Reusing and recycling wooly items and eating cake

Knit-one-one had a launch party on Saturday night and loads of people showed up. I am one of those people who love to have an excuse to throw a party. Of course it gives me a chance to indulge in 3 of my favourite past-times: eating, drinking and socialising. I have posted a few pics just to give you a flavour.

Inevitably there was much chat about knitting, felting and sundry other yarn related topics. Julie Weisenberger will be teaching a class soon at knit-one-one on transforming your old sweaters into"the Emily Elf Slipper." So as people were ogling the slippers, the conversation turned to giving up old and perhaps beloved sweaters and transforming them into other wonderful, useful, items. My friend Ellen suggested that we should call the class "the Gift that Keeps on Giving" because if you reuse a sweater given to you by an aunt, felt it and create the Emily Elf Slipper, that is exactly what you are doing.

My friend Janice has a gorgeous brown, black and cream Icelandic sweater, which she knit herself. However, she has almost never worn it. (The weather in the Bay Area is not exactly conducive to such a warm garment.) So she brought the sweater along to the party to ask Julie's opinion about the sweater's felting capabilities. (Janice has signed up for the class) The crowd reactions to her wanting to felt the sweater ranged from incredulous gasps, "Noooo, you can't do that!", "I could never do that" to cheers "Yeay, you go girl!" (In case you are wondering Julie and I were in the latter category.) Julie allowed as to how the sweater will be utterly transformed into gorgeous, comfy Emily Elf Slippers at the class. And Janice was immensely relieved and happy that she would finally get to wear her sweater, albeit in a different form!

My friend Pat, an unutterably fine seamstress, was so inspired by all the knitting and felting talk that she rushed home, raided her husband's old stash of sweaters and promptly felted them all! One sweater just shrank and didn't felt very much so Pat will do some embroidery on it and voila a perfect gift for a granddaughter. Another sweater is already on its way to being a hat. Pat did not disclose what transformations she has in mind for her other creations but knowing Pat, it will be something completely unexpected.

So the message is: "Hang on to those sweaters and don't throw anything wooly away!"