Everything old is new again

 I've had these ubiquitous plastic patio chairs for years, quite possibly since they were fashionable as they were my mum and dad's before becoming mine.
They've been manky looking and covered in mildew and everytime we get nice weather like this I think about chucking them and buying new ones. Though something always stops me as apart from being unfashionable there is actually nothing wrong with them.
Are these chairs not the most popular in the world!
I've tried scrubbing them with washing up liquid blasting them with my neighbours pressure washer but to no avail.
I don't know why it's taken me about 3 years to think of it but today I thought I'd try bleach not something I use very often as I prefer more environmentally friendly cleaners but boy did it work a treat. It even doesn't involve scrubbing as i kind of painted it on left it to work and rinsed off and voila a perfectly shiny patio set.
I think use of a wee bit of bleach is allowed when you think of the environmental impact of throwing away plastic chairs with nothing wrong with them and now I can sit and knit outside hurrah!!

 I think I may have to knit my lovely chairs one of these now. Melanie Porter's knitted chairs

Here's another example of eveything old being new, this little sewing box was handed into Resonate Arts House and I love looking through old sewing boxes, they seem to store so many memories but also so many useful things. All the bits n bobs here will come in useful for our textile club on Tuesday Mornings 10.30 - 12.30 or our knitting group on a Wednesday morning 10 - 11.30. You can keep up to date with these on my Facebook page.

The Lyric "Everything old is new again" comes from Barenaked Ladies by the way.

On my wooly high horse...

On Saturday I went to the Scotland's Knitting Only Show. I've been the past couple of years and it's a great fun day out. Held at Perth Racecourse it's £6 to get in which includes a free cuppa, fashion shows, talks and hands on demonstration areas. There's 2 floors of stalls. A lot of machine knitting stalls selling bits of equipment I have no idea what you do with (note to self - must phone the lady who's volunteered to show me how to use my knitting machine) but also handknitting too.

What I love most though is the spirit of the event, it's organised by The Scottish Machine Knitters Group not by some large company only interested in the profit they're going to make from ticket fees, stall holders fees and cups of coffee. Most of the stall holders were small businesses, many from the local area, and the organisers are present sharing their enthusiasm and knowledge.

I was particularly taken with Artisan Threads the owner Gill explained to me how she sources her yarns from British sheep and arranges for them to be spun in Britain. I thoroughly agree with her that we should be thinking about the story behind our yarns. Can a yarn that has been exported to be spun then brought back to Britain for sale really be helping the British economy?

In my work I only use yarns that have been discarded or recycled. I like to think that by not buying new I am doing my small bit to preserve the earths resources for future generations. You might wander how a ball of wool can make a difference but the wool is reflecting what happens in all areas of the textile industry. All fabrics are made from some form of spun yarns or threads, these are made into clothes and exported all over the world it can be very difficult to follow the story of manufacture to ensure environmental and ethical principles are good.

Loom waste yarn I bought from Artisan Threads can't wait to knit it up!

Thats why I think it's important to either use up the resources that have already been produced, instead of sending them to landfill, or ensure that when you buy something you know it's story all the way through.

I'll get off my wooly high horse now but I'd be interested to know others opinions too.