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Megan Foster (left) and Erinn Simon (center), both of Burlington, take a green knitting class with Rachel Hooper at The Bob bin Sew Bar and Craft Lounge in Burlington Jan. 17.Photo by Lynn Monty

by Lynn Monty

Rag rugs knitted together to soak up Vermont's January thaw can contain yesterday's hottest fashions, reams of dated fabric that sat in the sewing room for decades or denim strips from baggy jeans. And it's not only rag rugs. It's anything a creative mind can knit together.

Taking the old and making something new with a pair of knitting needles is a passion for Rachel Hooper at The Bobbin Sew Bar and Craft Lounge in Burlington. Along with her pal and co-owner, Gyllian Rae Svensson, they offer an abundance of eco-sewing classes designed to help people take materials out of the waste stream by tapping into creative energy.

Green knitting class participants Erinn Simon and Megan Foster, both of Burlington, learned sustainable ways to knit with Hooper.

The first order of business was to begin "breaking down" materials straight away. Recycling materials is an affordable way to get crafting materials to use, Hooper explained. If that idea isn't green enough on it's own, the act of ripping out knitted material is called "frogging." Get it? Rip it. Rip it......

Read more at -  http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100124/LIVING09/1240304/The-Bobbin-promotes-green-knitting-in-Burlington