Sustainable shower gifts

So, how many baby showers have you been invited to recently? And how many more will you go to this summer? You know it’s the season, and you know you need a gift.

All you handy knitters and crocheters out there, take note: Beautiful, unique yarns made from recycled and sustainable ingredients are in abundance, and in happy colors (and neutral tones) sure to please mama when she wraps her little bundle in the blanket that you made from them.

Check out these Web suppliers of eco-friendly yarns:

www.recycledsilk.com—features brightly colored, Nepalese recycled silk yarn; banana silk yarn; and handspun hemp and nettle yarn.

www.ozarkhandspun.com—lovely handspun, organic yarns made in Missouri from sheep and goat wool.

www.mangomoonyarns.com—recycled silk yarn, recycled viscose (used to make rayon) yarn, and hand-spun yak yarn are among Mango Moon’s offerings.

www.zanzibartribalart.com/RecycledSilkYarn.htm—fairly traded, “rangy changy” (“colorful”) yarn made from recycled silk by a Nepalese women’s collective.

www.darngoodyarn.com—offers premium recycled-silk yarn, Hippy Hemp Crunchy Yarn, and “The Blender”—a “lightly spun,” rainbow-hued, recycled yarn that can include “whole pieces of silk tied together.”

Before heading to the Web, check out Heart Strings Yarn Studio (1909 Esplanade). This locally-owned shop features recycled silks, eco-friendly wool (some from local sheep!), and organic cottons (available in variety of colors) great for baby gifts (in addition to many other socially-conscious products that help support the good work of nonprofit organizations). Heart Strings (www.heartstringsyarn.com) also conducts private lessons and group classes. Open Monday-Saturday.