Dealing with kinky

…kinky yarn that is.

This scarf has been in my UFO (unfinished objects) pile since October 2011.  That’s right, almost seven years.  The plan was to wear a bright color between my leather motorcycle jacket and helmet.

I love the colors.  I like the pattern.  I like the Linen Stitch.

Just not going to finish it.

Yarn gets kinky when unraveled, especially when it’s been knitted or crocheted for a long time.  To get the kinks out of the yarn, Mr. Aitch unraveled the scarf while I wrapped it around my (homemade) Knitty Noddy.  (Make your own here.)  The yarn was taut enough (though not too tight) on the Knitty Noddy so I left it on there, sprayed the yarn with some cool water and hung it on a towel rack to dry overnight*.

When all was dry, I took the yarn off the Knitty Noddy and saw that most of it was straight.  Only a little was still kinky but it was good enough.  I think those parts were on the loop end and didn’t get wet enough.

Mr. Aitch was busy and I was impatient so I “tried” to wind the yarn into a ball by myself.  Oops!  Made a knotty mess.

It’s almost like getting free yarn!  Now I need to figure out a project that uses 285 yards or less of DK weight yarn and isn’t a hat.

How do you get the kinks out of unraveled/reused/recycled yarn or do you just knit with it all kinky and such?

*This Knitty Noddy is made from PVC pipe so it’s ok to get it wet.  Not sure if leaving the wet/damp yarn on a wooden one would be a good idea.

 

New bag

My fellow blogger, Salpal1, made some curtains and I commented on the travel theme.  Mr. Aitch and I just got a new GPS  and I thought a travel-themed fabric would be great to sew up a case for it.  So Salpal sent me some of her leftover fabric.

I loved the names of the states but wait…

…no West Virginia!

That just can’t be.

So using fabric markers and some rubber stamps, I altered the one side (sorry Oklahoma) to get at least one West (by God) Virginia on the cover.

I measured the size of the GPS and added an inch to each side so it would be easier to get in and out, added a zipper, lining, doubled the fusible batting for protection and called it done.The back…

The inside…Then I decided to make another cover/case for the window attachment and cord and have it large enough so everything would fit inside for when we want to remove it all from the car and keep everything all together.  I adapted the size of this pattern and made it a bit smaller.  I didn’t have enough of the Route 66 Fabric so I pieced together some complementary fabric to make it large enough.

Side A.

Side B.

Um, one side.

Inside with just the attachments.

All included.Ready to go.

Thank you, Salpal, for the fabric scraps.  I love it and had fun making it.

 

Not knitting but related

I need some small project bags for travel knitting but didn’t find any suitable (knitting or yarn related) fabric in my stash.

Enter the wonderful interwebs shopping!  In less than a week I had this cute fabric from Rushin’ Tailor (in Alaska) in my hands and am so excited to make something out of it!

This “Yarn Balls and Words” by Timeless Treasures will be great for a tote.

The “Knit Happy” by Stitches of Love would make cute notions bags as the print is smaller.

Aren’t those colorful dye dot sheep on the salvage just the cutest!

I think this one is my favorite.

All those textured, bright wooly sheep are begging to be with me all the time.

Wouldn’t a small fussy-cut patch of “All’s Wool that Ends Wool” by Maria Kalinowski make a cute pocket on some PJs?