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Christmas Stocking
Amy Clarke Moore, Editor
I had three favorite sweaters—two that were handknitted that I had purchased at a charity auction years ago and one that was store-bought but still much loved. I wore the sweaters constantly and had developed a system for washing them in my washing machine that worked well—that is until I moved to a new house with a new washer. The first time I tried my sweater-washing system in my new house, I ruined all three sweaters irreversibly in one fell swoop. Even though they were now too small and misshapen to fit even my lanky tween niece, I held on to them. I knew I could salvage them. I tucked them away for a rainy-day project. That rainy-day project turned out to be a snowy-day project. I pulled them out as the first flakes of snow fell in the holiday season and designed Christmas stockings for my family. |
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Aran Hat
Marilyn Murphy, Publisher
My hat is a by-product of a beautiful Aran knit sweater gone bad. I had just completed my sweater and, somehow, it made its way into the wash. My husband, not knowing better, just tossed it in with everything else. End result—not wearable as a sweater. |
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Elseya’s Bear
Linda Ligon, Creative Director
First there was the perfect little baby sweater, knitted from the Snakes and Ladders pattern in Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Then there was the shrunken disaster it became. I really didn’t want to cut it up—it was still cute but not fit for any human baby. So I decided to make some bear parts to add to the sweater. |
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House Slippers
Amanda Berka, Assistant Editor
When Linda wasn’t inspired by her store-bought Aran after it shrank in the wash, she offered it to me as inspiration. And inspired I was. I immediately saw potential in the rich texture, but the extreme thickness and little yardage didn’t leave a whole lot of possibilities. After seeing some felt insoles created by Carol H. Rhoades for the Spring 2007 issue of Spin-Off, I decided the thick sweater would be perfect for soles—and the rest of a slipper for that matter. |
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Mysterious Messenger Bag
Michelle Mach, Editor, Beading Daily
This casual bag was inspired by my love of mystery novels. The embroidery on the flap—Locus Delicti—is Latin for “scene of the crime.” The embroidery inside the flap (“Move along, nothing to see here”) covers the back of my stitching and reinforces the mystery theme. |
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Yoga Mat Bag
Annie Bakken, Marketing Manager
I knew I wanted to create a bag for my yoga mat, but I wasn’t sure that my idea would work until I tested out my techniques on a minibag (suitable for a drop spindle) that I gifted to a coworker. Upon its enthusiastic receipt, I began work on my recycled masterpiece. |
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Passport Wallet
Vicki Yost, Advertising Manager
I purchased a sweater at a thrift store, hoping inspiration (and luck in my case!) would enable me to actually make something out of it. Honestly, the label said 100% wool. So I tossed it in the washing machine set on hot water and cotton cycle. When it finished, I had a slightly misshapen sweater and a bunch of fiber in my machine. Okay, try again. Same results. I then went back to the store and found another sweater that said 100% wool. Using the same procedure, my sweater felted! It was going to be a handbag, but there wasn’t enough material. A passport wallet was born. |