How To Unravel Thrifted Sweaters For Luxurious Yarn On A Budget!
Today, I'll show you how I unravel my thrifted sweater finds in order to get luxurious cashmere and merino yarns for a much more affordable price. I've been unravelling so many sweaters I actually built myself a little machine to help me! (I call it the unraveller)
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Engineering knits is a place for people who enjoy all kinds of vintage and antique crafts - from sewing to knitting, crochet to embroidery I like to try it all. I definitely have a preference for historical fibre crafts, and it is my dream to one day make an entire outfit from sheep to sweater. I hope you enjoy watching me and my favorite companion, Nutella, struggle through some fascinating projects!
Museum professional here! I love the pest management protocol! I don't see enough crafters taking the time and care needed to protect their collections. However, three days in the freezer is not enough time to kill adults, larva, and eggs. I'm assuming you don't have an industrial freezer than gets to -40 degrees C and are instead using a commercially available home freezer than gets to -18 or -20 C. Three days at -20C is enough to kill any adult insects that may be present on the item, but will not kill larva or eggs. Current pest management literature recommends items should be wrapped tightly in plastic and spend 1-2 weeks at -20 C to ensure insects at all life stages are killed. The literature then recommends a gentle vacuum to remove any insects from the fiber. Just wanted to let you know so you don't have any issues in the future!
Thank you so much! I always read a week would be enough for all insects!😰
☆☆☆☆☆thank you!!
what if you would use a microwave on a low setting? would it damage the yarn?
@@bugsart9234 My understanding is that microwaves don't kill eggs. And some synthetics can melt.
What a generous gesture on your part to participate to our education in this way. Thank you truly!
I grew up doing this with my mother.Sweaters were obtained from family members and friends. Sometimes she/we would knit new garment but mostly the wool went into floor rugs which my father made using hessian sacks as the base. He had an artistic talent and he made beautiful rugs. The wool was washed, dried and balled up just the same so this video has awoken lovely memories for me.
Would love to see some photos of the rugs your dad made.
@@tealwingz unfortunately none remain as it was a long time ago. He died in 1971 when I was 23 (he 62). The biggest sadness of my life as we were very close, had many things in common. This is nothing to do with his rugs but his desire was to see me qualify as a midwife, like his mother who worked throughout WW2 in this profession. It was my passion also and I loved my year training. I had done my final exams and just waiting for results….. he died a matter of a few days before the results came out. Poor mummy was devastated and I was in shock. Well, I had to drag myself up and continue working and help mummy through this sad time. I passed my exam and went on to specialise in NNICU. Mum came to live with me and my husband and 1st of 3 children in 1976. A happy, family life. Dad’s rugs were lovely, stained glass window designs, foliage and flowers, geometric patterns etc. I think the last ones he made would have been in about 1965’ish. I remember that he ‘upgraded’ onto canvas, ready cut , rugs….. more modern:). Of course with the advent of fitted carpets and easier to heat homes, the need for individual rugs declined somewhat but they are making a big comeback with new kinds of flooring and wooden floorboards being brought back to life. ( oooops, too much texting chit chat but happy memories are hard to keep quiet about sometimes). I send you good wishes from Belfast NI.
So glad you shared this! Very sweet.
i'd like to see photos of that too
Je o😊
Unraveled a $5 sweater dress from rainbow. My husband was like WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!? 🤣😂😂 I simply replied “thrifting yarn my love” 😍
cant beat rainbow prices 😂❤️
Men are so fun when they are not crafty! 😂
Don't you just love an idiotic question? 😬
@@madwhitehare3635 I mean, I think I'd be confused too if I walked into a room and my s/o was surrounded by a ton of yarn lol
Rachel Maksy floor goblin style, looking up at your partner with a half unraveled dress in your hands surrounded by ramen looking yarn.... jep perfectly normal nothing to see here !
Easy trick for mystery yarn: take a small length and take a lighter to one end. If it melts, it’s mostly synthetic. If it burns, it’s mostly natural fibers.
