Shortly after I learned how to knit I read about how one could recycle a sweater for the yarn. Sweet! Cheap yarn I thought! I went to the Salvation Army and picked out a sweater I thought would be good for recycling. Huge, an XXXL, and 100% cotton. It was all cream colored and pretty nice. I took it home and gave it my best shot. Which failed pretty miserably at first. I wasted so much yarn that first time around. I still got enough to make into a sizable bath mat. I used the pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting (what a great knitting book).
After a whole lot of trial and error over the last three years, I’ve been able to get the recycling of sweaters down pretty well.
Here is what I do:
First you need to pick out a good sweater. Larger is better as it will lead more yarn of the same type and color. I try to stay away from cardigans because it’s just more seams to take out. Anything with lots of color changes is out. My favorite is something that is a natural fiber (cotton, wool, cashmere) and has minimal synthetics in it. It is really personal preference. Look for what would be easiest to unravel and what you would like to knit.
I’m just going to assume you are going to take my advice and go with a pull over, so you will start with the collar. Find the bind off edge. Don’t use scissors. In fact, I’m going to make that really clear DO NOT USE SCISSORS. Seriously, it will make your life miserable in short and long run. As soon as you do it, you will realize that it is a huge mistake. It will give you all these little short tangled strands that will suck your soul away… so back on track. Find the bind off edge. The yarn end will look like a little lump or a little end sticking out. It should be woven into the ribbing of the collar, go ahead and unweave it and the bind off edge should come unraveled pretty easily.
From there, take out the seams in the following order:
You will then have these pieces:
The arms are pretty straight forward, same as the collar, find the bind off edge, unweave the woven in end and wind it off. The sweater front and back are a little different. You will unbind the one shoulder, then the next, then the bottom of the neck edge.
If you have a ball winder, this is a great time to use it. Just slip the yarn end in and wind your yarn right up.
Look at all this great yarn I salvaged from this one sweater:
Another great use of sweaters from the thrift store is to felt them. Diane of the Crafty Pod talks all about it here in this great post she wrote up about it.
And that’s it for today. I am going to spend the rest of the evening updating green prairie fibers so check that out tomorrow around noon and I’ll see you all tomorrow evening here!
++ Kristin Roach ++
Lizzie says:
amazing! thank you for the tips!!
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Andi/MysticSpiral says:
What a great overview of yarn harvesting from thrifted sweaters. For those who haven’t tried it, be sure to take a really good look at the seams. Quality sweaters that are suitable for unravelling are hand or machine knit in pieces and then joined just as you would when handknitting a sweater from a pattern.
Some of the “bargain brand” and “box store” labels use machine knit fabric and then piece things using sewing techniques with an overlock machine (aka serger). Look closely at the seams inside any non-knit mass-manufactured garment and you will see that the inside edges are sewn with what looks like a zig-zaggy stitch that goes from the seam to the edge of the fabric. When you see this on a sweater, you won’t be able to harvest useful yarn.
I created a PDF sheet of ball bands that your readers are welcome to print and use. Since reclaimed yarn doesn’t come with all the useful info from the yarn labels. I used the direct link for the blog entry in the “website” field above rather than the more generic link to the blog.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
ReUseItNut says:
You have GOT to visit our website! I reuse yarn in lots of ways and combined with using the yarn from an old sweater is a perfect addition!Thanks!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:12 am
carolynswafford says:
Look at that lovely pile of red cotton yarn! It’s making me want to run right to the Salvation Army to look for a sweater! Looks great!
September 6th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Rachel says:
This is SUCH great information! Thanks for sharing it! I’ll be linking to this as well!
September 7th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Tammy says:
What a great idea. All I ever look for at 2nd hand shops is wool to felt, I never thought about cotton before - would be great for my washcloths. Thanks for the great idea!
September 10th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
That Girl says:
In college (before everyone and their brother was knitting) I would un-knit sweaters from the thrift; pear the yarn with a reworked vintage or original pattern; package in a bag with a sketch of the finished project; and sell it to the knitting shop in the bigger town need me. They couldn’t get them to the shop fast enough! I quit my job and bought a new, fancy sewing machine!
September 11th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Creative Mom Cafe » Blog Archive » Crafty Linking 9.12.2008 says:
[...] here’s an idea for that old sweater that is just collecting dust. You can recycle the yarn to make something else with it. Living in the south, we really have no need for sweaters but a [...]
September 12th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Skye says:
Hi there, I run the Carnival of Green Crafts at the blog Crafting A Green World. Could we link to this post in our next edition? Thanks!
-Skye
September 13th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Carnival of Green Crafts #5 : Crafting a Green World says:
[...] of Craft Leftovers put together an illustrated tutorial about Recycling Sweaters for Yarn: Shortly after I learned how to knit I read about how one could recycle a sweater for the yarn. [...]
September 18th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
RecycleCindy says:
What a wonderful recycled craft project. I’ve been trying to find a wool sweater at my local thrift store to do a project like this. Thanks for all the tips and instructions. Now if I could only find the perfect sweater to do the project…
September 18th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
The Mommy says:
I love this recycling yarn post! I found you from Crafting a Green World, and I’m so glad I did. I live way out in the boonies, and the nearest thrift shop is, like 2 hours away…but MAN does this make me want to take a drive!
September 25th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Sharon at Knot-Cha-Chá! says:
This is a great post! I’m glad to find someone else who is interested in recycling cotton in addition to the other more resilient fibers.
Your post is informative and the illustrations are very helpful. I wish you had written it before I tackled my own experiment in recycling cotton–a pair of striped, fine-gauge Liz Claiborne sweaters now destined to be oodles of socks.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Craft Leftovers » Crocheted Scruby Bumpy Face Cloth says:
[...] great face cloth from the yarn I recycled last month, this time though, it’s [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 9:28 pm