Recycled Yarn-along

[Crochet Buffet]

I've been doing a lot of recycling/reclaiming yarn lately, and wondered if any of y'all would be interested in having a Recycle CAL?

All you'd need to do is reclaim yarn from an old UFO, or sweater, or what-have-you, and re-crochet it into something cute/cool/snazzy, etc...

I created a button:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/bayoujac/rcal.gif

[Chatty]

*Snatches cute button*

Does the first pineapple shawl I made count? It was made from a frogged sweater :D

Here's the thread (http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7100)

:frog

[Crochet Buffet]

*Snatches cute button*

Does the first pineapple shawl I made count? It was made from a frogged sweater :D

Here's the thread (http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7100)

:frog

Yes- it so totally counts! Just like my "lemonade" poncho into shawl counts! ;)

[Catana]

I'm practically too busy recycling to make anything. :( Oh wait. :bang I'm such an idiot. The freeform bag I'm working on is all from recycled yarns. I'm in!

[yarnnutamy]

I messed up on a Serafina shawl a few months ago, and I have been "recycling" it into 12" squares for HMB. I just couldn't make myself do another Serafina in that yarn. Actually, it took awhile before I did another Serafina at all.

[Chatty]

I did my first shrug, the post about it is here. (http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8925)

At least half the varigated I used came from a frogged throw, does it still count?

I've also started another shrug using yarn from a frogged sweater. The yarn is really lightweight and should make an interesting shrug.

New shrug (http://chattyscrafties.blogspot.com/2005/06/another-shrug.html)

As you can see, I'm just starting but as fast as it works up I should be through in no time.

:frog

[allimac]

I know this CAL started eons ago, but I just recently got into recycling yarn. My first project is going to be a felted bookbag. I took apart a huge men's Gap sweater which gave me six good-sized balls of yarn. After making skeins with a nail board thingy, I washed it. Yesterday I finally started the bag. It is going to be similar to the FCEC felted bag, but much larger (I hope) and I will do the handles differently to support books. It is going to be for my 4 year old son and I when we take weekly trips to the library. :D I found some cool monogram charts in a Paton's leaflet, so I may incorporate one of those. I will post pics as soon as I can. I hope some new people will join this CAL to share things that they have made!

[donnalynn2]

Ooooh, I'm in! The pic I just put up today of Dot's Poncho was made from a frogged duster jacket that didn't turn out quite right... After Christmas I'm going to frog that sweater I made in a size 6XL and made Dot's Cardigan in the right size, 1XL! LOL

[Jimmie Lu]

Count me in I have a bunch of rows not stitched from a blanket just screamming to be made into something!!!I am having blog woes with buttons and have temporarily given up as I am too dumb to figure it out but I will put the button in my photo bucket until the day I either get help or get smart:hook

[nataleeza]

I'd love to join, I'm making my sister a felted bag for Christmas and I'm using the yarn from an old jersey. But I won't be able to post anything until after she gets it though :(

[allimac]

Nataleeza,

See this is exactly what I am talking about: taking something old or out-of-date, and reclaiming the yarn for something beautiful, different, and "new." Truly recycling! I think felted projects are wonderful for older yarn because it makes it stronger!

Here are a few pics of what I'm working on.

Here is the sweater before (sort of.) : http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/ameschwitz/mini05228.jpg
Here is the sweater post frogging: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/ameschwitz/mini05128.jpg
Here is the bag I started yesterday: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/ameschwitz/DSC00045.jpg

Can't wait to see everyone's pics. I imagine with the holidays coming, people will be working on other things, so I will be patient;)

[allimac]

Hi All, I finished my book bag tonight made out of wool from an old GAP sweater. My son, who is 4, likes it so I guess it was a success! I ran short of yarn when it came time to make the straps, so they are a little shorter than I would have liked, but that's ok. You can view it here: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/ameschwitz/DSC00061.jpg

[Jimmie Lu]

I have some rows from a V stitch afgahn I did not care for and that is Navy blue! I also have one that I started in Burgandy!!! I am going to make granny's for a gahn for the Afgahns for Amigo's project!!!

