I’ve been on a yarn frenzy lately and came upon the discussion on milk yarn. It is consider to be fine material with a nice luster.  One that feels luxurious and silky.

The question for me is whether it’s an eco-friendly material?

Cyarn, the producer of milk yarn, suggest their yarn is eco-friendly as it passed Oeko-Tex Standard 100 green certification for the international ecological textiles.

They also mentioned, “It combines the advantages of natural fiber and synthetic fiber - the protein fiber is a kind of fresh fiber with healthy function..”

Milkofil is another milk fabric maker. Info from ecouterre.com:

“A silk-like fabric by made from casein, the white, odorless protein from which cheese is made. Made by Maclodio Filati, Milkofil is said to have naturally antibacterial properties and perhaps even boost circulation. It does, however, take about 100 pounds of skim milk to make 3 pounds of milk fiber, a likely reason why it isn’t more widespread. b: Can be blended with other fabrics like cotton, silk, and cashmere to give it different characteristics.”

So far it sounds good, but I’ll have to say it can’t be too eco-friendly. Especially since it takes 100 pounds of skim milk to make 3 pounds of milk fiber. And not to mention all the chemical necessary to process all this stuff. And I am all for natural fibers, but I’d hate to see them use all the milk from the cow just to make yarn. And who knows how these cow are treated anyway?

Besides all that, it’s also rather expensive yarn. Cascade Yarn ran a test on some brand name yarns that claim to have milk but was instead made with acrylic. Here’s some of what they found from their test:

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Another fruit that produces fabric is pineapple. Well not from the juicy fruit part, but from the leaves.

Pineapple fabric is an eco-friendly and sustainable because the plants are a renewable and natural resource.

100 % pineapple (leaf) fiber is lightweight and stiff. Some describe it as similar to linen but softer than hemp. This fabric is called piña, it’s Spanish for pineapple.

Main producer of pina comes from The Philippines. For Filipinos, piña clothing is usually reserve for wedding attire such as “Barong Tagalog” shirt for men. The colors are naturally white or cream.

Anne Harte gave a neat description of how families process pina fabric with the Textile Society of Hong Kong newsletter.

Ms. Harte describes the extraction process as being done by hand.  The material is scraped from the pineapple leaf by using a broken plate or coconut shell.

These are usually done by families who get their pineapple leaf from the island or imported from Hawaii.

The number of pina weavers are limited so these fibers are expensive. So they usually blend the pineapple fiber with cotton or silk.

The resulting fabric is very soft and lustrous. I have yet to see any pina fabric for sale locally. I’m sure it would make the perfect summer outfit.

In the meantime, when I do cut up that pineapple, I’ll be sure of think of it’s contribution to pina fabric.

Photo from Wikipedia.  Pineapple leaf being scraped by hand  with a broken ceramic plate.

There’s been a recall of radioactive metal tissue boxes sold at Bed Bath & Beyond. The “Dual Ridge Metal Boutique Tissue Holder” were sold at select stores from California to New York. Wonder how many were bought as Christmas gifts?

The company reports many were sold at the southern California locations and some were sold at four stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The OC Register reports that the metallic-blue tissue boxes sold in Orange County may get their color from radioactive cobalt 60.

The Cobalt 60 is suspected to have been fused into the covers during the smelting process, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The products allegedly arrived on Dec. 27 in a shipment from India.

A radioactivity detector operated by the California Highway Patrol went off when a truck containing a shipment of “Dual Ridge Metal Boutique tissue boxes” went through a weigh station.

Here’s what the EPA has to say about Cobalt 60:

“How can cobalt-60 affect people’s health?

All ionizing radiation, including that of cobalt-60, is known to cause cancer. Therefore, exposures to gamma radiation from cobalt-60 result in an increased risk of cancer.

Because it emits such strong gamma rays, external exposure to cobalt-60 is also considered a significant threat. The magnitude of the health risk depends on the quantity of cobalt-60 involved and on exposure conditions:

* length of exposure
* distance from the source (for external exposure)
* whether the cobalt-60 was ingested or inhaled.”

With the gray rainy days, it was perfect weather to stay in and do some knitting. And so I was thinking of making a diagonal stitch hat. But when it turn out to be a bit too big, I turned it into a baby vest instead.

It still has to be blocked, which is to wash and stretch into shape. Could possibly fit a 12-18 months old.

This is the first baby vest I knitted without any pattern. It was fairly easy but I just don’t know of any baby that could model for me. So I guess it will have to sit for a while. Maybe until my cousin’s baby is old enough to wear it. And that will be in no time!

