Working with Nature --

I am pleasantly surprised. Not shocked, but there's not a lot that shocks me anymore. I've come to expect the best and the worst from those of us living on this planet. It's all the stuff that happens inbetween that intrigues me and impresses me.

So imagine my pleasantly surprisedness when I found some great yarn (in my favorite yarn and fabric store) which was made from BAMBOO. I've now finished my first product from it, I am so completely satisfied with the yarn that I can't wait to get my hands on more of it.

Still, it takes me a bit to wrap my brain around the whole idea. I mean, we start with this:



(minus the dog)

and this:

(the above photos were stolen from http://www.bamboogarden.com/)

and end up with a product like this:

The benifits of using bamboo yarn are numerous.

1. It's a completely renewable resourse. Even the hard cored, left handed environmentalists will be happy. The bamboo can be harvested without destroying the plant itself, leaving the plant to continue growing so that it can be harvested in another 6 months.
2. By itself, it is completely biodegradable.
3. Has the ability to be dyed by 'natural dyes'. This is better for the evironment. (And until this point I had not given much thought to unnatural dyes that are harmful to the environment being used on other types of yarns. Hmmm.... food for thought).
4. Bamboo yarn has natural anti-bacterial properties. (Great news for me working in a day which involves wiping a lot of snot and being sneezed and coughed on regularily throughout the year).
5. Bamboo also has natural ultra-violet light protective qualities (perfect for that full body protective sun-suit I'm thinking of knitting)
6. Bamboo is softer than silk. (This I can personally attest to. My fingers were happy little fingers while working on my first project)
7. Bamboo has a beautiful NATURAL luster.

This is my first product with this great material. Soft and silky against the skin.... This is my new favorite invention since peanut butter.

I look forward to showing off future products.

All is of course not perfect in the real world. This is true of bamboo yarn as well. The one downfall that I have been able to research is that it does absorb water and expand when soaked in water.

But as always in my life, when life gives me lemons I do try to make lemondade. In this case I'm thinking: Asset enhancing swimwear for both men and women.