I was confused reading this. I thought it was instructions on how to get a mystery yarn, so I was even more confused and how you have a yarn but don’t know what it looks like
@@strxwbxrry_420 The OP probably has some yarn that they didn't know what they were made of. Maybe they bought the yarn a long time ago and didn't remember its composition, or maybe it's from a sweater whose label has been removed. Usually, if yarn burns, it is likely to be natural fibers. Otherwise, it is acrylic, polyester.
The smell tells a lot, too. The smell of burning wood or paper indicates a natural fiber. The yucky smell of burning plastic means a poly or acrylic yarn.
Love this tip! Thank you,
@@kristinjacobsen3417 wool smells more like burning hair (it's quite pungent). the way a fibre burns also tells something of its composition. Wool does not flame, and manmade fibres (polyester, acrylic, nylon) will curl and melt before it burns, if it burns (again, depending on the fibre)
Now I want to go out and buy a sweater just to take it apart😆
I purchased a cardigan to unravel it and at home I understood that I love it as it is, I would probably not be able to knit a similar wonderful cardigan so still wear it 😅
LOL - me too 😊
Me too, but that would also mean buying the winder and all since I don't have any of that. I do love the idea of recycling though.
same
@@elsadavis3871you don't have to have a yarn winder at all. You can hand wind it into a ball or you can search up a youtube video how to wind it up into a center pull cake I don't have a yarn winder and I'm just fine for years now
I did this with my mother. We only used wool since we lived in New Zealand. She would unravel sweaters around the top of the back of a dining room chair. Then she would steam it by putting it in a colander over boiling water. This only took a minute or too and the crinkles all came out. The wool did not felt. Lovely memories of every day life!
That's interesting! I know the trick of hanging the damp skeins up on a pole, running another pole through the skeins at the bottom, then hanging a weight on each end (a can of beans in a carrier bag) to gently stretch the wool out as it dries. Steaming sounds a lot quicker!
I will use the colander idea if I do this. Thanks so much for the idea
Thank you I will try it!
I thought you meant you unraveled your mom. I know that doesn't make any sense but that's how it sounded, and I was so confused and horrified for a split second.
@aspenisthebest 😂😂
I have a couple tips to add based on my experience working as an alterations/repair seamstress at a dry cleaners. First, finding the right end of chain stitch is hard, but not a really big deal - if you get it wrong, you can just go to the other end and no harm done. Second, the yarn used to seam commercial sweaters is an excellent source of mending yarn. Either for keeping aside for future needs if you are unwinding and reknitting, or if you have a commercial sweater that needs mending, you can undo a seam to get the yarn and just sew the seam back up with sewing thread.
A brilliant idea! Thanks.
Great idea to take care of my cashmere moth holes.
@@Faithingit Make sure you hold it up to the light to check for and reinforce weak spots too! Otherwise next time you clean it, more holes will appear in places where the moths nibbled but didn’t eat all the way through. And it’s much easier and neater to reinforce a weak spot than mend a hole!
I love the thought of someone seeing the unwinding machine work through your window and just seeing the fabric dancing away into nothing.
That sounds like the beginning of a book that would suck me in
Engineering Knits living up to the name! Cool contraptions and knitting! I'm in heaven 😁
Ideal engineering-to-knitting ratio
Right?! So cool!!
So I'm not crazy, that was a kitchen mixer was turned into an "unraveling machine".
The sweater you’re unraveling looks like it was a really nice one.
I hope you have filed for a patent for your machine!!! Congrats on your creativity and thanks for the video!
I really like how you show using basic household items to do this and not all the tools that many of us don’t have and can’t afford. Thank you! And I love your machine!!
Agreed knitting on a budge can be pretty difficult this helps alot
From one engineer to another, that unraveling machine makes my nerdy little heart happy.
