Gathering up donations for our local Goodwill store, I came across my colorful collection of tank tops - my daily wear in Hawaii - not used as much anymore. Despite the fact that they were quite threadbare and holey I was still hesitant to throw them out. They were perfect boro-boros for bathing the dogs, washing my car . . . yeah, right, they gotta go.
I took a deep breath and cut off the cute little buttons from the Henley-style placket. (You never know when you might need cute little buttons.) I was almost to the garage door to toss the tops into The Man's rag bin when I thought to myself, "I bet I could make something with this stuff."
Well, sure, why not?
I looked at a few online tutorials about how to cut a continuous strip of fabric from t-shirts then I cut a long ½-inch width strip, cutting in a circular shape to avoid sewn seams. I was making t-shirt yarn: tarn.
I got out my Mason-Dixon Knitting book and started knitting up the Dizzy Rug pattern with the tarn I had made.
It didn't take me long to realize the problems with making a rug with my tank top yarn: It took forever to cut the ½-inch strips and the cutting made my hands hurt, the pattern called for 3 lbs of tarn, the little bit I made weighed an ounce, and lastly, I was leaving little purple pilly balls everywhere. Everywhere.
One day, there may be a Dizzy Rug made with t-shirt yarn in my future but not today. My little pile of tank tops will be recycled and added to The Man's rag bin. It won't be wasted.
