Hobbies

I've picked up crochet again or I guess at all since all I made when I first learned it was how to crochet doll slippers.

The thing is, is yarn (not that nasty polyester stuff) is expensive particularly if you need more than one skein. I was trolling the Internet and saw a page talking about "upcycling" yarn. What you do is go to thrift stores and buy sweaters made from the type of yarn you desire.
Last year I bought a couple of angora sweaters and made hats from them.

Since sweaters are a bit harder to find, I've been collecting a ridiculous number of 100% cotton sweaters in all sorts of spring colors. I have yellow, pink, blue, aqua, light gray, red, and white sweaters just waiting for me to sit down and unravel them.

It's actually relaxing and very mobile so I can do it when I'm waiting for something else.

The only problem was I didn't know how much yardage I reclaimed from a sweater- which can be a problem when you're trying to plan the next project.

Enter the "Niddy Noddy"! It's a stick think that I wind the yarn around while counting how many "laps" it makes over the Niddy Noddy. Knowing how tall the Niddy Noddy is and how many "laps" the yarn took lets me calculate how many yards I have in each color.