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Once upon a time there was lady who loved yarn. She loved to knit with it, she loved to crochet with it, she loved to bead with it, she loved to felt. . . blah. blah. blah. I could write a very long yarn about what happened to some yarn. Instead, I shall now show the whole story.
HOW TO USE EVERY LAST INCH OF YARN
TOTAL of 946 yards of fiber
TOTAL COST $54.35 + TAX
One skein of Baah La Jolla (400 yds) = $29.75
Two balls of Louisa Harding Amitola (546 yds) = $24.60
2.
Hat – Interlude Hat knit with a two row lace repeat & blocked
into beret shape. Available via Ravelry. You might also have seen the hat. This one has black ribbing because I love the bounce of the Baah! and (personally) the black is more functional rubbing against the forehead than is a light shade of the Amitola. The second ball of Amitola was used here because I did not want any break in the color way. It was pure serendipity that my favorite teal shade became the very top of the hat. Love it!
3.
Mitts – Easy Crochet Wristers uses post
stitches to make ribbing. available via Red Heart.com. This is the same crochet pattern that I used whilst traveling on vacation this past summer. It is quick and easy. And easy to adjust if you need more length in the wrist, hand, thumb or finger area. Since I was on a theme of black bands, the post work ribbing is nice stretchy Baah!. There was much manipulation of color in order to get the pink and purple to cooperate. I'm happy with the result. But that breaking of yarn left lots of bits from the two original balls. It was time to start thinking of how to use the colors that were left.
4.
Headband – Crocheted using Foundation Double
Crochet & Post stitches. No pattern. The post work is so very stretchy and that got me to thinking of making something that is all stretch, which led me to make this headband. Please note that to keep the beginning edge as stretchy as possible, this began with Foundation Double Crochet (fdc). If you are not familiar with the technique, check out the bazillion videos available online. This headband fits me. It might not fit anyone else; and I'm OK with that.
5.
Necklace – Simple crochet chain with beads &
wisps. No pattern. By now, the black ball was finally getting tiny. And the little lengths of color that remained were exactly that - little bits of the same color that had been separated out from the original. I was determined (and a bit desperate) about what to do that would result in another useful item. And then it dawned on me: everything old is new again. A quick search of the bead stash and I was stringing beads for a necklace. The bead pattern here is ten chains, one bead, ten chains, three beads, and repeat. It is long enough to double (because I no longer dance the Charleston and therefore do not need beads down to my knees for twirling 'round & 'round). Then I put wisps of all the same color dangling off. It almost reminds me of The Lion King. Either that or I was totally loosing it at this point.
6.
Dryer Ball – Inside is the superwash Baah;
outside is the feltable Amitola. In honor of Ana Petrova. You can't imagine the mess of sting that remained at this point. In a last ditch effort to use it all up, I made a dryer ball. The inside is the Baa! - because it is superwash and doesn't felt. Then I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped all the bits of Amitola (it being 80%wool and 20% silk, which does felt) and jammed the wad into the toe of an old knee-hi and tied it in tight. Tossed it in the hot wash with baking soda and VOILA! A dryer ball.
That is it. I am done with all of the yarn. If I were gifting all of this, that would be five gifts for others and one for me. All from about $60 worth of yarn. People - - that is $10 per gift for hand made love! Now who was it that said knitting is expensive? They know not what they say.
You rock!
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