Knit...Purl Your Home

This weekend brings to town my favorite knitting event, The New York State Wool and Sheep Festival. I just drove past the fairgrounds and there's a flurry of pre-event activity. The vendors were setting out their wooly wares, the farmers were hauling hay to the sheep stalls, and a stray Border Collie was eagerly looking for work. If you happen to be in the vicinity of the Hudson Valley this weekend, I highly recommend checking out the Sheep and Wool Festival. Just thinking about all that luscious yarn has inspired me to write a knitting post...

Did you know that I love to knit and shower my family and friends with warm and fuzzy handknitted goodies? This post is not about wearable items, it's about a trend that I’ve noticed in the home décor world.

Over the years, I have observed the popularity of knitting go up and down. At the moment, the pendulum seems to be in a full upward swing, and knitted items are showing up in some unexpected and unusual places.

The latest trend in knitting, along with knitting small items (knitted bags, fingerless gloves and cowl neck scarves - the latest rage), and the subversive act of yarn bombing, are knitted chair coverings and functional knitted items for the home. These decorative knitted and felted pieces are bumping up against the soft edges of design with their intricate stitches and contoured shaping. The Wall Street Journal recently covered the Milan Furniture Fair and targeted a designerly group of haute-knitted items for the home in this article, A Gripping Yarn.

So, without further adieu, sit back and enjoy some eco-chic handknitted home décor, and a creative and simple DIY project that will knock the Kitchener Stitches right off your cabled cashmere socks!

Knitted Stools

Knitted Pendant Light

Knitted Poufs

Knitted Slipcover

DIY Sweater Chairs

Eco-crafter and author, Danny Seo recovered his IKEA chairs with cozy cashmere and wool sweaters that he scored at Goodwill.

He explains the simple DIY process: “It was easy: just unscrew the seat cushion, wrap a sweater over the cushion, staple gun into place underneath, trim off excess, screw back on and voila!  Sweater chair.”

Photo Credits: Sweet and Lowdown Lounge Chair, Knitted Stools, Knitted Armchair Slipcover, Knitted Pendent, Knitted Poufs, Sweater Chairs, Knittted Trashcan

5 DIY Rugs

Have you ever seen a tag on a carpet that said it contained “unknown man-made fibers?” Are you scared of the “unknown?” If it’s hanging off a carpet or rug, maybe you should be. “Unknown” carpet or rug fibers are generally made from a cocktail of synthetic fibers such as nylon, acrylic, polyester, or polypropylene. These fibers may be treated with fire retardants, anti-static treatments, fungicides, dye and adhesives made of VOC's. Carpets are backed with polyurethane, synthetic latex, or PVC. Take a whiff. You can even smell the chemical odors of new carpets and rugs wafting up from the floor when you bring one home.

Don’t want to lay down the bucks for a new carpet? Then make your own rugs. While I love the look of wood, bamboo or cork floors, nothing cozies up a room like a rug. Small rugs can even transform into mini-versions of carpet when put together. Check out these 5 DIY rugs: CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Credit: Home Workshop

Dishing About Dishrags: DIY Knitted Dishcloth

How do you like your dishrags? Do you care? Maybe not, viagra buy but while we are ditching the paper napkins why not just chuck the paper towels out too? And, order since we’re dishing about dishrags, I like my dishcloths thick and absorbent, thank you very much. There’s a bit of a buzz in the knitting world about dishrags. Kay Gardiner shared with the readers of her popular Mason-Dixon Knitting blog, her dishrag obsession, “‘Whatcha knitting?’ ‘Um, a….[muffled] dishrag….’ Somehow, even for me with my raised consciousness about the value of old-time domestic pursuits, knitting a dishrag is not something I’m eager to admit to some over-buffed woman on the beach. But I cannot tell a lie, I was knitting dishrag after dishrag. And loving it!”

Paper towels have become yet another symbol of waste. With over 90% of US households taking advantage of the convenience of paper towels, we produce over 3,000 tons of waste each day. Phasing paper towels out of the home can be more of a challenge than ditching paper napkins, and plastic bags. I’ve heard about using alternatives such as clean cloth diapers for paper towels and newspapers. But really, do they hold any appeal as cleaning cloths? Not so much for me.

Not ready to fess up to knitting dishrags? Just say you’re checking your stitch gauge and doing your part for  the environment by using leftover yarn...CLICK HERE FOR MORE (PATTERN)

Credit: Mason-Dixon Knitting

A Niche, A Knack and A Note

A Niche And A Knack The blogosphere is a curious place. Most bloggers happily tap away at their computers all day. People often ask me how I do it. My stock answer is, "I have a niche and a knack." I also have a Herman Miller Aeron Chair that supports my back, and a husband who watches it (spamers beware). The blogs I find most inspiring and click-worthy have two qualities - a niche and a knack. Great bloggers share their passion (niche), and their interactions with readers flow in a naturally upbeat manner (knack). Aesthetically appealing blog images don’t hurt either. A while back, I wrote an in depth article about blogging. You can read it here.

A Thank You Note

Being a blogger doesn't come with an expense account, but it has some perks – books to review, products to try out, interviews with stimulating people, being able to work in your pajamas, and sometimes a chance to review and visit an eco-resort in Jamaica. I am definitely following up on that last one.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to meet and interview author, Dominique Browning. She is someone I came to admire when she was the editor of House and Garden magazine. Her latest book, Slow Love was delivered by my friendly UPS guy who said to me (again), “What do you do with all these books?” Well, this one I devoured. You can read my review and interview with Dominique here.

Here's how the blogosphere can work its magic: I was elated to see a recent post on Dominique’s, Slow Love Life blog, titled: Knit A Market Bag. It includes a link to my DIY Knitted Shopping Bag post. I can thank Dominique by asking you to check out her lovely blog. I think you’ll find that she has a niche and a knack worth signing up for.

Main Credit: Michael Maslin

Ditch the Plastic: DIY Knitted Shopping Bag

“Hey, check where’d you get that great shopping bag? Oh, it’s so cute. Can I touch it?” Did you ever carry a little puppy around? If so, strangers clamor for a touch and to oogle the precious pup. If you needed any more incentives for ditching the plastic bag, this DIY knitted bag will elicit the puppy effect at the grocery store, farmers market and food coop. Creator of the Monteagle Bag, Kay Gardiner from Mason-Dixon Knitting says, “One ‘eco’ thing about the Monteagle Bag is that it can be made in almost any linen or cotton yarn (including the cheap-but-tough dishcloth cotton brands), and it looks great made of several leftover colors. So it’s a way of using yarn that would otherwise be wasted or (shriek!) thrown into the landfill." CLICK HERE FOR MORE