Knitted and Crocheted FO's: an afghan, a pair of socks, and some gloves

Well, I've been neglecting to post craft progress here on the blog, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!

I haven't quite caught up with photographing my finished objects (two rather large projects still need to be washed and blocked), but here are a couple of smaller - and one not-so-small - bits of handiwork.

These gloves are to replace my previous ones, which were just a bit too short at the wrist and knuckles. Rav notes here.

These socks are just plain ol' vanilla socks. Rav notes here, for those interested in yarn details.  
This afghan is probably the most fun: it's entirely made out of yarn recycled from thrift store sweaters. Most of it is laceweight, and I held the yarn double/triple/quadruple/+ stranded throughout, which let me switch out one strand at a time to get that ombré effect. Rav notes here.



Now if only the weather would cooperate and give me some cool days to go with all these wooly wonders!

Peace of Christ,
Jessica Snell

More Yarn Recycling

Recently, this:
Became this:
i.e., a thrift-store sweater became a little bit over 1200 yards of 100% wool laceweight yarn, in a color I love: bright, bright blue. Maybe for a shawl? Or a lacy scarf? Or, well, lots of lacy scarves? (1200 yards is a LOT of scarf.)

And this weekend I found two new sweaters I'm very excited about frogging*:

The sweater above is half angora, half lambswool. The one below though, that's the real treat. Can you read the tag?


100% cashmere. Cashmere. Yeah, cashmere yarn is neither in the fun money part of my budget nor the gift part of my budget. (Check out this link for an idea of what it usually costs.) But, a men's large sweater at the thrift store? Definitely in the budget. It was hard to find - you could tell that most of the cashmere sweaters at the thrift store were there because someone had accidentally thrown them in the dryer, i.e., you had a sweater whose tag said "extra large" but it looked like it might fit a ten-year-old snugly. You can't pull good yarn out of a sweater that's shrunk.
But this one is in great condition. And it's sooooo soft. I hope it frogs well, because if so, I'm going to be one really happy fiber artist.

And some friends of mine might be getting really soft scarves for Christmas.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

*The term "frogging" a sweater comes from the way "rip it, rip it" sounds when you say it aloud.

treasure hunting at the thrift store

Today I got to go to the thrift store just with Gamgee, all sturdy and boyish in his camo hoodie.   Adam stayed home (bless him) working on his own project (weighted juggling balls – he wanted juggling balls that were compact but still had heft), and taking care of the girls.

            I love going to thrift stores. I’ve being doing it for years now, and I’m getting better and better at buying things we’ll actually use and love, instead of things I’ll look at and say, “why did I get that again?”

            It’s a treasure hunt, every time. And I always go with an idea in my head of what I want to keep an eye out for. Some are perennial: we always keep an eye out for Legos.

            Also, there are some themes that are perennial: things that are green or blue, especially if combined with white, will always catch my eye. Also anything botanical. Our household items tend to be blue, green, white or wooden, and if they’re decorated, it’s with leaves and flowers, with a definite preference for the edible or the aromatic.

            I like having a big general theme, because then I can move things around from place to place, and they always fit in and look peaceful. (Do other people do this? I think they must. Do you?) 

            I’ve learned – after much trial and error – to adopt a similar stance towards my wardrobe. Again, the base colors are blue and green, with white as my go-to neutral for tops and black for bottoms. I will go for true reds and certain shades of rose, but I try not to do too much of that, because they’re harder to match, and I just don’t want to wear them as often as I want to wear green and blue.

            I generally buy natural fibers, though I appreciate what a small percentage of spandex will do for the fit of a shirt or pair of pants. I’ve learned that if I buy clothes that aren’t mostly cotton or mostly linen or mostly silk, I just won’t wear them, because in SoCal weather, they’re just amazingly uncomfortable.

            I’ve learned too, through years of thrift store shopping, that though it’s fun to experiment, there’s a lot to be said for finding a couple of brands that just always fit well, and wear well. I keep my eyes open for Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft. I’ve had good luck with St. John’s Bay shirts (the ones made from India cotton – so light! so pretty!). I discovered Lucky dungarees, and don’t want to ever go back as long as I can keep finding them at thrift store prices (can’t imagine swallowing the price tag of getting them new!). Banana Republic and Gap tend to fit well too.

            I know some people don’t like thrift store shopping because it takes so long, but I think having an idea of what you’re looking for cuts down a lot on the time. (Not that I couldn’t spend hours. I’m just saying, if you didn’t want to . . .)

