...oooh, how I do love her mix of colours and patterns and stripes...!
Paris Recycled
Lately, being green to me has less to do with acquiring new “green things” --- although I do believe this to be very good and very important as the glow of a compact florescent illuminates my desktop-- but more to do with re-purposing, re-creating and “new“ using the things I have already amassed.
Before I donate, throw into the recycle bin , or --gasp-- toss something out completely I try to take time to consider what I can do to turn this "thing" I already have into something I want and will use....
Chipped and broken plates and cups are stored away waiting to be transformed into a colorful garden mosaic; old, worn jeans and overalls are piled fresh and ready in a box to be cut and pieced into a hardy, homespun comforter; special cast-offs of luscious fibres that once hung in my closet wait folded in a basket to be used as a lining or a pillow back or something else new, useful and pretty.
Hence, my Knitting Green project….
On my first trip to Paris-- ahem, let's just say a few years back-- I purchase a long, lovely, smoky blue silk skirt. I had come upon a little boutique just off of Avenue des Champs-Élysées that was filled with all sorts of silky thrills. After a very long time touching and sniffing and snuggling and trying on I deemed one special skirt to be mine. I adored it! The only problem... it was encircled with a bazillion ¾” knife pleats and after a few years the allure of a high maintenance piece of clothing-- as fabulously “Parisian” that it was-- faded. I eventually ended up tossing it in the wash to see what would happen. It came out still long and still smoky blue but without the pleats it was never the same. It had hung in my closet-- unworn-- for years. Every Spring Cleaning I would pull it out, toss it onto the donate pile, pick it out of the donate pile and re-hang it. "Maybe I'll wear it this year... I bought it in Paris!". Eventually it ended up in a basket in my studio waiting for purpose.
Well, with the aid of a straight edge and a rotary cutter the new raison d’etre of my Parisian skirt showed itself..... a soft, lovely, smoky blue silk--- scarf! It would be knit as long as the knotted lengths would allow in simple garter stitch with a few dropped stitch rows tossed in for subtle interest.
I stitched a little hand-stamped label onto the scarf. Just in case my memory fails… I’ll always have Paris!
and Frog Tree Alpaca...
but not at the same time.
This is the new direction in knitting that makes my heart sing...
.... without a post!!! I have been busy, busy, busy! Combine that with my current disinterest in "words" and... oh well.... sorry!
San Diego Treats Colourway
Prince Edward County Poutine Colourway
While on the road-- and a wee bit homesick-- I will be dropping by a new site that will certainly enable my obsessive ardour for hard to find out of print patterns! Patternfish is the knit juicy brainchild of Julia Grunau. Julia is the most "knit passionate" person I know!! Her love for the craft and respect for the designers that make knitting exciting is uplifting. With Patternfish she and her talented crew are able to share the passion with all of us.
Kudos Prime Minister Julia!!
