***Warning*** This is a very photo-heavy post! Since starting my blog, a few people have shown interest in learning how to recycle sweaters for the yarn. I spent the weekend working on a tutorial…
Learn how to reuse yarn from sweaters! You can get a sweater from a thrift store, unravel it, straighten the yarn, and then reuse it!
Here's a clear, detailed Almost Lost Washcloth tutorial to clarify the confusing bits of the old time Almost Lost Washcloth knitting pattern
Unraveling / Pulling Congratulations! It’s time to start building a big fat yarn ball, for a teeny tiny fraction of what it would cost at a yarn boutique. You may be tempted to just pull and …
DIY Denim Yarn Tutorial from Crochetbug. Make DIY Denim Yarn out of old jeans that have seen better days. Think Crafts! has a DIY denim yarn scarf tutorial here. Here’s a crochet denim yarn tote from
Repurposing old t-shirts for craft projects is a great way to keep them out of the landfill. There are so many possible uses for t-shirt yarn and in this post we show you how you can make your own yarn, using the entire shirt.
Learn how to straighten used yarn that's been ripped out, frogged, or recycled from a thrift store find. I'll show you how with this photo tutorial!
This is a guest post from Julie Crawford, and previously appeared on knittedbliss.com. We loved it so much we asked to repost it here so that Eucalan fans can learn all these important tricks for r…
Check out this tutorial showing how to make plarn from grocery bags and crochet with it. This technique is a great way to recycle and reuse!
T-shirt yarn has become popular in recent years. Besides the normal yarn that you use for crochet and knitting, now you have another brilliant material for your next project. T-shirt yarn is a bulky weight,
Do you want to join your yarn in a fast and secure way? Learn how to join yarn with the magic knot! Useful for both crocheters and knitters
Have you ever wondered how to take a sweater apart so you could re-knit the yarn? Well thank Ashley from the blog Neauveau for sending in a link to her wonderful tutorial! I can just hear sweaters …
Because I want to try some projects for which I will need T-shirt-yarn, I made this basic tutorial on how to make T-shirt-yarn, in case you like to get crafty,…
Here’s another project that fits firmly into the “tired of staring at it because it’s been sitting on my desk for over a year so I might as well finish it” category! There…
Do you want to join your yarn in a fast and secure way? Learn how to join yarn with the magic knot! Useful for both crocheters and knitters
Much of yarn recycling is trial and error... and everyone develops their own little techniques along the way. I have put together a series of photos which step you through my recycling process, to give you an idea of what is involved. You will certainly have a million questions for me, especially once you actually start experimenting with the process. Ask away... I'll share everything I know with you! There seriously are loads of photos here, but the basic steps I follow are: air the garment remove trimmings and tags, and undo seams unravel each piece wind into a skein wash dry ball If you are a beginner, I would recommend starting with a single coloured garment, preferably in a simple stockinette. I would avoid cables, fair isle, and anything complicated... until you have had a little practice first. Stick with a standard jumper if possible, and avoid cardigans, coats, or anything with a zipper. A hand knit would be ideal, if you have access to one. Avoid any yarn which looks fluffy or furry or hairy or boucley... because they will be difficult to unravel. Before I start, I always check the seams. There are 'good seams' and 'bad seams' when it comes to recycling. Overlocked or serged seams are BAD. You will find that the yarn has been cut at the end of every row... so you will end up with lots of short yarn pieces... ugh! So always check the side seams and inner arm seams. Don't worry if the shoulder or neck seams are overlocked. Because they run across the top of the garment and not down the sides, they are not of concern. so... some examples of bad seams: and these are good seams: So... if the side seams are bound together by overlocking - BAD! As for hand knits... all of their seams are GOOD... you don't even need to check them! Time to get started now... I don't bother washing the garment before I start. Two reasons... Firstly, I don't want to risk any felting or matting of the yarn fibres which would make it more difficult to unravel. Secondly, the yarn is cleaned much more effectively if you wash it AFTER it is skeined. So I just leave it out on the line for a while, just to 'freshen' it before I start working with it. I use an unpicker and a pointy pair of scissors to remove tags, labels, buttons, zips, and any other trimmings. Then I unpick the seams. Most store bought jumpers are seamed using chain stitch, which is wonderfully easy to undo. See the way the chain stitches form little arrows, pointing down in the photo? Well that tells you the direction to unravel in. So cut the top one, free the tail... and pull... it should unravel in seconds. So now you have all the seams undone (this one had a seam down the centre of the back piece for some strange reason - probably a design feature) Now it's time to start unraveling each piece, generally working from the top down. The cast off edge forms the same V stitches as chain stitch, and again they point in the direction you need to unravel. So