It was supposed to be brown!

     In this post, I talked about recycling yarn.  A few months ago Harold forwarded an email to me from one of the local furriers.  They were advertising knitted elbow length cashmere fingerless gloves trimmed in mink for $99.  Well, I thought about buying them for a minute, but decided, where was the fun in that.  I checked out the price of cashmere yarn (ouch!) and thought I'd check the local thrift shops instead. 

    I'd been reading the Unraveler's group on Ravelry for quite a while and the sweaters these women find and the recycled items they create have to be seen to be believed.  I found100% wool, silk, merino, a beautiful linen silk blend, cotton and yes, cashmere.

    Each sweater was $4.99 or less. And I had to stop buying.  Between sewing, quilting, knitting,  crocheting and spinning I'm already way beyond S.A.B.L.E.*  I thought I had a picture of the sweater, but I can't find it.  Here's a shot of the unraveled yarn.  It's a pink cobweb weight. The second pic is truer to the original color.

     While I don't normally have anything against pink, I thought brown or beige would be more versatile.  I originally tried dyeing the yarn with food coloring, but wound up with a blotchy mess.  I re-dyed it with a dark brown Dylon dye from Michaels and it's purple! My all time favorite color, not quite what I was going for, but I love it.  I'll knit it doubled with size 2 or needles and I'll wing the pattern.  They probably won't be elbow length, but they'll be close.

     Unless I quit and don't knit anything but these,  I don't think they'll be finished to wear this winter.  I didn't use all the original yarn, but I don't have any current plans to use the rest, just yet.  Without further ado approximately 4.5 ounces of recycled cashmere.

    You can't feel how soft it is, looking at the pictures, but it so soft.  I think I'll cast on tomorrow during the game.

TTYL,

Melodye

*S.A.B.L.E. - Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy