A Chameleon and Egg

Lizards come from eggs too! This Chameleon is the newest reversible toy in my collection, and is made out of more hand-dyed recycled yarns.

He has the amazing ability of camouflaging himself to the ball of yarn he was knit from!

Even the egg can camouflage itself! (On very select backgrounds anyway).

Suggested Retail: $16.00. Come see it in person at the Bloomington Handmade Market this weekend!

Needle Books

In addition to all the things I've been knitting from recycled yarns, I also have been sewing some neat projects from felted sweaters. Most of the sweaters that Ive collected have turned into oven mitts, but I made some sewing needle books from a few of the leftover pieces. I love both the way the books and the photos of them turned out, so I'm going to give you lots of looks at these cool little sewing accessories.

Needle books are a good companion to a pincushion because they don't let the needles sink in and get lost the way they would if you kept your needles in your pincushion. But they're not only great for keeping your regular straight needles - they can accommodate skinny beading needles, curved upholstery needles - even safety pins!

The needle books come in a variety of sizes and keep the coolest features of the sweater they came from (texture, embroidery, pattern, etc.). They all close securely with a snap.

I'll have these six needle books for sale at the Bloomington Handmade Market this weekend, but I have a lot more felted sweaters to work with so the varieties are limitless!

Suggested Retail: $10.00

Tropical Fish Egg Toy

Here's a new reversible egg toy! This tropical fish showcases a couple of my hand-dyed recycled yarns, and was a lot of fun to design.

Since fish eggs are transparent, I thought about knitting the egg with fishing line. Deciding that would be difficult and likely to be wonky-shaped, I ended up using a white cotton (recycled) yarn which gives a nice transparent effect. It also keeps the nice soft kid-friendliness of this toy intact.

Swish!

Fish kisses!

Suggested retail: $16.00

Knitting Needle Organizers

Until a few months ago, I kept most of my knitting tools in a plastic shoe box. This was a little awkward, because the long needles didn't fit inside, and the whole box had a habit of tipping over and spilling everywhere. This summer, I inherited a tool bag and knitting needle roll from my husband's grandmother. The roll was not nearly big enough for all my needles, but gave me the answer to my organizational quandary. Thus, I designed the large needle organizer roll pictured above to suit my needs.

From left to right: An orgainizer roll made from a basmati rice sack, one made from my favorite pair of embroidered blue jeans, and my own roll (not for sale).

All of these knitting needle organizers are made from upcycled fabrics. The label of the linen striped hippie shirt that went into two of the rolls made me smile.

Because these are rather a specialty item and take quite a bit of time to create, I only made two of them to sell. But I do love both of these rolls! The first is made from a basmati rice burlap sack, and lined with linen fabric from a pair of men's pants and the red striped hippie shirt.

This organizer roll closes with a loop from the bag's handle, around a button from a cast-off leather coat.

A close-up of the embroidery on the organizer made from my favorite blue jeans. This roll is slightly longer and heavier-duty than the burlap and linen organizer, and is lined with a pair of my husband's pants. It closes in a similar fashion to the roll above, with a loop made from jeans belt loops and a vintage button.

Both rolls have a lot of pockets, sewn in sizes from 1/2 in. to 4 in. This allows you to tuck away everything from the smallest knitting needles to more awkwardly shaped tools, like small circular needles, stitch holders , or leather thimbles. Basically, anything which is small enough to get lost in a tool bag has a home in this organizer roll. Plus, they both have a small burlap patch into which you can safely place your tapestry needles. I love this feature on mine!

Each knitting needle organizer comes with a free felted stitch marker.

Suggested Retail: $35.00

Felted Pincushions

In the same style as the felted bouncy balls, I knit this bright tomato pincushion from some of my recycled hand-dyed yarns. It's an unique twist on that indispensable accessory of seamstresses: the tomato pincushion.

I also made a slightly larger version from a couple of felted sweaters. This one has more dimension than the smaller tomato, and is tied with the same hand-dyed recycled yarn that I used to knit the top pincushion. Both pincushions are secured with a vintage button also rescued from a thrift store sweater. I love both styles and love to imagine them in the hands of a fellow crafter, holding the tools to make something handmade and beautiful.

Suggested Retail: $8 for the small knit pincushion, $10 for the large pincushion.

Leather Thimbles

When I go on a prolonged knitting spree, usually around Christmas time, sometimes I'll wear my fingers raw. I have an old leather thimble that I use on these occasions, and every time I pull it out I'm so thankful to the person who invented them. Leather thimbles are flexible enough to move supplely with your finger, but stiff enough to keep the pokes of knitting and sewing needles from irritating your fingers.

It wasn't until a few days ago that I realized I had the supplies to make some pretty cool upcycled leather thimbles right in my sewing room. These leather thimbles are made from old leather jackets (and the elbow patches of a cast-off sweater), with the ribbing from felted sweaters for elastic. They're extremely comfortable and flexible. Come check out my booth at the Bloomington Handmade Market on Saturday and you can try them out for yourself!

