Friday 18 March 2011

Recycled Crochet


Hello Lovelies,
I've got some  crochet to share with you today , yay , it seems like a while since I've done that .

As I mentioned in my previous post, I bought a lovely ,but stained child's poncho in a charity shop last week......



Because the colours were so nice I decided it would be worth the time and effort to unravel it and reuse the yarn in my own project.
A few of you seemed surprised at this idea. But I guess it seems normal to me as my Nanna was always unraveling things to use in her knitting .

Indeed the first ever blog I came across, back in 2008 was Laughing purple goldfish. This talented Australian lady uses recycled yarn in all her crochet and knitted projects ,do have a look at her lovely site.

Being "green" was not the main reason I chose this project though.......I was keen not to make a colour choice mistake like I did for my hexagons.I did not want to start another project only for it to be abandoned unfinished.So I decided to play safe and make a simple giant granny cushion cover in the same colour repeats as the original garment , that I liked so much.



What do you think ? I'm very pleased with how it turned out :0)
Yay .... phew ..... it's a great confidence booster to make something so pretty even if the colours were not chosen by me .
And here are those lovely colours close up....





Ummmmm,yummy :0)



I did end up with lots of extra ends where I had to tie the relatively short lenghts of yarn together ,and the yarn was quite "stiff" to work with , but I tend to find that with cotton yarns.

For the back I decided to use an old fleece blanket that I had lying around and made an envelope style back. To pretty it up a little I added a crochet trim in orange ....



And then I added some buttons to keep it closed. The benefit of using fleece meant I could just made a tiny button hole with scissors and they did not need any sewing as the fleece will not fray.


The back of this cushion does NOT meet with the boys approval , and I have to admit it does look a little like an old fashioned bed jacket , but that just makes me smile :0)



I've got quite a few tiny balls of yarn left so I've been making little three round grannies to use them up ......




These will make another cushion that should co-ordinate nicely with the first one :0)

Jacquie x

P.S. I just had to mention that the boys wore my Hawaiian shirts for Red Nose Day at school today . We had fun making tissue paper flower garlands to add to their costume........



These were really easy to do , just tissue paper flowers threaded on to yarn using a darning needle . We used cut up drinking straws to space them out.
 Much to their excitement they won a prize for the best costumes in their year, yay for keeping stuff 20 odd years !!

52 comments:

  1. It's lovely. You are right about the colours, they work really well.
    x

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  2. Love this post! The pictures are awesome and the colours rock!!!!!!!!

    Have a super weekend!

    Vanessa xxxxxxxxxxx

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  3. Great work here! I love the cushion, very clever how you designed the back and the new little ones will make it a complete package!
    Have a great weekend,
    love Maaike

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  4. This looks so lovely,I also use the envelope way to do my cushions as it is so simple(for a simple mind like me lol)somehow because it is recycled threads it looks even nicer..well done xx

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  5. Che bello questo post!! Anto

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  6. Oh Jacquie, the cushion is absolutely gorgeous (but then everything you do is gorgeous!). Nowt wrong with recycling wool, I remember my mum doing that a lot.

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  7. The cushion has turned out wondefully - it is actually much nicer than the poncho, I think!

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  8. Jacquie,
    I know you didn't pick out these colors but the way you placed them for the pillow is much better than they were arranged in the poncho. I love this pillow and the little granny squares are great. I bet your boys looked great in their shirts, you are a fantastic Mom.
    Have a great weekend,
    Meredith

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  9. I love the cushion and it's a great use of something lovely that probably wouldn't have been used again. I have a cardigan that my daughter wore as a baby and I can't part with it as I love the colours so much.

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  10. What brilliant recycling, the cushion looks amazing - love the colour combinations. I am going to keep my eye out for things to unravel and reuse the wool.
    And hurrah for prize winning shirts!x

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  11. I like the cushion, the colours are great and cosy corner looks inviting. Recycling at it's best, the lei idea is clever, we have a hula group at work and that idea would work really well for us. Thank-you.

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  12. The cushion is gorgeous!!! I personally love the back .. it just seems to really suit the style of cushion. A great idea (the recycling and the use of fleece) xx

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  13. What a great cushion you made... It's very beautifull... Love the back.. fun idea...
    can't wait to see your next cushion!!

