Recycled knitting

After extolling the virtues of recycling at the Rivington Freecycle Festival in June I have been exploring knitting with plastic bags.

Following on from the Festival, I was asked to do a talk about knitting to a local ladies circle in early August.

I had to talk for an hour - normally I don't have a problem with this but was a bit worried about being sensible about knitting for a whole 60 minutes. I thought if I did a practical demonstration and gave them some ideas on how to knit with recycled materials that would go quite well.

As I guessed, many of them were senior citizens and quite a few of them could knit already (and were probably much better at it than me!). So that was quite a good plan.

I dismantled a couple of videotapes and also 2 audiotapes and made a small bag from some Patons Splash I had left and the video tape.

I think they thought I was a bit barmy but some of them had a go, I gave away some yarn (one of them was making Easter chicks) plus they paid me a tenner! At least it was a memorable talk...

And I bought 2 jars of homemade jam.

Since then, I have finished another bag made from plastic bags which I have donated to my good friend Linda to show to her friend Pam who runs a health food shop in Manchester.

I said I would sell them for £10 each but I was a bit drunk at the time and they do take quite a long time to complete.

Plus knitting with plastic strips is hard on the old hands.

I am now knitting with yarn again - what a relief!

Bookcrossing scarf project

As an obsessive bookcrosser and knitter, when I was given another chance to combine the two (after knitting a square for the Bookcrossing Afghan), I jumped at the chance.

The scarf arrived with a lovely journal full of handwritten entries by people who have knitted a section of the scarf before me.

I spent last Sunday afternoon happily combining green and blue cottons in a stripy pattern and then a considerable amount of time trying embroider my bookcrossing name onto it with silver thread.

I only had room to do "VEGAN", an E and an R - put them all together and you get VEGANER so the KNIT(T) bit was represented by a small red cotton square.

That was quite enough for me and I retired to bed exhausted.

The scarf is now winging it's way to the next participant Minkymoo 76.

For details of the scarf's progress see here:

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4321318

Vegan Pal 2

I have been invited to take part in Vegan Pal 2 and herewith are my answers to the questionnaire:

1. What is/are your craft(s), & how long have you been doing it/them?

I am a knitter, using only non-animal fibres. My mum taught me when I was a nipper, I knitted until my early 20s, gave it up and started again with renewed enthusiasm about 5 years ago.

2. Are you a vegan, vegetarian, veg-curious, veg-friendly or other?

I am a vegan (hence the non-animal fibres - I don't use silk either)

3. Is this your first swap, or have you done previous swaps before? What makes a swap enjoyable for you?

I have never been involved in a knitting related swap so I am intrigued. I have swapped books and things before though and enjoy the random / surprise element of it.

4. What is/are your favorite color(s)? Do you particularly dislike any color(s)?

I'm not a big fan of yellow (to wear) as it doesn't suit my pale and uninteresting skin tone but I like most bold colours (particularly red)

5. Do you have any allergies (such as pets, foods, fibers or cigarette smoke)?

I am lactose intolerent. (Hence the veganism). I used to be allergic to most animals but now I only start sneezing in the presence of rabbits.

6. Do you have any companion animals? If so, name(s) and type(s)?*

I share my house with a lovely ginger and white male cat called Stripe. He is very well behaved while I am knitting but likes to gnaw at the moving needles sometimes.

7. Do you collect anything?

Books, 1950s artefacts and yes, yarn. It's not an unmanageable mess, it is a carefully gathered and extensive collection.

8. Do you have a favorite vegan food, snack or dish? If no fav that's vegan (for those who aren't vegan), what's your favorite food? (Hopefully your pal can find a vegan version!)

Here in the UK we can buy a vegan non-dairy chocolate called Swiss Couverture. It is gorgeous and the most creamy tasting vegan chocolate I have ever tasted. Before becoming vegan, I researched it carefully and once I found out that I can still eat cake, chocolate and chips I was converted. I like most food but am not keen on stuff that is supposed to be good for you such as wheatgrass juice.

9. What are some of your favorite/least favorite tastes/flavors? (e.g. sweet, salty, chocolate, crunchy, smooth, tart, sour, spicy, thai, whatever - Help your pal get a feel for what kind of recipes you might like and/or never ever make.)

I will try anything!

10. What tools/supplies/accessories for your craft(s) are you wishing you had but don't? Also, what do you have TOO many of? (basically a wish and anti-wish list)

I would love some of those needles which glow in the dark - ideal for knitting in the cinema or a dark pub. I ditched most of my circular needles when I got a set of Denise interchangeable needles but would love some bamboo ones.

11. Are you on Ravelry? What's your handle?

I don't know what that is when it's at home with it's hat on so I guess I am not on it.

12. Is there anything else you would like your pal to know about you?

I'm a nice person!

