Pre-Cycling

I admit that I can be fiber-crazed at times and knit or sew things that any rational person would instantly perceive as a disaster in the making.  In fact, even while caught up in the fiber-frenzy, the large, annoying, rational part of my brain is probably arguing this same point with the naive, optimistic, creative part.  Generally the creative process wins the battle and I plow ahead full of blind hope.  The rational side often wins the war however and gets to gloat in the end; nothing is quite as sweet as “I told you so”.

Chalk one up to the creative forces:

This was meant to be a sweater.  I didn’t really want to knit it, and I wasn’t sure what I thought of the yarn, but it was easy to knit and fast, and I found it in the top of my closet, already started and abandoned.  Had it been skeins of virgin yarn, not yet in the process of being a “project” I could have turned my back and sold it or given it away.  But no.  I found this project already on the needles, needles still intact (I had wondered where that size 15 circular had gone).  A started project has a life of its own.  It can be put aside but I have a hard time completely aborting it.  Aside from general fiber-frenzy the rational side of my brain was also caught up in its own little hell-hole, called the de-clutter-frenzy.  I HAD to finish that project.  The alarms were disabled; there were no stops in place.

Luckily I basted the misbegotten thing together before final seaming and was faced with the terrible truth:  that sweater made me look something like that B-movie classic, The Blob.  All hope was not lost however, the yarn was mostly wool with a nylon binder.  I threw it in the washer with the hottest water and the hardest cycle. Twice.  I did not machine dry it fearing that might be overdoing the process a little bit. 

The resulting fabric is quite nice.  There is nothing quite like recycling somethng before it is ever even created, call it pre-cycling.

The knitting is still quite evident but the piece has become a kind of boiled wool lace.  Here is a detailed shot; sorry it is a little fuzzy.  Dark rainy days are probably not the best time for this kind of photography on a very small point and shoot camera.

I think this would be very nice as panels in part of a short casual jacket perhaps based on a jeans jacket or Nancy Erickson’s 1962 jacket pattern.   Of course it would have to be blended with some other fabric.  I originally envisioned a wide wale corduroy with perhaps a cotton print lining, making the jacket essentially reversible, the wool felt as panels with its edges sandwiched between two layers of fabric. 

I don’t have any corduroy that color in my stash.  I thought I would check out the other options but, although there are several fabric in the right colors none of them were really compatible in terms of texture, feel, formality.  They did not make good neighbors.  I was ready to accept the lure of the shopping demon and head to the fabric store.

BUT…

I remembered something.  I have this wonderful embroidered fabric remnant I got a Britex a couple of years ago (4? 5?).  There is not quite enough for a short jacket and it too has been waiting for the perfect fabric complement to appear.  It is not indexed in my fabric file because you can’t capture this particular fabric on a 3×5 card.  It lives with the other unique and non-classifiable fabrics:

I think they will be a perfect match.  The total may be a little more art-to-wear and over-the-top than I would usually plan, but I think I like them together.  They have been sitting out overnight and no fights have broken out.  The combination is growing on me.  I need to let the fabrics sit together a little longer however; hopefully I will eventually start to envision how the jacket might actually look.  Ideas are beginning to trickle in but the flow is still quite slow.  I will keep you informed but it may be a little while yet.