How to Turn a Thrifted Sweater Back into a Ball of Yarn

I try to make sustainable choices in my life every single day. The act of knitting your own garments is very sustainable and takes away the demand from the world of fast fashion. However, not all yarn is good for the environment! I'm not perfect and will still occasionally knit with acrylic or an acrylic blend, but in the effort to make better choices, I started turning old sweaters that I bought from the thrift store back into a ball of yarn! I am excited to use this yarn for a future product. Not only is it good for Mother Earth but also for my wallet. I now have a sweaters quantity of 100% lambs wool that I bought for only $12.99!
I hope you enjoy this tutorial I made and would love to see future projects you make with your reused yarn!
Follow along on instagram @brookwillow_

[@Ruth-tbk]

Great video! I know how to do it, but it was still so much fun to watch!

[@brookwillow]

Thank you very much ☺️

[@carolinarios2994]

I really want to try this !!!

[@brookwillow]

Oh you should!! I made the Favo sweater by Fiber Tails with the yarn from this and it was a very fun experiment!

[@Mitty_Na]

Thank you so much, ma'am, you're a real one🫡

[@jacquelinewillson4232]

So well put together- I loved your video! I also live in Japan and I see teapots like that all the time and I have one but I do not use it for making my tea! You have inspired me to try.

[@brookwillow]

Aww thanks that means a lot! I love using the teapot for a day that I know I'm going to be home for a while and drinking several cups! It keeps it nice and warm too 😊

[@aeastman59]

I found a cardigan in a thrift store made of 100% wool but its fair isle style with lots of colors.... the cardigan shape is dated so I wanted to take it apart and have all the colors in balls to make a new fair isle sweater but I am a bit overwhelmed when I look at it... seems like alot of colors to try to separate....but its a great idea! what can beat paying 12.00 for 100% wool yarn to make a new sweater!!!

[@brookwillow]

That sounds very ambitious but would be totally worth it in the end!! I love the idea of giving the sweater a new life 😊

[@YoungfolkKnits]

That was fun!

[@brookwillow]

Haha thank you! I thought it would be fun to try something outside of the normal podcast 😊

[@Jenjursnap]

I've always wanted to do this!! Still hunting in thrift shops for the perfect sweater to unravel and create something new. Do you typically wash the yarn before you knit with it to get the kinks out, or just wash/block the finished object later, or both?

[@brookwillow]

I definitely feel like I got lucky finding this one pretty quick! I’ve seen people give the yarn a bath before they wind it up into a ball but I was kinda lazy and wound it right away 😂 but I do have experience frogging entire sweaters and re knitting them and it was just fine especially after blocking. The yarn straightens back out when it’s wound into a ball!

[@michellelockett6518]

Great idea especially getting a mans sweater as there will be more wool 👍

[@brookwillow]

I don’t know why I was so surprised with how much yarn I got out of it. But obviously going to be a lot since it’s a men’s size xl!