Years ago, in another pattern and looser stitch, this
was a skirt for my daughter. She was to wear it onstage, over a black unitard, while singing.
That was my plan, anyway. She didn't like the skirt. For a year or so, it lived in a drawer with all five yards of the royal blue flamenco skirt – the one on which I sewed twenty-six trillion beads, each one knotted individually to avoid potential injuries from loose beads and slips in the event of a costume malfunction.
Not only did the colors of the crocheted skirt clash with the flamenco skirt, the fact that she had never worn the multi-colored one haunted me. I unraveled the skirt into one (seemingly) huge ball, not bothering to separate colors, threw caution (and taste) to the wind, and decided I would turn it into a table runner. Who knew the thread from a size zero mini skirt would barely make a placemat? (Okay, so Monica probably would have known, but I didn't.)
I used this under a plant for a while, and under my laptop when I sit at the dining room table. One day I over-watered the plant, discovered how absorbent the mini-skirt-turned-mini-table runner was, and decided to use it as a towel. Notice I have left the ends of my threads exposed to enable easy access.
For now, this is a towel but it might become a doily or potholders in the future.
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Comments: 53
Honestly, that's a creative use for something you worked so hard on in the past.
Mom scraped money together to buy me this coat; this was my *big* Christmas present. Even the realization of this sacrifice didn't make me wear this coat to junior high. Instead, I shivered my butt to school every day (a good mile) in the tattered jacket Mom wanted to replace. What's worse--my little sisters followed my lead and refused to wear their coats too.
I'm sure the skirt was beautiful. Now I see that my coat was too. : ) (But come on. This was the 70's. I was already being eaten alive in school. This coat would have been the last nail.)
Actually, it looks like a pillow sham to me. I think that's because I had similarly patterned and colored pillow shams at some point in my life.
This fine article is Featured in the Pictures of Towels group.
Marianne, it works for the hands. I don't think it would hold up for a sink full of dishes. More importantly, the colors brighten the kitchen.
Bite your tongue, Lainie! It was perfect skirt material. I will blame my poor photography skills for you missing the GORGEOUS FLAXEN THREAD (or maybe that flaxen part wore off in the multiple reworks).
Mary H., I am going to erase your comment from my memory. (I have never shunned a gift, not even the sweater my mother knitted that was stiff enough to stand up without me, and don't want to know that others did so and live to tell about it)
New Republic of Crochetia – that has a nice ring, Sheryl.
Ina, thanks for the idea. Of course, they'd have to be Barbie pillows.
THANK YOU, JANNA! Featured and flagged on the same day. (love the quote)
Doug, you make another great suggestion. I'm afraid I might not have enough thread, though. Hillary is taller than my daughter.
She makes very lovely things and that's cool and all . . . but wow . . . I'd buy them instead . . . much quicker.
I like the ring to Republic of Crochetia too. The Capitol could be Yarnskein.
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
For me, crafts serve two purposes. I have rheumatoid arthritis. Thirty years ago surgeons suggested joint replacements. The mere thought of that encouraged me to do all I can to keep my hands moving (as well as my knees, shoulders, and hips). I also use crafts to clear my mind. When I'm counting or watching a pattern, I relax those songs, stories, and political issues that keep my brain spinning.
I'm with you, Sandy. I have done cross-stitch and crewel for years and years.....also did quilting (by hand) for a few when my kids were young. I, too, loved the creativity and the ability to clear my mind, and then think about things over long stretches of time while stitching. I haven't done any of these things since going back to work FT and then starting a business. I really miss that time - and the satisfaction one gets out of creating something of beauty as well as usefulness by hand.
But yeah, what an imaginitive recycler you are.
I was working full time and had kids and committees and commitments. It took weeks just to cut the pieces and a year to complete the quilt. You might have seen me mention this on another thread - I took it to the night club (where she and my husband performed) on weekends and worked by candle and neon lights. Typical for me, after completion I decided I didn't like the stitching pattern in the final quilting, so I ripped out every stitch and redid it.
I loved that quilt in the end. Every time I touched it, I felt good. I buried my beagle in it a few years ago.
I guess I should be thankful that I don't have a dog. I may have been tempted. : - )
Joy, I learned recycling from my father. He never threw anything away and usually found a new use for all of the 'stuff' he kept. I got all misty-eyed when he built a cabinet in a room of a house I bought, and I realized the knob he used on the door was the one he had removed from the original closet door on my childhood bedroom when he remodeled that room many years earlier.
Because this article doesn't deliver the belly laugh my readers deserve, I offer THIS . Seriously, one of the funniest news items I've seen in a long time.
Oh, my, Sandy....you are playing my heart strings today. This is a precious benefit of recycling, isn't it? A little piece of history, a little piece of yourself, saved and reinserted into some other priceless item; inserted with love, too. What a beautiful thing for your dad to do. I'm sure he was very pleased that you noticed and appreciated his thoughtfulness.
That woman (along with her boyfriend) were obviously mentally deficient. It's humorous, but sad at the same time. There was no one there to look out for her besides the boyfriend. I wouldn't exactly classify him as a knight in shining armor.
I agree, Ina, that story is both sad and funny. I was in a state of disbelief until I got to the quote from the boyfriend, "It just sort of happened one day," (or something like that). It got funny then.
I'm glad this conversation came up. Sewing squares together might be a project the granddaughters can handle.
What material is in that that it makes a good towel? I always used baby-soft yarns (I like soft) but they were always nylon and couldn't absorb anything.
I think it's pretty.
Thank you all for these great suggestions. William, I might have to wear it on my head every day after your comment.
I failed to mention that I gave you a 10!
Thank you, April.
I need to check the Featured Article on Pictures of Towels Group more often.
My "ten" stars moved the average rating up to 7.6
Seriously -- when I read it, I immediately remembered the old folktale about the cloth that gets used down to the merest scrap. In one children's version, a large piece of leather is used until the last of it is a leather lace on someone's boot.
Ties are disappearing from the workplace with amazing rapidity.
I still appear besuited and betied for some kinds of meetings, but this habit is becoming rare. (just like nuns).
I might want a vest by Autumn.
IMO your creation makes a better towel than garment.