June 1, 2005
Even More Unraveling
At the risk of exposing myself as a less-than-sane person (this must come with the knitting blog territory), I present to you the results of a weekend spent unraveling.
Last week I unraveled the Old Navy sweater. That was cool. It was like getting yarn from nowhere! a little work - and yarn! I was hooked.
This weekend, I took it up a notch. Since I don't have any more spare sweaters of my own to unravel, new sweaters had to be procured. You know where this is going, right? It means taking a trip to the thrift shops and purchasing sweaters soley to unravel them for yarn.
Based on the troubled looks on the faces of my family when I explained my intentions, my sanity was in question.
But check it out! More yarn, rescued from oblivion!
This was a cardigan-style short-sleeve top. Its 272 grams of ribbon-like yarn, 100% polyester. I am thinking about the Honeymoon Cami or Grumperina's Trivoli T-shirt.
This was a cabled front cardigan from Talbots. It turned out that the front edges were cut, but the sleeves and back were usable. 265 grams, very soft wool, sportweight. I am planning to dye this, not sure what color yet.
This was a yellow Mr. Rogers-style sweater. It was very fine gauge, so I doubled the yarn while unraveling. 186 grams, wool.
This was a red version of the Mr. Rogers sweater. It was particularly annoying to unravel. The other sweaters had easy crocheted seams. Basically, you could pull one thread and the whole seam came undone. This one had some sort of super-strong never-to-be-undone seam. I used a razor blade and carefully cut the seam. It was a very meditative, first-thing-in-the-morning type of activity. That being said, I am not sure I'd opt to do it again.
Its lambswool, really soft, and a nice red color. 190 grams. Destined for gloves with flapovers I think.
Comments (12)
Ah! So jealous! I just went to Goodwill over the weekend for the same reason and found nothing besides crap! Maybe you just have a better eye than me. :)
Posted by Tara | June 1, 2005 9:54 AM
Posted on June 1, 2005 09:54
Very resourceful and not even a tiny bit insane. We would never consider thrift store shopping for yarn to be at all questionable, in fact, I rather think it's genius. I can't wait to see what you end up using your "new" yarn for.
Posted by Stephanie | June 1, 2005 10:34 AM
Posted on June 1, 2005 10:34
And a whole new avenue of stash enhancement opens before you...
Posted by Colleen | June 1, 2005 10:45 AM
Posted on June 1, 2005 10:45
What can I say... a quick and painless and very cheap way to have yarn for new projects! I'm about to put away my winter sweaters (will summer finally come and stay?), and there's a pink one in there dying to be something else - I'm going to follow your lead! Looks like you found some great colors and yarns, too. Cool!
Posted by grumperina | June 1, 2005 11:00 AM
Posted on June 1, 2005 11:00
Wow, aren't you productive. What great additions to your stash!
I have a few sweaters lined up for unraveling one day. Some haven't been worn!
Posted by Adele | June 1, 2005 11:08 AM
Posted on June 1, 2005 11:08
You scored! And you aren't crazy at all.
Posted by Purly Whites | June 1, 2005 12:22 PM
Posted on June 1, 2005 12:22
You are so awesome and I don't think you are crazy. Talk about Reusing! Good for you. I know I have a few sweaters in my closet that could probably be unraveled, but I don't think I have the patience for that like you do. You definitely ended up with some beautiful yarn. I think you should make the Honeymoon Cami with that first yarn.
Posted by Dani | June 1, 2005 1:36 PM
Posted on June 1, 2005 13:36
Wow! I'm impressed! Good for you! Someday I'll do the same... when I've knit through some of the stash that my husband just discovered (he was shocked!).
Posted by marichan | June 1, 2005 2:27 PM
Posted on June 1, 2005 14:27
You're giving me inspiration- I really do need to sit down and unravel the outrageously oversized Rowan jumper that hasn't been worn for about 5 years...
Posted by Clementine | June 1, 2005 6:21 PM
Posted on June 1, 2005 18:21
wow wow wow. that's some gorgeous looking hanks you got there. what a great way to recycle fugly sweaters. wow.
Posted by winnie | June 1, 2005 7:40 PM
Posted on June 1, 2005 19:40
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I don't think you're insane at all. It looks like you got some nice yarn from the unraveling!
Posted by caitlyn | June 1, 2005 10:13 PM
Posted on June 1, 2005 22:13
That is way inspiring. Look at all that yarn potential energy. Good for you. ;-)
Posted by Jenny | June 1, 2005 10:36 PM
Posted on June 1, 2005 22:36