My Grandma used to go to jumble sales or church bazzars to buy old jumpers or cardigans just to unpick and unravel for the wool .She also got blouses just for the buttons. 😘
WOW. I never thought about finding neat buttons this way. Thanks for posting and Thank God for your Grandma.☺
I have started to do that with bags taking off hardwear, zips, clips etc. Also buttons and yarn. Sadly yarn is getting very expensive so this is a great thing to do. Plus, and its a big plus...the search for potential gems where others may see it as just an old sweater! I'm off hunting tomorrow, wish me luck
@@chriscaine7689 Hope you got a good haul! I was once given a tin full of buttons from an old lady's house - it is full of the most beautiful buttons, especially old mother-of-pearl ones, some quite large. And a couple of tiny treasures too. So jumble sales and thrift shops might be a good source too. I also have an enormous collection of knitting needles from a similar source - sadly the old ladies who had them couldn't use them any more, and I've been able to use and gift them.
I found that knitting needles from thrift stores were very worn at the tips and did not slip thru the yarn stitches easily.
Is it possible to cover an old and rough knitting needle in a very thin coat of something like a resin (especially UV resin since it would be easier to keep it from running/dripping than an epoxy resin) to help restore the slippage of an old knitting needle? Or even sanding it very lightly, so as not to change the gauge, but still buff out those rough parts? I don’t knit myself, so I never even thought of this being an issue. That’s a really good point though! Would you say it is important for a beginner to buy brand new for their own knitting needles, to prevent any catching/other issues?
I have all these sweaters from my dad who passed. This will be a great way to make blankets or lovies for the grand and great grand kids
I remember sitting in my grans sitting room with my arms out so my gran could wind the wool around my hands as she unravelled old jumpers (sweaters) that didn't fit or were looking shabby, then she could reknit them into a new one. A throwback from ww2 clothing ration in uk
In conservation to make sure everything is dealt with we put pieces in the freezer for 2 week in plastic bags with tags on. That always does the trick.
☆ Excellent advice! Thank you!
I was so incredibly tuned in for the 20 mins of this video you have no idea. I was GLUED to the SCREEN
I remember when I told my mum that I wanted to learn how to knit, she went to the thrift shop and got me a stack of sweaters. That unraveling machine would have been so useful, we spent ages unraveling the sweaters.
YES!!! I have been doing this the last few years when yarn prices went up. It started with one of my favorite Calvin Klein sweaters that just had one too many holes, but I loved the yarn that was used. Now I have ventured to my local thrift that has a HUGE selection of high quality clothing. One day a week they have a special where it costs $2 to fill a big shopping bag. Imagine the possibilities!
Wow, thrilled for you!
Great tips, thank you for this video! Now all I need is a time machine to go back to all those moments in thrift stores when I've thought "hideous sweater, gorgeous yarn though!" 😄
When thrifting I look for knitted cotton throws. Oodles of yarn and it takes dye great. Love your tip about washing, it is my greatest fear, bringing home unwelcome guests.
I worked doing a costumed show in Hampton Court Palace once. We had to give them anything potentially alive (such as wreaths or rush baskets) for them to store in their freezer for 3 weeks before the shows. I store my winter woolies in the freezer. Ironing is good too.
My Mum thrifted jumpers from jumble sales and often dyed it to knit us school woo lies. Sometimes she would be up to 2-3am finishing sewing on the first day of school
Which country were you in, I thought this was only done in uk after the war.?
I feel like if you had a petal, like on a sewing machine for the unwinding machine so you could easily stop and start it, that would help with the two thread sweaters.
Great idea
In the middle of the video when you show the sweater being suspended to the window and the machine working with the little music: that was a Ghibli studio moment!! Sort of like the movie Arietti, Castle in the sky, Return of the cat. Anyway, it was very well done, informative and fun. Thanks
This was awesome! I love how innovative your unraveler is! For the yarn stitch memory, I remember reading in a how-to knitting manual from the 1940s (make do and mend!) that one could essentially block the yarn after washing it using a cutting board to stretch it out just enough to straighten it -- without overly stretching it, of course. Anyway, this is a great way of getting a sweater's worth of yarn on a budget, so thanks for sharing! I'll have to give it a try :)
While I've done this, I never had a method, so it was not guaranteed. Some good tips here to make sure of success. Untwisting the plies is sometimes hard because of felting but you've given me an idea of how to deal with that. While waiting for the washed yard to dry, just hang a weight on the bottom to remove the "memory". Your finished yarn is beautiful!
