RagingWool

New Year, New Projects!

January and February are usually the most creative months of the year for me. No pressure from the holidays, no baseball season, and lots of cold weather keeping me indoors.

I've been buying old cashmere. Anyone that frequents the thrift shops knows that they put all the sweaters away at the end of January and don't bring them back out until the end of August. So, if you're one to use recycled wool or cashmere, you better have your act together this month!

So, yes, I've been buying old cashmere. My absolute limit in a thrift store is $12 for a sweater. And, it has to be BIG and a great color. Or, ivory is OK since I like to dye things. I've been focusing on blues lately. A lot of my women's scarves in the fall were pastels. I did some in purple and those sold very quickly. I think people may be tired of pastels. So, moving on. Plus, I'm making a gift scarf for a dear friend and she has the bluest eyes you've ever seen.

Along with the scarf-making, I have a new product: fingerless gloves. These are very popular right now. So many people have touch screen phones or need their fingers for texting. Full finger gloves can be a pain.

To make the gloves, I traced my own hand on a piece of card stock. Then, I cut out two pieces (mirror image) in recycled wool and two pieces in recycled cashmere. Stacked them up with the cashmere on the inside and just sewed them all together with the seams on the outside. Simple, yes, but not a finished product.

I loved the cashmere lining and wanted a bit of it to show on the wool side. So, I came up with the idea of making the cashmere longer on the top, the thumb, and the wrist. The width is exactly the same as the wool. Only the parts that will fold over are longer. See the pictures for my actual pattern and the resulting pieces cut out.

Before the final sewing, I had to sew the cashmere fold-over parts. I used a narrow zigzag in a contrasting thread and sewed all three edges. I pinked the cashmere below the stitching. Then, I was ready to sew the final product. Right (wool) sides together, stitch the side and thumb seams, trim very close, and press.

I listed 2 pair of these on Etsy over the weekend and they've both already sold. Now there are 2 other pair listed including this floral pair featured. Before listing, I did a comparison and my price ($22) is quite reasonable, especially for gloves that are cashmere lined. See them on my shop: http://www.ragingwool.etsy.com/ . I'm making a few more pair just to use up some wool that's laying around. Then, onto the blue scarves!!