Once I got to the arm I stopped and knitted the front and back side separately.  I then connected the shoulders via Kitchener Stitch Grafting.

Knitting note: Casting on 90 sts, knit from bottom up. 45 sts in front and back. Size 7 circular 24″ needle. The bottom section is knitted with diagonal stitch and top section is with Gartner stitch.

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My cousin had a new baby boy and I thought booties would make a nice gift. It’s also good for me to take a break from knitting and practice my crochet.

The yarn is wool blend and the brown color makes for a perfect pair of winter boots. Next time I could add white trimming on top.

The free pattern was from Red Heart Yarn can be found here. Other free patterns available at Lion Brand Yarn too.

Since the crocheting was going so well, I decided to try the “popcorn stitch”. So I made this with some extra red acrylic and brown cotton yarns. At first I was thinking of making “strawberry covered cupcake” but then thought it looks more like a basket of red roses! Guess it’s all in how you see it.

How to make the Popcorn stitch: Chain even # of stitches loosely. Popcorn: 5 dc in next st, drop loop from hook, insert hook in first dc of 5-dc group, draw dropped loop thru st, ch 1 tightly to secure.

For a panel of popcorn stitches do the following:

Foundation row: 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook. 1 sc in each ch across row, turn.

Row 1: Ch 3 (count as first dc); *skip first st, *popcorn in next st, 1 dc next st, rep from * across, turn.

Row 2: Ch 1, 2 sc in first dc; *skip next popcorn, 2 sc in next dc, rep from * across, ending with 1 sc top of turning ch, turn.

Rep Rows 1 and 2 for pattern.

Instead of fabric softeners, I was using the blue plastic dryer balls with rounded spikes for a while. I practically grew up with Bounce, but after realizing how much chemicals was in that stuff I’ve switch to dryer balls.

I used the blue ones for a few years until they started to fall apart. The noise factor was also very loud. It sounded just like tennis balls being thrown around the dryer.

So I switched to these from Joanne’s sold at $4.99 for two. This one doesn’t make any noise. But it also doesn’t remove the static cling too well.

And the folks at Treehuger had this to say, “(PVC) material the supposedly “nontoxic” dryer balls are made of is one of the most poisonous plastics ever created, posing great environmental and health hazards in its manufacture, product life, and disposal.” They were talking mainly about the blue ones made by Nellie’s.

There are also these PCV-free dryer balls but a bit costly at $25 and not to mention the fragrance stick is additional $10. I know I am not going to spend $35 on dryer balls.

After looking at this for a while I came upon people talking about wool dryer balls which are more budget and eco-friendly.

The wool dryer balls absorb moisture from the clothes and separate them to make drying time faster. It’s also suppose to remove static too. And very eco-friendly since it’s from natural wool fibers.

Photo from Amazon. EveryDay Willow Set of 3 Organic Wool Dryer Ball Gift available for $19.95. Still a bit too expensive! The best way is to make it yourself. Spinning Alpaca Yarns has a DYI and it came out looking very nice. I will have to make some of these soon with some 100% wool leftover yarn.

I’m also thinking of using wool from some sweaters I’ve felted and wrapping them with the wool yarn. Hopefully will get to do it soon and post my review later. As for fragrance, I’m thinking of adding a few drops of essential oils in the wool dryer balls before putting them in the dryer.

Bananas aren’t just for eating as they also give us fiber for making yarn. Well not exactly from the fruit, but from the stalks and shoots of the plant. According to Textile Exchange, banana plants have long been a good source for high quality textiles around the world. With Japan and Nepal leading the pack.

The fibers come from the banana stalks and shoots. As the outermost fiber are more coarse, it’s used for making ropes and mats. But the inner part is much softer and used to make fabric.

In Japan, some traditional dresses like kimono are made with banana fiber. It’s lightweight, comfortable, and perfect for summer time clothing. With the fabric being similar to rayon and bamboo.

In Nepal they process their banana fiber to become as soft as silk. They use the outer aged and decaying bark of the banana plant. An eco-friendly way of using all parts of the plant. The pulps are extracted and processed then hand spun and hand dyed into colorful yarn.

Photo from .  A skein of banana silk yarn in blue.   I can imagine a knitted soft and silky scarf with this yarn.

