Make do and mend

Do you have a bit of spare sock in your life? Maybe you made one sock or mitten and got distracted by another fibre opportunity, or maybe there is a particular hole in a sock and you feel pretty sure mending it will not happen. But you like the knitting a lot, and cannot not say goodbye.

But fear not Stephanie, I say to myself, the answer is... make one of these sweet artistic pin cushions. One that is especially friendly in holding my preferred blunt tapestry needles.

I have made pin cushions successfully out of t shirt material and enjoy seeing the colour of the fabric in a new way. Pin cushions also make a nice gift for a fellow fibre enthusiast.

It creates a second landing place for pins in my sewing room. The main difference is fabric needles are much sharper and an easily pierce cloth. My favourite blunt ended tapestry needles for sewing up hand knitting not so much, actually they just bounce off the surface.

I thought, so why not use hand knitted material.

In hand weaving, wool yarn as a warp is an excellent material for cleaning and polishing the steel reeds as you weave. I didn't have much fleece on hand so I softly wound a donut shaped ball of wools left over from other projects.

In this example I use the leg part as the foot had a large hole on the side from an unfortunate sharp encounter. It is also a little bit more worn on the bottom.

Cut a tube about 4 inches long, just below the rib and above the heel.

Then, gently pull out the yarn bits to reveal live stitches. I like to keep unravelling until I have about 18 to 20 inches of yarn on one end for the sculpting part. This pair had been washed many times so after picking out the bits, the stitches stay open and happy to accept the tapestry needle.

 I used a fairly small tapestry needle, and  although the yarn was very curly from being knitted for so long, the stitches were open and stable for pulling through.

You could use new uncrinkled yarn, or even a sturdy thread like Coats Button and Craft. I like sock yarn because the nylon content makes it very strong for sewing.

Make the stuffing, by winding up some scraps of wool yarn into about a 2 ounce ball. Keep the winding soft and squishy, not hard, because you want to be able to sculpt the pincushion into shape.

Make a of hole in the middle as you wind. I used the handle of this Danish Dough Whisk because it is thicker than my wooden spoons. In the spinning world there is actually a tool to facilitate the winding called a Nostepinne.

One could also use fleece or a complete unused ball of wool. The important thing, if you want to polish your needles is to use wool, not acrylic or cotton.

When you remove the label is is easy to flatten it into a more donut like shape.

Pull the yarn through to gather one end.

I like to thread the yarn though the open stitches twice and gently draw the opening closed. I find it stays closed better than just going through the stitches once.

Stuff in the stuffing. I should be a fairly easy fit, not a struggle, and yet fill the tube.

Close the other end of the tube by threading through the open stitches as before.
Using a fairly long piece of yarn or thread, sew through the centre, making sections, pulling in a firm and friendly manner until you have shaped the ball into a sort of pumpkin.

Fasten off the thread and all is complete.

A decoration in the centre is nice, a button or a bead. I am going to find something red or deep pink to go with the grey colour of my new pin cushion family member. Maybe my favourite rose and leaf.