Textile

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Can we make a living crocheting?

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Lately I’ve been thinking about what direction I want to take Knits for Life. When I chose a graduate school, I learned that the hardest decisions to make are a choice between many good choices. Ever day I find a new direction I could take my fiber art adventures. Exhilarating! …Overwhelming. Definitely cause for research and introspection.

Enter twitterverse. I chanced upon a podcast between two crafty superstars that was as enjoyable as joining two friends for tea, Diane Gilleland of CraftyPod and Stacey Trock of FreshStitches. They break down what it takes to make a living crocheting right down to the dollar and the minute. I learned that I’m doing what it takes, but Stacy has spent much time researching how her market works and what it means to her business. Lucky for you and me, she shares what she’s learned in the podcast in clear, simple way.

Crochet and amigurumi expert, Stacey at FreshStitches.
Crochet and amigurumi expert, Stacey at FreshStitches.

So grab your favorite cuppa, pop in the headphones, and click the play button in the middle of the screen at this link: http://www.craftypod.com/2012/08/11/craftypod-2-0-making-a-sustainable-living-in-pattern-design-with-stacey-trock/

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Tweetup With Eco-Friendly Designer Eileen Fischer

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Join me, eco-conscious designer Eileen Fischer, and special guest Practically Green for a tweetup this Thursday at 12:30 EST about the Lifecycle of a Garment. Just search for and tweet with hashtag #EFCSRChat on Twitter during that hour. I’ll be there talking with designers and crafters who, like me, reduce the demand for new resources by using existing ones. Learn more here.

Knits for Life uses yarn from the garment life cycle

In anticipation of this exciting event, I wanted to tell you a bit about how my products use the garment industry. My most popular products are made from a special kind of yarn spun from shredded European textiles. It’s called Berroco Remix. It’s made by mixing top quality fabric remnants by color, shredding it into a new fiber, and spinning the fiber into new yarn. This means it’s 100% recycled. Best of all, you can be more eco-friendly by starting your next project this wonderful recycled yarn.

Click here for more images of this yarn knitted up.

More about Remix from Berroco.com

“Reduce, reuse, recycle.  How are you greening your knitting? Reducing doesn’t seem like much fun and reusing generally means you’ve had to rip out a failing project, a painful part of any knitter’s process. Enter Remix, a new, 100% recycled Berroco yarn made using a low-impact manufacturing process patented in France. Remix is the result of over a year of collaborative work between mill and textile engineers. Read a bit more about this new offering:

How is it made?  Garments and high-quality commercially knit fabric panels left over from the ready-to-wear industry are collected from across Europe and sorted by fiber, then color. Because these pieces are pre-dyed, there is no need to dye them again, which saves water and prevents water pollution. Instead, colors are created by carefully blending garnetted fibers. Garnetted fiber is the result of shredding old textiles to make a new, fleece-like fiber that is ready to be spun into a new yarn.

All about Remix:  Remix is a soft, comfortable blend of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and linen. A tweedy, rustic look makes this an ideal candidate for casual knits, and its machine washability means any garment will be low maintenance and hard-wearing. The yarn comes in an abundant 216 yard ball and knits to a worsted weight gauge. Finished garments are immediately cozy, with the feeling of well-loved jeans or your favorite old tee-shirt.”