So where were you on that first “April 22nd Earth Day” back in 1970?

I was in Delhi NY getting the first of a series of Associate degrees – Sure wish I still had pictures of my friend Glenn’s VW bug and how we “decorated” it for the 1970 occasion.

What could be better this Earth Day than to combine recycling and crochet

That is why I knew I had to save this site to tell you about for this 37th anniversary of the April 22nd Earth day.

Not only does Cindy of MyRecycledBags.com tell you how to make yarn out of grocery bags and sacks but she offers free patterns for several.

Here are just two of the bags I found at Cindy’s Site – you can choose to crochet with recycled jeans or crochet with grocery bags or whatever else you want to reuse in honor of Earth Day.

Happy 37th April 22nd Earth Day

Wheat

I was cleaning my hard drive and found a copy of the 1999 UseNet Kool-Aid FAQ – admittedly many of the links need to be eliminated, and there is not a whole lot about dyeing

It is completely correct that only Protein based fibers will take up Kool-Aid like a dye, it does not limit you to sheeps wool. Some fibers take color more easily than others.
Sheep & Goat (Mohair) work the best.

You can also dye Rabbit (Angora), Camelids (Llama & Alpaca), Worm Spit (Silk) and more.

As others have mentioned, you can have some fun over-dyeing other yarns, and the protein fiber content will, with varying degrees of intensity “take the color”.

White yarn, because it often requires more caustic processing in order to remove the natural color, does not always take the dye as well.

Yarns which have been treated to be labeled as “Super-Wash” or “Machine Washable” also may not take dye as well as you might hope.

When I first got crazed by Kool-Aid Dyeing I happened to live in Westchester County, home of General Foods (now Kraft) and when answering an ad about a spinning wheel for sale, met and became friends with a GF Chemical Engineer (isn’t it amazing how people we “need” seem to come into our lives, just when we need them)

This gentleman was fascinated by the idea that Spinners were dyeing fibers with KA to make yarns and gave me a great deal of “interesting information” about Kool-Aid – along with detailed explanations of why KA was better and why other brands needed the addition of citric acid, vinegar, etc., in order for them to work. (Basically, at the time Kool-Aid was the only one “fortified” with Vitamin C and an ingestible from of Citric Acid was used to accomplish this)

Along with all the other interesting things he shared was his concern that folks would not treat Kool-Aid as carefully as they would any other dye-stuff – applying heat changes chemicals and his concern was that folks would not take care to NOT use the same precautions – (dedicated containers and utensils) they would if using other dyes.

I was really pleased with his comments since they also coincided with my wanting a different (smaller) microwave in the kitchen. Nothing like having one engineer telling another engineer “The girl is right, you need to get a new unit for food preparation and leave the other for the dye process”

In the summer, I like the look of glass containers with bits of fiber, fabric and yarns in their glass bottles, lined up on the part of the deck that gets sun all day – slower but safer.

Many who use the “sun dye” technique will say you MUST cover the jars with black plastic. But then you can’t see what is happening.

My compromise is to cover the table and the lids with black (those great “postal” rubber bands are excellent to secure the plastic, but do get brittle after prolonged exposure to the sun)

This way you can leave the sides uncovered for esthetic reasons, but still get some benefit from the added heat attraction.

Remember, you want to ONLY use UNSWEETENED flavors (unless you want a really nasty mess)
It is up to you, but the PH of your local water supply also effects your results, so it may be that you will need to use distilled water for best and most consistent results.

Or maybe this year, the kids would like to try making Play Dough colored by Kool-Aid.

Now if Mother Nature would just cooperate, I could get on with the testing of new colors The deck looks so dull without its happily colored jars of yarn and fibers and fabrics.

Wheat

I have reached the point in my current engagement in H t m ELL where some of what I am doing is mindless – which leaves way too much time for “thinking”

While certainly these opinion may not apply to every designer or retailer, it does seem to apply to far too many.

I have upon occasion gotten on the soapbox about the way indie designers & retailers keep harping how they are just waiting for the next upturn.

It is still an unsolved mystery WHEN the majority of those with something to sell are going to realize that the world as we know it changed. This change began in the 50’a & 60’s for communication, and from the sales & marketing perspective, officially began on November 12, 1990 and the real impact began to be felt in more like 2000.

It may have started with Companies like Microsoft & AOL, but the way our customers now choose to do business has radically changed just as the way we live our lives in these United States has been turned upside down by technology.

Maybe not exactly the way Paul Allen envisioned, but to ignore the changes in the way “America does business” is just no longer a viable option. We may not like, but it is true. Times have changed.

