Recycled
Gah. It's freezing today. COLDCOLDCOLD. It is so hard for me to get up in the morning when it's cold and rainy and Bella is curled up in the tiniest ball ever. It makes me a grumpy schmoo to leave my bed.
Luckily, I'm knitting a big old warm sweater to wear now that the weather has gotten chilly. I'm using yarn recycled from an enormously HUGE handknit sweater that I got for THREE DOLLARS at the J and J Flea Market. (See Anne Marie's blog for more J and J details.) My goal was to find a wool sweater that had usable yarn, and I definitely found it. Pictured here is what's left of the bottom of the sweater ... I got a little excited and unraveling and forgot to take a before pic.
Big.
You can see that it was a fair isle sweater. A BIG fair isle sweater. I managed to get a LARGE amount of navy blue yarn, and a fair amount of several other colors. At least enough to make a stripey hat. But the navy is already becoming something fabulous: the Lace Leaf Pullover, of Interweave Knits Summer 2005 and also Loop-d-Loop by Teva Durham. I've been wanting to knit this for a while, and I got spot-on gauge with my recycled yarn.
Spot. On.
I never get spot-on gauge. I'm talking row and stitch gauge. Clearly, this yarn was meant for this pattern. So I'm a-knitting. My only concerns are:
1. This yarn is itchy as HELL. I already washed it once and let it hang up before I started knitting with it. I have plans to give the sweater a nice long bath in Eucalan after I'm done with it.
2. I have no idea how much yarn I actually have, but I'm already done with the bottom half of the sweater, so I'm just going with it. Will I be pissed if I get to the last sleeve and don't have enought yarn? Well, yes. But will it be my fault? YES.
3. Sweaters obtained at the J and J are from an unknown source. I got a little itchy while I was knitting with it. Am I inhaling some strange unknown substance that is residing in the yarn? (This concern actually overcame me on Sunday, while knitting and watching "The Man with the Seven Second Memory" on TLC. He got a crazy rare infection in his brain that destroyed his hippocampus and now he only has a seven-second memory. So my brain went: Yarn from unknown source = possible rare infection = Carrieoke with the Seven Second Memory. And people, I actually PUT THE SWEATER DOWN, took the needles out, and stopped knitting. Insane? YES. I know. I will plead that it was late at night and also that I take meds for the crazy. I had a smart friend reassure me the next day that the yarn would not destroy my hippocampus, and I'm back on track now. Yeesh. )
In other weekend news: we got a dishwasher. See tiny photo taken by my phone. YAYAYAYAYAYAY. I cannot express how happy the dishwasher makes us. It's portable, on wheels, since we have limited under the counter space, and we totally got a deal on it. Holla.
We love you, tiny dishwasher schmoo.
This weekend: Bling show. Piano gig on Saturday at some fancy corporate party. And lots of knitting. Stay warm!
Comments (24)
great work on the sweater, regardless of the itchiness... you'll find something to fix that, i'm sure! ^_^
and congrats on the dishwashing schmoo!!! and it's on wheels! adding to the cuteness. lol...
ps - i know this is late, but i kno we were talking about marathon'ing around the same time... CONGRATULATIONS!!! i, unfortunately, never got my ass past mile 3. it just got too cold! hehehe... but i like to think my pilates regimen is counteracting that. ^_^
Posted by joy | December 11, 2005 8:23 PM
...for itchiness try washing the sweater in Palmolive or using a lil Hair Conditioner... I have heard that both work well.
Also, CONGRATS on the dish-washing shmoo! I love mine, and now couldn't be without.
Posted by chelsea | December 9, 2005 1:45 PM
That yarn your knitting the Loop sweater with is beautiful! I am knitting that sweater too and have one sleeve left to go. Mine is a dusty-grey pink cotton. It's soft but not going to hold the shape as well as yours I think. I can't wait to see your sweater done. It is going to be really lovely!!
Posted by Rachel | December 9, 2005 11:56 AM
yay! I'm soooo glad you are knitting the Lace Leaf Pullover! I wanted to knit it the first time I saw it and then kinda forgot about it. Now it seems to be popping up everywhere I look. Must be the gods telling me to knit it up. Love that color of yarn, too. Can't wait to see the progress!
Posted by allison | December 8, 2005 12:00 PM
Oh my god, I adore you.
Posted by Em | December 7, 2005 6:56 PM
the leaf lace looks lovely, I like how the yarn has a little variation in the color, it adds some nice interest. It seems like yarn destiny with the guage and all. I'll be interested to see how the bulky sweater fits you. I'd like to knit this, but I'm a little scared of the bulkiness looking way bad on me.
