Wyoming Breezes

washing reclaimed yarn June 2018 Several people asked me how I washed the yarn reclaimed from thrifted sweaters . I use the bathtub, hot water, and Ivory dish soap. I run enough water to cover the yarn, swish the soap to get it sudsy, and then add the hanks of yarn. I do not agitate the water, but I do gently turn the hanks over to make sure all the yarn is wet. I add more water to the tub, if necessary. I let the yarn soak for 45 minutes to an hour and turn the hanks a couple of times. Once the yarn has adequately soaked, I gently squeeze the soapy water out of the hanks. The tub is emptied and rinsed. Then I add clean tepid water to the tub and rinse the hanks to remove any soap. The hanks are then placed in my washing machine, and I run them through a SPIN only cycle to remove the excess water. The hanks are then draped on a drying rack. I do not put weights at the bottom of the hanks as they are drying. The minimal kinks that remain in the washed yarn do not bother me. ...

four men's cowls knit with reclaimed wool August/September 2017 I finished these four cowls in four and a half days. All were knit with reclaimed wool from thrift shop sweaters. The two top cowls (charcoal gray and tan) were knit using First Timer’s HS Mini-Cowl  (Ravelry link) with a size 9 needle. Each cowl is 8 inches deep and 21 inches in circumference. The yarn used was a light worsted. Cowl is reversible with two distinct textures. Dark Tweed cowl on lower left was knit using “Trust Me, Harry” Hat and Cowl  (Ravelry link) with a worsted yarn and size 10 needles. Cowl is 8 inches deep and 21 inches in circumference Army Green cowl in the lower right was knit with Just Try It in a lighted worsted. Size 9 needles were used. Cowl is 8 inches deep and 21 inches in circumference These four cowls round out the contents of the special gift basket delivered to Fremont Therapy . My primary therapist had first pick, and then the other therapists, therapy te...

neck warmer knit with Kool-aid dyed yarn August 2017 This yarn is much prettier in person, and it reminds me of a peach parfait. This is one of three skeins that I dyed at the Fiber Guild's Spring Retreat. This skein was reclaimed from an off-white thrift shop sweater: 90% wool and 10% mohair. It would be fun to replicate the color, but I know it's impossible. This cowl is going into a special gift box.

neck warmer on the needles August 2017 The final cowl for the gift box from yarn dyed at the Guild Spring Retreat and reclaimed from an off-white, thrift shop sweater.

neck warmer knit with Kool-aid dyed yarn August 2017 All of the cowls I've knit this summer are destined to be gifts, and I needed to finish a couple more to round out the gift box. A skein of yarn, dyed at the Spring Retreat , made a nice addition to the box. the middle skein is the one used for the cowl pictured in this post. I was surprised how the mix of colors in the skein complemented each other once the yarn was knit. The yarn was reclaimed from an off-white, thrift shop sweater: 90% wool and 10% mohair. Yarn : reclaimed wool that was dyed with Kool-aid and food coloring. Pattern : Eternity Scarf by Michele Wang (Ravelry link)                pattern was adjusted to ensure I would have enough yarn                The pattern has directions for three sizes and has a                        rolled bottom edge     ...

Dailey Cowl and Eyelet Ridge Cowl May 2017 The Fiber Guild met last Saturday, and I wanted to have a couple of items knit from the yarn I dyed at home following the Spring Retreat. wool and nylon reclaimed wool  dyed with Wilton icing paste The top cowl was knit with the skein of yarn shown at left. I used the Dailey Park cowl pattern and posted about the cowl here . wool and nylon reclaimed wool dyed with Wilton icing paste The bottom cowl (Eyelet Ridge pattern) was knit with the skein shown at left. The yarn was reclaimed from a 75% wool and 25% nylon thrift shop sweater, and it has a thick/thin quality. I'm happy that my yarn dyeing experiment worked and that it resulted in some yarn that looks acceptable when knit. An earlier post about the yarn can be found here.

cowl knit with reclaimed wool and dyed with food coloring May 2017 I couldn't resist knitting something from the reclaimed wool that I dyed with food coloring. I had enough yarn in one skein for a Dailey Park Cowl . The yarn was the thick/thin variety and ranged from a sport-weight to a light-bulky weight. The pattern suggested a special technique called a Suspended Bind-off . The technique was new to me, and I was surprised that it provided a looser and slightly more stretchy edge than the traditional bind off. Have you tried the suspended bind-off?

