FabMo – RePurposing Designer Fabrics and much more

Recently a woman from FabMo in Palo Alto, CA contacted me about their organization (about to be come a 501(c)3) and I was really intrigued. They are a charitable organization that collects designer fabric, carpet, and wallpaper samples to be repurposed, or upcycled, to benefit local churches and schools, other charitable works and even for personal creative use.

It’s mission is to help their community by reducing waste, creating art and hopefully raising money for some worthy causes.

Wouldn’t getting kids involved in this be a great alternative to having them sell wrapping paper and candy bars on the street? YES! Not only would it help raise money for schools but it could teach kids valuable skills such as sewing and creating art.

If you are local they have distribution sign up days for a week or so every month and you can find out about that here.

There will be an exhibition this October.
FabMo Art Exhibit October 24, 2009 Menlo Park, CA

If you are a business that ends up with such crafty scraps consider donating to this great organization or if you are a charitable org that is looking for fund raising consider checking them out!

Since I am in the Bay Area myself I am most tuned in to things like this from around here. Are there organizations such as this in your area? Tell me about them!

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Beautiful people and beautiful sweaters combine in Lasse L. Matberg’s Viking Knits. The book includes more than 40 Scandinavian inspired knits for men, women and children featuring textured stitches and colorwork.

Matberg is known as The Viking and has worked as a chef, naval officer, fitness instructor and model, as well as being on a couple of reality TV shows. He comes from a long line of makers and his book was first published in Norwegian in 2021 and has since come out in an English version.

The book is divided into sections including everyday sweaters, knits for the great outdoors, stylish knitwear, Norse sweaters and accessories. Some of the patterns use the same designs in different versions for men, women and children. I counted seven projects rated for beginners, 19 for intermediate knitters and 17 for experienced knitters. The more difficult patterns tend to have allover colorwork or stitch patterning.

The pattern stitches and colorwork are shown in charts, with a little bit of text to tell you how to make the garment. Most of the book is sweaters, but there are also hats (sometimes coordinating with sweaters), scarves and a couple of sitting mats.

You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry. Some of my favorites are the more basic ones, such as the Power Sweater, a close-fitting (sized for men) ribbed sweater; the Heart Sweater, a raglan with allover lice stitch; and the Midsummer Sweater, with textured stripes and a henley neckline. I also like the Breeze designs (there are versions for men, women and children) that have colorwork diamonds on them.

Sizing on the garments varies, but there are six sizes for the men’s patterns (noted as small through XXL and then Lasse sized), six for women (XS to XL) and three for children (age 2-4, 6-8 and 10-12).

The yarns used in the book aren’t available in the United States but you can find suppliers here if you want to use the same yarns. Otherwise the book gives a lot of details about yarn content and gauge so you should be able to find good substitutes wherever you live.

If you have Norwegian or Scandinavian heritage or just like the look of cozy textured or colorful sweaters, this book is a lot of fun, and the eye candy is pretty great, too.

About the book: 192 pages, hardcover, 43 patterns. Published in English in 2023 by Search Press. Suggested retail price $29.95.

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