I’ve never sewn, knitted, crocheted, embroidered etc. anything in my life lol, but this video was entertaining! Watched the whole thing while making my coffee ☕️ I love the engineering of that homemade machine, makes me wanna learn to knit just to have an excuse to make cool gadgets
I love all sorts of gadgets!
Or find a knitting friend and make the gadgets for them! My uncle was very engineering-minded and used to make all sort of bits and pieces, like home-made grabbers or his own radio (this was in the 30s and 40s!). The unwinding machine is really cool.
knitting/sewing etc is just engineering with fabric really, if nothing else you should learn to patch a hole do a button and stuff
As someone who’s tried both knitting and crochet, I recommend crochet for sure! I actually do it almost daily, it really got cemented as one of my main hobbies. What I like about it is you can also make stuffed animals (amigurumi) with crochet, but you can’t with knitting as far as I know, so it’s more versatile imo. Also, for me at least, much easier
I agree with the other person. I love the look of knit item but crochet is my happy place. It's a lot quicker and I feel like it's great for a beginner to get into yarn crafts 😊 I found out I do not have the patience for knitting lol.
I just did this and struck gold with a merino and alpaca blend huge long cardigan!!! It's so soft! :) can't wait to turn it into loads of useable yarn.
fascinating! if you ever return to this topic, i’d love to hear more about how you choose sweaters to unravel, and how their quirks might effect the yarn. like - how do you know when a sweater might be worth your while (or not) other than fibre content and construction? does the yarn from the parts of the sweater that were slightly felted feel/behave differently? i don’t want to be that demanding audience member, this video is already super informative and your videos are great (thank you for sharing them!) this just really piques my curiosity lol
When I'm looking for sweaters to unravel, I skip ones that are felted. I don't like the look or texture of the yarn, and they're harder to unravel. I also skip ones that have embellishments like embroidery, beads, sequins, etc again because that makes unraveling more difficult/ not possible. If you're looking for more information, there is a forum on Ravelry called UnRavelers and a subreddit with the same name where I've found lots of good tips and helpful people!
Just to add to what's already been said, assess how fine the yarn is and whether you really want to use yarn of that weight. A lot of commercially produced sweaters are in extremely fine gauges, which you may or may not like. Either way, the finer the gauge the longer it takes to ravel a sweater and, in my experience, the more likely you are to get a lot of breaks or thin spots in the yarn. I don't really mind this since I have along term project going that uses whatever odd bits of yarn I happen to have left after finishing something else or ravel something, but it's good to keep in mind.
Speaking from my own experience, I once unraveled a sweater that was an open knit with a unique stitch pattern. I didn’t realize when I thrifted it that it was slightly felted. At unraveling there was more felting at the points where the yarn was touching (essentially where it rubbed on itself), causing more of that yarn memory as described in the video. I’ve had it wound up in a skein ever since then, but I’m now excited to try out some of the techniques mentioned to reduce yarn memory. Hopefully this helps. I haven’t actually knit with the yarn yet, but it was definitely an educational experience at the time :D
Also the yarn was at least partially a natural animal hair fiber and not 100% synthetic
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring ideas on unraveling. I have often seen thrifted sweaters and wondered how or if the yarn could be unraveled and reused. Now that I know what to look for and how to do it, I excited about finding the right sweater.
thank you so much for teaching me this! I have been stressing so much about how I was going to be able to give christmasgifts to everyone. I knew I wanted to crochet something, but especially this year the money has been tight. This is going to help me out so much, and I love the idea of making something out of old pieces! It gives the finished product a history, even more meaning☺ really, thank you so much!
I have unravelled a few things in my life. My solution was to bribe my son into balling one strand while I did the other. His favorite meal was always a sure thing. 😁
Oh my! Memories are coming, flooding back! My Gran and Mam would pull out old knitted garments. I can feel my arms aching just thinking about it!x
Me too, my Grandma would go to church and salvation army jumble sales just to get jumpers and cardi's for the wool ,she collected buttons from clothing as well.
Very ingenious! It made me think of the “magic” knitting in the Harry Potter movies. 🧙♀️😊
My grandmother used to unravel sweaters to make socks, etc. during the great depression.