So what brought on this rant? Well just guessing, but it would seem that lots of designer/artisans spent the holidays working on their web sites because there is a huge rash of ” I just created/revised/updated… let me know what you think…”

After far to many moments where I want to ask “Do you *really* mean that?”

Having made the decision that attempting to “politely comment” on how they might benefit from Cricket’s SEO & Marketing classes, seasoned with a bit of reason from others in thier niche – it remain incomprehensible to me that instead of getting current information they continue to rely on the what worked in another world.

With rare exceptions, we choose to use the most interesting and up-to-date tools and materials in our projects – yet so many members of the Retail & Design community insist on ignoring the tons of information available about how to reach the consumer of their choice, be it an individual or the buyer for a corporation… and wait for the next upturn in the business cycle.

Yesterday a request for help in publishing a newsletter & the discussion that followed, in one e-group made me admit “out loud” that it just might be hopeless. Yet, a simple visit to sites like AWeber Considered one of the best and most accepted by ISP Email Newsletter services would get these folks so much information they really need before making decisions.

The majority are never going to get that Web Design & Web Development are two different things. Heck, it sometimes seems impossible to get across the difference between a store and a shopping cart.

People who “should” know better continue to insist on applying dated “Print/Static” display techniques. It is my opinion that those who lack professional graphic training just might be in better shape on this than they think.

Instead of learning about the creative (and in many ways less expensive in dollars) opportunities available to them – way too many seem determined to create ways to cling to the past and punish anyone who won’t help them to do that.

And to get downright ugly about those who are taking advantage of this new market environment – God help the designer, retailer or supplier who has a bigger picture view and is working to increase the pie so we can all have bigger slices, you will be defamed as the punishment for your good deed.

It makes one wonder what has happened to the Entrepreneurial Spirit – you know, where you were admired and rewarded for succeeding, instead of being vilified for using new opportunities to improve your business bottom line?

What has happened to thinking about long term effects of short term actions (or lack of action)?

Why even ask these questions, when the majority cannot even answer the basics; like what they want their website or blog to accomplish and even if they do. While they may not be in the position to hire what is needed to make sure their website, the modern day equivalent of a Press Kit, is found and reaches thier target audience(s), anyone can get the information they need with the proper application of a bit of sweat equity.

Maybe this has joined “copyright” & “why designers don’t seem to want to effectively market”, as topic Wheat best not comment on, because the trickle down theory is not working very well and the reactions of those whose feelings are hurt is upsetting for everyone involved.

It is no longer vaguely reasonable to believe a YARNandTHREAD Designing Author/Artisan or Independent Retailer can survive without more than just a nominal “business card” Internet presence. They must take advantage of the sales potential offered by a strong web presence created specifically to reach their target markets.

It is also sad that it is often no longer vaguely reasonable to believe it is possible in many situations to have a discussion of the issues since so many decide to view any disagreement with their concept/view as a personal attack.

I “get” that many retailers and designers are worried about their futures, but clinging to past failed strategies is not a way to move forward.

Thank you for letting me get this off my chest, now I can turn back to things that needed focus Or go find some forsythia to inspire me

Happy Spring

Wheat

The Internet and particularly the World Wide Web offers so many great resources, here is one has a ton of helpful information.

The Home Sewing Association has begun a Tutorial Series online called GUIDELINES

This series (list getting longer every day) of brief articles is about many aspects of sewing for every level of expertise. Much of it can easily be used by Quilters too.

Definitely a page worth bookmarking

Peace of the Season

Wheat

After doing this bit of Research, it was pretty easy to see why the Craft Yarn Council did not publish any standards for Steel Hooks in its Yarn Standards.Com charts

Most Steel Hooks Look like this:

However, for those who appreciate Gentle on your hands and wrist, it is so cool that Clover will be bringing the Steel Soft Touch to the US so they can be more available (now only one supplier has them and it is in the Japanese packaging.

This will be great for those who like to do wire work as well.

Now back to the chart… It is fairly simple to see why good pattern editors (and designing authors) ALWAYS include the diameter of hooks and needles used – rather than just a “generic” letter or number.

I always prefer to base my Steel hook references and suggestions on metric measurements because all “brands” are made outside the US, in countries that base their engineering on M
etric standards, not Imperial.

If you would like details on Clover’s Soft Touch Steel hooks, including the thread sizes they recommend for each of their hooks, please visit our on-line retail shop ItsAllJustString.com

In a perfect world, these manufacturers will someday agree on “Size/Measurements” but probably not anytime soon.