Miniatures Monday--Tiny Sweater! Thrift Store Yarn Projects, #2

In keeping with my love of all things small, I was considering a source for very fine yarn for tiny knitting projects--while I am certainly not a great knitter, I don't mind working on a small scale. On a thrift store outing, it hit me! There was an old crewel embroidery kit with a selection of tapestry yarn in bright, coordinated colors, for only$.50.

The tiny sweater pattern is from a book on miniature needlework, and in the past I've used the pattern with sock-weight yarn for some pretty cute Christmas ornaments. Since scale is more important than the actual fit in a miniature scene, it's simple to tweak the size of an item by using slightly larger or smaller needles, or slightly finer or heavier yarn. For this project I used size 1 straight needles. (I can't seem to knit in the round.) Each length of tapestry yarn is composed of three strands, and I used single strands, changing colors at the sides for each stripe.

Actually, I think the idea worked out pretty well--the finished size is in scale, the colors were already coordinated, and the scale of the yarn and stitches are believable. The biggest difficulty was having to knot and tame all the yarn ends produced by changing the colors. I used a dab of Fray Check (how I love it!) to secure each knot and trimmed the ends short, and didn't bother to weave them in. I think I'll pursue the idea further!

Hron was wondering about how the tiny armchair is made--let me just say that I love the library! We are fortunate to have an outstanding public library around here (I don't just say that because I work there!), and the ideas for the chair and many other projects are from library books. The frame of the chair is foam core board, with lengths of dowel for the curved arms, fabric glued on for the upholstery.

Books and fabric--it doesn't get better than this! Unless maybe we mix in the thrift store. . .