Al Gore has been all over the airwaves recently proposing a challenge for America to eradicate the use of fossil fuels by 2018.  I’m picking up what he’s putting down. It’s like dealing with that friend who’s always late by telling them to meet you 15 minutes earlier than when you plan to arrive.

Alternative energy is the top priority of the environmental agenda, and rightly so. It slightly dwarfs the significance of making snow globes out of baby food jars. However, after we all start driving electric cars and installing affordable solar panels on our roofs, more intense focus will turn to how stuff is made, and I think green crafting is worthy of a slide or two on Mr. Gore’s next Power Point presentation. That is, if we can get his attention.

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I’m happy to report that Friends of Socktopus found a viable alternative. Handmade from recycled sweaters, these adorable soft toys are an imaginative use of an abundantly unwanted article of clothing. In their shop, you’ll also find sweater monkeys and owls, alligators…even kits to make your own.

Be sure to sign up for the “I’m a Friend oF Socktopus!” Sweepstakes on their website, and you’ll be entered to win a Deluxe Socktopus or your very own.

Today, felt is a cheap material that comes in many colors. Mostly used for kids crafts and plushes, not all craft felt found in big box craft stores are 100% wool. Most are made of some synthetic fiber blend such as acrylic or polyester.

So what to do when you want to use felt in your projects and not use fiber made from plastic? There are several options to green your craft project and feel good about your materials:

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Or maybe I should speak just for myself. My name is Skye, and I collect craft books. My collection is very small when compared to some people’s (hello Jessica, are you reading this?), but it contains books for quilting projects that I likely will never undertake. Celtic knot applique using bias strips, crazy landscape piecing techniques, etc. It’s like I have a fantasy craft life that is totally divorced from my real craft life, which is mostly concerned with making baby quilts for other people’s children.

Now I’m branching out into non-quilting books as well. One of the books that is about to add itself to my collection - note the use of passive voice to imply that it’s not my fault - is the eco-fabulous Second Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater by by Anna-Stina Linden Ivarsson, Katarina Brieditis, and Katarina Evans.

I know that getting books from the library is the greener option, but at some point the Austin Public Library is going to get sick of me having their book out all the time and want a few words with me.

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eInsider

I did have a couple of bones to pick with the article, but there were also quite a few good things that were new to me.

First, the Green Quilts Project, founded by Susan Shie, encouraged quilters to make quilts from 1989 to 2004 to send healing energy to the Earth. I had never heard of this effort before. I also didn’t know about Mountain Mist’s Eco Craft batting, fiberfill, and pillowforms, which are made from corn fiber.

The Aurora Silk website offers natural dyes and great tutorials for using them. And it was good to see a mention of Betz White’s delicious recycled wool sweater crafts and her book Warm Fuzzies, which always make me want to buy every wool sweater within a 10 mile radius and start felting them.

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Debbie told us:

Another way to "go green" with knitting is to recycle yarn. I've been going to the thrift stores and buying wool sweaters to unravel for use in making hats and other warm clothing for charity. It does take some time to do, but it is strangely satisfying to unravel an entire sweater. There's a nice tutorial on how to do this at Neauveau Fiber Arts (among several other sites).

What a great tip - using existing resources to make something new. Plus, that link really does give a step by step! Then Sandra told us:

Recycle wool sweaters - I've done this for years…buy wool sweaters at thrift stores and, deliberately, felt them in the washer/dryer. I use the felted material to make laptop computer covers/holders, tea cozies, tea/hot pads and loads of other useful items.

There are some instructions on how to felt here, but the basic idea is that you put 100% wool sweaters into hot soapy water in the washing machine & repeat until you've got the texture you're looking for. The only thing we don't like about this is the hot water usage…it uses a lot more energy than cold water. Of course, hot water is necessary for felting, so if you're going to do it, make sure to adjust the water level appropriately and do multiple sweaters at once for efficiency.

See V's blog for the "Recycled Sweater Blanket Project" and even more detailed instructions on how to felt. She recommends:

Felt the sweaters in the washing machine by placing them in zippered pillow cases (i put 2-3 sweaters in each case) and washing them in hot water on high agitation for 4-8 minutes. Check the progress of the felting after 4 minutes and pull them out when they’re done. Don’t let them go through the spin cycle, or they’ll get all creased. I hosed them down in the shower and then chucked them in the dryer on high to get them nice and fluffy.

Great tips, ladies! Old wool sweaters have a second chance to live an extra long life.

Rebecca says: I would have never come up with these tips were it not for our readers. Please share your tips with us, and you just might see it on an upcoming Tip o' the Day!

Photo credit: E Journeys' Flickr

Treehugger reminded us last year about Jimmy Carter's famous February 2, 1977 speech: Report to the American People on Energy, and we've been waiting for a good moment to bring it up. On that day almost 30 years ago, Jimmy Carter had been in office for 2 weeks, and was broadcast on television in a cardigan.

His advice then remains to be good advice today. Here is an excerpt from his speech:

We must face the fact that the energy shortage is permanent. There is no way we can solve it quickly. But if we all cooperate and make modest sacrifices, if we learn to live thriftily and remember the importance of helping our neighbors, then we can find ways to adjust and to make our society more efficient and our own lives more enjoyable and productive. Utility companies must promote conservation and not consumption. Oil and natural gas companies must be honest with all of us about their reserves and profits. We will find out the difference between real shortages and artificial ones. We will ask private companies to sacrifice, just as private citizens must do.

All of us must learn to waste less energy. Simply by keeping our thermostats, for instance, at 65 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees at night we could save half the current shortage of natural gas.

There is no way that I, or anyone else in the Government, can solve our energy problems if you are not willing to help. I know that we can meet this energy challenge if the burden is borne fairly among all our people–and if we realize that in order to solve our energy problems we need not sacrifice the quality of our lives.

We encourage everyone to wear sweaters and slipper socks when indoors this winter, in hopes that we all can lower our thermostat a little, even if it is just one degree.

Rebecca says: Here in Miami we've had a very warm winter, just two weeks ago I was kayaking in my bathing suit. However last night we experienced one of our chilliest nights all season. I'm proud to say that by sleeping with 3 shirts, pants, and 2 pairs of socks I was able to avoid putting on the heat. Living without heat is unreasonable in most of the country, but each degree less does make a difference.

Transcript, Jimmy Carter Speech 2/2/1977