My husband and I are both creative. I’ve got two tall cabinets full of yarn and other crafting bits. He’s got a kit for building a bass (the instrument, not the fish) sitting waiting to be opened by the front door.
I think of him as more artist than me. He can draw and paint pictures that look like real things. And he loves to personalize everything. He thinks he’ll turn around and sell the bass for a profit. I’ve yet to see true creativity make a profit in our family. Sometimes we get the money back that we spent on supplies, if we are lucky. He’s already talking about abalone inlays and mother of pearl. But just because it costs money doesn’t mean we don’t do it. For people like us, creating is like breathing. When you feel like you can’t create because of money or time or space or people it suffocates you.
He loves to detail things. I think he’d pinstripe the refrigerator if I let him.
I, on the other hand, like to do more crafty things because I have more confidence in my ability. And I can make practical things with yarn that people appreciate. (I know, I know, now you want pin striping on your fridge and dishwasher. I’ll give him your number.) My clever mom and thrifty grandparents and also inspire me to upcycle. It’s difficult to throw things away because you might need them someday. But my dear husband, being neater than I, and wishing for some living space unlittered with yarn, begs me to just throw things away!
So today, when I saw several large T-shirts in the trash, I ignored them. Even though there was a lot of fabric that could be used for rags or something, I let them go. Heck! I even pealed a rotting nectarine and put the peel on top. I washed Bug’s hands and face and threw the wet paper towel right on top to discourage me from second guessing myself or my husband. Until…
Well, you see… He works nights, sometimes very late? And usually if we text each other he says things like, “Go to bed!” Or, “Get off your phone and go to sleep.” Or “You had surgery a week ago, you need to recover. Go to sleep!”
Which is true. I had my gallbladder out a week ago. I am pretty sure I was still doped up in the hospital when he asked if he could buy that bass kit. I do need sleep. I missed naptime yesterday because I had some computer business to attend to that needed to be done not near a two year old. And today I missed it because even though I laid there for 45 minutes with my eyes shut, I was too wired to sleep.
Anyway… I know he’s dying to get into that box by the door that came right after he left for work today. I texted him before I got into bed tonight asking him to please wait to opening it until he wakes up tomorrow morning because he needs rest, too. He said he would.
So I was just check in my messages on my phone before going to sleep and then I was somehow led to Pinterest. I recently started following more crochet boards, then Wham! A brilliant idea in the form of an infographic showed me this!
Pinterest had a rug made out of scrap tshirts, crocheted together. I had to try it! Which meant I had to get them out of the kitchen trash. And cut them. Fast, before the hubs gets home. Because he would say, “Let them be. Go to sleep.”
But this idea is so easy, and colorful, and bright! It makes me happy. It reminds me of grandma’s bread sack rug she kept in the kitchen and ours that we always took camping. I always wanted to make a rig like those, but my attempts failed. But I knew I could do this one! And so I grabbed those colorful shirts and a pair of scissors and I quickly Googled how to make tshirt yarn. I found a great video.
Now I’ve got a ball of tshirt yarn. I’ve cut stretched and rolled the bottom halves of four cut up shirts. I put the top halves back in the garbage to make it look like I ignored them. (I know, it’s silly!) The yarn ball is in my closet, and the fuzzies are wiped off the bed.
I really want to try this, but I’m making myself wait until morning. It just wouldn’t be fair. Of course, I was going to wait to write up this post until the morning too. But I’m just too excited. in the picture it looked like they used embroidery floss, which added a pop of color. But I’m thinking crochet thread or scrap yarn.
I’d say trash to treasure, he’d say trash to trash. I know it doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t try to hide it. I guess I kinda like being a little sneaky sometimes. Of course, today might be the first time he actually reads my blog.
Well, I’m operating on lack of sleep right now. I’ve gotta practice what I preach and hit the hay. I promise to share the rug as soon as it starts taking shape!
Mama Shauna 