Lately I unreveled a cardigan an wound the yarn on choppingboards,then made it wet and let it dry. The yarn was pefect straight when I wound it to balls.
I'm not much of a knitter, I crochet a little but I am interested in garment construction and repurposing. This was such an interesting video and I am in awe of your inventions! Fab work.
Congratulations! This all looks very very smart to me! We have tons of unworn clothes all over the World, so I believe your work answers more needs than just finding unexpensive yarn. You are so clever, you could make a company out of this. Excellent job! Hugs form Italy!
I fiured out how to do this as a kid. We had a spare room full of clothes that had been passed on to us through charity. I used to just cut the row near the top, and pull out all the stitches I had cut through, then you were away. It only wasted the tiniest amount of wool, but saved a lot of annoyance.
Your unwinder machine is very cool! I love it! Maybe having a second swift on the same take-up axle as the first, but the second is timed 5-15 degree behind the first? I don't know. It's pretty cool though. The hand mixer though LOL very nice!
You could also just tie the second strand to the “next” peg on the unwinder.
this was the best thing to ever stumble across my home page, I had a cashmere sweater that accidentally got washed the wrong way and basically lost all of its desire, but now I can use that to make better stuff!!!
How does cashmere lose its desire? Is it a case of fiber ED? Lol, wondering if it needs Viagra?
@@amywhaley LOL no, cashmere has to be cleaned a certain way so whenever I wanted my sweater washed my mom had to take it to the dry-cleaners. I don’t know how and why it’s like that, but all I know is after it accidentally got thrown into the washing machine it shrunk and was way more itchy than soft. I may be wrong in my facts but the sweater still wasn’t good anymore.
@@amywhaley😂
Just stopped in and liked what I saw. My un-ravel machine is my hubby and I sharing the pulling of the yarns out! I liked all the hints you gave along the way. I signed up to hear more.
I don't know *if* it will help, but once you have washed the yarn, try thwacking it against a hard surface (I use the edge of my bath). In spinning this helps redistribute the twist along the length and I think it might also help to straighten the yarn out a little more for you
Don’t folks also hang a weight from the bottom of the yarn?
@@coolcuban gillian eve has a video about this. I think it helps until you get the yarn wet, so can make it easier to work with, but would make the garment spring out of shape when washed/blocked
To straighten out the wrinkles we used to wind the wool around large’ish trays when damp, then leave to dry and then wind:).
@@christinenewell2679 ooh yeah, a niddy noddy!
Wow, your unraveller is amazing! I feel like it deserves a video of its own 🤩...and a patent!
When I hang the yarn to dry, I hook more hangers from the bottom on the yarn to reset the twist. Keep adding hangers, one at a time, until the yarn hangs straight with no curls and kinks.
I did this to a sweater i was gifted because i wanted to make something i would actually wear. I made a vest for my sister and still have yarn leftover.
Tip. Take the sweaters that are wool or alpaca. Cashmere. You can take and place them in warm water and it loosen it up. But if you can unravel first, then water it will take out the kinks from the kni.
Funny coincedence, i used to do that quite often with my old and trifted sweters, but had not done this for like 1.5 years, and last mont unraveld 3 sweaters that where left as separated panels. And now your video is motivating me to continue to unravel even more.
They are hard to find these daus
I love that when you needed a motor for your unraveler you turned to the electric hand-mixer and not the drill :)
You just gave me an idea. I bought a 16.00 small hand drill at Walmart now to make my own unravel contraption. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Good video.
I have a sweater that was a gift, something I couldn't return, but the sleeves are notably too short for me. However, I *love* the yarn and I've been wondering about the possibility of unraveling it. This was serendipity telling me I need to investigate. I'll have to check the seams to see if it's something I can unravel. Fingers crossed.
I’m so glad I found this video, never thought about this. I went to get yarn for a sweater and the yarn was not even that expensive but the total was going to be over 90$. I was like “wells I’m just going to be knitting with acrylic yarn the rest of my life” lol
I actually save the small threads from the seams for embroidery.
