A good day thrifting!

Last new year my resolutions were two fold:

• to cook a recipe from each of my cookbooks
• to only purchase clothing from thrift stores

While the first didn't stick for very long, the second most definitely did. Before anyone gets too concerned, underwear and swimwear were accepted caveats, but aside from one red satin shirt every item of clothing I bought last year came from a thrift shop. It's been an interesting experience.

I didn't decide to restrict my shopping to exclusively second-hand out of economic necessity, although decreased money spent has been a very welcome positive side effect. I was more concerned about controlling my consumption and ecological footprint. It's so easy to buy half a dozen cheap shirts at Old Navy for pennies, wear them a couple of times before they inevitably wear out, throw them away (or as I do, donate or recycle them) then rinse lather and repeat. I wanted to be more aware of what I was purchasing and why, and the reduce the flow of clothing through my hands. Forcing myself to shop from a limited palette seemed like a good way to do this.

It was a learning curve at first, many of the first things I bought ended up cycling back to the thrift shop pretty quickly but I soon became more discerning. I tried to identify perceived gaps in my wardrobe, kept a list on my phone and paid much closer attention to detail (buttons, seams, general wear etc). I also found the best thrift stores in my local area, generally they are in the most affluent neighborhoods and are the most discerning over the things they put out for purchase. That means higher quality wheat and much less less chaff so time spent in each store is fairly minimal. Finally I go frequently, usually one round of my favourite stores every two weeks. I am also absolutely OK with spending an hour or two shopping and coming home with nothing.

I'm thinking that this weekend I may have reached my thrifting pinnacle. Behold the spread below, purchased for the princely sum of $8. Yes. EIGHT DOLLARS...

Oh OK fine, I'll admit to having purchased a $20 for $40 Groupon for Housing Works, I'm not that much of a miracle worker, but still, less than 30 bucks? Hooray!

 

Left to right, top of sofa:

• Old Navy 0-3mo skeleton onesie (NWT), original tag $12, Housing Works sale $1.
• Talbots 100% raw silk 18mo romper and matching waistcoat, original tag $88(!!!), Housing Works sale $1.
• Ralph Lauren wool sports coat for Adam, original retail ??, Housing Works sale $22.50.

Standing upright, left to right:

• Dotz cable tie organizers, retail $6, Housing Works $2.
• Honey Bunches of Oats, two for $5 at CVS, plus $4 coupon, end price $1.

Laying on sofa, left to right:

• "Spot the Dog" 9mo jeans and shirt set, brand new but no tags, Housing Works sale $1.
• The Omnivore's Dilemma, $16, Housing Works $3.
• The Tipping Point, $15, Housing Works $3.
• Birth Control, CVS, $0. THANK YOU OBAMA CARE.
• Mark Bittman Quick and Easy Recipes, $19, Housing Works $6.
• Ivory Soap, 10 bars from CS for $6.40, minus $2 coupon, final $4.60.
• "Spot the Dog" 9mo dungaree and shirt set, brand new with no tags, Housing Works sale $1.

Obviously not much of this is my usual thrift store fare, only the Bittman is for me, and that's a lot of baby clothes for one baby-less person (again, thank you Mr. Obama), but! Adam got a spiffy new jacket suitable for job interviews while we continue our search for a suit that fits him! I have gifts for my nephew! And my cousin's baby due in August! And a really expensive silk romper suit that I don't know what to do with!

Two Red Hats

One big:

Wurm, a free pattern available on Ravelry, made from just less than one skein of malabrigo worsted in brick, that I scored for $2 in thrift store! I knit the medium on the pattern recommended needle size (using 5 dpns) which was perfect before blocking but grew like crazy in the water. I had to add elastic inside the folded brim post blocking so that it would stay on my brow rather than around my neck, so would recommend that if anyone wants to make this hat with this yarn that they probably should knit the size small. Other than that little snafu, I love the hat. It's so toasty and warm.

One Small:

"Charlie's Sock Yarn Hat" by Aimee Alexander (free on ravelry). I made the newborn size with just less than one skein of Wildfoote luxury sock yarn in "Rock and Roll" on five US2 dpns. After blocking the yarn softened and relaxed a little so it's still a bit too big for my nephew (who is now 4 weeks old and gorgeous!) so here it's modeled by the bottom of a vase.

On Rainbows and Nephews

When my sister announced that she was expecting, I suffered a bout of what can only be described as crafting paralysis. Don't get me wrong, there are many knitting patterns and quilt ideas that I'd squirreled away in the lizard part of my brain for making for a future niece or nephew (knitted bear suit! quilted growth chart!), but now that one was on their way nothing seemed good enough for my own, tiny kin. I think I started and did not complete at least two other quilts and a crocheted blanket before I hit upon my final quilt idea.

To be completely honest, this quilt wasn't intended to be for my nephew from the get go. In a post-committee meeting frenzy of making, I  gathered my scraps and took inspiration from Oh, Frannson's Charm Square's Baby quilt. The rainbow stripes include civil war reproductions, 30s repro prints from the first fabric I ever bought, scraps from the swap table at quilt guild, a few solids, and leftovers from various other quilts. I knew I had the beginnings of something good, but it didn't seem like enough of a statement.

I wanted to use a neutral from the sashing, and inspired by this amazing rainbow quilt from Red Pepper Quilts, I really wanted to use Alexander Henry Heath. I managed to find a single yard in metal on etsy (at the time all I could find elsewhere was black) but once I got it I wasn't completely happy with how it looked next to the rainbow stripes. So I added a super skinny sashing of off-white between the two. Much better! That's when this became the nephew quilt, although until he was born nobody knew what sex he would be.

For the back I pieced some improvised scrappy log cabins, sashed them in the leftovers of the heath (I had maybe 6 square inches of scraps leftover from the yard by the time I was done) and added a skinny white border to echo the front. Then I used a solid grey to fill the rest of the space, I believe Moda silver but my memory has apparently upped and left my noggin.

I had toyed with the idea of finally learning free motion quilting to use on this quilt, and I tried a few practice runs but eventually chickened out. Instead I did some really dense straight line quilting, and although it's hard to spot unless you look very closely, on the front the threads passing through each stripe match the colour. In the bobbin I consistently had a light grey.

I auditioned many fabrics for the binding. I was almost convinced I was going to use a grey pastel stripe but was sure it looked to feminine. So I went with green polka dots. It's growing on me.

Finally, a few hours after he was born, I embroidered on my nephew's birthday and my new moniker.

I met my nephew a few days ago when he was just over two weeks old. So cute, so tiny! I'm going to enjoy being an Aunty.