Mend it Better

I am so excited to announce that I am in a book! Mend it Better by Kristin Roach came out in February, and I was thrilled to be a contributor.




I have been a long time reader of Kristin's blog, Craft Leftovers, so when she put out a call for submissions for her book I was very excited.




I originally blogged about this sweater project on my old blog here, but the short version is that I found a gorgeous cashmere sweater at a thrift store for a couple of bucks. When I got home, I realized that there were a few small holes. Luckily they were in inconspicuous places and I decided to do buttonhole stitch around the holes, so they wouldn't get any bigger. Then I sewed beads around the holes to look like flowers and stems.

There are a number of great projects and step-by-step techniques included in this book. I love that there are both specific projects and great inspiration for mending anything. As someone who shops at thrift stores a lot I think this book is indispensable.

Thanks to Kristin and the staff at Storey for including my sweater! To read more about the book, visit the Mend It Better website, and be sure to visit the Storey Publishing Facebook page as well. Storey is even offering a giveaway here and on the other sites of the blog tour--leave a comment by 8:00 pm Eastern on March 18th and you could win a free copy of Mend It Better!

Thanks to all who entered the contest! The random number generator came up with number 3, NL Clark! Congratulations!

A Bit of Mending

I love my thrummed mittens (first shown in this post from nearly four years ago). I live in New Hampshire, and our winters are cold and snowy. I occasionally get annoyed, but for the most part I love it. Or I love the part where I curl up on the couch in front of the pellet stove with a pile of wool on my lap and knit.


These mittens are great, because when I do have to brave the elements they keep my hands toasty. After several years of use they are perfectly fitted to my hands. The only issue was that the wool in the tips of the mitts and thumbs was thin, partly because of how the pattern was written (no more thrums are added after the decreases begin) and partly because the wool felted to other areas.


What's a thrifty New Englander to do? Add more wool, of course.



I turned the mittens inside out, and using both a darning needle and a crochet hook, I added extra thrums. I used some scraps of wool from my spinning stash.



I just wove the pieces in and out of the bare spots of fabric, being careful to keep everything on the inside so the odd colored scraps wouldn't show through on the right side.



I'm very happy I took 20 minutes to sit down and do this--my mittens are much warmer, and I found a great use for my scrap wool.