A nice day off

 Walking to Trader Joe's today we passed by these really pretty bell like flowers. The very pretty white tree from my last post has started to turn pink. I was a beautiful day out... on the cool side and nice and sunny.

 I decided to make a little log of all the sweaters I have recycled for yarn. This is temporary until I get a nice book or folder. So as of now I have recycled 12 1/2 sweaters. I still have one sitting on the couch in the works. I have been really surprised at how nice the yarn is from these sweaters. I even seemed  to find the colors I that I was looking for.

 Another recycled sweater finished. This is a linen/cotton blend.

 This sweater I actually finished last year and every time I try it on.. I take it off because it just doesn't look right. So I made a decision to rip the front sections back to look more like a cardi instead of a wrap sweater. It looks a lot better and I think I will actually wear it now. The front just didn't fall right and after trying many different ways to wear it, I think I found the answer.

I cast on this little Noro cowl with my Taiyo yarn. It is so soft and colorful. Just a pleasure to knit and so much fun to watch the colors form the pattern.

Finally time to blog

 Beautiful Washington state. Every time I go walking I see such pretty trees and flowers. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a beautiful garden. Such a pretty tree should be in a fairie's garden. Below are flowers I see every day on the side of the road as I walk to work. Just to think some day in the future these flowers will be some kind of wild berries!  I could get a snack on the way to work.

 More beautiful road side flowers.

 Another sweater story... This sweater started out as a thrift store find. The brand was Woodstock international by Bernard. This sweater yielded over a 1000 yards of yarn. Price was $4.99 and fiber content is 55% linen and 45% cotton. You can really feel the linen and see the sheen on this yarn. All the sweaters I recycle have just a tiny bit of damage. Either a little hole or a stain somewhere. This had a tiny hole and a few stains.

 The beginning of the knitting, knitting on the bus and almost a month later... finished. I still have to go to buy some buttons and give it a good wash and light blocking. The style of this sweater is a little boxy and I'm hoping after a little blocking I can reshape it a little. It has nice drape due to the linen.

 I can't seem to stay away from the thrift store. Another good find. I love the color of this sweater and the yarn is slightly thick and thin. This sweater is by Mossimo Supply Co. 70% acrylic and 30% wool, XXL and only $6.99. I think there will be lots of yarn from this sweater to make something wonderful for winter. (^_^)

 This is the first time I found some shirts. Both in almost new condition. I think the coral shirt was never worn.

 After long week of work I needed a little relaxing and unraveling the sweater while watching tv is perfect.

 I splurged this week and purchased a Noro magazine and one ball of yarn ( the cost of one ball equals the price of four thrift store sweaters). I just wanted to make a small project because I love Noro colors so much. This little cowl is going to be so pretty and colorful. Perfect for the cooler weather in the fall. This is going to be my new travel project.

 I have never seen new pine cones grow.. this is how they start!

keeping busy

 A happy little girl with her new sweater. I think it just fits.. so I'll have to make the next size bigger for her next time. 
Thrift store finds. I found these beauties on my last trip there. The two aqua sweaters are vintage old navy with the old labels they don't use anymore. The middle sweater is so nice I may not unravel it. It is size small and fits.

 Spotted these beautiful plants walking to Trader Joes on Sunday. I have never seen plants this color.

 I cast on this sweater right after I finished the little blue sweater and it hasn't gotten very far. Every few rows I make a mistake and have to rip it back. The yarn is recycled cotton/linen blend and feels really nice with nice drape, so I rip and knit on.  Some day it will be the oriel lace cardigan. I had high hopes of finishing this fast, but I now see this isn't going to happen.

 More WIP.

 I'm finding that unraveling sweaters is a good stress relief. It had kind of gotten addicting. Both of these yarns are cotton acrylic blends with a little rabbit hair. So soft.

 A picture of my beautiful daughter who had grow into a beautiful women. She is going through some hard times right now. I will be returning to Florida for the summer to help out and will hopefully be able to make it back to Washington before fall to start school and continue to make a better life for myself. Back to the heat.. sigh.

Finished and cute!

