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. ...

close-up of the knit sweater Two afternoons last week, I sat on the deck while reclaiming yarn from a sweater I purchased for $1 at a garage sale last August. I forgot to take a photo of the turtleneck sweater before I started. The sweater label states the fiber content: 85% silk and 15% cashmere. the result of one afternoon's work: the sweater front and back raveled June 2018 The sweater pieces came apart very easily and the raveling proceeded without a hitch. I love my PVC niddy noddy for winding the yarn into a hank. I was surprised that the three-needle bind off was used on the shoulder seams of this sweater. It's a technique rarely seen on commercially produced sweaters. three hanks of yarn reclaimed June 2018 The yarn still needs a bath to clean the fiber and to relax the kinks, but that will wait for another day. I have plans to knit a shawl with this yarn.

Nancy's 100% cashmere sweater December 2017 At the December meeting of the Fremont Fiber Arts Guild, interested members exchanged thrifted, wool sweaters for an Upcycle Challenge. You can read about the challenge and see the before photos in this post . The package I selected contained a 100% black cashmere sweater with a white stripe down the front and at the bottom.  I've been procrastinating, and decided last week that I needed to just get it done. Since Sue had some difficulty felting the cashmere vest she received in the swap, I knew it would require several cycles in the wash. I put the vest in a pillowcase and pinned the top because I'd read lint from the item would be a problem, added some towels and liquid dish soap.  I stopped and started the wash cycle three times, to keep the felting process active. I added some boiling water to the washer in the second wash because I doubted the water temperature was hot enough to felt. Once I thought the sweater was f...