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.

F.O.: Recyled Cashmere Sweater Scarf

This scarf began as an argyle cashmere sweater, a gift from my mom that I loved, but was unfortunately stained and starting to pill. The flecks of brown and pink in the scarf come from the argyle pattern. Because it is cashmere, it is super soft and smooshy. But you could make a similar scarf using any sweater you have lying around that has started to lose its luster (due to pills, moths, or general wear).

To make this scarf:

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.

(I forgot to take pictures of this process, but I may create another one and provide pictures for these instructions).

One sweater should produce 4 balls of yarn, enough yarn for a skinny scarf.

Materials:

- "swarn" from one cashmere sweater
- size 19 needles
- darning needle

Cast on 8 stitches.
Knit in garter stitch (knit all rows) until you've used up most of your yarn (leaving enough to cast off). Slip the first stitch of each row to create a nice selvedge.

To join balls of yarn, just knot them--the fabric is bulky enough that the joins will not show.

Cast off.
Weave in ends.
Stretch the scarf gently to extend the length.

Wear everywhere.

Addendum to below

One of us couldn't wait:

T-shirts work well, too. I looked at several sets of directions listed on Recycled Into Yarn, and then tried this technique:

Step 1: Cut off the bottom of the t-shirt, below the underarms. Cut off the hem too.

2. Fold the tube of fabric from one side to the other, overlapping except for about one inch.

3. Starting at the bottom, cut strips about 1/4" wide up from the bottom, stopping about 1/4" from the top.

4. You'll end up with something like this. Now, this is the tricky part: Starting on the left, cut the very first loop up near the top. Then, cut the next loop diagonally from right to left--you'll always move from right to left. (e.g. from loop 3 to loop 2, loop 4 to loop 3, and so on).

5. Wind into a ball, stretching the "yarn" as you go so that it rolls in on itself. (This worked for the t-shirt, but not the flannel pillowcase I also attempted.) Voila! T-shirt yarn!

We'll documents our strategies for sheets on Monday. This should be more of a challenge, because frankly my wrists got sore after cutting up three t-shirts. I'm thinking ripping is the way to go!