200 grams at $13.85 from Yarn Market.  More info:

“Frabjous” means joyful, excellent, fabulous, and these are definitely the terrific feelings you’ll get when you create with heavy-worsted “Banana Silk.” Handspun from the readily renewable banana stalk, “Banana Silk” is similar to rayon in terms of softness & sheen but keep in mind that some of the profits go to support fair trade women’s cooperatives in Nepal. “Banana Silk” is spectacular knitted & crocheted into hats, shawls, scarves, bags & more.”

Next post… fiber yarn from Pineapple. Not the fruit either, but the pineapple tops. Once processed, the material is similar to linen, however it is softer and more lustrous. Stay tuned!

Reference notes: Textile Exchange

There’s comfort food and there’s comfort knitting. Both will be sure to keep you warm and happy.

I had this book for a while and finally decided to knit something from it. It’s from the yarn maker at Berroco. The designs and patterns are inspirational and photos are nice too.

I was thinking of making the “Floret” afghan. It requires 9 squares. So far I have one that I’ve used to cover this pillow.

With the 1 square done it’s 8 more to go! Plus I might decide to use different yarn as this was knitted with Lion Brand Yarn 100% acrylic, machine washable, super soft 4 ply worsted weight yarn. The bobbles are suppose to be in the center but it’s barely visible with this yarn. Maybe natural cotton yarn would work well. Someday I’ll have to try Berroco yarns.

It will take a while to knit afghans because they are large. The Floret has a combination of cables, ribs, and bobbles. And with complicated patterns it could take a while to finish. Or at least keep you interested too. Nothing gets more boring then knitting the same stitch after stitch.

Materials:

Yarn required is Berrocco Comfort* (50% super fine nylon, 50% super fine acrylic) 100 grams, 9 skeins.
Needles: 1 set of dpn size US 8 (5mm) and 16″ cn needle US 8. Cable needles, stitch markers, stitch holders.

Berrocco comfort is split- and pill-resistant, worsted weight yarn is perfect for afghans, kids things, and other easy-care items. 16-ply allergy-free yarn is ideal for babies and adults. Machine washable.

Since knitting isn’t exactly much of a work-out, I am starting the new year by getting more exercise into my life.  So I’m hoping the Wii Fit Plus is my virtual answer to get moving.

The Wii was actually an early Xmas gift.  I was using it consistently but got a little busy during the holidays.

My Mii in the pink shirt, bright eyed and ready for training! And M’s Mii is falling asleep.  There is also Kitty, my pet mii.

Working out with the Wii Fit games for just 30 minutes a day is easy and it doesn’t feel like work at all. I can already tell how much stronger I’m getting already.

And when it’s too cold to go outside for a walk, just play Wii Fit and you’ll be warm in no time.

So far I really like Yoga and aerobic games. My favorites Yoga poses are Half-Moon,  Warrior and Tree.

These activities really does bring out the kid in you! Running is also neat because the scenes remind me of all the best outdoor parks in California without having to go there. Just remember to stay hydrated.

On a side note, I also love that I can stream Netflix ($7.99 per month) on my Wii. Still the movie choices are not as great and the video quality is not consistent.  Probably due to the Wii console as Netflix streams fine on my computer and mobile devices.

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It’s an interesting state we live in… at least the sharks are happy.

This is jut a partial list for the new laws in California:

- Vehicles are now also explicitly forbidden from crossing double parallel solid white lines, commonly found in carpool lanes on highways.

- A new adjustment to sobriety checkpoint regulations now prevents authorities from impounding vehicles at checkpoints when the driver’s only offense is failing to hold a driver’s license.

- Repeat offenders can have their driver’s license suspended for 10 years if they have been convicted of at least three DUIs.

- Electric vehicles must be plugged in for recharging when parking in an EV-designated space.

- Open-carry citizen handgun ban.  Violators pay $1,000 plus 6 months in jail (misdemeanor). Californians can still apply for concealed weapon permit, but that is hardly given out easily.

- Children under the age of 8 and shorter than 4’9” to ride in a car seat or booster seat.  The fine for a first offense is $100 and $250 for a second offense, but penalty assessments will push the cost of that ticket to $446 for a first offense or over $1,000 for a second offense.  Wonder how the parents and kids feel about having booster seats for their 8 year old?  The fines are really  high.

- Internet Sales Tax.  Out-of-state Internet retailers must collect California sales tax on transactions if the retailer has a presence in the state.  Effective Summer 2012.

Others include banning shark fins from being sold or eaten.   And schools must teach about the contributions of gays and lesbians to American history.

Note:

Combined from CBS Sacramento News.

Photo of Shark fin soup from wikipedia.