How to Reuse Ripped Out Yarn

I think every knitter form time to time starts a project (and maybe even finishes a project) only to determine it’s just not right. Maybe the garment doesn’t fit, or you don’t like it as much as you thought you would, or you just are sure you’re never going to finish knitting it.

It totally happens, but if you still like the yarn, how can you reuse it?

I will admit to having ripped out projects and immediately (or some time later) knitting with the yarn again while it’s still all wavy from having been knit before. But I also know that’s not the best way to do it.

Yarn gets wavy because it’s held under tension in the knit fabric, and that funky fiber might make the project you want to knit with it look a little weird. It might change your tension or make the stitches wavy in a way that’s not super attractive. Some people find it harder to knit with the second time around, too.

The good new is, while it’s not a quick process, it’s pretty easy to reset the yarn so it’s like new when you want to knit with it again. I found this post from My Crochetory that explains how to do it.

It’s basically working backwards by turning the yarn back into a hank (or into a hank for the first time) and then relaxing the fibers by washing and drying them. The most important thing is to make sure you do this gently so you don’t felt the yarn to itself if you’re working with natural fibers.

She’s got lots of great tips and illustrations of the process over there, so be sure to check it out for all the details.

Have you ever knit with reused yarn? Do you do this process or just knit with the yarn as is? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo: My Crochetory.]

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

Have you read?