Recycling Wool Sweaters

Have you tried felting the wool sweaters? You can cut them up and make something else out of them.

Arlene

jheller wrote:

Oh yes. Last summer I got a cotton top in a coral color that I'm still working on for a tank top. Roughly following the pattern for the Lotus Blossom Tank from last years Interweave Knits. I'm using a different lace pattern though. And a couple weeks ago I picked up two vests for 50 cents each. One's cotton/linen which I'm working on another T/tank, the other is cotton/ramie and I haven't decided what I'm doing with it, but I like the color. Haven't found any wool I like, most are too scratchy.

sue

I look for 100% wool sweaters in patterns and designs I like, felt them, then make tote bags out of them. After seeing a really beautiful quilt made out of sweater pieces in a home decor mag, I might try that too.

Shelagh

Haven't found any wool I like, most are too scratchy.

I don't know about thrift store sweaters, but in new wool yarn - really good merino and merino blends shouldn't scratch. It's beautiful yarn. Another nice blend is cashmere/silk.... dreamy to touch, especially if you can find it on sale like I did on Boxing Day.

Shelagh

I rarely buy any sweaters at all , [once I froze and bought a lambs wool one ] ,, But i do felt and cut up my VERY old ones,, I used to rip them , now i don`t i felted part of them cut and sewed them , i did a patch work blanket [years ago of bought chjildren sweaters and socks ,,, You can cut it up after Zigzaging it first ,,, mirjam

Ah, I meant I hadn't found wool sweaters at the thriftstore that I liked. I've got merino for a couple sweaters that I'll finish some day.

sue

I do it all the time - not with bought garments but with worn-at-the-elbows hand knit jumpers I made years ago. Currently I'm making ANOTHER 18 month old's jumper with some of it. It will be the third this year, to say nothing of hats and socks.

Being pre-war and knowing poverty and shortages we try to re-use everything. We never pass a skip without looking in it ...

I'll never get through my stash of new yarn at this rate!

Mary

I've never done this, but it sounds intriguing. Unfortunately, I live in South Carolina and the climate here is not conducive to wool sweaters. So those would be very difficult to find in a thrift store around here, unless a northern transplant/retiree dontated them. :-)

Still, it might be worth trying to hunt one down. I like the idea of felting it to make a bag.

lisa

Or felting to make pillow covers?

We live in a cold climate and I found a lot of cotton/blend sweaters at the large thrift store here. Those can be recycled into nice lighterweight sweaters or tops.

sue

The pad for my knitting chair was a very fine Fair Isle sweater that one of my old climbing buddy's sisters gave to him. But, it was never warm enough for his outdoor adventure activates, so he gave it to me, and I fulled it.

I tried foam and other materials, but I really like the wool.

I never see real wool sweaters in the local thrift shops : )

A.

I live WAY further south than you, and I buy all kinds of wool sweaters from church rummage sales. I have made many bags, some slippers, and some vests for my dd and dgs, and I currently have more than enough to make myself a multicolor felted jacket for next fall. I'm just testing out a few patterns in cheap knit fabric first before I cut into the felt.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

That's weird. The many Value Village stores in the city near where I live have tons of them. My friend & I look in the ladies, kids, and men's sections and we have found lots of them. A lot of shetland wool. I even found a beautiful grey angora sweater with white pearl beads on it. I plan to make an evening bag out of it. I have another sweater that has a cream background with Argyle markings on it. Look for vests too. ;>)

Shelagh

Shillelagh spun a FINE 'yarn':

Jumping in LATE on this thread to agree with Shelagh, our Salvation Army Stores, Goodwill Stores and St. Vincent DePaul Stores always have plenty of wool sweaters, blankets, vests, etc. JM2C :D Noreen

YarnWright spun a FINE 'yarn': (ADDENDUM to previous)

Also, check Army?Navy Surplus Stores!!! I get woolen sweaters and blankets there a LOT! JM2C, :D Noreen

YarnWright spun a FINE 'yarn': (another ADDENDUM to previous)

Du-uh, I really should be in bed, but before I go, thought I'd add one more place to check: Church (or Synogogue or Temple) BAZZAARS! JM2C, g'nite! :D Noreen

It all depends on the neighborhood, since Value Village gets their stock as donations from local people. If the locals don't like wool, they won't buy it, so when they donate things, what they donate won't be wool.

I've seen some wool at the local VV but not a lot of good wool. (Still, there's always an exception: one sweater was the finest merino Irish knit I have ever had the pleasure of handling. Not my size, so I gave it to my niece.)

=Tamar

Location, location, location :D

Around here I find but very few real wool sweaters in the resale shops. Our average low temp is in the mid-70s, if that's any clue as to the dearth of wool sweaters...

Like a lot of people here, I look for old wool sweaters and felt them. I recently found one that was pre-felted (it said women's extra large on the tag but wouldn't fit a size 0) and a men's sweater, blue and rust, that I tried on and liked so much I decided to keep it the way it is and wear it.

I have never recycled the fiber from a sweater as you are trying to do, but a bunch of people do that and sell them on ebay. I got some fabulous yarn that way. You could look for recycled yarn on ebay and see if one of those people would give you direction. I can understand being nervous about washing yarn and worrying about getting a tangled mess. I think they hank it up before they wash it.