explains all the languages the warnings are printed in on the back side of the bag. In any language, don't mess with sodium hydroxide.

10 comments:

Marie said...

It turned out great and the buttons are unique.......love them. Did you weave the blanket that is behind you? Notice how my eyes were checking out the homestead. Nosey Marie

Purple Fuzzy Mittens said...

The sweater looks great! (But to cut up the middle! You are a stronger woman than I.) The rocker was a great score and I think a great opportunity to try making a felted chair pad.

Beryl Moody said...

The sweater is wonderful - congratulations on taking the plunge to cut!

Leigh said...

You're a woman after my own heart. The sweater turned cardigan is absolutely lovely. I love those buttons. And I empathize with you about cutting knitting!

Michelle said...

I'm so glad you took the plunge -- er, cut. That knitting is too pretty not to wear, and now you've made it even better with great buttons. Congratulations, and happy wearing!

Tina T-P said...

The sweater is beautiful - my sis would like the buttons - she loves things with hearts on them. And what a huge find with that rocker! T. - whose newly 60 year old husband says he is actually a Littttllee bit sketchy on the 60's LOL!

Lee said...

Good on ya for cutting the sweater and making it wearable. It looks great! I think (I hope), cutting gets less scary.

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

I sometimes wish that I could knit without murdering the needles... when I knit, it kinda looks like I'm trying to strangle something.
I will stick with my crochet needles, but I love the look of a knitted sweater.

ChaCha said...

Heartily agree with your warning on Sodium Hydroxide. I discovered last year that a diluted solution works wonders at removing old wallpaper, after many labored hours the old-fashioned way. Good thing I read through the warnings and took precaution.

I hadn't until now knew that it was used for soap making, we've been making Biodiesel fuel at home and have glycerin left as a by-product. I guess I'll be doing some research on soap!

ChaCha said...

P.S.
By way of introduction, I am a dance student of Chris' and a dabbler of many things crafted by hand.

Kudos on your sweater!