What I’ve Got:
Lots of shrinkable, new wool in the yarn stash.
What I Need: Something to cover the wooden stairs in the new US house.
I love wood floors, don’t get me wrong. They look rather lovely in the little vintage cottage we’ve purchased in Alexandria (Virginia, that is, not Egypt). But having lived with wooden stairs before, they are loud under my Exuberant-Eight-Year-Old-Boy’s feet and, when the occasional tumble happens, can be quite painful. Carpeting? Huh-uh. Stair treads? You bet!
So, with that thought lurking in the back of my brain, I am now seeing all those accumulated leftover bits of wool as newly recycled raw material for just such a project, and feeling quite ‘earth friendly’ to boot!
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due Diversion
Now, Leigh Radford has a similar idea in her ‘One Skein’ book, called the Labyrinth Circle Rug. But other than the general idea, it’s at this point that I digress from her pattern. Rather than knitting it flat and having to seam it up the back, I just knit i-cord.
After knitting what seem to be miles and miles of endless i-cord (changing the colours at random to keep from falling asleep), take the i-cord snake; pop it into the washer and felt. After drying, wind into a circle…or oval…whatever shape you fancy. Pin into place and hand stitch with sturdy thread. Presto, instant felt mat, kinda like this one from a few years back…
…but this time, it’s stair treads that I want. And the felting will make ‘em durable, which is also something that I want. The trick will be to figure out how long to make the ‘snake’ to get a final mat the size of each step. I’m in for a bit of trial and error it seems. So, I’m taking my scraps of wool and 2 extremely short and very innocent looking wooden dpns for some mind-numbingly-boring airplane knitting*. But honestly, the thought of those brightly coloured mats keeps my needles going!
splendid! that will look SO cool. . . . and I’m sure the innocent little wooden sticks won’t raise any eyebrows on the airplane. . . . Just tell ‘em they’re chopsticks! [grin]
(I risked some Addi turbos on my last overseas trip - and nary an eyebrow twitched. . . .)
05 May 2008 at 2:08 am
What a great idea - you’re so crafty!!! You must post pics when you get them on the stairs. I admire your creativity.
The house sounds lovely.
05 May 2008 at 5:07 am
It sounds like alot of work, but the end result will be worth it.
05 May 2008 at 6:21 am
Hmmm. If you’re felting the i-cord before you sew it all up, it wouldn’t matter if the bits were too long, as you could just cut them fairly safely. So you could just keep on knitting i-cord until you’re sick of it and then cut it to the right lengths when you’re done. Maybe?
05 May 2008 at 11:42 am
I just picture you sitting in the plane seat - after a few hours flight - covered in snakelike protuberances of all colours:)) have a safe trip, all of you!!
05 May 2008 at 12:47 pm
you are truly unbelievable! and inspiring. seriously. i would never think of undertaking such a huge project. it will be so amazing when it is done. and look absolutely perfect on the cottage stairs. have fun!
06 May 2008 at 5:03 am
What a great idea for left-over yarn, but a huge task for stairs. However if they are anything like your lovely mat, well everyone will want to sit on the stairs!!!!!! Fabulous
06 May 2008 at 8:18 am
What a great idea for using up the leftovers. Let us know how you are going to fix the mats to the stairs.
07 May 2008 at 11:12 am
Great idea! Though as others have said it sounds like a big undertaking. How will the mats stay in place on the stairs? I was just wondering if they will slip around underfoot. Sad to read you’re leaving Ireland, but I’m sure you’ll have many happy adventures wherever you are.
08 May 2008 at 11:22 am
What a great idea for using up left over yarns!
12 May 2008 at 10:49 am