Fiber Arts Friday: Recycled Wool Project

Earlier this year, I embarked upon a Sweater Recycling Project.

I finished disassembling it months ago and ended up with a lot of short pieces of yarn.  I'm certain if I had taken more care in separating the panels of the sweater, I would have more longer pieces to work with.  But this was my first time, so live and learn.  Right?

The disassembling portion of this project took a lot longer than I expected, so I bagged up the yarn and put it in my stash until I felt ready to come back to it.

Finally in early October, I didn't have too many projects in work, so I decided it might be time to go back to my recycled wool project.

Initially, I was planning to make socks.  But since there are so many short pieces of yarn, I think I would have lots of knots in my socks.  Knotty socks would be uncomfortable and the wool is really too scratchy to have right next to the skin.  So instead, I have decided on this nightcap which I have wanted to make for a while.

Since the pattern has a lot of detail, I decided to knit it exactly as written.  I didn't want to take a chance of messing it up by making a different size.  However, since I do not own any US#0 needles, I knit a gauge swatch with US#2 needles.

Fortunately the gauge came out about right.

Initially I was challenged by the yarn over (YO). Making it is fine, but knitting the YO stitch on the next row was an issue.  I dropped several stitches.  Which means I started over a several times since I don't know how to make those corrections.

Finally, after a few tries and a few rows I got the hang of knitting the YOs and could read the stitches pretty well.

Anyway, I've been working on this nightcap when I want a break from the plumber sweater.  So there isn't much progress to show, but here you go...

Please be sure to head over to Wisdom Begins with Wonder because it's Fiber Arts Friday.

Fiber Arts Friday - Matter of Trust

Today's post is not necessarily about fiber arts, but more about the by product of fiber arts and a use for the waste.

With shearing season in full swing and a nasty oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I thought I would talk a little about Matter of Trust for today's edition of Fiber Arts Friday.

I learned about Matter of Trust about 18 months ago when I wanted to make a hair donation for cancer patients.  Most organizations that take hair for wigs, have very strict guidelines regarding the amount of grey, length and whether it's been colored or not.  All of which meant I was not able to donate to them.

I found Matter of Trust through @SusanVLewis on Squidoo.  I made my own hair donation and vowed to send them the remnants from our alpaca shearing days.

@MatterOfTrust will take hair of any length and type as long as it's relatively clean.  They use the hair, fur and fleece to make booms and mats that collect oil.  Hair is a very good collector of oil, which is why we wash it on a regular basis.

Their Contribution Page has instructions for how to send in hair, fur, waste wool and nylons as well as cash and other donations.

Perhaps you have a dog or horse that needs brushing, or some waste fiber from making beautiful yarns, or need a haircut.  I encourage you to consider sending that fiber waste to Matter of Trust and put it to good use.

Our shearing day is scheduled for May 22nd.  I will be sending our waste fleece to Matter of Trust.

The Nissan Leaf

Have you heard about the Nissan Leaf?

It a new, electric only car that is supposed to be affordable.

I saw one at the Denver Auto Show a few weeks ago and didn't think too much about it.  I noticed there was a new model, similar in style to other sub-compacts but didn't realize it was an all electric car until I read an article in Mother Earth News.

Then I heard a story about it on Minnesota Public Radio earlier this week.

In the early 1990's I worked for a lobbying organization.  I was privileged to prepare and present an opinion in Washington DC on the California Air Resources Board's goal that 10% of all new vehicles sold in California would be electric by 1998.

CARB's position was that electric vehicles would reduce average vehicle air emissions and therefore increase air quality in Los Angeles.  Having lived in LA since then, I would agree that anything that improves air quality should be considered.

The part that disappointed my idealistic mind was that much of Los Angeles' electricity was derived from a coal fired power plant near the Grand Canyon.  I did not find information about how the air quality in Arizona or the view across the Grand Canyon would be affected.  I did not find information about how batteries would be recycled or reused.  There was some information regarding how the infrastructure would need to change to support electric car charging.

Twenty years later, the conversation is different.  The conversation has expanded beyond the tail pipe.  Which I find remarkable.

The Nissan Leaf takes a full charge from a standard household outlet in eight hours or a "quick" charge to 80% in 30 minutes.  It is a lot longer than the few minutes it takes to fill up a tank of gas, but it has come along way.

The Leaf's is range is only 100 miles per full charge.  This car is not intended for travelling.  It is intended for running errands and going home every night.

Nissan is talking about offering the car for sale, but batteries for lease.  This is supposed to make the car more affordable and also ensure the batteries are properly recycled.

Certainly time will tell, but I am please to see how the conversation has changed.

As a side note, when parking for the Auto Show, I noticed spaces reserved for electric vehicles in the garage complete with outlets for charging.  I wish now, I had taken a photo.

Earth Day Post

We are always trying to be more mindful about the choices we make. Which is one reason why I like the idea of One Small Change.  It's never too late to start making a difference, so why not do it a little bit at a time?