start at the top end and snip, free a tail... and away you go. Sometimes you might have a hard time getting started. If it's a nightmare for you, just chop the top few rows off, and then start unraveling. You will only loose a few yards of yarn, and it will save your sanity! I like to roll the garment piece, so I can grip it nicely while I unravel. I have heard this kind of display referred to as 'yarn barf' and I think it's a wonderful description. Anyway, if I am working indoors and am going to be able to skein the yarn immediately, then I just pile it on the floor as I unravel. If I am working outdoors I would wind into a ball as I go, and then skein from that... because you really don't want to get this in a tangle! You can wind your yarn into a skein using two chairs like this... Or using a skein winder if you have one. This one was a fabulous gift from Mr Goldfish last Christmas... and I love, love, love it! Once it is all wound on, you need to tie the skein in a figure eight. Use some scrap yarn. I like to use a contrast from the yarn you have wound, so that the ties are easy to locate and removed after drying. I recommend using a light colour, because you would cry if the colour ran from your ties onto you nice new recycled yarn. First divide the yarn in half as pictured above. Then pop a scrap piece of yarn through like this... And back through again, forming a figure "8" with the tie. Finish with a double knot. I like to do this in six places around the skein to prevent tangling. Wash by soaking in warm water and wool detergent. I'm a big fan of Martha Gardener's Eucalyptus Wool Mix, but I'm not sure if it is available outside of Australia. Gently submerge the skeins. I prefer to soak all the yarn together, so that if it happens to lose any colour, all skeins will be affected evenly. If possible, I leave it to soak overnight. Then in the morning, I rinse it in a bucket of cold water. Of course, with our current water restrictions here... that rinse water gets recycled directly onto my garden... I gently squeeze the excess water from the yarn, and lay the skeins on an old towel. Then I lay another old towel on top. Roll it up, and walk up and down the length of it for a minute or two. This helps absorb a significant amount of water from the skeins. Then I hang each skein on a plastic coat hanger to dry. I also use a second hanger to 'weight' the yarn slightly, and help stretch some of those kinks out. If the weather is wet, then I put the coat hangers along a curtain rail in a sunny window and dry the yarn indoors. When dry, cut the ties off and place the skein back on to the winder or chairs. Find the end and wind into a ball. Click here for my ball winding tutorial. Interestingly the yarn I have claimed from this jumper is not that nice. I'm actually a bit disappointed with it. It looked nice in the garment, but is now a bit ugh! See the sheen in the balls. That is the rayon component. I liked that sheen until I started unraveling... You can actually see the cotton and rayon strands here. The rayon is harsh and grabby and kind of brittle. It actually reminds me of over bleached hair. I'm thinking it may well become hair on a creature or doll at some point. If I want to knit or crochet with it I think I will have to ply it first. I might even ply it with a different yarn to make my own special blend. I guess the thing is, not to give up... occasionally you get a bit of a dud (like this one) but that just pushes you to think of alternate project ideas. Most of what I have learned on this topic is through experience, but if you would like to check out the tutorial I first read on the topic, then click here.
Do you have stacks of unused fabric in your craft closet? How about if you dust them off and learn how to make fabric yarn with them?!
This is a guest post from Julie Crawford, and previously appeared on knittedbliss.com. We loved it so much we asked to repost it here so that Eucalan fans can learn all these important tricks for r…
I have been recycling yarn for resale now for over a year and a half. During that time, I have probably wound enough yarn to wrap the world ...
DO NOT miss the awesome opportunities in sweater unraveling this garage sale season! Get a unique yarn with which you can knit or crochet, weave, spin into a new yarn, etc… as well as gaining…
Turn scraps of yarn, string and thread into a pretty recycled flower pin with this tutorial.
This post may contain affiliate links. It's so inspiring to see how other people do stuff! Some things seem to be so complicated then someone comes … Brilliantly Simple And Quick Way To Unravel A Multicolored Sweater To Recycle Yarn Read More »
DIY Recycled Sweater Slippers Sew Free Pattern & Tutorial - Any Size
Learn How to Make Denim Yarn from Old Jeans - Upcycle your old jeans into yarn you can use for knitting or crochet! Step by step tutorial.
Making yarn from old sheets is a great way to up-cycle something you might otherwise toss, and it turns out that knitting and crocheting with sheets is really so satisfying. So I have to admit, I really need to be...
This tutorial will show how to make t-shirt yarn. T-shirt yarn is made from cutting up old t-shirts and can be used to crochet and knit..
Almost a shame to unravel these skeins of one-off handspuns, and knit them into garments; I sigh with appreciation each time I wind one off. Of course the acknowledgement of the wonder of the material is part of the process, so is the loopiness that creeps in when working long hours solely.