Suggested Retail: $5.00

Felt Beads: Stitch Markers and Earrings

Here's a really cool item for my fellow knitters: felted bead stitch markers! And for you fun-loving non-knitters, you can also get them as earrings!

These bright marbled balls are solid felt, made from the hand-dyed recycled yarn I've reclaimed from sweaters. To turn them into felt balls I had to tease the spun yarn apart, card it back into a wool roving, and then hand-roll and felt them with soapy water in the sink. I love the contrast of the soft wool beads with the smooth wooden beads.

My husband Collin built me a beautiful stand to display the stitch markers and earrings on. He didn't have a power saw available, so he made all of those mitered cuts by hand. God has given me a very good husband.

The earrings have silver-plated brass hooks. They make for a really fun fashion statement!

Suggested Retail: A set of four stitch markers (suitable for knitting needle sizes 0-7) for $5.00, or a pair of earrings for $5.00. If you'd like stitch markers in a larger size, I can change out the rings for an extra dollar.

A Platypus

Platypodes are amazing animals. They have bills like ducks, webbed feet, beaver tails, lay leathery reptilian eggs, lactate, and can shoot venom from their feet! There are so many weird facts about platypodes that you'll just have to look them up yourself. I've always been fascinated by the crazy creatures, and couldn't wait to knit one for my reversible egg toy collection.

My biologist husband and I had a lot of reading platypodes while I was working on knitting this toy. The weirdest fact we read is that, although they do produce milk, they lack teats with which to dispense milk to their infants. Instead, the mother platypus secrets milk from glands in her skin. That milk pools up and the babies lap up the milk from the mother's skin. Isn't that wild?

Apparently, when European scientists discovered platypodes a British researcher named W.H. Caldwell sent a wire back to Britain reading simply "Monotremes oviparous, ovum meroblastic" In other words, Platypodes lay eggs and those eggs are reptilian in nature. That incredibly nerdy telegram really amused Collin and me. My knitted egg isn't very leathery or reptilian, but it is nice and yellow like platypus eggs!

In case you're curious, the brown and yellow yarns are recycled yarns, unraveled from a lovely rayon-cashmere-wool blend sweater. The black feet and face are knit with handspun naturally black wool.

... And there you have it. One of the strangest creatures God ever created. And it can be yours for just $16.00! Come check it out at the Bloomington Handmade Market on November 6th.

A Phoenix Hen

While taking a break from the species specific birds I've been knitting, I thought I'd knit a fun imaginary bird from the recycled verigated yarns that I've dyed. Therefore, I present to you: A Phoenix Hen. Now, I realize that this doesn't look much like a crazy firey bird, nor like the breed of chicken. Nevertheless, I thought the overall effect looked kind of like what might be the result of a phoenix marrying a chicken. Very cute, if a little odd.

This Phoenix-Hen comes from a robin-blue colored egg.

In this case, the cool blue tones are deceptive. Crack open the egg, and you'll find a firey-red bird!

"Well, my father was a phoenix, and my mother was a hen. But I'm ok with that now."

Suggested Retail: $16.00. This bird will be for sale at the Bloomington Handmade Market on November 6th, come check it out!

Felted Bouncy Balls

For over two months I've been working like crazy to get ready for my first big show - the Bloomington Handmade Market. I've got a ton of cool stuff finished and sitting in my work room, waiting to be photographed and labeled. Since the show is just a week away, I've forced myself to stop creating and get some of that logistical work done. First up: Felted bouncy balls!

These balls were a great way to showcase some of my beautiful hand-painted recycled yarns. They feel a lot like tennis balls, are lovely to hold yet still bounce excellently. My 14-month-old baby loves to play with them!

A whole gallon of bouncing fun!

These bouncy balls are a really amazing deal, and are perfect for stocking stuffers!

Large: $6.00 Medium: $4.00 Small: $2.00

Felted Angora Rabbits

My garden is being overrun with rabbits!

Many years ago, I knit a toy rabbit for one of my younger siblings. It was really cute, but a lot of work to knit on fine gauge needles. Then I saw a version of this stuffed bunny in a book, based on that same pattern, but sewn from a felted angora sweater. Perfect! I found a white angora/wool sweater which had already been shrunk at Goodwill, took it apart, dyed some of it with tea and some with pink lemonade, and created this herd of rabbits.

Each rabbit is stitched with love, and stuffed with lusciously soft mohair roving.

This white rabbit is the only one with a detailed face. I thought I'd see what colored eyes and a nose looked like. I liked them, but not any more than the plain version. That, and the fact that I broke my felting needle on this rabbit made my decision to leave the other bunnies unadorned an easy one.

You really have to feel these bunnies to appreciate how soft they are.

Suggested Retail: $8.00 each.