 Yay.. Finished in just about two weeks. This pattern is called Leksak. The ravelry link is here.

 As I stated the last time, this is my favorite type of sweater construction. Top down, seamless, one piece. The yarn I used was a light cotton/acrylic blend recycled from a large thrift store sweater. I actually used less than half of the yarn, so there is enough for another small sweater or shrug. I think is a perfect summer sweater for a pretty young lady.

 Next... a new thrift store sweater to take apart. This sweater is actually in really good condition and pretty. I loved the black and white tweed yarn. This sweater is also a cotton, acrylic, poly blend. Very soft and light. I will probably use this yarn for a fall sweater. I'm hoping to be able to use the sequins too! For today I will be casting on another summer cotton sweater I can't wait. The little navy blue cardi is getting a bath and will get a light blocking. That will dry over night and I'll mail that out on Thursday. I'm hoping it will fit.

ASweater story...

 After unraveling the sweater I found at the thrift store I started this little sweater for my grand daughter. She wanted a navy sweater for summer. The yarn is a very light cotton acrylic blend. I have basically stopped all other knitting and have been solely working on this little sweater. The pattern name is Leksak and I'm making a longer cardigan. I started the project on April 29th.

 My favorite type of sweater to knit is exactly this.. a top down one piece raglan.

 As you can see it is progressing pretty quickly. I'm worried about the size. The gauge is right on.. I'm just wondering if the chest sizing is a little small. I'm knitting size 8. I always find it hard to knit for someone when they are now able to try it on at different stages for sizing. I love the way the sweater is connected at the neck.

 Knitting on the way to work and at work and on the way home from work.

 This is where I am at today. After doing the usual laundry and day off stuff I plan on watching "The Paradise" and spending the evening knitting away.

 A beautiful walk to work. The trees at filling out and flowers are blooming. (^_^)

Next the finished sweater!

On the needles...

Here is a picture of all my recycled yarn projects to date. The finished cotton lace sweater from 100% cotton gap sweater yarn. The aqua lace shrug that is still on the needles being knit with wool, acrylic angora blend yarn from a Ralph Lauren sweater and a summer tunic for my grand daughter knit with a cotton acrylic blend from a Sonoma sweater. I love the feel and texture of all the recycled yarns. The navy cotton is soft and light and will make a perfect summer tunic. This sweater has an unusual design that I'll tell you more about next time. I have a day off today and we are having wonderfully warm weather.

Progress this morning of both projects. The color of the lace shrug in this picture is almost perfect.

The warm weather has brought with it loads of beautiful blooms both flowers and trees.

Progress this afternoon on the little cotton tunic. Finished the raglan increases and put the sleeves on hold and now working on the body. That is all for now. So back to knitting and enjoying this beautiful warm sunny day!

more sweater recycling..

 Bye Bye American Eagle outfitters sweater.. hello acrylic,wool. nylon, alpaca yarn.  Again there is a good amount of soft yarn from this sweater. I'm getting good at unraveling sweaters now. I also know what to look for. If you want to do this yourself the sweaters you want to stay away from are the ones that are cut and sewn by machine. That means that you will only get a lot of ends and nothing that you can use for knitting. I look for better fibers like linen, wool, cotton, alpaca, angora and cashmere. Also a lot of the commercial yarn is made up of lots of thinner threads that are not spun together. It is usable but you have to be careful when knitting. Check the seams to see if they are put together with the same yarn using a chain stitch. That usually means that the sweaters pieces will unravel and there will be very little wasted yarn. This sweater yielded lots of beautiful yarn.  

 Another trip to the thrift store and two more sweaters half price. The first one is a Gap sweater, viscose, lambs' wool, nylon, angora and cashmere. The navy sweater a sonoma sweater 56% cotton 44% acrylic. It has a really nice feel and a nice sheen. I already have a project for this and you will see this soon. My son was admiring this yarn. hehe

 All unraveled.

 Progress on my shrug. This yarn looks more blue in person and I love knitting with it. So far I have only been working on this going to work on the bus. The yarn is light and soft and cozy. I better get knitting so I can enjoy waring this soon.