Sari Silk Wrapped Bangles

These were made for Powerhouseofthecell in the recent Fiber/Mixed Media Jewelry Swap.  Powerhouse mentioned liking bangle bracelets, which I've never really dabbled in before.  These were the result of some inspiration from her Pinterest, and my stash of recycled sari silk ribbon and yarn. 

The blue and the pink were each made from recycled silk cloth, and the green is from recycled silk yarn.  The cloth ones were also wrapped in wire, and have some Swarovski crystal beads sprinkled along them.  They felt a bit unfinished to me, so I called on [member]sheepBlue[/member] & [member]PerfectlyBohemian[/member] for advice.  The recommended a few charms to finish them off.  Incidentally, I believe the dinosaur charms actually came from sheep herself!

Purple Silk Sari Ribbon Bowl

This bowl was whipped up as an extra for LeapFeetFirst in the Asheville Adventure Swap.  It's made of sari silk ribbon yarn, that is made from worn out saris that would otherwise end up in landfills.  They are rescued, sliced, stitched, and dyed, and given new life as yarn.  Both colors came from Darn Good Yarn.  I'm not sure what the purple one is, since I bought it as part of a sample sale, and it didn't have any info with it, but the turquoise is their 'Indian Brushstrokes'.  The pattern was also from DGY, and came free in one of their yarn-of-the-month boxes.  It can be found in both knit and crochet HERE. 

Sari Silk Ribbon Bowl

After making a Mandala Tablemat for Wulf in the Use the Good Beads Swap on Craftster, I was feelign guilty about having ben the swap rules.  Technically the yarn to make the mandala didn't coem from MY hoard, so I used one of the yarns that was in my stash to crochet a bowl.  It's made from a ribbon yarn, created from recycled silk saris, keeping textiles out of landfills and at the same time giving fair wages to women & girls in India & Nepal, allowing them to work from home.  Both the yarn and the pattern are available from Darn Good Yarn.  

Magenta Sun & Phoenix Mats

After finishing my Charming Mat I decided to use up some more of the sari yarn in my stash by making a few more mats/trivets/doilies.  I started off with the large sized trivet from the Aunt Aggie's Trivets pattern, made from a magenta sari silk.  I didn't have enough yarn to do it exactly as written, so I did Rounds 1-6 as written, then a row of 8 single crochets per chain space.  I like how it looks like a primitive sunburst.  It measures 13" across, and I think it would be nice under a plant or under a decorative bowl on a table.

Finally I had a few balls of a red-orange silk that had some breaks in it when I balled it, so I decided to try some of the smaller trivets in the pattern. I started the size small, but it looked awful in such a busy yarn, so I frogged it and went with two of the medium sized trivets instead.  They are each 9.5" across.  Due to the thick & thin nature of the yarn, the final round of the pattern was a bit too bulky, causing a wavy edge to them that I didn't like, so I ended up skipping two of the single crochets per petal in the final round.  (Specifically in the first and last sc of the previous rounds.) 

Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with all of these, but they will either go into my shop, or into my stash of handmade holiday gifts.

Silk Sari Charming Mat

Last week I was looking for a quick project to take on the go with me, and saw a post on Instragram from Darn Good Yarn, about a mat made with their banana fiber.  I had some pretty Red Heart Boutique hand spun Silk Sari yarn in 'charming' that had been languishing in my stash for want of a project and decided to give it a go.  I downloaded the free pattern, and started hooking.  Sadly it just wasn't working for me as written, with this particular yarn.  I ended up frogging the whole thing (not easy with this yarn!), and starting over.

I increased the number of stitches in Round 1 to 12, and in Round 2 to 24.  This led to more loops in the finished piece, but I compensated by reducing the number of chain spaces between double crochets in later rounds.  Finally, I didn't have quite enough yarn to do all the rounds, so I ended up doing the first 7, then doing a round of picots & slip stitches.  It was a bit more frustrating that I had hoped for when I picked the pattern to take out with me, but I'm happy with how it came out, and plan to try it again with another sari yarn in my stash.

Rainbow Ripples Neckwarmer & Silk Sari Bowl

I signed up for a subscription box from Darn Good Yarn a few weeks ago, and got my first box on Friday.  The yarn that they sent was a worsted weight silk roving, that is created from silk waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill.  The yarn is fair trade, and helps women in India & Nepal support their families.  The pattern they sent to go with it was for a ripples neckwarmer. 

I normally don't work with silk, but I really enjoyed this quick little project.  I started it after dinner on Saturday night, and finished early Sunday morning.  I would link to the pattern, but it's not up on their site yet. The whole piece is about 20" around, and 6-7" wide.  The colors are so cheerful that it was a joy to work on. 

When you sign up, or place a regular order from them, you can choose to add a 'mystery item' for an additional $5, that is normally sold for $15.  Since I always like surprises, and I like being pushed out of my comfort zone craft-wise, I added the item, and waited to see what came.  My mystery item turned out to be a beautiful roll of wide sari silk ribbon. 

I searched their site, and found a great pattern for a bowl made out of the same ribbon, so I whipped that up yesterday.  The pattern called for a 10mm hook, but I had only a 9 or an 11.5.  The 11.5 kept catching on the work, so I switched to the 9mm hook, which worked much better, but still it was harder than my poor hands liked.  While the project was small and should have been very quick, I had to take breaks to rest my hands.  It had nothing to do with the ribbon, it is just hard to crochet through while keeping your stitches very tight so the bowl will stand up on its own. 

All in all I'm very happy with how it came out, and I'd gladly make another one in future, after my fingers rest up a bit.  Here it is holding 2 large apples and 4 good sized tangerines.  It's currently on my desk, holding some healthy snacks for hangry afternoons in my new studio.