This is EXACTLY How to Unravel a Thrifted Sweater for Yarn

[@psc1939]

As someone who likes to knit, crochet and recycle, I think this is AWSOME!!!! Thank you for sharing!

[@Lisamakes]

You are so welcome!

[@marieradi-nahas767]

I was going to ask you about the washing part but you touched on it in the last minute of your video. Growing up I used to help my mother with unravelling any yard - longer process than yours. First the yarn would be wrapped on one arm (between the thumb and elbow), tie a piece of yarn at both ends of this big loop. She would soak the loops to release the kinks, then air dried, and last but not least I would hold each loop between two hands and she would roll the yarn into a ball. 😊. A lengthy process but this was what she used to do! Thank you for showing how to unravel store bought sweaters. I yet have to find in a thrift store a sweater I love in order to try to unravel it your way and knit it. Love all the sweaters you knit. ❤❤❤

[@Lisamakes]

@@marieradi-nahas767 sounds like a wonderful memory! I hope you find something soon to unwind. 😍

[@marieradi-nahas767]

@ I hope so too. It will be a fun experience.

[@barbarawallace6890]

I remember doing this with my mom, too.....sitting on her bed and listening to the radio while I held the hanks of yarn and she wound them up into balls ❤

[@Lisamakes]

Such a lovely memory.

[@bogdem9610]

I’m currently knitting a sweater with reclaimed yarn from a cashmere sweater. I have the same philosophy as you - too many garments are being produced and if I can reuse yarn, save it from landfill, save myself some money, etc. makes total sense to do so. Even though I’ve unravelled multiple sweaters you did teach me a couple of tricks. One was finding the v (knitted) thread with the bar (purled) thread for easier unravelling. The second was unraveling directly onto the ball winder. Game changer. I normally don’t steam out the kinks and like you found it usually doesn’t matter. However, I knit an all over ribbed hat from reclaimed wool yarn and I did find the stitches didn’t look as even, even after blocking. I think if the hat was in stockinette that would probably have allowed the kinked yarn to smooth out more.

[@Lisamakes]

@@bogdem9610 I’m so happy to hear this! On my last unwind I really tried to analyze exactly how the unraveling happens so that there is less guesswork. Hence the title of the video! Thank you for sharing that you also see the value in reusing yarn. :)

[@annettecowburn-sz8cq]

I would never have thought of doing that with a shop bought sweater. I've done that with a me made sweater, but wow. Food for thought.

[@Lisamakes]

Glad to have given you a new idea!

[@elenabeyers2088]

Thank you for a closer, clearer look at this.

[@Lisamakes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@zsnider6560]

Thank you! I'm working on a Rivendell (Sari Nordlund) sweater right now in reclaimed cashmere yarn. Re: steaming/washing: my sweater is made from five strands of yarn held together (from three laceweight/cobweb-maybe sweaters I unraveled). in the case of such fine yarns I do recommend steaming the frogged yarn before using it because it makes it much easier to wrangle the five strands into a single yarn for knitting with. Tensioning is much easier. I get my sweaters from thrift stores for an average cost of $5 each, and so I have to work with what I can find locally, and finer weight yarn is usually what I end up with. I agree that if your original sweater is fingering weight or heavier you really don't need to do the extra washing or steaming step to get a wonderful result. Your daughter is SO LUCKY!!!

[@Lisamakes]

@@zsnider6560 amazing! I was a tester for the Rivendell- such a great design. I totally agree that for finer threads you would need to steam. I haven’t been brave enough to try that yet. $5 is fantastic! Woohoo!

[@kathrynrogers4079]

If I don’t use a lot of the yarn in my stash before one of my daughters sees the situation I’m in , I will be asked to take mental competency exams. I will unravel and reuse yarn one day but it will be a while before I can join in this worthwhile approach to sourcing yarn. Thank you for another helpful video.

[@Lisamakes]

Ha ha- I hear you, Kathryn! I’m actually thinking of selling some of my older stash. There are some that just really aren’t “Me” anymore.

[@kathrynrogers4079]

@@Lisamakes thanks for creating a 'safe space' to talk about my yarn problem :)

[@Lisamakes]

😆😆😆😘

[@patriciazander2072]

Reminds me of how we opened a large dog food bag in the old days, that was sewn with twine along the top!

[@Lisamakes]

@@patriciazander2072 yesssss! Totally! I remember that, too!

[@petapendlebury9024]

You've given me a memory of picking potatoes back in the 70s and my Dad 'sewing' up the full weight bags like this with a hand held device of some kind. I'll have to ask him!

[@Lisamakes]

@ that’s awesome! I love it when something sparks a memory like that.

[@Wreinie]

Love this! I appreciate the concept of use, not waste :D Thank you for sharing!

[@Lisamakes]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Linda-m1p]

OH this is soooo good and helpful. I have watched videos before about using reclaimed yarn and unraveling but your close up and the discussion of the "V" really helped me to understand it better. I have tried to do this before but was not successful. I am going to try it again with this new knowledge. Thanks so much!

[@Lisamakes]

Glad it was helpful! I do think understanding how the sweaters are sewn together makes all the difference. Good luck!

[@ninaspalace]

How satisfying a process! Now looking for cashmere sweaters.

[@Lisamakes]

So glad to hear it!

[@guylainegodin8367]

Thank you, your video was very informative and fun to watch… I just discovered your channel and I find it very interesting and friendly… I am from Quebec… my English is not great but I can follow you quite easily… Do you have a Ravelry account?

