As much as I dislike the reduce part of “reduce, reuse, recycle” eco principle, I’m beginning to find a new love for reuse. A philosophy major by education, my only arts class was the history of graphic design, so I entered this industry seven years ago as a complete green horn. I truly appreciate the guidance and mentoring I received and the online classes I found to help hone my craft. That said, it’s time to update some of my older patterns. The first one up for “reuse” is one of your favorites…
Lake Breeze Tank.
Applying the lessons learned in my “A System of Grading” class from Jill Wolcott and keeping those elements you all said you loved best (the charts showing exactly how to work the waist shaping into the pattern so it doesn’t interrupt the pattern detail), I’m starting from scratch and rewriting this pattern in a more common pattern writing style! This is first of two planned garment reuses.
So if you love Lake Breeze Tank, but haven’t knit it yet, keep an eye open for the test knit call and subsequent republication later this summer.
Later on this year, I’ll be completely working Cassandra’s Christmas sweater. It’s on the pile to frog so the yarn can be reused in a new design. Despite it being discontinued, the red is such a perfect colour for Christmas. However, the style really isn’t me. I do love the side detail so will be keeping that, but changing the neckline and sleeves substantially. Stay tuned later this year to see how “reuse” goes from a simple refresh like in Lake Breeze Tank to a complete overhaul in this one! Note: I’ll be renaming it too as it really is a completely new design, just reusing the yarn and one favorite detail.
How do you incorporate “reuse” into your crafting?