Making, remaking, mending

I enjoy making things, particularly out of textiles.  I do all sorts of textile crafts, including knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, embroidery, and rug making.

T shirt rug

For a year or two I've collected Partner's old worn out t shirts, and this spring I finally took the plunge and made a rag rug from them.  I've made one other rag rug before, by braiding long strips of rags and sewing them together.  That took ages, and was really hard on my fingers.  This new rug was braided/woven in as I went along, with each new round braided into the previous round.  I'm not sure what the technique is called, but it went very quickly;  I think I finished the rug in about a week, from cutting strips to finishing.  This technique only needs short strips of rags, making it a great way to use up scraps.  My rug took 8 men's L and XL shirts, and measures about 4'x3'.  I would definitely make another one;  it was a quick, satisfying project.

Franklin's pullover

I actually knit the above pullover for Franklin last year.  It took me more than a month to complete, and I was so sick of it by the end!  Though I'm very pleased with how it turned out, it was a very tedious knit:  narrow yarn in dark colors.  I won't be making any more dark colored knits like this any time soon. 

Baby v-neck pullover

My mother in law gifted me some of her yarn stash and patterns, and I knit the above and below baby things using them.  I made these without a recipient in mind, but enjoyed making something small and quick.  I think they took me about a week apiece to finish.  I still have quite a bit of leftover yarn;  no doubt more baby things are in the future, if only to use it up.

Baby v-neck cardigan

I generally have a knitting project on the go--at the moment I'm using up more of my MIL's stash to make another pullover for Franklin.  He's getting bigger (six years old now) so it takes longer to finish.  I prefer to finish my current project before beginning something new, but I sometimes have two different crafts at once:  right now my second is a patchwork quilt.  I enjoyed making my last applique quilt so much that I'm even contemplating hand quilting this one too...but I might just tie it instead and be done with it.

Not only do I make textile crafts, I also mend them.  Today I mended two torn seams on my favorite skirt, and patched a hole in an old pair of pajama bottoms.  My pj top could do with some mending too, but maybe I'll save that for another day.  I've got a pair of woolly leggings I sewed last year which I keep darning:  they must have about 50 darns now!  But I love them so much, it's worth my time to keep them going;  and luckily I have matching wool so the darns don't really show.  My other pair of leggings are full of holes, but I'm not sure it's worth it to repair them;  they are storebought, made from nylon and to be honest, don't fit as well or feel as nice as the woollies.  Still, I'm so cheap I might just darn them anyway rather than buy another pair.  Maybe using wool thread so they feel nicer!