This week’s project was a lot of fun. I’ve wanted to try my hand at making more items with re-purposed objects. My project also had to meet two important requirements:
1. Something simple because I’ve been fighting a nasty head cold all week and can’t really fathom anything tricky or complicated that involves any real brain power
2. Something that costs me absolutely nothing since I’ve already spent my creative budget on paint for my Dining Room chest of drawers project.
So I pulled an old issue of Mary Jane’s Farm and randomly picked my project. Initially, it was a hand knit rag rug which required a pair of #15 29 inch circular needles which I didn’t have and was not willing to drag my sick ass out the door to go purchase. I did have, however, a pair of much shorter #15 needles and the rag rug turned in to hot pads instead. Of course I already know how to knit but the beauty of this project was recycling old cotton t-shirts. I’ve never knit with strips of clothing before and I just happened to have 3 large bags of old clothes waiting to be dropped off at the local thrift store. For this project, I selected several old cotton t-shirts that belonged to my kids and cut them in to long one inch wide strips. I tied each strip end to another until I had a “ball of yarn”. I cast on 15 stitches on #15 needles and knit until I had a nice square of a hot pad. Not only do they make me smile with pride but they also can be tossed in to the washing machine and used over and over again. GO GREEN!
~l♥ve the HOTPADS...wonderful idea and way to upcycle...i really like the red one and the yellow reminds me of mustard...its a very nice suttle color...excellente'...well wishes and brightest blessings~
ReplyDeleteHey, was that my favorite shirt?!?!?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for recycling fabrics. If I could knit I'd love to have a go at these.Wonder if I could do something similar plaiting the strips then sewing them into a spiral shape. Might have a go at that.Thanks for the idea :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, especially and they can be washed very easily. Good way of using items which can't be sold in the thrift shop. Would be ideal for table mats as well..........mmmmmm.....I wonder.......
ReplyDeleteSee - now I want to make table mats too lol, I love how these projects seem to inspire different ideas using the initial project as the instigator, then other people inputting their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness, those are so cute. i never would have thought you could knit with fabric either. that's so neat.
ReplyDeleteLoving these! are they dense enough to pick up pots with, or just for setting them on?
ReplyDeleteThats so freaky in regards to a project with no cost. D loves the whole concept of 52 Projects and has started to join in (more on that later!), and he wanted to see what everyone else is doing. He saw Dreamers projects and particularly liked them - as I do hers and everyones! He said to me "when are you going to do a project that doesn't cost anything, where you use only what we have already??!!" So, onto my list of all the things I want to do, I've added a recyclable cost free project! Not sure when that will happen, but it will at some point!
ReplyDeleteReally like your hot pads - a great idea!
oh and LOL Mr. B!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! I'm thrilled each week to see you all here. I could see placemats or patchwork rugs made by knitting up a bunch of these hot pads and sewing them together.
ReplyDelete@Diana: I haven't tried picking up pots with them. They are pretty thick but I'm sure they could double as oven pads.
@Breen: Didn't I mention that I've got a whole set of placemats that I'm going to make with a few of you favorite running shirts?? Just kidding ;))
Great hot pads - thanks for getting me going on some new projects - I have been watching your blog for a few weeks and finally started my own blog so I can participate.
ReplyDeleteNice! I always try to use the shirts that are too worn out to donate in my dolls. Everything that can be re-purpose is just really nifty in my book. Was it hard to knit? It looks kind of thick, but they look lovely.
ReplyDeleteoOPS - I am new to this - was I suppose to post my first project under the first week? I jumped ahead!
ReplyDeleteros
Erika, These were so easy to knit up!! Using the big needles made it go fast. Yes, they're thick but it's nice to have that thickness when you're placing a bubbling hot pyrex dish on it :)) Now I'm wondering what other types of projects exist with old t-shirts....hmm....time to Google :))
ReplyDeleteWELCOME, Ros!!!
Hello! I just stumbled across your blog, and am so happy I did. Such a great and inspirational idea! Keep up the amazing work. I cannot wait to see what you have in store for the future!
ReplyDeleteAdorable. Sorry I'm late with comment AND in thanking you for your lovely comment to me. Lots of family illness issues this week, but crossing fingers I'll be back full force in a week or so. Apologies to Mr. B, faerwillow, breen, dreamer, alisha, holiday girl, diana, new mom over 40, ros and anyone else I owe a close read and or comment to.
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