Week 2: Repurposing

I made it through week 2 and finished in 2nd place! I am very happy with that.

So did you guess this one was mine? I kind of thought if you knew me at all it wouldn't be too hard to pick out. But seriously? I knit a 68" long lace wrap in two weeks! And only pulled one all-nighter to finish it, that's kind of crazy awesome....

For those of you who were wondering that is Caitlin modeling it for me. I have such a cute sister.

Sweater to Lace Wrap

I found a sweater at the thrift store for three dollars. It was a men's large cotton/linen blend with a stain on the front. I thought I would just work around the stained part, but when I brought it home and washed it the stain came right out. Bonus! 

So you can get an idea of the size of sweater I was working with. I didn't love the color when I bought it, I thought it was pretty blah and I would dye it or something. Or if I couldn't get the stain out dye would have helped cover it...

A close up of the fiber content. I think this technique would work great for cottons and linens, but I would be wary of wool. I would just be afraid of being able to wash it well enough with out felting the sweater in the process. 

I unpicked the seams and then unraveled each piece.

A note for anyone interested in trying this. The #1 thing you have to be aware of to pull it apart is how the sweater is constructed. (I wish I'd thought to get a picture of the seams before I unpicked them.) If they are serged it won't work, because a serger cuts as it sews and you'll just end up with a pile of individual strings. 

This is where I started to fall in love with the neutral color of the ecru and how it looked in the pattern.

I used the yarn to knit a lace wrap. This wrap is a perfect size for summer when you need something light to throw around your shoulders in a movie theater or at church where they have the air conditioning cranked a little too high. It is also thin enough to be worn as a scarf or cowl. The cotton/linen blend yarn gave a beautiful stitch definition. 

pattern: Afternoon Tea Wrap

Next time you browse the racks at the thrift store try looking past the boring or boxy sweaters to the yarn underneath! You can get a lot of yarn for very little money. 

So basically this awesome accessory cost me somewhere around $1.50, because I easily have enough yarn left over to knit another one. Talk about bang for your buck!