How to Recycle a Sweater for Yarn

When you have a knitting habit, funding it with new yarn can get expensive. But you can often get high-quality yarn from already-knit sweaters you may have at home, or can buy from thrift stores.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sweater
• Sink or dish tub
• Mild laundry detergent
• Towels
• Manicure scissors
• High-backed chair
• 3 yards of waste yarn

1. To unravel a sweater sewn in pieces, turn the sweater inside-out and locate the edges of the seams that have been sewn together. Using manicure scissors, gently cut the seams apart without cutting the yarn that makes up the knitted fabric. Clip a strand of yarn at the very bottom of the hem and begin to unravel. As it unravels, wind the yarn around the back of a chair.

2. Identify a sweater knit in the round by turning it inside out. If there is no place where the two seam edges are visible on each side of the sweater, it has been knit in the round. Clip a piece of yarn at the hem of the bottom of the sweater and begin to gently unravel it. The yarn will unravel all the way around the body. Once you reach the armpits, discontinue this process and unravel the sleeves one at a time. Once the sleeves are completely unraveled, you can finish the rest of the sweater.

3. Take your looped yarn and locate the two ends. Unravel the loop just enough to tie the ends together without disturbing the rest of the loop. Take 5 to 6 inches of waste yarn and weave through the yarn loop's width 2 to 3 times and tie. Do this twice more at different locations of the loop.

4. Select a dishtub, deep sink, or other large vessel. Squirt in some mild dish soap, woolite, or other gentle detergent. Fill with cool water, approximately 70 degrees F. Make sure your detergent has dissolved in the water. Gently lower your looped skein of yarn into the water and soak for 10 to 20 minutes. Pull out and rinse in cool water until suds are gone. Squeeze gently and hang in a dry environment. Drying takes 2 to 3 days.

5. Wind yarn into a ball. If you have a ball winder, place the loop on it, cut the waste yarn and untie your ends. Then, wind up the yarn. If you do not have a ball winder, drape your loop around a chair back. Cut your waste yarn. Untie your ends. Begin with one end and wind into a ball.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are looking for a specific fiber content, be sure to inspect the garment labels. Inspect the garment. If it has a few holes, unraveling it shouldn't pose too much of a problem. Large holes or large amounts of holes means a lot of breaks in your yarn, and could be a reason to give this sweater a pass. If you are looking at a wool sweater, inspect it for signs of felting. Felting means that the sweater has been washed vigorously, resulting in fibers locking together; it will be next to impossible to unravel. One way to check for this is to take a piece of the sweater in your hands and gently stretch it. If the stitches separate and there is a nice amount of stretch in the garment, it has escaped felting and can be unraveled.