Recycled knitting!

Friends will tell you I'm forever recycling wool - some burgundy bought for a large V-neck jumper that gradually turned into a dress has been used for blanket squares, a charity jumper, and is currently making up a stripe in the rug I'm weaving. Some iridescent purply-pink, that a long time ago appeard in an odd-pins jumper (remember them?!) is now cropping up in other projects. Asides from the six big boxes of yarn, I've two large bags that are the "frog pond" - projects that went a little wrong, test pieces, tension swatches. It'd take me a week just to frog the lot I suspect!

When I found a pattern in this month's Knitting magazine, for turning old carrier bags into a shopping bag, I was smitten! I raided the growing pile in the garage and weeded out all the degradeable ones - I don't want my work to disintegrate six months down the line! What they fail to mention is, it's ruddy hard work on the fingers. I think I might need an alternative HK project, just to give my poor fingers a rest. Yes, I did try using the chunky machine, but no, it was having none of it!

There's another great pattern in that magazine, for knitting rugs using special broom-handle size needles. However, what they fail to mention is that the yarn is made up of about 20 strands of Rowan. Obviously the author is made of money! I wish magazines would put an estimated cost for the project! Luckily this particular project does detail roughly the gauge you're trying to get.

The Rowan bag is finished now, it just needs making up. There's a little bit left over, not sure whether to add it to my fusion knitting project or my rug!

I seem to be a bit flighty at the moment regarding finishing projects - I've started another sock, when I haven't finished the pair I started for Mum. If the new pattern I'm trying works out, I'm tempted to frog the first "mum sock" and redo it using this pattern. Plus I had half planned to get ahead with some of the double-bed work for next year's college - I've only 4 weeks until the term restarts, and haven't made any inroads to that at all. Mind you, if I'm forced to pay £360 towards the course (which I'm not ruling out), maybe I shouldn't hurry to finish. I hope they spend my money on the MK centre, but I bet they don't.