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Darn Good Yarn!

December 30, 2009 by Terrye

darngoodImagine a company that takes leftover strands from a viable industry and creates YARN!!!

The company is Darn Good Yarn and I recently acquired a sample of this luscious “left over” stuff. What is the original product? Hand spun fibers made into Saris in Nepal. The “waste” is then spun into yarn and in return, helps to support women and their families who may not have another source of income. Also, since it’s a Fair Trade product, it doesn’t exploit child labor.

I knitted up a little purse/yarn bag with this yarn, and the colors were just gorgeous. There was a little bit of bias as I was knitting and while I was concerned at first, it all blocked out and turned out beautifully.

Go here: www.darngoodyarn.com Nicole of Darn Good Yarn has a blog, and an email newsletter, as well as free patterns to use this yarn. It’s a no-brainer!

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Comments

  1. Jeanne Clarke says

    December 31, 2009 at 9:03 am

    I have been knitting with this type of yarn for over three years; It lends itself to making garments, bags flowers etc. The beautiful colours of the recycled saris is luscious

Have you read?

Knit a Sweet Striped Vest for Kids

I’m trying to include more knits for kids in my posts because I know a lot of people do a lot of their knitting for the little ones in their lives. 

This child’s striped vest from Lion Brand Yarn is not only cute and great for kids who might find a full sweater too hot, it’s also an easy project if you’ve never knit a garment before. 

Lion Brand rates it as level 2 easy/beginner +, probably just because there’s a little shaping and seaming invovled, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. 

The pattern comes in three sizes that are meant to be for ages 6, 8 and 10. The finished chest measurement is 30, 31.5 or 33 inches, which is 76, 80 and 84 cm respectively. This makes the vest a little roomy and makes it easy to slip on over a T-shirt or other top. 

It’s worked in two pieces from the bottom up, with the neckband and armhole bands worked in the round after the body pieces are sewn together. One benefit of knitting stripes on a project like this is that it’s easier to make sure your pieces are the same length because you can just count the stripes (it’s also a little easier to seam because you’re always lining up the stripes). 

If you’re knitting the smallest size, you only need one skein each of the two colors you choose, and for the larger sizes you will only need two, making this project a pretty good value. The suggested yarn is Color Theory, a worsted weight acrylic yarn that comes in 18 relatively muted colors. Of course you can use any worsted weight yarn you like. Keep it acrylic for easy washing or use wool to make this a warmer garment for kids who live in cooler climates. 

You can grab the pattern for free from the Lion Brand website, or get a kit that includes the yarn you need (and needles if you don’t have them already). I think this would be a great basic to knit a kid for back to school in their school colors, or make it holiday with red and green, or whatever colors the child likes. 

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

 

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