Two Sticks and a String Equals X-mas Gifts

When we first started The Compact almost a year ago, I thought I might go to thrift stores and find old sweaters to unravel and then I could harvest the yarn. There are people who do this and there are even youtube videos showing you how to unravel the yarn and how to take apart the seams. Fine. If they can do it, I can do it. I thought I would find all sorts of old fishermen sweaters in perfect shape that I could buy as my supply of yarn. That didn't happen. I never found anything suitable. I have tried to not buy new, and I have gotten all sorts of things used, but that hasn't taken away the fact that I am a fiber snob. I don't want an old acrylic sweater to take apart.

So, I haven't been knitting as much as I had done previously. I didn't feel right about getting new yarn, although my husband has gotten new bike parts, new lumber, a new vacuum and just as recently as 2 weeks ago a curtain rod and curtains--Compact cheat. We really haven't been as pure as I had wanted us to be.

Any way, I already had a bit of a supply of wool yarn and I started making felted coasters. They knit up quickly, they're mindless--no they're not mindless...well, they are, but that's hardly the point. I can be mindless as I knit them because it's not a difficult pattern to follow. I can talk with my friends while our kids take classes and lessons together and eventually knit up a pile of coasters.

Here is what they look like once they're knitted and before they're felted.

The edges curl up and you can see the individual strands of yarn. They will look completely different once I throw them into the washing machine with hot water and a little bit of mild detergent. You know how at some time in your life you or your mom or your husband threw a sweater into the wash that shouldn't have been thrown into the wash and it became doll clothing? Normally you don't want that to happen, but I'm going to do just that intentionally to make the coasters felt. I'll go do that now. Wait here.

I did it and they all turned out beautifully. Let's look at them together.

Here's a green set for my Mother-in-law.

Before:


After, now that they're felted:







How about a set for my husband's brother and his wife?

Before:




And now they are felted. Let's see:

Wow! These are turning out great!! I bet I could sell them on Etsy, except that this is a blog espousing not buying new things. There's some irony there. I could sell, but not buy? I could encourage others to buy? Except, as a friend clarified for me--they're art! Art doesn't count on The Compact, at least not for us. The world needs art--it explains, defines, elucidates, enraptures, provokes and who doesn't want a nice, interesting looking coaster?! Although, I don't think coasters are what struggling people need right now. Do they? I don't know, maybe some universal health care or something like that would be good. Let me know...

Let's see the final set for my sister-in-law and her husband.

Before:




Those sure are vivid oranges, rusts and golds; coincidentally just like their kitchen. All of these coasters (except the green set) were knit with Noro Kureyon yarn. It is a hand dyed wool yarn from Japan and it is beautiful.

Let's see after now:

We don't buy it (well, sometimes...confession coming soon) and if we can make it, we do.

Note: Reader Tamsen admired these coasters and wondered about the pattern. I got the pattern from Knitting Pattern Central, which has all sorts of free patterns. The pattern I used for the coasters is here. Wow, I just wrote the word "pattern" like 50 million times...

A RECYCLED YARN GROUP!!!

OK. The more you know, the more you know. You know?

There is a recycled yarn group!! Really, who would have thought?! People are ripping sweaters and making new, beautiful things with them. Huh. Maybe my husband can look a little harder for used wood and reclaim it...The goose/gander thing and all. Just sayin'.

How will we get yarn, paper, lumber, etc???

Just how pure will we be? Last night I noticed my daughter's calendar in her room and remarked how we need to get her and her brother new ones, and she reminded me that we're on this new don't buy anything new kick...clever 7 year old girl. I had forgotten and of course reflexively thought we will go buy. To be fair to me though, you can't buy a used calendar if you plan to keep track of days with it--you can get one for the images and do something with them. A collage, perhaps.

I suggested that we could MAKE calendars! The kids could put on their own drawings or stickers for every month, or photos (that we already have). My daughter was delighted!

My husband asked about wood. Can he get it new to build things for us? Does he have to get used wood and reclaim it making something useful out of it? During the summer he helped a friend from work take out his deck and then he brought some of the wood home and made a little deck in front of our giant shed where he's turning part of it into a play house for the kids. That worked out really well. But, does he have to do it every time from now on? What about me with yarn? Do I get to buy new yarn, or do I have to try to do this? I'm up for the challenge but I would miss Noro yarn. It's this beautiful earthy color-saturated fiber that knits up beautifully. I would really miss it. I'm sure I can easily get paper from Freecycle--I have before. So, the kids can have their raw materials for doing their work.

My husband feels that it's OK to get raw materials and turn them into things that you will use for a long time, or make gifts that people will appreciate. I think maybe I think that's OK too.

Some time soon, I will go to a thrift store and see if I can find a wool sweater to unravel for the yarn. I can do that. Really. But, do I want to?