Dec 30, 2013

Unravelled

What is it about the close of one year and the beginning of a new one that inspires so many of us to turn to housekeeping?  I spent a couple of hours yesterday organizing my clothes closet ~ one pile to donate, one pile to discard, and one pile to recycle ~ and for us knitters, recycling takes on a very specific meaning.  That's right, I'm planning to unravel these sweaters to re-use the yarn.



While some of you may cringe at the thought of my unravelling these sweaters, I'm feeling pretty stoked and inspired to knit with these yarns again.  In order, from top to bottom, these sweaters are my Sea Pines pulloverGray Day pulloverCaramel cardigan, and Beacon Hill cardigan.

Yes, I've decided to unravel four sweaters which translate into many hours of knitting time and many yards of yarn, but these pullovers and cardigans have been languishing in my closet over the last few years because they're either too large or too small.  



So, as I say goodbye to 2013, I'm welcoming the new year with a renewed energy toward my knitting and blogging.  As one of my goals for 2014 is to be more economically creative, being able to recycle these sweaters' worth of Cascade Cloud, Cascade 220, Berroco Vintage, and Patons Classic Wool is getting me off to a great start.  I wonder how many of you plan to do something similar?  I'd love to hear about your recycling projects.

9 comments:

  1. Very brave and realistic organization. The state of our office is like a sore thumb, one that I avoid.

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  2. Good for you! It's a tough decision to make, but I admit I'm in a similar state of mind. Have one nearly finished cardigan and one nearly finished afghan heading to the frog pond, because I'm so underwhelmed with both. Finally came to grips with the fact that it's better to frog them and repurpose the yarn than finish them and cringe every time I see them.

    Perhaps a "refocus" KAL would be in order? Just thinking out loud ...

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  3. I've done this plenty of times. Even though it's really not, it feels like free yarn! Looking forward to seeing what these become :-)

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  4. I have so much stuff I need to go through, thankfully (or not!) I have way too much yarn waiting in my stash to be knit the first time around to think about unravelling any projects to re-knit ; )

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  5. I think good on you....if you aren't using them, then reuse the yarn....although I've frogged several things, never a completed sweater...

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  6. What a stellar idea ! I love the idea of recycling old knits I never wear, and now that I think of it, there's at least two in my cedar chest which could be recycled. By the way, would you like to knit some legwarmers with any of your sweaters you're frogging? I have a pattern I would love to gift to you ! :) Happy New Year Evelyn ! xx

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  7. Brilliant idea! Make that yarn work for you--after all, you did spend money on it at one time. :) I wish you a happy and healthy New Year and look forward to all you have to share with us in the coming year!
    xoxoxo
    PS: Hope you like The Shining-- King creeps me out too much to read him. :)

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  8. You are taking unraveling to a whole new level! Great idea to reuse the yarn and make something that will be loved and worn. Frankly, I need to follow your example and do the same.

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  9. It's so great that you're going to get a second life out of that yarn. I have a major spring cleaning to do in my closet, too. I was considering unravelling one sweater to re-knit something I'd wear more, but maybe I should consider unravelling a few. One good thing about undoing a sweater's worth of yarn is that you can be fairly certain you'll have enough yarn to make another that fits you. Good luck in your upcoming year of creating and re-creating Evelyn!

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