Small changes

Since reading Ecoholic, I am making a few small changes which I hope will have a positive impact. I have turned the dial on my washer to cold water wash and rinse for all loads. I have made the laundry soap that Heather posted about. I am only putting out my garbage can for emptying every two weeks, and even then it usually only contains one grocery bag of garbage. And I have made my first menstrual pad, loosely following the instructions on the bloodsisters site. When I printed out their instructions, the template looked huge, so I used one of my usual pads as a template. I drew around it for the top towelling layer, folded it in half and drew around that for the two bottom pieces, and just "winged it" for the wings! I bought a towel and a flannel pillowcase from a thrift store (for 25 cents each) and had the snaps in my sewing box already. The photo above shows the result, which I think will work perfectly. Now I just have to make a few more.

And now for a total change of topic - knitting progress. I found six matching balls of yarn at the thrift shop, which is a bonus as often they only have odds and ends. I decided to get away from hats for a while and make a seamless yoke sweater, referring to Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Around for the percentages for a child's sweater. This one will probably fit a two year old when it's done. I'm up to the armholes on the body and have started knitting the first sleeve on dpns. I'll be glad when I'm done ribbing the cuff!