..., because it is Wednesday, and look what I found!
Apparently, one of the segments I taped for Knitting Daily TV aired and the
free pattern for the project I demonstrated is yours for the taking! The scarf is an homage to Paris with a heavy "reduce, reuse, recycle" bend. Be warned... you will be expected to make you own "yarn". The segment is all about raiding your drawers and closets for inspiring textiles to cut up and knit! Yes, I know, as if our collective stash were not big enough. But, really, think of all the possibilities! Download the "Paris Recycled" pattern and you will then see some lovely detail shots.... me like!
I wish I could tell you more about the airings of Knitting Daily TV. You'll have to check your local PBS listing. Go figure, the Rochester, NY carrier we pick up from the other side of that big lake does not run the program... why I otta!
The project is included in the latest book edited by the ever-fabulous Ann Budd.
Knitting Green should be hitting shelves in early May. Do look for it!
I lifted the picture of the elusive Ms. Budd from the
Knitting Daily site just in case you wish to catch a snippet of her knitterly allure...
I've yet to see the book and have no idea what the final layout included. When I sent Ann my scarf and "pattern" I also included the story of my scarf. I don't know how much of it was used in the final edit so I have included it below in it's entirety...
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!
