Post 004: Cream and Olive Gray Deconstructed Sweater: Sunday Sweater Decon

Happy Sunday to you all today! The day has started off as any other Sunday--the fiance made a big morning breakfast for the family, and I began my jumpstart of morning coffee.

A little later, it was laundry time and then some time to get this sweater decon finished. I chose a combination sweater for today. It's more of a sweater wrap, but it had a significant hole in the front. This would require patching/mending or I could reclaim the yarn. 

It's an acrylic wool blend, and I saw merit in a simple mend, but I more so saw this as an opportunity to acquire some shiny cotton yarn for upcoming ornament crafting for the end of the year (I didn't mention the holiday, it's too early for that kind of talk, although it does sneak up on us as crafters--does it not?!?).

So I began the decon. The white cotton with shiny bits is perfect for the ornaments I intend to make later in the year. The olive-gray tones are acrylic and held together with a cream acrylic and shiny bits. I usually do not go for acrylic sweaters and typically reach for more organic fibers when doing a decon (wool and natural fibers are expensive otherwise, but time and reusing items are also important to me) but as you can see...

They're quite lovely!

And I am quite partial to the variety in the thickness of the white cotton strands, as it gives the yarn a very natural feel.

When I am finished, I believe I will likely get the ball winder out and create center pull balls for these, as it will not compromise the shape or tension of the yarn much. In other projects such as wool sweater decons, I will finish the yarns into hanks, soak them in water and gently hang to dry to even out some of the crimp to the yarn. I always prewash garments before a deconstruction because I like to work with clean things and a majority of items are secondhand so I like to ensure that there is nothing in the fibers that I dont want there.

Anyone out there do any sweater deconstructions to save the yarn? Happy creating, thanks for looking!

Post 001: Maintaining Creativity and Motivation in the Middle of a Pandemic

Like all of us, the COVID19 pandemic has changed the way I live my life.  If I plan to leave the house, I now have to think ahead, planning social distancing measures and remembering to wear my mask.  I've been working from home mostly, since the middle of March and this has caused me to create a new routine.  I've been fortunate to not get sick, but I admittedly struggle with the new social dynamics of not seeing my coworkers and the clients that I work with on a face to face basis.  There is so much to be said about non-verbal communication and body language cues that remote platforms and video interviews cannot replace or capture.  I'm optimistic for a "return to normal," however I am also realistic enough to see that the "new normal" is very much a reality.  In this "new normal, new reality," I've taken to blogging. 

Blogging in 2020 is a little surreal.  I'm reminded of my days as a teenager over 15 years ago (seriously, how did that much time go by?!?), starting up xangas and myspaces and the introduction to facebook--just trying to communicate with the outside world and share a little slice of my life.  I remember the awkward backgrounds and profile music that we all had matted to our personal pages.  Life these days however, if a little more laid back and calm.  It is still very hard to stay motivated when not getting out much.

I've completed my fair share of projects through this time.  A big part of maintaining that motivation has been joining a variety of groups on facebook with shared interests and mindsets.  I've gravitated towards self sufficiency, crochet pages, and a few geocaching groups--mostly because there's always a crochet project that I'm working on, the fiance and I geocache when we can, and well...self sufficiency helps everyone.  While I live in a small apartment in town, I've been able to maintain a modest garden, begin some long term food storage, and take steps to making memories rather than spending my hard earned money.  I'm sure in future posts, I will be able to share some of these elements with you.

Another huge element to staying motivated has been my participation in a website called Lettuce Craft which offers a community for craft-minded folks of all specialties to share their ideas and projects.  There are even personal and structured swaps for those who wish to make items for others, in exchange for your own package of goodies.  The community there has been most welcoming.

Other than reaching out to social networking platforms, I'm motivated to take the next steps in my works as a fiber artist.  I've always wanted to make and sell my own patterns.  While this is a long way off from the starting point of today, I'm optimistic that I can climb to that place I'd like to be in the world as a pattern designer.  We will see where the path takes me.  Thanks for joining me as I introduce this new blog to the world.  Diving in!