I am an old lady and have done that all my life; I am glad to see I am not the only "strange one". Isn't it so joyful to source interesting and unique material? Life is a never-ending treasure hunt, culminating in hours of fun, and beautiful things at the end. (I have also used shorter wool pieces for rugs). Happy and blessed new year with lots of great finds (maybe silk or cashmere)
About 4-5 years ago, I saw a video with a man who knits showing us how to unravel thrift-store knitted items. I've employed his methods and have come up with some very beautiful thrifted-transformations as a result.
I've done this but with my own sweaters or vests. sweaters that ended up loosing their form, the design is not of my taste anymore, or that I loved it when I bought it but somehow never wore it before realizing I liked the feel of the yarn more then the look of it.
I do this to my own too. I made a blanket but unravelled it and made it into a sweater with left overs for future projects. Other sweaters I've gotten bored of the style so I've unravelled and made into another. I have plans to do that with more sweaters I've made too, It means that I can change my wardrobe without spending money!
I love that you have realized that you love the texture/ hand feel!
My youngest sister never worries about how a sweater was sewn since she and her boys card what they unravel and then use it to spin new yarn using a drop spindle.
Awesome
That's neat! Does she just card it like normal and then spin again?
Yeah.
I find it very relaxing to unravel a sweater in the evenings. Learned my lesson about checking for sewn panels after one time trying to tie all the ends. Not worth it! For wool and cotton, I will steam it over a kettle to release the kinks, then hang it off a hook with a little weight on the bottom loops. Don’t want to stretch it overly.
So your channel is yet another example of my childhood visions and projects seeing fruition. I was the kid who said, Can I make my own shoes? What if I took this sweater apart and made my own? How do you sew?/knit?/weave? My Mom was no help because she was NOT good with her hands and couldn't care less outside a bit of intellectual curiosity into the past. Thank you for what you do!
I was "that child", too. Nice to meet you!!
Ok your unraveling machine is amazing! I've been unraveling sweaters from time to time for a decade now and this would make it SO much easier. I usually do the swift and yarn winder like you showed, but i have to stop one and move the other as I go. So annoying and I have to be in the right mood for it. If I had a machine to do the work, I'd do it all the time lol.
On one had, yes supporting local crafts folk is an excellent thing to do. On the other hand, I wouldn't feel too bad about thrifting sweaters for yarn because it interrupts the cycle of fast fashion.
Huzzah!!!
The pullover you're wearing is gorgeous.
I have only unravelled me made hand knitted garments. To get kinks out, my husband made frame with straight sides and dowelling in the middle. I wound the wool around it, thoroughly soaked it in cold water, then left it to dry naturally.
I grew up with a story handed down about my grandfather and the depression. a lot of men were out of work and would go through bens and dumps collecting old clothing , fabric, etc. They made the most amazing things!!!! Thanks for the rememories!
just loving your video, than you. I've been buying, and recycling used sweaters from op-shops for many decades now and never thought to share my experience. You got it all in a nutshell! thank you.
Off to the thrift store, I go! Wow! Love this, is never dreamed of being able to actually do this. I am on a very right budget and yarn is something I rarely have money to "burn" with. This will be a game changer!!! Thank you!!!!❤🧶
Necessity truly is the mother of invention. What a clever tool! I haven’t seen anything like your un-winder. Brilliant!
The EASIEST subscribe I’ve ever given, this is AWESOME! Thanks for the entertainment! I just had a baby so I’ve got lots of sitting around and nursing going on so I’m super chuffed I found your Channel. 🎉❤
I cannot express how much I loved every minute of this video. The repurposing, the creativity and ingenuity of your un-raveler, and then doubling the yarn to thicken it. ❤❤
I don't think I will ever be unraveling a thrifted sweater, but I watched your whole process because it's so neat! Thanks for sharing!
I would recommend to be cautious with hanging items from your blinds they can be very fragile at times.
Many years ago, my beloved aunt gave me a sweater; now it's old, out of style, has a few holes but I can't bear to throw it away because it was a gift from her. I've wanted to do something with it for a long time but couldn't bear to cut it up to make a pillow. I'm teaching myself to knit, and this may be the best way to preserve the lovely yarn. Thank you so much for this video!
