Deconstruction....reclaiming yarn

Those of you who visit this site know that I like a challenge, that I like to "try" playing with fiber in a variety of ways.  As with most creative types, I have many interests. One of them is knitting and as is true with much of what I like to do, it is more about the process than the finished product.

Not long ago, I happened upon a video featuring a gentleman who deconstructs sweaters to reclaim yarn with which to knit. That caught my interest immediately. If you are a knitter, one who prefers to use quality yarns, you know it can get expensive in a hurry.....but this was less about saving a few bucks and more about experimenting (cause let me tell you...I have discovered it is a time consuming endeavor)

Anyway, at a thrift shop, for a $1.76, I found a large sized, 100% cotton, man's sweater. It was clean with no holes and looked to be a great candidate for disassembling

it did take me a couple of hours to get it apart, it is likely the most important part of the process because if you are not careful and cut into those edges...you wont be getting nice long continuous yarn ( to give you an idea.....I am getting anywhere from 100m to 300m of continuous yarn in each ball)

once I had a piece turned into a ball, I put it into skeins it so it could "un-kinked". (see how kinky it was)

after a warm bath it is relaxed

I even tried a couple of dye tests.

it is knitting up wonderfully......the photo below is showing the cream ( which is the reclaimed sweater yarn knit in seed stitch)  draped along with something I had previously knit using a decently priced cotton yarn....I really can't tell the difference in the feel and drape.

Designing for an Embroidery Artist

You may remember that some time ago, I talked about how honoured and excited I was when Trish Burr contacted me with an interest in turning one of my doodles into her unique style of embroidery.
If you are not familiar with Trish's work, I suggest have a look at her web site and Etsy shops, here & here..... she is an extraordinary embroidery artist, teacher, and author.

What I have not told you is that since that first project, I have worked with Trish on both existing and new designs  (some of which I will reserve for a later post)

let me begin by introducing Chloe. 

Chloe will be a sister to an earlier design.

My first feline doodle pictured below, was transformed by Trish into a gorgeous embroidery design she calls Katarina, which is available to purchase as a pattern or as a full kit....Katarina has been extremely popular and now Trish will perform her stitching magic on Chloe.

I should be clear that, Trish "redesigns" my drawings to better relate to needle and thread....and what she does is absolutely remarkable!

Last year Trish also turned my reindeer doodle into the fabulous "Prancer" who was a featured project in Inspirations Magazine issue #88 and apparently has become one of their most popular Christmas themed projects.

as I mentioned, there are a few more that I will talk about in another post, but what I will say is that Trish has a new book coming out soon, and I am completely thrilled that a couple of those new designs are based on doodles I did expressly for her.