Spinning Recycled Denim Fibers….

While at the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wood Festival this past weekend I wandered into (technically this is correct, as in true tourist fashion I was bumping into all kinds of things and people – just ga ga over all of the yummies all around me!) anyway, I bumped into a gal who was spinning with recycled denim fibers.

Determined to figure out more about this, as soon as I got back to the computer, Googled it. Couldn’t find anything in Google, YouTube or EHow. So, last night at our spinning group, I asked. Seems these “recycled” denim fibers are leftovers from the “makin’ o’ the blue jeans” at the mills.

Clever! The spun fiber was white with a bit of the blue specks in, but just the idea of spinning recycled blue jeans has me thinking. You know those frayed edges when you get a tear in your knees, or when you cut off your jeans because you’re too short to wear a regular size (no, I’m not over it, I’m short!) ? Never mind, it would probably be pretty time intensive, so rather than ravel out my jeans at the meeting, we just concentrated on spinning the usual stuff, you know, like wool, cotton and dog hair!

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Book Review: Hand Spinning

Once you get past the rush of the holidays, it’s time to focus on yourself and your home and what’s going to make you feel good for the rest of winter. For me, that’s having a homemade blanket in every room. I’m currently working on a granny stitch crochet blanket, but I wanted to share some cozy knit blanket patterns with you in case you’re on the lookout for something great to knit yourself or someone you love.

I have really been enjoying log cabin projects lately because they’re a great way to use stash and I love the connections between knitting and quilting. This log cabin scrap blanket pattern is free from Very Pink, and it includes a video tutorial if you haven’t done log cabin knitting before. It’s worked in garter stitch and has blocks that are connected by borders in a single color.

Speaking of scrap busting (since that’s on my mind all the time, but particularly when New Year’s resolution time rolls around), the Hue Shift Afghan by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence is worked in a huge array of colors in garter stitch mitered squares. The pattern has options for working with sport weight or worsted weight yarn, and the blanket is worked in quarters and then sewn together, but the individual squares in each section are worked off each other for minimal finishing. Get the pattern from Knit Picks.

If you’re looking for an easy pattern that has a lot of texture, this quilted knit throw from Mama in a Stitch is a great choice. It uses chunky yarn in a single color to make a simple knit and purl pattern that looks like diamonds. The designer notes that a lighter colored yarn is helpful for making the stitch pattern stand out, but you can try whatever color you like.

Or go even simpler with the Bella Vita blanket from Christaco Design. This one uses super bulky yarn (or make it a stash buster by holding two strands of worsted weight yarn together). The pattern has a seed stitch border and allover knit and purl pattern, and includes sizes from baby blanket to California king.

If instead you want a project that will challenge you and occupy your mind as well as your needles, try the Aran texture cable afghan knitting pattern from Pattern Professionals. This gorgeous design features panels of cables and other textured stitches, and the pattern is originally form the 1970s. It uses worsted weight yarn and each pattern strip is worked individually and sewn together (though you could combine them into one big panel if you’d rather).

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