I LOVE the unraveling machine. It says - “I KNOW there’s an easier way. What can i find?” *sees kitchen mixer on way to shed* - I’m sure that’s not the real story hahaha, but, i love that you needed something and you made it with what you could.
One tip to get the crimp out of smaller amounts of wool from an old Aussie depression era article: wrap the wool tightly around a large metal tin (only a couple of layers thick), then steam it over the kettle. (Maybe you could wrap a larger amount around an ironing board and use the iron on steam function?)
I wrap unwound sweater yarn around a (rectangular shaped) plastic tub lid and soak it in water/ fabric softener. Then let it dry.
Make it wet, and wind it around a plastic box. Big surface so it will dry fast. Not too taunt, it will shrink when it dries, and it would take the elasticity out of wool (acryl) etc. Cotoon and viscose are harder materials, but they have less memory than wool to beginn with. Then wind into a ball or skein - again avoid tension.
How did you come up with those contraptions. They are brilliant. Now I know one can do this. So many times, I have liked the yarn but not what it was made into. Now I know what to do. Thank you for sharing this. ❤
Love unraveling old things. My aunt left me an old Lithuanian made wool dress of a beautiful cream color, but very old-fashioned style. I unraveled it and made myself a gorgeous shawl. Had several unravel-and-knit projects like this, loved them! We used a tea pot to steam the memory curls out of the yarn. You pass the yarn through a boiling tea kettle and hang to dry. They smooth right out!
I just love the idea of unraveling a machine-knitted item and using the yarn for something handmade.
That unraveling machine is genius, well done!
inspiring! Do you have a general idea of how much yarn you can get from a sweater? Like a size woman's small of light weight knit - four 200 yd skeins? Or is it all just so variable? I love your inventiveness!
Unraveling the sweater (called jumpers when I was young) was a part of life. Hand knitted clothing always had a re-ruse option. We did not cut cardigans to make the front. In Australia it is very hard to get wool or wool blend items in our Op Shops (Thrift stores). We are one of the largest wool producers in the world and, unless you buy the yearn and knit it yourself, you are stuck with acrylic/polyester/nylon clothing in such quantities, it is scary. As I sweat in polyester (not nice) I spin and knit a lot now. The only way to get 100% animal fiber clothing. I knit the seams, so they are made to be reused at a later date.
I'm also from Australia and yes it's hard to find 100% wool anything in op shops, but not impossible. Best places to try are rural and regional areas, especially where it gets very cold.
@@lyrebird9749 I do! I am wearong one at the moment that, because the cuffs are fraying, will be recycled for next year.
This was fascinating! I've often wondered if this could be done, but always assumed commercially knit sweaters were cut and sewn together at the seams. It's good to know what to look for and that yes, I CAN use that yarn! THANK YOU so much! 😊❤
I tend to unravel thrifted crocheted blankets/afghans for thicker yarns.
You are, what we would say in my part of the world, a canny lass. It's a good thing, honestly 😊 I like using crinkly used yarn for dolls hair, thought I was in a party of one 😅 obviously not ❤
Over the last 20 years I have purchased 27 cashmere sweaters at thrift stores. I have never paid more than $10 for one and most were more like around $3-$4 a piece. I once got two for $1. Most of the employees at thrift stores look for brand names on the labels and few look for materials. Not all cashmere sweaters were made by famous brands as I have learned over the years. I have also learned that cashmere has a very specific texture so now I don't even need to read the label. I just run the back of my hand across the fabric and I can tell. I'm not sure if I would want to deconstruct any of my sweaters. I bought them because I liked them though I have worn out about half of them over the years and so I have roughly a dozen of them left. I am only mentioning this to confirm that luxurious material is definitely available in thrift stores in this form and at a low price if you take the time to look. I also have a cashmere silk blend sweater that I got that was made in Italy and I got it for $5. It's a really luxurious V neck in black. Not pertinent to this topic but I have also obtained from thrift stores some high end suits. My most impressive find was a Brooks Brother's three piece silk/cashmere blend three piece suit I found for $25 at a Salvation Army store. I took it to a really good tailor who altered it to fit me perfectly. I have purchased an amazing assortment of vintage silk ties rarely for more than $2 and a great many for $1.
