Spring organisation

2 ways

to

re-use before you recycle

One of the small, unexpected habits my family have learned through this last year involves a chalk pen and that survival spirit that kicked in around this time 2020.

Our store cupboards have been sustained with the incredible wares of local producers, and even more appreciated- their adapting to offer delivery to our door. We didn’t set foot in a supermarket till about a month ago. Till then, we ordered weekly veg, bread and dry goods deliveries, along with occasional cheese hampers, parcels of fresh fish, and various irresistibles.

The dry goods - from a local food co-op, all arrived in brown paper bags. This was delightfully satisfying to receive, and even more satisfying to decant and label in the glass jars we’d hung onto for airtight storage. Perhaps we invested a little more time into stocking-up with oats and pearl barley than the situation actually demanded, but with the world gone mad, and toilet-roll hoarding a big news-story, we could line up old pickle jars labelled ‘soup-mix’ and feel that some sort of order was being maintained.

Thus we embarked upon a year of experimentation with kale and sprouts and bulgur wheat. The deliveries kept coming, and we kept cooking, and soon our diets had changed. And the pickle and tahini jars got rinsed out and used to store an ever increasing range of pulses from Barley to Yellow lentils.

All images © Jane Spencer

Then these jars started to make themselves useful around the house too. Tidy up those draughts pieces? A Mayo jar does the job. Stow phone charging cables? A wide mouthed pickle jar is perfect. Small change loose in a drawer? A pesto jar will keep that for you- and you can see what’s inside.

I did finally chuck some jars in the recycling this week but it has been a long while since I did that.

TIP- buy a chalk pen for labelling directly onto glass jars.

Recycling T shirts

I have generated a fair number of scrap T-shirts in the process of making stock. When the screen printing rig is all set up, it’s a good idea to run through a couple of prints to get everything running smoothly before embarking on a job. I also create multiple samples in different colours, and sometimes things go wrong too. The result of all this is a steady supply of scrap Tees, which are kept in a box under my workbench till they literally fill up with print. I turn them inside out and use the backs, and eventually they go in a scrap pile. In the past I would take this to the tip where old textiles are collected to be recycled into new, but recently I’ve been trying to close the loop and use more of this resource myself. In part because some very happy accidents often occur and make beautiful unique prints.

Print over print over print over print…

Rotary cutter ribbons of jersey.

First I hopped on YouTube where someone demonstrated how to turn a T-shirt into a continuous ball of yarn with a rotary cutter and a rule. Just google ‘recycling a T shirt’ or similar.

Pompoms in the studio

Now I had my ball of jersey yarn, which naturally curled into a cord, and where there was a lot of print, looked a bit like a pretty ribbon. I made a couple of pompoms, it was close to Christmas and they made great decorations for my kraft paper gift wrap.

Next I KNITTED a tea-cosy. I haven’t photographed it because it’s not at all attractive, though it’s great at keeping my tea warm! I also broke a knitting needle with the sheer heft of the yarn, and got a dose of RSI. Plus, now we have a tea-cosy, what am I going to knit next?

Luckily, just as I was casting around for the next project, (watch out, pooch) I spotted a Crochet workshop, and signed up pronto.
https://www.heatherorr.co.uk/workshops

I’d never crochet-ed (?) before, I think my needle-ninja mum gave up after the pain of teaching me to knit.

Heather made the whole experience not just pain-free but fun and useful. Just a 90 minute session with a very specific goal- a crochet planter/ pen pot/ nest… All in the beautiful surroundings of Pot & Vessel, in Folkestone.
https://www.instagram.com/pot_and_vessel/

WIP and yarn

For when you have three eggs to store.

WIP

My first pot- made at Heather’s workshop.

I have now crafted 3 pots, and there will be more. However, along the way I’ve also started using my home-made yarn on the swing tags for my T-shirts. Such a small touch, but so satisfying.