Posted by Jenna | December 7, 2005 6:35 PM
Don't tell ME about cold! ;-)
it was -37F up here in Fairbanks Alaska at the beginning of this week. LOOOOVE the sweater. I'm starting a Lopi Icelandic after christmas, and I can't wait... especially since I bought the yarn LAST winter. Adios.
Posted by Ginny | December 7, 2005 1:42 PM
That dishwasher is winking. I swear it is. The dial is the left eye, the buttons are the winking right...and the handle is a cute lil mouth!
(mind you, I'm the one who pasted eyes on the printer in my office...)
Posted by Amber | December 7, 2005 11:59 AM
Such a cute dishwasher!!! You must take a picture of the inside - I bet it's as cute as the outside!!!
Posted by Lynn | December 7, 2005 11:47 AM
Love the dishmooo! As for the sweater, I understand that little late night freak out quite well. It's amazing what we can convince ourselves of when the conditions are right! Can't wait to see the finished knit.
Posted by Anita | December 7, 2005 11:37 AM
Good use of recycled yarn - I love that pattern. And, I'm pretty sure your new sweater won't come with any untoward side effects! Too funny.
Cute dishwasher, too. Isn't it sad when we get excited about new appliances...
Posted by lynda | December 7, 2005 10:32 AM
4 words. Dishwasher = more knitting time.
Woohoo!
Posted by Val | December 7, 2005 9:28 AM
oh, schmoo. how you find schmooness in the most interesting places, I don't know. a dishwashing schmoo - wow. I think "the schmoo" is now fully self-actualized. YAY.
Posted by Posturban Naturalist | December 7, 2005 1:53 AM
mmm, dishwasher! Lucky you! I am also jealous that you found a yarn that works for Lace Leaf - for some reason, I can't get that gauge with *anything* I've tried, and I am dying to make that sweater! Yours looks fantastic so far - can't wait to see the finished awesomeness!
Posted by laurel | December 6, 2005 11:07 PM
Oh my that was one LARGE sweater! It's gonna make an awesome pullover. I'm excited for you and you new portable washing machine. It brings to mind all kinds of exciting possibilities such as running the dishwasher in the driveway.
Posted by biglug | December 6, 2005 9:15 PM
Congratulations on the dishwasher! That's definitely something I wouldn't want to do without. And yours really is adorable.
Posted by --Deb | December 6, 2005 6:43 PM
Oh, Lace Leaf has been on my to-knit list forever. Jealous... also eager to see how it goes for you!
But as for the cold, well, I just snicker. Four years since I moved from Athens to MN and I have all new definitions of cold.
Posted by anne | December 6, 2005 6:40 PM
I didn't know it was possible to find you cuter.
But then you blog about Seven Second Memory and The Sweater That's Going To Cause It. I actually snarfed my diet coke.
Posted by Elspeth | December 6, 2005 5:43 PM
I love watching the sweater recycling. The color is so pretty. But that tiny dishwasher brings tears to my eyes...
Posted by Karen | December 6, 2005 5:30 PM
Must recycle old sweaters. You and AM are so good with that. I really like that leaf pullover too. I have some Blue Sky Cotton that I may use for it. We'll see...
BTW, started a beginning jogging program on Saturday that I found on Runningplanet.com. So far so good. Walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute. Thanks again for the inspiration.
Posted by Skylar | December 6, 2005 5:20 PM
That was indeed one HUGE sweater. I was so big, we had to cram it into a Walmart grocery and it hardly fit. And then that lady that was selling those hairpieces was extremely interested in it and made us take it out of the bag. I'm still not convinced that she wasn't trying to distract us and pick our pockets. And if I recall...it was only 2 bucks. What a score.
J&J J&J J&J J&J J&J J&J
Posted by Anne Marie | December 6, 2005 4:57 PM
Dishwasher? My hands envy you.
Don't you love recycling? So much yarn for so cheap. Watching shows about brain diseases while taking apart scary sweaters can be hazardous to your health.
Enjoy and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have enough!
Posted by Christie | December 6, 2005 4:51 PM
In Atlanta is was sunny today, and technically colder yesterday, but I swear it felt colder today for some reason!!
Posted by pixie | December 6, 2005 4:16 PM
You've gotta love those medical shows. We get Discovery Health and at any time of day, I can watch all those trauma, baby delivery and unknown diagnosis shows.
I've been afraid to go look for yarn to recycle because I'm afraid it will never be enough and then I'll end up with unfinished sweaters everywhere.
Tiny dishwasher schmoo! So cute! And tiny! And helpful!
Posted by Jenn | December 6, 2005 1:56 PM