[nataleeza]

Hey everyone,
I've been dying to show you all how this jersey
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a342/nataleeza/blog/blog_pics/jersey.jpg
turned into this bag:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a342/nataleeza/blog/blog_pics/bag.jpg

See my blog entry (http://hookstars.blogdrive.com/archive/40.html) for details :)

Keep all the good recycled things coming along, I'm dying to see what everyone else creates :hook

[dazy]

i like that sweater much better as a tote. great job.:clap

[nataleeza]

Thanks :)

[Pink]

I was mentally going through my closets the other day and sorting things into two recycling piles: clothes to donate to charity and another to turn into something else so this thread has been recycled at just the right time for me to commit to this CAL - thank you, ladies...and I'm going to borrow the button and put it on my blog!

[mimi_mia]

Nataleeza, that is an amazing looking bag you made for your sister!!! She must be so happy, it's so beautiful.....:manyheart

I loved looking at your blog and the way you went from sweater to fabulous bag in what seemed like no time, even though I'm sure it was time consuming.....I'm always curious about the wool shrinking and felting when you dye it before making it into something and then felting it.
You did a great job on it :hook

[nataleeza]

Thanks Maria!

Making the bag didn't take as lond as I thought it would, I'd really over estimated how long it would take to rip the jersey down, but crocheting with those colours that I hated really did slow me down ;)

I haven't experienced much felting when dying, because I try to be a very good girl about waiting for it to cool. As long as you don't stir it too much, or change the temperature quickly it shouldn't felt. And since I was felting it anyway, I don't suppose it matters too much.

[karin4christ]

I've just finished taking apart a chenille sweater that I had. I plan to make a purse and a few other things from it. But I have a question: Do I need to wash the yarn before I crochet something new with it or can I just start crocheting with it? And if I need to wash it first, how do I do that without ending up with one huge knotted mess of yarn?

[nataleeza]

I washed mine to try and settle down some of the kinks, but there's no reason to if you don't want to.

To wash, I wound mine into hanks on my home made niddy-noddy (I was going to do that anyhow, so I could work out the length of each lot of wool for dying) and hand washed. Hanks can be made around anything though, and I used to do it on a chair-back. As long as you are gentle, and tie the hanks in a number of places it should be fine.

***

Also, I don't think anyone has posted the link to this awesome tutorial on frogging jerseys - Neauveau sweater recycling tutorial (http://www.neauveau.com/recycledyarn.html)

[allimac]

Nataleeza,

YOU DID IT! I am so proud of you for recycling that sweater into an even more beautiful purse. I'll bet it was hard frogging that pretty sweater, though! I know the work you put into it and it shows! The patterns are so beautiful I find the dyeing aspect really interesting, too, as I have no experience with that yet. I'm going to try with some Knitpicks wool soon. It is a lot of work to recycle and you never know what the results are going to be, but cost-wise, you do save money. My 2006 yarn budget is getting the ax, so I may be doing more recycling once my stash is gone! Loved your blog, too, keep up the excellent work!

[winstongang]

Is this a continual CAL? I just found the thread and would love to recycle something :)

Megan

[nataleeza]

Thanks Alli! And I can't wait to see soem more of yours :)

And Megan - I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say, Please join us!! I love to see recycled things, it means a lot more I think. Can't wait to see what you make

[mimi_mia]

I just bought some wool sweaters from a thrift shop, I've washed them and can't wait until they dry so I could rip them apart.........I hope I can make something that will felt with them, I did look for 100% wool, wish me luck :xfin Also, I hope it's OK to jump into this recycle yarn-along. I'm certainly thrilled about the recycling thing...:hook

[allimac]

Maria,

The more the merrier! I think felted projects are particularly great for recycled yarn, because you don't have to worry as much about the condition of the yarn. My first project had many, many joining knots, but I just made sure they were on the back side. I didn't even weave them in and they just fuzzed up in the felting process. I wouldn't recommend a sweater with a lot of different colors for that reason, but it worked out ok. I would like to find a plain one for my next endeavor, though. WELCOME!