Knitting gauge

A customer of mine gave me a great tip (Thanks Melissa!). She said that it would be helpful to use a knitting gauge for the froggable sweaters, so the yarn reclaimers would have a better idea of what they were getting. I went into my local yarn shop to see if they had them, and not only did I find one, but found some wonderful customer service and a fun store. If you are ever in Geneva and need yarn or knitting supplies, I highly recommend checking out Wool & Company. Now when I list a froggable sweater, like this lovely example from Iceland, I can take pictures of the knit gauge against the sweater! What do you think froggers?

Smartmonkey - reclaimed yarn

Some people frog, or reclaim, the yarn from wool sweaters. This is so much better than heading to the craft store in many ways! It's great for the environment by reusing what is already here, plus it supports a small business, rather than a big box store. If you use yarn, check out Smart Monkey's Etsy shop! All of this beautiful yarn came from wool sweaters.

Reclaimed wool sweater yarn week, ReFabulous

This week's theme is a little different! I am still featuring things made from upcycled wool sweaters, but these sweaters have been unraveled before being made into fabulous things! Some call this "frogging" the wool because you "rip-it" at the seams before unraveling, and it is also know as "reclaimed" yarn. Any way you look at it, it's a fabulously green thing to do!

My first yarn reclaimer of the week is Etsy shop ReFabulous. She reclaims wool yarn, & makes dryer balls out of them! I own a wool dryer ball myself, & know from personal experience that they work great. You could buy a pvc dryer ball that was made in China, chock full of chemicals, and harmful to the environment, or a recycled all natural product made by a hard working mom... hmmm. Oh, and the wool ones are quieter too :) If you have a little extra reading time, you can check out the Refabulous blog.

It's sweater Sunday again!

Superbowl? Who cares when there is cashmere & wool to be found! I decided I wasn't going to buy a lot of sweaters this week... yeah right! Here's the haul:
















My cashmere find were only 4 today, but I got some good ones... a thick cableknit cardigan (yes, Chris it's yours!), a super funky variegated, a thick brown, and a tan.


















I got some great "froggable" ones today too! I'm glad to see people reclaiming the yarn. I'm learning more about it.

This week my blog will feature recycled wool animals. I've got some great artisan/crafters lined up, so make sure to check back!

Have a great Super Bowl, & a great Sweater Sunday!