Repurposed

A couple of weekends ago it rained, which this sun averse girl loved, but it meant we didn't spend the days walking around the city, as is our weekend habit. I had been thinking about a couple of sweaters that I had intended to adjust or reknit and decided to pull them out. I ended up discovering five sweaters and a bunch of yarn that I had never entered into my Ravelry database. So I spent the better part of a Sunday taking photos and entering specs into Ravelry. The best part of that project, however, was unraveling three of those sweaters. One sweater is still slated for alterations, since it's just tightening the (short) sleeves. The other sweater was knit in Rowan Felted Tweed, and I had terrible allergic reactions when winding it up. I think it had been sitting in a bin for too long and was full of dust and dander. I'm also allergic to wool, so having all that flying about in the air wasn't so good for my lungs and eyes.

Ready for reclamation (except the brown sweater--that was banished)

In the end, I unraveled three full sweaters, three partial sweaters, a sock, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a toy. I gained more than 5,000 yards from ripping out all those unfinished projects. I also added 1,500 yards or so from balls of yarn I found in the same box. Most of that yarn was leftover from projects I'd made before Ravelry, but not all of it. I found some lovely Blue Sky Alpacas Melange that will probably be used very soon. I also discovered a giant (approximately 2,496 yards) cone of weaving cotton that I bought way before I knew anything about yarn. We won't talk about that. All in all, it was quite the cathartic way to spend a couple of rainy days. You didn't think I could unravel all that in one sitting did you? There was so much picking! Undoing seams is a pain. The actual unraveling though? Pleasant and even a little exciting. It was like getting new yarn!

A portion of the reclaimed yarn. All that gray is from one sweater.

Here's some unraveling to mesmerize you. Just don't notice the stain on the carpet!