[@Lisamakes]

@@guylainegodin8367 merci beaucoup! Je suis née à Montréal! My Ravelry name is lisatoronto and the link is in the description. ;)

[@bluegrassdreams2seams510]

Amazing! I was wondering if you might reuse the cuffs. Thanks for sharing. I will be on the lookout for something I can use❤️

[@Lisamakes]

I do! I have a hat in cashmere where I used part of the waistband for the brim, and also a cardigan when I just reattached the original cuffs. Works brilliantly!

[@barbiec4312]

This was interesting and satisfying. Thank you very much.

[@Lisamakes]

My pleasure!

[@NadineTouzet]

I recently made a whole jumper with very kinky super wash yarn I unraveled from a failed project. I was so cross with myself after I completed the new project, because it looked so weird, but after one wash in cold water and minimal spinning it came out perfect, like from new.

[@Lisamakes]

So glad to hear it worked out!

[@wrldvw1836]

Very interesting. Definitely something to consider

[@JessicaGerretsen5]

I love these video's and am curious if you have tips on how to choose the most workable thickness. I have found a '2 ply' cashmere sweater on Vinted but am wondering if this is incredibly thin (like lace/cobweb). Love from Haarlem, the Netherlands

[@Lisamakes]

@@JessicaGerretsen5 hi there! Yes, for me, two ply is too thin. Mostly because I would have to combine so many threads that it would take more than one sweater to complete a garment project. That said, people do it, for sure! I tend to look at the photos and just the thickness- can I see each stitch? Are there cables, which usually mean thicker yarn? That kind of thing. It’s a bit of a search, but there’s lot out there, and more every day.

[@JessicaGerretsen5]

@Lisamakes very helpful, thank you

[@diamantina2609]

Hola Lisa, te escribo en español para que practiques 😂 soy argentina y vivo en suiza hace 30 años. Aquí todo es muy caro. Encontré una chaqueta tamaño S/M (yo uso L/XL) y me puse manos a la obra! Recuperé 900g de Cashemere. Mi sorpresa fue mayor aún cuando descubrí que eran 2 cabos. Uno fino y otro más grueso. Pensé que iban a ser muchas hebras juntas, pero no! Eran 2 tipos de i-cord uno de 2 puntos y el otro de 4. Yo lavé el material porque estaba apelmazado (conoces esa palabra?) el Cashemere floreció maravillosamente. Es un color hielo que me gusta pero no va con mi complexión, pero no me importa. Lo tengo en madejas para ver si me animo a teñirlo de alguna manera. Si pudiera te mandaría una foto de los i-cords. Todavía no me lo creo! Sigo muchas podcasters en inglés para practicar y me gusta mucho tu contenido, también el de costura, donde estoy queriendo probar algunas cosas. Gracias por todo de ❤

[@Lisamakes]

Vaya! Increíble! Me encantaría ver un foto! Puedes enviármelos por Instagram?

[@diamantina2609]

@ Hola Lisa, te mandé fotos por IG. Las recibiste? Las mandé al Mail, no sé si te llegaron. Saludos

[@emilycummings3125]

I'm in the middle of unravelling 3 cotton sweaters to get the cotton yarn. The colors worked well together and I thought it would be a fun experiment. I'm not sure it is cost effective for cotton! It's still thrifty and reusing but the amount of time invested vs cost of new cotton probably makes it not really worth it. Still, it's been a fun experience.

[@Lisamakes]

@@emilycummings3125 very cool! For me, the time isn’t something I worry about- I consider it part of my knitting practice, like looking at patterns on Ravelry, or choosing colour palettes of yarn for projects- not directly knitting, but part of what I love about the craft.

[@emilycummings3125]

@Lisamakes the first one took me three or four days of several hours a day but I think it is smaller than fingerings weight. It's very cute and has a nice texture to it. I lost a lot of fiber to air fluffs and I should have worn a mask but the sweater I'm working on now isn't so fluffy.

[@PoptartParasol]

You can alao say the same for the act of knitting itself. Why spend a week, a month, or even a year working on a blanket/sweater/scarf when I could just buy it? Its all about perspective and whether you're having fun with the act of knitting/raveling/etc or not :)

[@emilycummings3125]

@PoptartParasol good point.

[@IArtIdinaMenzel]

I'm having an issue where the yarn unravels in two strands that chase each other across each row. Has anyone seen this before? Any advice on how to manage? Thank you!

[@Lisamakes]

Yes! I have had a sweater that was like that. It’s a slower process- you just have to go back and forth and wind by hand. My favourite sweater that I knit came from a sweater like that - it’s worth it!

[@anynimus1617]

I did recently buy a thrifted cardigan for the yarn, but ended up throwing the whole thing away as the yarn ended up being too brittle and fragile. Wasted a lot of hours on this. I certainly won't be attempting this again.

[@foleyjp1]

You need to add that the cakes of yarn need to be put into skeins and soaked to get them to relax from curly spaghetti. Then re-wind into cakes for a really great result and tension.

[@Lisamakes]

I actually don’t find that to be the case! I’ve never gone to that step, and my tension and results have been great. I think it’s more a question of preference.

[@maxx6050]

👍🏽

[@mightbebatman3659]

I guess id just wear that sweater rather than unraveling it.

[@Lisamakes]

@@mightbebatman3659 that’s cool, too, and I gave my daughter that option.