How to Take Apart a Sweater

This starts as sort of a sad story about a sweater I wanted but didn’t end up knitting. Years ago I bought a figurative ton of bamboo yarn, and I thought it would be the perfect thing for a sort of boxy, oversized sweater I could wear on beach vacations.

I knit it in pieces, thinking the seams would add some stability the sweater would otherwise lack, bamboo being slippery and probably saggy under its own weight.

It was a cute sweater.

It didn’t fit like I imagined at all.

I think the problem was mostly that I made it too oversized, and the weight of the sweater combined with not fitting correctly through the shoulders caused it to sag and stretch and turn into a way off the shoulder sweater in no time.

Not exactly what I had in mind.

I wore it once or twice anyway, then it lived in the back of the closet for a few years.

I was cleaning out my sweater shelves the other day and found it again. I decided I still wanted to do something with that yarn that would be more wearable. It was time to rip that sweater apart.

Of course because I knit it and vaguely remembered how I knit it, that was a big help, but in any case the rules for taking apart a sweater are pretty much the same. It should be noted this is the strategy for handknit sweaters or tops; sometimes things are different when you’re working with a commercial sweater.

Just in case you might need to take a sweater apart one day, I collected my process in a post over at Our Daily Craft. It’s handy to have a reminder that if you don’t love something you made, you can always try again.

As for that yarn? I’m working on a crocheted tank top that I hope will have enough structure to do it justice.

Have you ever taken apart a sweater or other garment you knit? I’d love to hear your tips!

Next Pattern:

I’ve been enjoying knit amigurumi animal patterns lately (see also: this adorable knit pigeon) and of course being a knitter I love llamas.

So when I saw this little llama pattern I knew I had to share it.

The appropriately named Llama patter from Annie Ahn calls for fingering weight yarn, and it uses two colors for the body and three for the little blanket. The pompom can be made to match or in another color. All of these parts take tiny amounts of yarn so you can use whatever scraps you have left over from socks or other projects and change colors whenever you need to.

It might also be fun to use some mohair or other fuzzy or textured yarn on this one to give your llama a different look. In all the project uses between 100 and 150 yards, or 91-137 m, of yarn and the llama comes out about 10 cm/4 inches tall.

The body of the llama is worked in one piece, so this project is suited to intermediate knitters or those who have comfort working in the round and with all those little pieces.

This one is made to be small so you can carry it around with you (it would be super cute on a keychain or as a zipper pull) but I think it would be a lot of fun to knit this in larger yarn, too, to make a bigger llama. You could even make a whole family in different sizes just by using different weights of yarn and corresponding needles.

The details are so cute, from the shaggy hair to its little accessories, but you could make it plain or change it up by knitting a tiny scarf or even working a little fair isle pattern on the legs or body. So many fun possibilities!

The pattern is available on Ravelry in English and Korean.

[Photo: Annie Ahn]

Next Pattern:

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