It happens to the best of us. Moths. Rips. Holes. I was gutted to see that my Goodale (pattern link here) has been under attack from the wee beasties. I immediately washed it (and a load of othe…
First a disclaimer: no pennies were harmed in the process of dyeing this fabric. Craft of the Dyer: Colour from Plants and Lichens by Nova Scotia dye expert Karen Leigh Casselman is my main dye bible. Most of the dye recipes are for plants found in North America, but Casselman offers two offbeat mineral dye recipes with copper pennies and clay as the dyestuff. This summer I'll try the clay recipe which is very messy. Copper penny blue was manageable in my laundry room. Dawn MacNutt adapted the recipe from a Salish Weaving book and shared it with Casselman. The recipe is simple: combine ammonia, water, pennies, and fabric in a sealed glass jar and let sit for a few weeks. Ammonia is dangerous to work with, so I wore a respirator, safety glasses, a splash shield, a dye apron, and chemical gloves when I handled it. I immersed 417 pennies in a solution of one-third cup of ammonia and two-thirds cup of water, and then added more water and fabric. I let the mixture sit for 3 weeks. The pennies are not harmed in any way and can be used for the usual purposes once they are rinsed at the end of the dye process. The book goes into more detail than what I have given here. As you can see, the copper penny ammonia dye solution yielded a grey blue on cotton fabric. Next I'll add some pale onion skin dyed fabric to see what shade of green I get. Pennies are no longer made of 100% copper. Canadian pennies were made of copper until 1996 and U.S. pennies were made of copper before 1982, so I bought $10 worth of pennies from the bank and sorted them. Ten dollars (1000 pennies) yielded 415 copper pennies, less than half. I haven't yet read India Flint's dye books – I'm planning to get my hands on them this Spring. Casselman's book is extremely informative but lacks pictures. Some of the newer dye books have gorgeous pictures that are beautifully styled but basic information like light-fastness is missing.
Got a few old t-shirt hanging around? Transform them into yarn you can use in crochet and knitting projects. It's easy to do, with this tutorial.
Learn How to Make Denim Yarn from Old Jeans - Upcycle your old jeans into yarn you can use for knitting or crochet! Step by step tutorial.
If you have an old, washed-out T-shirt you no longer want to wear, you could make it into yarn! This is a step by step process, which upcycles something no longer wanted into something usable. I'll show you how :0...
I've been wanting to have a go at making t-shirt yarn ever since I saw this tutorial on how to recycle an old t-shirt to make yarn. The only thing that has put me off is that if I made it from a t-shirt, then I'd only be able to make a limited amount and I ALWAYS need more! So for some time, I've been working on an idea to make a t-shirt style yarn from a length of jersey fabric - that way I could make as much as I like and still make more if I need to. I bought 4 metres of baby blue crushed velvet fabric and the sharpest scissors I could find and laid it out on the floor. Then I cut a horizontal strip that was approximately 5 - 6cm wide. When I was about 7cm from the selvedge I stopped and started cutting my strip from the opposite side. I then just cut a curve to neaten up the sharp corner that was about a 6cm radius from the end of the cut. I just kept on cutting like this, zig-zagging side to side, all the way up the fabric until I'd used all 4 metres. It was as simple as that. I must admit, it took quite a few hours, over a couple of days, but I've now got nearly 800grams of super chunky yarn at a little over £1.50 per 100g - which I think is pretty good! Stay tuned for some extreme knitting... If you liked this post, you may also enjoy these other blog posts - Update on my Extreme Knitting Yarn Making an Extreme Knitting Yarn Using The Electric Eel Wheel yarn Counter Small Round Knitted Pillow - Free Pattern ---------- Please be sweet and share the love. Leave a comment, subscribe to my YouTube channel, like my Facebook page for regular updates or follow me on Pinterest, Bloglovin' or Instagram
Click on each image to get to the original pin- from there you will find the link from which it came and also similar pins. ▲ENJOY!▲ Sweater + sweater = dress!! I am SO on this project. Make sweet little mittens. Are your bangles cold? Give em' a snuggly revamp. Boot socks, legs warmers -whatever they are, they're awesome! This looks easy enough. I cant wait to try! Brilliant and super cute. Waste not, want not! As gift wrap, it'll be like a gift in a gift. Make an amazing technicolor dreamcoat. This sweater pet bed is one of the most clever-est things I've ever seen! ▲▲ FOLLOW ME! ▲▲ casino news online Follow Quirky Bohemian Mama's board Make me. on Pinterest.
109K views, 1.7K likes, 57 comments, 187 shares, Facebook Reels from Dolly Crochet: Recycling yarn scraps into new yarn #creation #crocheting #crochetinspiration #amigurumi #crochetbeginner #croche...
20 Insanely Clever Yarn Hacks That Will Make Your Next Project Easier! I have to warn you that today’s post is a long one! I thought it was time I shared my favourite yarn hacks with you, I have emplo
