Meme: My life in images

Meme: My life in images
Originally uploaded by MysticSpiral

I'm participating in a handmade spindle swap on Ravelry. There are so many talented people involved in the Ravelry community and I find new and wonderful things each time that I venture into a new person's projects, blog, or flickr stream. I found this meme at The Fiberfairy's Haven. She's one of the spindle swap participants. I was curious about what I'd end up with and figured that since I was going to do all the steps anyway, I might as well post an update to my poor neglected blog. I'm waiting to post pictures of what I sent for the swap until I receive my own spindle.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.


1. Vivien, Evelyn & Kenneth Calene, 2. Korma spices, 3. Gun slot at Historic Fort Wayne, 4. Orange garnet, 5. Law and Order: Criminal Intent on Location in NYC with Vincent D'Onofrio, 6. Bitter, 7. Marakesh museum, 8. creme_brule, 9. Ladybug on my shirt at the Peace Rally, 10. asheville mica factory sandy window, 11. "Creative Hands" - Mindy, 12. Bruce Nauman, 1967. "The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths"

Reclaimed Checked Scarf

scarfandswatch
Originally uploaded by MysticSpiral

I've written before about my interest in reclaiming yarn. The socks that I've knit so far (a pair for me, 2 pairs for Sprout, and a pair for my niece) have all been knit from reclaimed yarn. My current project is the one that's getting the most attention of any of my projects so far, at least locally. I had a moment at the knitting guild meeting on Monday where I wondered if it might get lost on its way around the room. Knitters with a whole lot more knitting experience than me were quite taken with it and had numerous questions about what I was doing.

One advantage of using recycled yarn for a project like this is, by choosing a striped sweater to reclaim, you can get multiple colors/shades of the same yarn without buying whole skeins. There's no question about whether or not the care will be the same, and the odds are pretty good that the yarns won't bleed into one another.

There are 2 other pictures of the scarf in my flickr stream and I wrote practically a whole blog post worth of description between the 3 images. I'd love to hear what you think.

Pay It Forward Exchange

I love the whole concept of Random acts of kindness and Pay it forward. I like the idea that good will and positive spirits can be passed from one person to another. It is a reminder that our actions can have a direct impact on people who we don't know and may never meet. This is what led me to join the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry. It is also the reason that I continue to participate in Freecycle type groups in spite of the more disturbing aspects of the official entity and some of the internal problems of the groups.

I know that there are a great many things in my possession that really don't need to belong to me. Things that are still useful in spite of the fact that I no longer have a use for them. I've spent way more time than I'd like to admit holding on to these things intending to put them in a garage/yard sale. While they might actually be worth some money, or I might get a tax credit for donating them to a charitable thrift organization, instead, they remain in the house cluttering up my life and preventing me from enjoying the space where I live. It is really wonderful when I can find, through one of these resources, someone who genuinely needs or wants something that is merely occupying space in my life.

While browsing the May wish lists on the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry this morning, I found a post that caught my attention. I'm not sure what about it grabbed me but I looked at the person's profile and then clicked over to her blog. Once there, I saw a post about a Pay It Forward Exchange. I've cut and pasted (and then re-formatted and adapted) the rules for the exchange from MochaMom's blog, "life as I know".

It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie Pay it Forward where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

So here’s how it works:

I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.

I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise!

What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Now for my variations on the rules... Nothing major, just a couple little things to take into account the things that I know about (at least some of) the readers of this blog...

1.) In your comment, tell me a little bit about yourself. There are so many types of crafts that I do that I'd like to have some idea of what you'll like before I make your gift. (i.e. if you're highly sensitive to fragrance, a scent bottle with an extra BPAL imp might be a really bad gift... On the other hand, I've spent quite a bit of time in forums where it would be the perfect gift...)

2.) As much as I like the idea of recipients paying it forward through their blogs, I know that not everyone has or wants a blog. If you're one of those people who has no blog and no desire to create one, you can still participate if you post the promise in an online forum where you participate. Include the link in a follow-up comment so that I can check out the forum. (Hopefully, one or more of your PIF recipients will be bloggers who can continue the blog part of the exchange... maybe the rest will continue it in other forums that they frequent.)

That's it. Two little changes/additions but basically the same concept as the one posted on MochaMom's blog. I look forward to learning more about you.

Reclaiming unloved yarns

I've been keeping myself occupied recently by reading way too much stuff on Ravelry and adding to my already crippling list of hobbies. Thanks to the "Thrifty Knitters" group on Ravelry, I've been having a blast recently unraveling sweaters picked up for next to nothing at my local thrift shops. With some careful deconstruction, a sweater can be quickly reduced to 4 panels of knitted fabric awaiting the gentle tugging pressure of a 3 year old cranking the handle of my antique skein winder. In a matter of moments, the fabric is reduced to a skein of interesting yarn ready for a soak in scalding hot water and then hanging to dry while the kinks of its previous life surrender to gravity.

Right now, there are pieces of 2 sweaters folded neatly beside me. My first successful unraveling experiment is in the process of being crocheted up into a lap blanket for Sprout because she became oddly attached to the yarn during the unraveling process.

I spend a lot of time in thrift shops. I love finding cool things and giving them a renewed lease on life. Looking at sweaters as raw materials or future fiber projects has really expanded the range of yarns that I can work with. I currently have a cashmere sweater awaiting the attentions of my seam ripper, and I have almost 1/2 pound of 75% silk, 15%wool, 10% nylon fingering-weight yarn waiting to be washed and hung. What I'll do with 1300 yards of this beautiful brown yarn, I'm not sure, but the list of possibilities suggesting themselves have provided me with more entertainment than I would have thought possible from a $1.00 thrift shop find.

Once unraveled, I usually have 4-6 skeins of yarn to add to my stash. Usually, in spite of my best efforts, there's a little skein that works out to about 15-25 yards. I hate to throw it away but couldn't figure out a real use for it. Then I had a brainstorm. The small skein becomes a swatch skein, perfect for swatching the project before winding the skeins on the ball winder. I staple the original sweater label to paper wrapped around the mini skein with the information about the total yardage and weight available.

One disadvantage to all these skeins of reclaimed yarn is that they don't come with ball bands or care instructions. I think that I've found the perfect solution. (opens as PDF) I sat down and designed a ball band with blanks to fill in for the weight, yardage, fiber content, and care instructions for my "new" yarns. Basically, a generic ball band with all the information that I'd like to keep with each skein. Feel free to print and use the PDF for your own recycling efforts.