Annual Fiber Guild Spring Retreat dyeing wool with Kool-Aid and food coloring May 2017 (click collage to enlarge images) I had a great time at the Guild's annual spring retreat earlier this month. The morning class was dyeing wool yarn with Kool-Aid and food coloring. The Guild purchased all the supplies and paid the instructors, but the class was free. I had a great time. The class gave me the confidence that I needed to jump in and try the process. I've been wanting to do this for ages. I had some off-white wool that I reclaimed years ago and took two skeins to the class. skeins of wool that I dyed in the class Top - the skein provided - 100% wool Middle and bottom skeins are reclaimed wool  85% wool and 15% mohair The instructors had seven large crock pots available for steaming or stewing the yarn. I chose to use the same technique for all three skeins - hand-painting. Others in the class dyed in a bowl in the crockpots as well as using Mason jars for ...

wool yarn reclaimed from thrift shop sweaters before washing 2007 Since I'm presenting a program at the March Fiber Guild meeting on reclaiming yarn from wool sweaters, I thought it would be a good idea to start gathering the items I'd need and deconstruct a sweater to refresh my mind. I started reclaiming the wool in 2007 from wool sweaters that were purchased ( some shown in this earlier post ) in Denver thrift shops. Once washed, the reclaimed wool could not be distinguished from that purchased in a yarn shop. Some of the wool I reclaimed can be seen in  this post . The reclaimed wool has been used in a variety of projects for charities and for gifts. Projects I made using reclaimed wool:      Vests for children in cold climates - here ,  here,   here , here     Cowls -  here and here     Hats and helmet liners for the military -  here ,  here  and here     Mittens    ...

vests knit with reclaimed wool April 2015 I'm still working on finishing projects and using yarn from my stash. An earlier post gives the specifics of these vests that are going in the donation box.

Steppe Vest reclaimed wool yarn March 2015 The yarn for this vest was reclaimed several years ago from a thrift shop sweater, and I have enough yarn remaining to knit another vest. Pattern: •   Original Steppe Sweater  (vest directions at the bottom of the pattern) - this link gives specific sizes and stitch counts • Steppe Ahead Sweater (vest directions at the bottom of the pattern) - this link is for the revised pattern, written with percentages rather than specific stitch counts Size : Large (cast on 100 stitches) Yarn : Reclaimed from thrift shop sweater  (70% wool 30% acrylic), knit double stranded - the finished vest weighs 6.9 ounces Needles : Knit Picks interchangeable (size 10.5 for ribbing, size 11 for body) Steppe Vest - off the needles 6.9 ounces of yarn used Size: Large Have you ever reclaimed yarn from a previous garment?

These two cowls will be donated to a group collecting items for the homeless in Minneapolis, MN.  The cowls are knit (double stranded) from yarn reclaimed from a thrift shop sweater. I raveled several wool sweaters in 2007 and have used the yarn for many donated items. One of the posts I wrote on the process can be seen here , but all the posts on the reclaimed yarn can be found by clicking on the "reclaimed wool" label in the list of posted topics to the right or by clicking here . I find it very satisfying to repurpose or "upcycle" items from thrift shops. Many items can be used directly, but others can be "reclaimed" with a little effort and ingenuity. Do you visit and/or shop at thrift stores?

"Hers" was finished on Monday evening and immediately prepared for blocking.  Hers is a bit more lacy than His .  Thus, the set is complete. For some reason the stocking on the right looks larger, but they are the same size. The pattern was in Knit 'N Style , December 2007.