My young son found a Hermes silk tie for 25 cents
Ive gotten two cashmere sweaters at thrift and always on the look out for more. Good idea on the silk ties good for quilting! thanks
Wow, now you’re given me another thing to check for before getting rid of old clothes I don’t like wearing anymore ( if they still look nice I donate them, but sometimes they don’t hold the shape anymore and the yarn might be repurposed for other things) I love it, as I love finding new uses for my old things. Thank you! I cannot believe I have never thought of this before.
Well, what can I say except...I'm impressed! I have often unraveled a hand knit, washed and re-used the yarn, but I@ve never tried to do this with a commercially made garment. It's those seams - they're quite intimidating. However, having watched you, and your amazing Unravel (looks like you have a handmixer going on in there ), I@m going to e haunting my local thrift stores for bargains. Thank you for a most informative video 😊
I have a dye shop. I dye clothes, fabric and now I'm getting into yarn. I am SHOCKED at how much people charge. $30 a skein is ludicrous. I sell them for a lot less! I just did 8 custom colors cotton yarn for $12 each.
Wow! What an excellent idea! I’ve been knitting forever and have gradually watched the price of yarn skyrocket… especially luxury fibres … at one point it cost a lot less to diy than buy pre-made … and I’ve been hunting at local dollar stores for inexpensive yarn, sadly you often cannot get enough of the same type(never mind the dye lot) for a larger project … you’ve got some GREAT ideas - please keep them coming … thank you! ❤
I found a rinse-free wool wash and it's AMAZING!
I’m new to knitting, I recently unwinded a knitted tank top that had two strings by hand and it took forever! I also had a lot of spots it tangled so I tied it back together. I want to make a misers purse with it with the make-do idea of using what you have and being “tight-fisted” 😂
If you put them in the freezer, make sure the garment is in a sealed bag :)
Why? wont a paper.bag do?
At some point this isn't a hobby, it's craftsmanship.
So helpful to learn how to release a chain stitch!!! A true life lesson. 😃
I do this with crochet stuff I find. I made so many amigurumis with 1 blanket!😊
I enjoyed seeing your ingenuity! I have been doing this for years, without the help of your ‘appliance!’ A couple of things to be aware of: high synthetic content sweaters will yield yarn that is permanently kinked. Look for fiber content that is predominantly natural. Also, I’ve encountered sweaters that have an elastic thread knitted into the ribbing. It can be removed, but it’s an extra step. Or, save the ribbing and use it for a sewn sweatshirt or jacket. I wash the hanks of yarn, then dry them in a stretched out position by hanging a weight from the hank with an S hook. I have knit many a sweater and blanket with recycled yarn!
I’m a crocheter, not a knitter but I thought this video was amazing and I just love your videos. I just subscribed!!!
I LOVE your unwinding machine! You are so clever!
So happy I found you! I have an alpaca long cardigan that I no longer like but the fibre is beautiful. Guess what I’m going to do…
If you can manage to build (or have built) a new unraveling machine with two winders and a slip differential, it would be able to handle the two yarn sweaters like a dream. The differential will take all of the torque to the yarn with least resistance.
I'm more patient with things like this than my mom, so I unraveled a white and pastel cotton sweater for her. It had INTARSIA - so I had a handful of smaller balls, but it still worked! She used to yarn to crochet bags and washcloths.
I have an intarsia sweater that has lost its form. I was wondering if I should unravel it or not. After seeing ur post I think I just might give it a try.
Oh my! I love that machine so much, a MacGuyver machine AND for reusing old materials! So many questions...does it really need so much torque to pull out the yarn? I'm guessing it needs that much torque because the spindle has such a large diameter, is that necessary for some other reason? What if you had two of them with smaller motors (and spindles) and an encoder on each motor, so something like an Arduino could swap which motor was turning each time one stalled?
You are so right! Ridiculous yarn prices.
You have inspired me I live in Nashville am just now making time to crochet and other things but I'm so glad I ran across your channel 😀