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  14. Hey Hey! Well done to you and the boys!
    Love the cushion Jacquie, and the start of the next one! Have a lovely weekend!
    Rachel x

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  15. Love your cushion, it turned out really pretty. :-)

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  16. Gorgeous! What a lovely way to use the wool! The colour combination is beautiful! Cx

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  17. Lovely colours... that's so resourcful of you to reuse your yarn, I would never have thought of doing that, and it's turned out so pretty! Well done to your boys too :) Jenny x

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  18. I love to recycle, and the poncho is great :))

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  19. I love the recycled yarn cushion and even if your boys don't like the back of it, I think it's perfect. :) The little grannies look lovely too.
    Love the paper flowers and well done for winning prizes.
    Anne xx

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  20. Great job, love the colours, what a bargain...

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  21. It looks lovely and I like it even more because it is re-used - something we should all try to do more!
    Can I just ask what colour choice you think you made badly on your hexagon blanket? As far as I can see, the hexagon blanket on your chair is great and I really like the colours!

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  22. Recycling is a good idea and you have ended up with a lovely cushion! Great!

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  23. Just gorgeous Jacqueline...
    I adore the fact that you recycled the yarn...Great idea and great choice of pattern too...
    Sometimes a simple pattern like a granny square shows off the great colours...

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  24. Beautiful :) as always :)
    Have a nice sunday!
    Angie

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  25. tremendous cusions I love them.

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  26. That is so clever, I love what you've made out of that little poncho. Gorgious yarn indeed!

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  27. Gorgeous yarn and a gorgeous cushion! I think you were very lucky to find that poncho and I like the idea of recycling wool too!

    Love Julia x

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  28. What a marvelouspost Jacquie! Love your cushion and colours, looks very beautiful and very grannylicious in your lounge xox I think it's fab that you recycle wool this way, I think I'll need to keep a eye out for what I can untangle. Have a lovely weekend x

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  29. I love how the cushion looks. Great colours!!
    xxx

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  30. I love how those colours look together - a great cushion!

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  31. I really love the colour combinations, you have inspired me to have a go with those colours myself, the cushion looks great, Pixie.

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  32. Hi Jacquie! Those colours are really beautiful! You made wonderful pillow and I like very much the back side, white and orange are great together! - if you turn the buttons horizontal, it doesn't remind at all 'bed dress'. Congratulation to your boys - you see we shouldn't throw anything away. That flower garland is lovely also for the eastern decoration! xxx Teje

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  33. Such a lovely cushion, well done!!

    Much love,
    Kim

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  34. Gorgeous cushion - love the colours and your crochet is fabulous. The back of the cushion looks nice enough to be used that way round as well if you fancy a change!!

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  35. Everything has worked out so well and is beautiful. Makes me smile.

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  36. Oh Jacquie, that cushion looks fabulous, the colours are great. I like the back of it too. Who would expect to be so striking when you turn it over.

    All that effort, unravelling the yarn, certainly worth it and the grannies are cute too.

    The boys would have looked very colourful with their Hawaiian shirts and garlands on, no wonder they won first prize. Bet they were excited.

    Claire :)

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  37. wow it looks fab ;-)) I love your hexagon blanket to. And what a great idea with the fleece blanket that looks brill to ;-)) dee x

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  38. Stunning Jacquie, love how it turned out, upcycling is such fun and you got the bonus cute little granny squares to make another one! The back is gorgeous, so snuggly!

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  39. Wow! A great colourful post!
    Just loving your work as usual!
    I just love your sweet giveaway too thanks so much!
    I shall treasure it!
    hugs Suex

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  40. Great Idea, Beautiful Work :)

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  41. I love the pillow. It turned out beautiful!~ So cheery. You do such great work!

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  42. Love your use of color! You have a great eye for pulling it all together!

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  43. The colors are beautiful You've inspired me to get on from the Thrift shop and start my own pillows! I also have a hexagon blanket not completely done but it's so cool its laying on my couch!

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  44. I absolutely LOVE this! I wouldn't have thought to do this. Great idea! Very inspiring.

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  45. What a great idea! It is beautiful.

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  46. great job! nice to see that i am not the only unraveller in the world.
    *~ barb ~*

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  47. Love it! Love the flower garlands, too! :)

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  48. That is completely beautiful! I love the colors, the recycling, the little leftovers squares, the hexagon motif in the link, your lovely photo of your room, everything! Well done. :)

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