13. What scents do you like/dislike?

I like most scents I think - don't have any strong feelings on this one.

14. Do you prefer fall or Halloween or some other Autumn theme?

Not bothered really. As an April baby I've always preferred Spring.

15. Just for fun - tell your favorite Halloween or Autumn related memory.

Playing conkers at school and discovering the delights of black peas when I moved to Greater Manchester.

This is so intriguing! I can't wait for this to get going.

Let's all recycle now, c'mon let me show you how...

The lovely Lisa organised the first ever Freecycle / Natural Earth festival recently. It was held at the Art and Photography Centre at Rivington on Sunday 24 June and was a great success.

This photo shows Jackie from Bolton Knitting Noras and others having a go at making woven rugs from fabric under Lisa's supervision.

I decided to organise a stall to promote recycling and also publicise my local knitting group, Bolton Knitting Noras.

The plan was to knit with strips made from plastic carrier bags and so show visitors the possibilities of using recycled materials to make something new and unique.

As I am an exceedingly bossy and busy person, I also had a Bookcrossing stall set up next to my knitting stall - both attracted a lot of interest during the day.

Up until the last minute I wasn't sure if I was going to make it so I was rather unprepared; however, in the days before I made some plastic bag samples, some small knitted flowers and created a small bag from 6 cut up Morrisons carrier bags.

I was going to sell the flowers but ended up giving them away to young visitors.

My lovely friends Anthony and Jen turned up to help me run both the stalls - Anthony did sterling work talking to people about bookcrossing while I knitted with plastic bags. I met a young "eco-warrior" from Wigan - he tidies his school and picks up litter, and his dad, a councillor is going to invite me to knit with recycled materials at Wigan schools with the kiddies.

I also sold some Knitty badges and made the grand total of £8 which helped pay for the band's lunch.

They were called S R Gents and were wondrous to behold; I loved the slouchy hats - Tom Waits is one of their friends on Myspace apparently and I ain't surprised as he's been wearing a selection of fine hats for years so I reckon he knows what he's talking about.

http://myspace.com/srgents

Lusting after the band aside (who, me?), I had a great time promoting knitting and chatting to people about recycling. Anthony took a picture of me and "my wares" I think the stall looks lovely though I say it myself, wish I was as equally photogenic (shame about the chins)

Vicky from Bolton Knitting Noras has devoted a page of her wonderful blog to the event, which is rather more professional than this sad attempt:

http://web.mac.com/vhjeffery/iWeb/Site/Blog/ECC684F6-6C4E-4BD2-933E-CE933DBFD99B.html

There is a great picture of me and Jen in action with our needles.

I really enjoyed the event (particularly the performance by the gorgeous band S R Gents and their equally lovely hats) and will definitely do it again.

Lisa has vowed never to organise another one though; go on, Lisa, you know you want to.

Fluffy cushion festival

The other day I found 3 cushions that Bev had donated to me; one blue and two cream.

They are rather magnificent and fluffy and after being left in my spare bedroom where my cat Stripe has been enjoying lying on them the cream ones are now gracing my newish Robin Day sofa.

I decided to knit a dark brown one to match and it is going quite well. I am using the fluffy acrylic Ostrich yarn I got a while ago and using 7mm needles.

It will probably look rubbish when it is sewn up however.

There's nothing like an English Summer...

and this weekend's dreadful weather was NOTHING like an English Summer (except, unfortunately, it was).

I finished my Mash poncho on Friday, just in time to wear for the Chester Folk Festival.


It was a fun project, despite several false starts; the original version was too small and the knitting was too tight, then when I changed to 15mm needles it was too loopy.

I also kept dropping stitches so until I hit upon the wizard wheeze of using a smaller 6mm needle to pick them up I had to keep starting again.


The sewing up was a bit of a challenge too - took me ages to work it out. Here it is after I'd lashed it together:
And here is a detail of the stitch, with my chubby arm underneath it.

It is not as big as the one in the book but I am a lot wider then the willowy model so that might be why.

And then in traditional Bank Holiday weekend style, it was too cold and wet to wear at the Folk Festival so I will keep it for when summer does arrive...

It's ponchotastic...

As I am still off work I decided to start another knitting project yesterday.

I am making Mash from the Viva Poncho book, using some Colinette Giotto in raspberry which I have had for ages.

This is a bit of an experimental project as I am hoping to make one in turquoise shades for my good friend Amanda. Just the thing for her to swan about on the beach at Goa, where she goes every year, the lucky so-and-so.

So if it works out, she'll be getting one too.

Last night was spent untangling the skeins, using my lovely little wooden tool thing I bought at Habu Textiles in New York.

I have cast on 30 stitiches on some 10mm (or so) needles, it is easy but also a little bit more challenging than the garter stitch scarves I've been churning out recently.

It doesn't look wide enough at the moment but I will carry on regardless and see how it turns out.

