I got a phone call that there was a bag of donated yarn being held for me at “the littlest thrift store”. Ooooh, I love a yarn surprise! It’s an interesting mixture of cotton, acrylic, soy and nylon yarns, all packed into a purple Old Navy shopping bag.
The shopping bag will join the bag collection that lives in my car and the two skeins of “Frost Mint” Dazzleaire, over on the right, will feel right at home in my charity yarn stash. Most likely, it will become part of a Ripple of the Week.
There are three skeins of “Seasalt” Bernat Soy Natural Blends yarn, a 50% soy and 50% acrylic. It’s the lovely soft blue on the left. Since it’s machine washable, it could go into a ripple too.
Eight balls of cotton yarns, what should I make from them? Perhaps something to sell at a charity fundraiser? How about baby bibs? But how practical are they, really? Wouldn’t baby formula and food soon stain them forever? I’ve noticed that single ball dishcloths and face cloths sometimes sell for less than the value of the yarn they’re made from, so forget those! How about baby booties? Stuffed baby toys?
I’ll check to see what other cotton colors I have. Maybe I can coordinate a few balls and make a larger project. I guess I’ll be spending some time in Ravelry looking for ideas. Perhaps some kind of market bag? A crochet bag could be a faster project than a knit one, but it would use more yarn; I wonder how much yarn a bag takes.
Finally, there are five balls of a Phentex Fashion Twelve railroad yarn and three single balls of other railroad yarns. They all feel rather crunchy. One of the ball bands features a rectangular shawl pattern which requires, you guessed it, five balls! It looks like a simple, and fast knitting pattern, but do I want to make a railroad yarn shawl? I see yet another trip to Ravelry’s pattern search.
A big Thank You!! to whomever donated these yarns. I’m going to have fun finding a good use for each one of them.
alottastitches 
http://needleworkersroom.blogspot.com/search/label/baby%20sweaters
How about this no holes baby sweater? Really fun and interesting construction (similar to Elizabeth Zimmerman surprise jacket style but in crochet).
For little scraps, how about this folded tawashi?:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pentagon-tawashi-abcde- (are you a Ravelry member?)
or a spiral tawashi? http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/23-44-tawashi
What an intriguing pattern for a baby sweater! Thank you for sharing the link. Unfortunately, it calls for a sport weight yarn. I suppose I could make one with worsted; then it would probably be a toddler size sweater? With 209 projects linked to the sweater’s Ravelry pattern page, I’ll probably be able to read the project notes made by someone who’s already tried this. 🙂
The tawashis are a very good idea; a way to use every bit of my cotton yarns! The notes on the Ravelry pattern page for the spiral tawashi could prove helpful to me; I’m not accustomed to crocheting from a chart.
I’m Linda74 in Ravelry. 🙂
While looking for a free folded tawashi pattern, I discovered the Ravelry pattern library has links to 100 free tawashi patterns! Unfortunately, not a single folded pentagon among them, but I did see another spiral tawashi there, with a project gallery of over 800 finished examples – the Spiral Scrubbie pattern by Judith Prindle is written out, for anyone, like me, that prefers that to a chart. Donna Naztazia has even made a helpful video tutorial for the pattern!
Love the Bernat! So pretty and I bet it feels luscious. I’ve used the cotton yarn for dishcloths and have seen them for sale for $5.00! And if you used BIZ in your wash along with your regular detergent it will get out EVERYTHING from blood to grass stains and yes, even baby food. Ask me how I know this. And I wish my local thrift store would call me when they have yarn…… Have fun and take care,
The Bernat is very luscious! I am so tempted to make a cowl or scarf for myself with it!!, but (says my better self, with a firm tone) it was given to me for charity use. Some young girl will enjoy a scarf made from it just as much I would have, and if I knit it (rather than crochet), there could be enough for a hat too.
I saw dishcloths at a church sale for $1.00!
If I make any bibs, (even fabric ones) I think I’ll attach tags recommending BIZ! Thanks for that tip. Do you know if it works on old stains? I often buy baby clothes at tag sales and sometimes see the stains on them only after I get them home. sigh.
It’s a very special little thrift and just two miles from my house! Run completely by volunteers, its profits fund town charity projects, like emergency heating oil vouchers. The manager sometimes gives me yarn, because she knows about my charity ripples.
What a nice assortment of yarn! I know that you will make some lovely things:) Judy
It is a nice assortment! Happy, happy!!
Hoping I’ll find a suitable pattern for some of it this weekend.
Wow, forgot about Biz. I remember using it on my kids clothes and it was a miracle product. Didn’t realize they still sell it. It is on my shopping list.
myknittingcircle sent me an email on July 8, 2011 at 6:59 pm.
She said: “Hi! Yes, the BIZ will work on old stains. I also use powdered Tide with bleach with the BIZ in the washer. Need to know anything else? lol”
My reply: Thank you. Very good to know!
Re: the railroad yarn – I got a “bunch” @ 75% off when I first started knitting (now I know why it was 75% off). I never had much luck crocheting with it – crochet really hides the “ties” and hence it ends up more scratchy than shiny – imo. I have however knit some long narrowish rectangles and provided them for girls to use @ prom. Garter stitch looked fine. I and a friend of mine do a Cinderella’s Closet and we had a girl who was rather modest and wanted her shoulders covered (spaghetti strap dress) and it worked GREAT! If you have a local Cinderella’s Closet, or equivilent you might see if they would like such a wrap (usually they collect things in late winter) or I could make it available for the one we do. I’d be glad to pay postage if you feel inclined to donate the finished product – not the yarn though – I’m still working my way through mine – I can’t force myself to do more than one a year. In our case, we ask the girls to return the prom gowns but they can keep the accessories and have suggested that the girls can even use the wrap for homecoming dances or other “dressy” events. Just a thought. Or what about a prayer shawl ministry?
The knitted shawl on the my railroad yarn’s label is garter stitch too. Was yours straight garter stitch? Theirs alternates several rows knitted with size #6 needles and then several with #15s. The equivalent in hooks would be G and about an N. I could do a swatch with H and P hooks, just to see what I get. The speed of crochet is no advantage if the results are bad. lol.
There are newspaper articles every year about “Cinderella’s Closets” in our area. I’ll pay closer attention from now on! That would be a fun project to participate in, and I think a great fit for this yarn. You only make one shawl a year because… this yarn is that fiddly/frustrating to work with? (At least one uses up several balls of it!!) Just wondering what I’m getting myself into with this stuff! LOL. When I looked up projects made from it (in Ravelry) several people mentioned how easily it knots, and how they kept putting their needles through the spaces in the yarn. Fun, fun!!
I also saw examples there of shawls knitted of railroad yarn held with a strand of mohair. That creates a more comforting shawl, like for a prayer ministry. Someone said that technique made the railroad yarn easier to work with, less slippery.
Hmmm, hmm. You’ve give me lots to think about.