After I wrote this post, I realized it sounded like the reusable bags were the first and only thing we had done.  So I thought it might be good to share all that we are doing, attempting to do, struggling with and are definately not doing to reduce our impact on our environment.

Cleaning:

• We use a "green" dry cleaner and always return the hangers.
• We buy milder and organic soaps, shampoos, conditioners and lotions.
• We could make better choices with our household cleaning products.
• We've been hand washing our dishes for almost a year.  I would like to say it was to lessen our impact, but it's because we haven't had a working dishwasher during that time.  In our previous home, we always used the air dry function on our dishwasher with the intent of conserving energy.  When we do purchase a new dishwasher for our new place, the air dry function will be very important to us.

Travelling:

• I use small re-usable plastic bottles for all of my "fluids."
• I leave a re-usable coffee mug and grocery bag at my client's office that I use when I'm there.
• Carpooling - I take a shuttle to the airport and share rides at my client site when we have multiple people on a project.
• Combine and order errands to minimize miles driven.
• I do still buy plastic water bottles when I am travelling.  I think bringing a reusable bottle would be better, but the TSA checkpoint has been a mental block until a few days ago.

Re-cycling and Re-using:

• We recycle paper, plastic, glass and aluminum.
• We reuse grocery bags and food storage containers.
• We use the plastic shopping bags we do have to collect doggie poo.
• I check consignment shops first when looking for new clothes.
• We have reusable water bottles that we use around the house and when we're out for local errands or events.
• We are migrating to non-plastic food storage and haven't purchased any new containers in over a year.
• We piled our alpaca manure over the winter and have started using it in the flower beds on our property.
• Wear clothes and use bath towels multiple times before washing.
• Our trash bin is mostly empty each week, but our recycling bin is quite full sometimes.  Which makes me think we can make better choices about the packaging that comes with the products we purchase.

Food:

• We buy local and organic as much as possible.
• We buy in bulk as much as possible.
• We buy from farmer's markets when they are open, May to October.
• We are looking for other options for local, organic, food during the off-season, October to May.

In the House:

• We turned the heat down and wore more sweaters and blankets in recent winters.
• In Albuquerque, we installed ceiling fans so we did not need to use the swamp cooler during the summer.
• We bought a low water washing machine when we moved into our new place.

Future Plans:

• Planting an organic garden.
• Purchasing a freezer, so we can buy local, organic meat in bulk as well as store the produce from our garden and local farmer's markets.
• Harvesting rain water.
• Installing solar and/or wind power.
• Adding insulation and improving seals on our doors and windows.
• Installing more ceiling fans.
• Building a compost bin for food and yard waste.
• We have a clothes line in the back yard, so I am thinking about line drying our clothes on warmer days.  This will be interesting since we live in a farming area and sometimes the aromas are quite earthy.

Here's a great list from my cousin who is especially awesome at living lightly.

• compost
• recycle (we throw away one small bag a week partly because we are vegeterian so we compost so much and also because we buy a lot of our grains, pasta, honey, herbs in bulk where we bring our own container)
• Make at least one vegeterian meal per day.
• Save AC condensation water, rain, and shower water to water plants. I grow my own organic veggies and herbs so I use a lot of water, all recycled.
• Flourescent light bulbs
• Unplug a lot of your appliances, electronics...never leave your computer on
• Support local farmers
• When purchasing anything, think of how it was made and which materials are more renewable
• Make your own beans (bpa is in all the canned stuff) and freeze them
• Pack your lunch in a cooler and use glass or steel containers.
• Don't buy bottled water
• My husband bikes to work/school and I have a small car.
• Plant native plants that do not require as much water
• Set your heat/AC on a timer so that it's not always working full blast especially when you are not there
• Install low-flow shower heads and toilet thingies.
• Why always flush? Whats the saying "if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down."
• Put a timer in your shower
• Use curtains to filter light when its hot and to keep drafts out when its cold
• Bring your own bags shopping everywhere, not just the grocery store.
• Don't forget to turn off your lights
• Don't use detergents and soaps with chemicals in them...they end up in our rivers. You can purchase chemical free ones from most stores, buy it in bulk at others, or make your own :)
• AND educate others :)
• etc....etc...etc...there is so much you can do, but nothing happens overnight, especially with a budget. We re-budgeted our funds and got rid of cable so that we could grow our food and the rest we buy from companies that don't have crap in it.
• There are some great resources out there to make your house more energy efficient. You can contact your local gov't utilities department for an evaluation. We got the materials we needed for our shower head and for our rainbarrels for free from the city.
• Check out your local extension office to learn about native plants and gardening. You don't have to live in a hole in the ground to make a difference. I feel like it's all about trying.  Every little thing counts, when you think about how many households there are. All these chemical free items will someday be a little cheaper if more people buy it...it's already happening.

Finally, here are links to One Small Change, Hip Mountain Mama and No Impact Man for more ideas on how to lessen your impact on our environment.

Do you have anything to add?  What successes and failures have you had?  I would love to know what other people are doing.

Earth Day is Thursday, April 22nd.