Bookcrossing blankie and baby blankie

I have created a square for the Bookcrossing afghan / blanket which is being put together and then will be auctioned at the UK Bookcrossing Unconvention in Brighton at the end of June.

I was trying to do one with an interesting VK symbol on (for Veganknitter) but this was much too hard and I thought my brain would explode, so I settled on knitting a square with a V on.

I used some cream Rowan cotton and it looks OK - it could be better but I only had until the end of May.

My friend Is has also sent me a lovely photo of Roscoe's baby blankie in action - here he is with grandmother Mary. All together now, aaaaah.

I'm a lucky, lucky girl

On Saturday my friend Caroline presented me with this beautiful handbag that she has made / embellished for me.

She is ever so clever and I'm a lucky, lucky girl.

She is selling more handcrafted and knitted wares at a craft fair in Chorlton, South Manchester on Saturday but unfortunately I can't go as I am going to a wedding instead. (Despite not having a stitch to wear)

Good luck Caroline!

2 down, 3 to go...

My good friend Lindsay generously sent me 4 scarf kits for my birthday. At my party on 21 April, I drunkenly waved them around and offered to make scarves for four of the people there - Cathy, Janet, Chrissie and Joan.

The good news is that I have now completed two of these for Cathy and Janet. Each kit had 3 balls of fluffy fur yarn, so that's 12 balls of yarn altogether. As I am using the 9mm Boye needles Bev bought me in New York (they are so useful!) I have managed to make 2 long scarves from 4 and half balls of yarn. So hopefully I can squeeze another 3 scarves from the rest of the yarn.

The bad (but good news) is that I am off work with a recurrance of cellulitis in my right leg. Last time I got this, the doctor I had at the time didn't work out what it was and I eventually had about 8 weeks off work and a stay in hospital. My plight wasn't helped by my sister ringing me while I was propped in my wheelchair in A&E awaiting a bed with the cheery comment "I've looked it up on the internet and it can be fatal."

Luckily, this time I diagnosed it myself and hot footed (limped) to the doctors to have this diagnosis confirmed yesterday. I now have a few days of knitting leave...erm, sick leave and a course of antibiotics to keep me going until Wednesday so can now sit on the sofa with my leg propped up, knitting away all day long until Monday at least.

So every cloud has a silver lining...

Ooh Betty...

My good friend and fellow knitter Linda came round last night and brought the beret I made her so I could take some pictures for this blog. It is from the Hats, Gloves, Scarves book by Louisa Harding and was ever so easy to make.

We got Stripe to model it - he wasn't impressed. What an affront to his dignity. Serve me right if he does a whoopsie somewhere he shouldn't.

Gosh! Been away a while...

But I have done a lot of knitting, your honour.



I finished the baby blankie for my friend Is whose little arrival is imminent now.

I do hope she likes it and more importantly, baby does too.



Roscoe was due on 15 April and hasn't popped out yet so we are all waiting with baited breath for news this week.


I also made a gorgeous (though I say it myself) skinny scarf for myself using the Lion Brand Fancy Fur yarn and Boye needles Bev bought for me in New York.

I really enjoyed knitting with it - there are little tufts of chenille (like tassels) that pop out on the right side of the knitting (with a bit of persuasion from my needles and fingers).

And there's still a ball left over to make a trim for a bag or something (should I be so inclined).

My other news is that my very own Bolton Knitting Noras were the featured knitting group of the month in the May edition of Simply Knitting.

Fame at last except the stupid twits got my name wrong though - Sarah Edwards indeed...

Gosh! Almost a month since I last posted...

and apparently, I am a world renowned ethical crafter - see here:

http://www.vegforlife.org/knitting.htm

so I'd better make a bit more bleeding effort...

I have finished my tea cosy bar the sewing up (so yes, it isn't finished...).

Here is a picture of it in progress and one with the teapot it is destined for.

I have also started a baby blankie for my friend Is and her partner Bob's expected boy, Roscoe. I do hope the baby is a boy anyway, or I'm scuppered (although they don't believe in gender stereotyping). I am knitting it in a lovely varigated blue / turquoise Rowan cotton that I got from somewhere or other. The sides keep going wonky though as I am doing them in garter stitch and as it is for a first baby I want it to be perfect; I keep ripping stitches out and going back a few rows.

Since I last posted, the Guardian has gone craft crazy but I am not convinced; I will keep on knitting for a while yet whether it is trendy or not - fancy trying doing the knitted dalek though.

Apart from doing some rather erratic knitting, last Saturday I gorged myself on chocolate at the MVS / MVVG vegan chocolate tasting organised by Caroline - 4 trestle tables literally groaning under the weight of about 100 different types of vegan chocolates, sweets and cakes. (I probably exaggerate, but I did sample most of them...)

