'50 pairs from 50 shops'

If you want to destroy my sweater...

Okay, aside from the Weezer reference... this week marks another first for me: shoes from recycled yarn

Molly of Crafty (http://www.craftyyarn.etsy.com) donated a super soft skein of natural colored lambs wool yarn. The lovely full size hank of worsted weight yarn (183 yards at 1.75 oz.) is plenty of yarn for several pairs of shoes.


The neat part is that the yarn was retrieved from a thrift store sweater which she disassembled, washed and skeined herself. Now that's dedication.



This particular yarn (check Molly's shop for more) with it's wide loose twist (almost ribbon like) provided superb stitch definition with a unique texture I think only reclaimed yarn could provide. From looking at these shoes one would assume that the wool was not soft but ridged. However it is very soft much like a vintage t-shirt would feel.



Crafty also provides plenty of tools (yarn) for finding unique ways to reuse everyday items. Whether looking for lace weight or super bulky, cotton or lux fibers Molly's shop carries them all in a variety of beautiful found colorways. Very much worth the destruction of a few old sweaters.




Prices start at $4-5 dollars a hank with very reasonable and speedy shipping. Another neat feature of this well appointed shop is the store credit option.

Molly accepts certain sweaters and will issue store credit for items sent her way. She will also test yarn for felt-ability before purchase. For more details on Crafty's special features please visit her shop at http://craftyyarn.etsy.com.

For additional information or to purchase any of the shoes featured in this blog please visit my etsy shop at http://mysweetiepeas.etsy.com.

And now for the first ever 'hooking for charity blog contest'.
Enter by leaving a comment in the hooking blog, buying a pair of 50/50 shoes or purchasing yarn from any charity donors' shops. The prize is a set of "Oops" and "Crap" stitch markers (crochet or knit style). Winner will be drawn from the first 15 to enter (purchases count as two entries, so please let me know). Best of Luck, have a great evening.

New Post and Contest

CraftyYarns.etsy.com will be this weeks feature.

Complete article will be posted tonight along with details for entering Hooking's first blog contest.

Thanks.
Kat

'50 pairs from 50 shops'

Hands On Kinda Gal.

This week's Etsy Shop is Lil' Bit of Heaven Fibers.

Linda of Lil' Bit of Heaven Fibers sent a super-generous massive 300 yard/6.6 oz. hank of 70% Llama/30% Shetland love my way this week :D


Having never worked with Llama fiber before I was very curious to give it a try and quickly balled up the aforementioned skein into a large ball of light coco and cream two tone yarn.

The yarn seemed a little course for baby shoes at first but quickly turned silky soft as I crocheted creating a finished pair that was cuddly and cozy.

The colors and texture came together perfectly too. Even the slight fuzziness of the yarn added to the cute factor of this pair of shoes.


About Lil' Bit of Heaven Fibers:
Linda cares for and sheers her own happy herd of Llamas and Shetland sheep making sure only the best stuff goes to the mill for processing. Some of the rovings even list which llama they came from for that extra personal touch to your project.


You'll also find knit and crocheted accessories, custom dyed yarns and rovings made with various wools that she found from small fiber farms and business. All accessories, yarns (including handspun) and rovings are unique and one of a kind and may not be duplicated so get them while they last :)

Please visit Lil' Bit of Heaven Fibers for more great products at amazing prices (free shipping too!). Also keep an eye out for Linda's blog which is coming soon. There you'll be able to learn about all the wonderful animals on her farm (http://lilbitofheavenfibers.blogspot.com).

For additional information or to purchase any of the shoes featured in this blog please visit my etsy shop at http://mysweetiepeas.etsy.com.

Thank you again to all the wonderful Etsy Shops participating in the 50/50 project. Your donations, support and kind words are greatly appreciated :D

'50 pairs from 50 shops'

sushi grade yarn at fish stick prices


Tako Yarn's slogan is very fitting to the yarn Christine carries in her etsy shop.


The colors are prue, well spaced and produced on excellent quality yarn (100% superwash wool or 100% Alpaca).

'Smarties' is the colorway that I have, inspired by halloween and all the candy the holiday brings, this cheery little skein is the perfect baby color combo of skyblue, lemon and medium rose pink.

Tako has one 1/2 skein (110 yards) of this left in stock and at $4.50 + $2.00 shipping it probably won't last long.

The yarns come in three sushi inspired themes (Christine is a trained sushi waitress after all): Sake - 100% machine washable merino wool in fingering weigh, Wasabi - 100% alpaca in worsted weight and Marguro - 100% superwash wool in DK weight.

Most yarns are sold in skeinlet size (half skein) at very affordable prices. Which brings up a good point don't let the the fish stick prices scare you, this yarn is the real deal. Expertly dyed and all.

Check out takoyarn.etsy.com for more fingering - worsted weight yarn in smooth colorways at great prices :)

To purchase the shoes mentioned above please visit mysweetiepeas.etsy.com.
At least $13.00 of every '50/50' shoe purchase goes directly to
http://www.directrelief.org - no strings attached (well... you know what I
mean *smile*.)

For more details about contributing to '50 pairs from 50 shops' please leave
a comment or convo me on Etsy at http://mysweetiepeas.etsy.com Thanks and
Have a great week.

'50 pairs from 50 shops' - Ravelry Group

New group on Ravelry just set up:

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/hookingforcharity

Enjoy :)

'50 pairs from 50 shops'

Well...

Okay so this is kinda an interesting dilema for me. The 3 skeins of yarn I ordered a few weeks ago have still not hit my post box sooooo...


Minus my base yarn and the featured shop's yarn we'll just take a look through my already hand-dyed bits in the form of 'kool-peas' colorways (Strawberry and Pickles):


The fun part about using kool-aid drink mix to dye these already crocheted shoes is my kids get to help out some. My daughter and son take turns pouring in the mixes and picking out the colors and I use the kiddy shampoo to wash my finished shoes in.


Pickles wasn't the planned name it just kinda happened once I realized the green shoes I was working on happened to be located in the labled pickle jar. I'm planning on creating other colors and experimenting with multi-hue combos in the future.



Thanks for reading this week's side-track hopefully next week we'll be back to the normal routine.

For additional information or to purchase any of the shoes featured in this blog please visit my etsy shop at http://mysweetiepeas.etsy.com. Etsybaby (I'm a memeber) is having a promo this month and bow-bear is hiding out in the team members shops including the 50/50 section of mine. Once bow-bear is found you'll receive a special free gift with your purchase. Happy Hunting :)