This is how my youngest son describes December.
He is in a boychoir, and for him Christmas starts with choir camp in July where, as one graduate put it, they “pro-cess, pro-cess, pro-cess.” In between processions from one place to another at camp, they also do a lot of singing, and this is the month that many of the fruits of all that work are borne.
This means that December brings extra rehearsals in addition to the regularly scheduled ones, as well additional seasonal performances. Today, we hit a trifecta of rehearsal, performance, and snow.
In between bouts of driving to and from, dodging both other drivers and the weather, I did manage to get a start on my up/recycle project.
I tracked down my fabric scissors and, as directed, cut off the legs of the jeans:
Next, using my fabric scissors, I cut strips of approximately 1/2 inch leaving about a two-inch margin on one edge. (Note: by the time I was done I really wished I had been able to find my rotary cutter):
Then, following the example in this video:
Today I spent much of the day tidying up the lose ends of assorted projects.
At the top of the list was piecing together the second sleeve of my go-go granny dress.
When I went to order the squares that remained, I discovered that at least four of the needed 16 squares were so far off gauge, they needed to be redone. Shortly before sunset, however, I completed the squares and was able to take a photo.
Here is what the dress will look like from the front:
Here is what it will look like from behind:
Once the sun was down, I continued to work on the reluctant sleeve until I got it done.
So the current go-go granny tally is as follows: all four parts are completed, one part is blocked, and the sleeves are soaking at this very moment and will, in short order, be pulled from their vinegar and water bath, rolled between towels, and laid out to dry in the safety of my crochet empire/guest room where the cat is not allowed.
Another project that has my attention is an up/recycle project.
Since I first purchased my copy of Better Homes and Gardens Crocheting & Knitting, I have held onto the thought that one day, I would make the “Crocheted Rag Rug” pictured on pages 58 and 59. Billed as “an ideal project for the beginning crocheter,” nearly thirteen years have passed, and I have yet to take the plunge and make this project.
To that end, over the past few years I have been saving any jeans as they become too worn for wear. The time has now come for me to convert the pile of jeans to something that can again be used. Having recently discovered this tutorial at Plastique Recreations about how to make blue jean yarn, I have decided to see what can be done with this pair of jeans:
In addition to creating a kind of denim yarn from the legs, I am also going to use the zipper for another project that will be (if I figure out the particulars in a timely manner), a gift for a childhood friend that celebrates a guilty pleasure that the two of us share.
Tomorrow promises to be a very busy day with performing choir my son is in rehearsing at one location in the morning and performing later in the day at another. No doubt the waiting will leave me sufficient time to make a dent in the ends that need to be woven in on the go-go granny dress to be.
And for those of you who are visual learners, I leave you with this video with the steps required to make spun plarn. One portion of the video demonstrates a method to cut plastic bags that can be applied to both jeans and t-shirts, and any fabric cylinders you might want to turn into yarn.
I cut the remaining width and ended up with this pile/length of fabric:
Then, before it could get impossibly tangled, I rolled it into a ball:
I have yet to complete the steps of washing and drying the yarn which is supposed to transform this from a plain strip of fabric to one that is magical, but that part of this endeavor will have to wait until the month of a million carols (and the attendant driving obligations) has ended.
