recycled wool

Making Christmas stockings from recycled sweaters is great fun. The trick of course is having the right sweaters. I knew when I found this Jenny Ferguson pure wool sweater from Scotland that it was perfect. The whole quest involved in reusing adds to the adventure. When you are least expecting it, the absolutely perfect sweater speaks to you from a rack of ugly acrylics. With these teddies taking centre stage, a little needle felting on the top and a few seasonal buttons were all that was needed to make the stocking ready for Christmas morning.

I have fallen for boiled wool. I love the texture and the weight and of course the warmth. But I am coming to the end for this year. These are close to the last pieces for the season — Morticia finger frees and a pair of mittens with deep sheepskin cuffs.

I have been filling orders and there are still more to come. The finger-free gloves are surprisingly popular because they are really more of an indoor-accessory than a glove.  A functional sweater-bracelet which keeps you cozy and adds pizzaz.

Below that are two pairs of boiled wool mittens with shearling. I found some great shearling remnants recently so I will be making more of these and hope to have them in the on-line shop soon. They are beyond cozy.

The last picture is of some wonderful 100% wool and angora patterned sweaters I came upon. Just when I had given up hope of finding some good quality patterned woollen sweaters, these surfaced. I grew up with fair-isle sweaters and I love them. What a treat to find these. I have decided to give them a new lease on life as leg-warmers.

One of the big joys of using recycled wool is the surprise at what is out there waiting. Who knew I would find a boiled wool jacket with embroidered birds? But that is also the downside–there are only three birds on the whole jacket–so these finger-free gloves are truly the only pair. Such jaunty, colourful birds! Too bad the jacket wasn’t covered with them. It did, however, have a daisy on another pocket and I am just pondering what to turn it into.And here are more boiled woollen mittens with shearling cuffs. I am certainly not a furrier, but am learning to deal with this stuff which is so different from anything else I have ever sewn. I also have a white fox jacket given to me by a friend of my mother–it is even harder to deal with, but I am going to give it a try!

I love to work with boiled wool and luckily for me the thrift stores abound with cardigans made of this wonderful wool. I’ve been collecting it for a while and have made finger-free gloves from it because it is such a dense warm weave. Maybe because it is so cold today, I decided to make some boiled wool mittens and to incorporate a couple of shearling collars I cut from leather coats. These are the coziest mittens, lined with soft plaid wool and wrists snugged in with sheepskin cuffs. I am working on a pink pair right now and a couple more colours which I hope to show you tomorrow.

I am going out on my bicycle soon and I may just be tempted to pull on a pair of these!

In Southern Ontario we’ve had a hint of snow and so I have been thinking more about warm finger-free gloves. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with different versions and I’m not sure which are my favourites.  Here are the newest ones — made from boiled wool with sweater cuffs for extra warmth. I like the way these fit and cover much of your hand while still leaving your fingers free. At the bottom are examples of all three styles–each designed to bring a boost of colour, style and warmth to your day. My two favourite sources of inspiration favour the lime green ones in the middle. As for me, right now I am siding with the red ones above. But I do love the funky striped sleeves of colour. My friend June says they can be worn indoors ‘like a bracelet’. All will be available at the annual sale and possibly on-line after November 24.

And for the curious, the hooked rug pictured below is my very, very first hooked rug, a Deanne Fitzpatrick pattern of three Maritime houses with my own border of wingless birds! And I’ve been putting at least one bird on every hooked rug since–evolved now to include wings and feet!