My favourites remain the Organica vegan couverture bar (it's like Galaxy, but vegan) and the "Trooly Scrumptious" hand made chocs (I bit into a Jack Daniels one and nearly fell over).

We are planning a wine tasting next - who says vegans don't know how to enjoy themselves...

Another vegan crafter

My good friend Cathy, who is a Vegan Society local contact, Bookcrosser, Freecycler and generally wonderful person now has her own blog which I would like to share with you all.

I will probably try to add it to the links on the right at some point but this new Blogger scarily says that I will lose my template if I customise my page using the new tool.

And as it took me several weeks to get all the buttons interactive and in more or less the right place, I'm not going through all that again!

So here is the link to her blog, full of handy hints on how to make cards from recycled materials.

Personally, I am impressed with anyone who has the patience to make cards - I could do a blog on making a gluey mess which is all I ever manage but I don't think many people would be interested in it.

http://ethicalcardmaker.blogspot.com/

So swing on by and leave her a comment, why don't you...

Not all quiet on the knitting front...

I've had a busy couple of weeks on the knitting front, mainly due to have the luxury of a full week off work due to college half term.

I was busy doing other things too, the main activity being sorting out 26 boxes of old books from a Sixth Form College in Bury. It took 2 trips in 2 hatchbacks to pick them up and there are still 8 boxes in my backroom but at least I know what most of them are now and are sorted thematically.

I do need help though as I bought another 8 books during half term; 3 of which I had already (they were nicer editions though).

Having given my lurex mobile phone cover to a friend while drunk (it looks good on her phone though), I have made a lovely bright pink one for myself - still to be sewn up...

I also made 2 pink corsages for my good friend Linsay; they came out quite well. I used some bright pink DK from a bargain kit I bought, some pink Whisper-like stuff and some R2 pink lurex tape (bought off eBay I think). I just need to sew some pins on the back which will probably take me several weeks to get round to doing.

I am currently working on a retro style tea cosy in some linen drape from my stash. This is the one from the latest issue of Knitting - there is a mistake in the pattern but I think I've worked it out properly now.

It was a bit of an emergency project as I didn't have anything to take with me to the Bolton Knitting Noras meeting on Sunday. In my traditional style, I knitted most of it at the Knit Out and then unpicked it all when I got home.

The Bolton Knitting Noras group is going fantastically; there were 10 of us at the last meeting, including charming new member Jennifer.

New Rowan Magazine joy!

The other day I received my new Rowan magazine but have been unable to post about it due to a disgusting amount of gadding about and my inability to post photos and words together on this new supposedly improved Blogger.

I love the new magazine anyway and was filled with nostalgia for 1970s family hols by the Southwold fashion story - I recognised the location just by the beach huts.

We rented a beach hut every year for the full fortnight and my dad always insisted on us going to the beach every day even if it was raining so we could get our moneysworth.

Suffolk in the 1970s was far from the yuppie playground it is these days but we loved it just the same.

My friend Fran lives in Snape and there is no greengrocers or fishmongers on Aldeburgh high street now but you can buy a Cath Kidston cushion.

Arrrgh! So much to say...

and not able to say due to a problem with pesky new Blogger.

However, it all seems OK now - but I've forgotten what I was going to say now...

Oh yes, Rowan have a new yarn coming out (maybe it is out now) - Bamboo Tape.

I can't wait to get my hands on some and am awaiting delivery of the new Rowan magazine with baited breath.

I always appreciate the summer Rowan magazines more than the winter ones - all those lovely cottons rather than horrid itchy bulky wool.

I also got sent this link as a super Knitty fan: very amusing article on how a yarn stash should be viewed as a collection - now I know I can be proud of my random piles of acylics and cottons.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/FEATcollection.html

Weekend a great success

Just had a lovely weekend of meetings with my Bookcrossing group, the Manchester Vegan Society and the Bolton Knitting Noras.

There was an all-time best attendance at the Knitting Noras Knit out today - ten of us, including new members Ann, Janet, Vicky, Jill and my vegan friend Caroline.

There were so many of us we abandoned Caffe Nero for the Varsity pub and most of us stayed for a good few hours.

What a great start to the new year!

I also finished my Water Aid blue square.

Also, Lady Sovereign, the new rapper sensation from London was on Popworld on Channel 4 and showed an enthusiasm for knitting - she used to make pencil cases and said she wanted to take it up again.

Match the jumper to the picture...

The baby pirate jumper is coming along well; I've done the back and two sleeves and am a third of the way through the front.

I managed to miss a row out yesterday though so had to rip it out down to the first 2 and a half inches but all seems to be OK now.

Veganism is all the fashion, darlink

One of the members of my vegan group posted a link to a recent article from the New York Times on vegan fashion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/fashion/11VEGAN.html

(Don't know how to make this work like a link like other clever people who blog)

It made me wish I lived in the US and particularly New York.