            Today though, Gamgee and I spent almost an hour looking at the books. Mostly at the kids’ books. We bought a copy of How Things Work, and an old Arch Bible story book, and a book about knights, and one about the human body, and a prayers and poems book and – because Gamgee was there – one about dinosaurs and trains (yes, in the same book – someone knows little boys well).

            I also found a silver tray (I’ve been wanting a tray for awhile – I didn’t have a one) and a beautiful dark blue and orange silk linen (we also have a minor theme in our home of the international – mostly presents from well-traveled friends and family – and this silk looked very Thai to me). I’m not sure what it was meant for: it could be a shawl or a table cloth or a curtain valance. But it was very cheap (probably because it wasn’t actually labeled as silk – the label was gone) and I don’t think I’ll have trouble finding a place for it. It might end up on the apothecary chest which is currently (I’m not sure why) sporting a (green and blue) yoga mat for a covering.

            I also did find a pair of jeans, and a pair of shorts and a skirt. And I’m all out of Christmas money now. But it was a lot of fun.

            And it was very fun to spend a couple of hours with just my son. It was fun watching clerks and other shoppers talk to him and comment on how cute he was. Usually his little sisters get all of that attention from strangers, and it was fun watching Gamgee be the charmer for a change.

            Because he really is one. He charms me every day.

thrift store find: advent wreath candle holder

One small part of my vacation - after we got back from the Sierras - was to go thrift store shopping. I love thrift stores, and I've found great stuff there over the years, from pretty things like the beautifully-framed Constable print that hangs in our living room and to ordinary household items, like our bathroom scale.

But this time I found something I've been wanting for about six years now: the perfect candle holder for our yearly Advent wreath.

Ugly, eh? Yes, that's what was on it when I found it at the thrift store: ratty old pink flowers and an incongruous Christmas ribbon. It looked hokey. But I realized that neither the flowers nor the ribbon were permanently attached and underneath them was a simple and serviceable brass candle-holder with a spot for each of the four candles of Advent, and a spot in the middle for the Christ Child candle:

And even the pink flowers helped me see how to use it: with an evergreen wreath in their place, it'll look just right in December.

And I also noticed that when you look at it from overhead, it's cruciform:

It seemed like the sort of subtle, solemn reminder that was perfect for Advent.

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

thrift store treasure

I love thrifting. I do. And I haven't been doing much of it lately . . . but I decided today that if I have four kids, I'm just going to have to figure out how to do normal things with four kids, so I packed everyone up and headed to Savers. I even made a list! I know, it seems funny to go thrifting wtih a list, as you never know what you'll find, but it actually worked really well, kept me focused, and I got several things that I wanted.

See?

The big thing I was looking for was 12-18 month girl clothes. Though the twins are pretty well supplied for most things, as they're inheriting their older sister's wardrobe, I discovered recently that the 12-18 mo. box in the garage had been under a leak in the roof and had developed a lovely case of black mold. Ick. Straight to the trash with that. So my plan is to just keep my eye open over the next year, so that when they get that big, I'll have everything they need again. I made a good start today:

And, though our twins don't usually wear matching clothes, even though (maybe especially because) they're identical, it's really fun to do sometimes, and I couldn't resist these matching paisley onsies from Baby Gap, only 99 cents each:


And I'm also a huge sucker for botanical prints. I found these matching, matted, framed pictures of oregano and thyme for $2 each:

And check out those abalone shells underneath. Though I'm not sure you're supposed to varnish shells that pretty, someone had varnished the insides (I'm sure it was to keep them from flaking), and so I think they'd be beautiful in the bathroom, holding odds and ends, and maybe even soap!

And finally, another thing on my list: muffin tins! I've discovered that those are great for the kids to play with, doing play with beans and water and playdough and such, but I wanted to get them their own! I found these two little ones:

AND I found an Eloise Wilkins Golden Book - see the little hand trying to snatch it out of the picutre? And an earring holder, something I've been looking for for awhile now, picked up today for 29 cents.

And the kids were awesome. The older two ran around and hid under the clothes racks, but always came out when I called them, and the babies slept, one in her car seat in the cart and one in the sling on me. Thank you, Lord!

Anyway, that was just a ton of fun, and I wanted to share!

Anyone else had any good thrifty fines recently?

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell