Reclaimed

When I first started knitting I bought a lot of nice yarn and knit a lot of mediocre stuff that I never wore. These items (mostly scarves because they’re easy) have been hanging around the house staring at me, wondering why they never see the light of day. It’s a good question, so I decided to do something about it.

This led to a lot of hunting down these items, unweaving ends, and ripping it all out. At the end I had quite a few balls of gorgeous worsted-weight cotton waiting to become something beautiful that will actually be worn.

Some of this yarn is a hand-dyed cotton of unknown origin and some is Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Cotton. Generally soft yarns like the Blue Sky Alpacas get really fuzzy when ripped out, but it all still looked great, so I started looking for new patterns.

After cruising Ravelry for days and checking out bags, scarves, shawls, hats and mittens, I just wasn’t happy with any patterns. I realized it was time to take things into my own hands.

Taking two of the colors of my reclaimed yarn I’ve started working on Rainbow Trout, a cushy cowl with alternating stockinette and garter stitch. The simple stitch pattern will highlight the beauty of the yarn and make for an easy side project. The name is inspired by the colors of the yarn, which remind me of the rainbow trout that fill Montana’s rivers and streams.

Now I’m just searching for the perfect buttons. I have some ceramic fishies in mind, but we’ll have to wait and see. This project will likely see more wear when autumn hits, but early mornings can still be chilly in Montana, so when this is all finished it may come along on my morning bike rides.

Little Coffee Bean Cardigan

Grosgrain ribbon reinforces the back of the button band, keeping the fabric from puckering.

This week I continued my baby-knitting fever and made Elizabeth Smith’s Little Coffee Bean Cardigan. This sweater is meant to feature stripes, but I love the look of the simple brown cardigan with classic buttons.

The sweater is sized for a 6-month old, and is very soft and cushy, knit with about 300 yards of Berroco Comfort Worsted in Coffeeberry.

The buttons are plastic and machine washable, just like the sweater, but look like traditional leather buttons. The button band is reinforced on the back with 7/8″ grograin ribbon to keep the fabric from puckering due to pulling on the button shanks.

This was a fun, sweet project to work on all week. Every day I had another big chunk of it done (the joy of baby knitting!) and it’s so exciting to see a sweater bloom from a pattern that quickly.

The pattern is free and I’ll definitely keep it in mind for future projects. You can easily experiment with stripes and colorwork on the blank-slate stockinette of the body and sleeves.

I purchased the yarn on clearance months ago at Loopy Knit/Crochet in Missoula and the ribbon and buttons were less than $5 at my local Jo-Ann Fabrics.

I think I’m officially over my baby craze (for awhile) and I’m back to working on my stripy socks – a project that was delayed by misplaced Addi Turbos.

The yarn is Berroco Comfort Sock in the Dunedin colorway. This yarn is only $8 per skein, and each skein is 447 yards. It's an amazing deal for soft, durable yarn.

I have some yarn coming in the mail this week for a gift. Yes, we’re entering that long birthday season in my family, so many of my big projects can’t be revealed on this blog until after they are gifted. I will try to keep up some little projects and write about knitting-related topics during this time, and I definitely won’t let the blog go dormant this year!

Right now, though, I’m headed outside because it is GORGEOUS and I have a vintage Schwinn cruiser with my name on it.