Thriftiness
Recycled yarn fresh from it's bath.
This is the yarn from the thrift store sweater. Here it is in it's dingy natural color, soon to be food paste dyed green. I've found some really good resources specifically on dying with Wilton's icing dye (food paste dye). An interesting deviation from some of the more common posted kool-aid methods suggest adding the vinegar after the yarn is soaked in water and added to the dye pot. This is suppose to aid in a more even uptake of color. So I'm going to experiment and I'll post my final technique.
Staying with the theme here, been bargain book hunting of late. I've found some great deals locally and over the internet. These images taken from on of my newly acquired and fabulously retro needlework books.
It's titled Creative Needlework, published in 1969 and covers a whole array of topics. I love the colors in this, I'd actually like to make that knitting appliqué tote bag. Now I can also do things like figure out what the hell Crewel actually is. That, or you could aspire to have your very own macramé owl added to The Treasury.
Some other finds are The Great Knitting Book, Knitting Know-How and America's Knitting Book all together under $3. How I do love a bargain.
This is the yarn from the thrift store sweater. Here it is in it's dingy natural color, soon to be food paste dyed green. I've found some really good resources specifically on dying with Wilton's icing dye (food paste dye). An interesting deviation from some of the more common posted kool-aid methods suggest adding the vinegar after the yarn is soaked in water and added to the dye pot. This is suppose to aid in a more even uptake of color. So I'm going to experiment and I'll post my final technique.
Staying with the theme here, been bargain book hunting of late. I've found some great deals locally and over the internet. These images taken from on of my newly acquired and fabulously retro needlework books.
It's titled Creative Needlework, published in 1969 and covers a whole array of topics. I love the colors in this, I'd actually like to make that knitting appliqué tote bag. Now I can also do things like figure out what the hell Crewel actually is. That, or you could aspire to have your very own macramé owl added to The Treasury.
Some other finds are The Great Knitting Book, Knitting Know-How and America's Knitting Book all together under $3. How I do love a bargain.
Comments
Just curious....if you buy a wool sweater at a thrift store (yes, I shop them all the time!) do you clean the wool first? If so, how?
Posted by: Karen | February 17, 2006 10:27 AM
Hi Karen, for this wool I did clean it first. After I unraveled the sweater I wound the yarn into hanks. Then I filled a bucket with tepid water and a bit of shampoo and let it soak. You can use mild detergent or there's even special wool wash out there. I just gave the hanks some gentle squeezes then repeated the process with clean water for a rinse. Hanging the yarn to dry with some weight on the end also helps to get the kinks out.Some more info here - and">http://www.spellingtuesday.com/reusing_yarn.htmland here - Hope">http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/thrifty.htmlHope that helps!
Posted by: pieknits | February 17, 2006 11:10 AM
In your last post about the socks, I noticed your shoes were Mary Janes. I have been on the hunt for 6 months for some similar to what you wore. I have already tried Hot Topic, but they don't have them. Where were yours from?
Posted by: Chibisan | February 19, 2006 10:34 AM
The Mary Janes I got several years ago unfortunately. They're from American Eagle surprisingly. Sorry not much help in the hunt. Have you tried eBay- shoe heaven. :)
Posted by: pieknits | February 19, 2006 10:59 AM
Great tutorial on dying with icing tints! This is so much cheaper than buying kool-aid and especially specialty yarn dyes! Great color too!Did you try to overdye the vivid green color at all to get a color you liked better? if so, how did it work?
Posted by: Habibi | February 22, 2006 11:27 AM
Thanks Habibi! I like the brighter yarn too, just the 2nd color is intended for a specific project. So we'll see if I have enough yarn and if not I thought I'd try overdying it.
Posted by: pieknits | February 22, 2006 01:40 PM