This used to be a cashmere sweater... or two

Here's another recycling project. I used two old cashmere sweaters that had holes, fit issues, etc.

I made them into yarn, using the same method as used for the scarf I posted last month:

1) Lay out your sweater flat.

2) Cut off the body underneath the armpits, and make yarn using the same technique as my t-shirt yarn.
3) Cut off the arms, and make yarn out of those in the same way, cutting horizontally across the arms much like the t-shirt tube.
4) For the remainder of the sweater, cut in a spiral, creating one long strip of fabric, starting at the outside edges and going around the neck.
5) Wind "swarn" into balls.

Two sweaters yielded nine balls of swarn. (Four for sleeves, two larger ones for each body, two for the yokes, and one from the turtleneck of the yellow sweater.)

Then, I cast on approximately 300 stitches on a 17" circular needle, joined in the round, and knitted. I started with a small gray ball, and then just alternated yellow and gray as I went along. Then I cast off. Easy.

Voila! A smooshy cowl.

Free Pattern: Greywacke Cowl

Greywacke is a thick, chunky cowl inspired by sedimentary rocks composed of feldspar, quartz, and clay. They are commonly found in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and England, where a cowl like this would usefully shield you from the wind and rain.

Materials:

Yarn: Approximately 300 yards of bulky weight yarn, held triple-stranded. Shown in Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky (85% wool/15% alpaca; 100g/141yd per skein) in Grey (above) and Cascade 128 (100% wool; 100g/128yd per skein) in natural (#8010) – below.

Other options: Cascade Magnum, Twinkle Soft Chunky, Classic Elite Aspen or any super-bulky yarn, held single-stranded.

Needles: Size 19 circular

Notions: stitch marker, yarn needle for weaving in ends.

Gauge: Not crucial, but approximately 1.5-2st/inch in Greywacke stitch pattern.

Pattern:

Greywacke is knit in the round, using a simple pattern.

Cast on 48 stitches using long-tail method.

Optional: To make the twist (shown in the cream colored version), rotate the first stitch one full turn around the needle.

Place marker, and join to work in the round.

Knit 1 row, then begin pattern, which is a 6 row repeat:

Row 1: *k1, p2; repeat from * to end of round

Row 2, 4, and 6: knit

Row 3: p2, *k1, p2; repeat from * to end of round; end k1.

Row 5: p1, *k1, p2; repeat from * to end of round (you'll end with a k1, p1).

Repeat Rows 1-6 until cowl measures approximately 8” in length.

Bind off.

Finishing

Weave in ends. You may also spritz the cowl with water and toss it in the dryer for a few minutes to make it softer and denser.