Howdy all,
I went to Salvation Army to try out this recycle sweater thAng! 
I bought a cotton sweater for $3.50 and I am now wrapping the sleeve into a center pull ball. :cheering:
I havenāt given any consideration into what I will make with it, but thatās okay 
Any suggestions? :??
Hi there! Do you wind as you rip, or rip it all and then wind it? I seem to have a tangling problem if its in too big of a jumbled pile, but what do you do if youāre using a ball winder?
Iām winding as I rip and I donāt have any problems with tangling. Iāve never used a ballwinder though ā¦
I measured my findings:
Back = 5.5 oz
Front = 5.5 oz
Sleeve = 3 oz
Sleeve = 3 oz
:happydance:
Wow! a pound of cotton yarn for 3.50, plus a bit of time! Thatās great! It would have cost 25 bucks to get that much lion brand cotton easeā¦one 3.5 oz skein is nearly 5 bucks! and you wouldnāt have learned anything in the process! yay for you! :cheering:
I know ā¦ aint it kewl ā¦ 
If I had to classify its weight, Iād put it at sport weight b/c I donāt think itās as thick as LB Cotton Ease. I think Cotton Ease is worsted, right? :?? Iād have to check. The strand is definitely not as thick as Lion Kitchen Cotton though.
Ahh yes, cotton ease IS worstedā¦ well, anyway you still got an awesome deal.
Yep ā¦ now I have to hit ALL the Salva Aās in the immediate area ā¦ as soon as gas prices go downā¦ :shock:
Iām a new knitter and about the time I learned of doing this, our only two thrift stores in town (SA & Goodwill) had already bagged up all their sweaters and sold them in grab bags. I remembered seeing them BEFORE I learned to knit. I made a mad dash back out there after reading about this nifty frugal idea, and both stores had completely depleted their sweater supply. I even remember when they were selling them 4/$1. Guess whoās crying in their yarn? :crying:
I was thinking of making this T-Shirt with my Frugal Findings. But (yes, you knew a ābutā was coming) ā¦ Iām not sure if I have enough yarn. So I need some opinions ā¦ I know how many ounces my Frugal Findings are, but I donāt know the yardage. Based on ounces, I think I have enough. However, according to the pattern, the T Shirt only requires roughly 11 oz of yarn. Does that sound right to you guys? :?? I compared my Frugal Findings to some stash Lion Cotton that I have. The Lion Cotton strand is just a little thicker than Frugal Find. Any thoughts?
Aw Renna 
Iām sorry. Totally keep your eyes peeled though. You just never know when theyāll have some sweaters coming in. 
Ekgheiy, I did get lucky yesterday at Goodwill. I discovered they are now hanging all the sweaters together on one short rack (hisānāhers) whilst on their way to future grab bags. There werenāt many there, but I found a couple worthy of unravelling. I also found a few 100% wool oneās (one was a Manās XL, no less) which, though they had ābad seamsā (serged) which donāt work well for unravelling, they should work great for felting.
Iām happy! :cheering:
I love that t-shirt, and aspire to some day be able to make it for my dd, but I know Iām not yet ready to tackle an intermediately rated project! 
[size=6]Bump![/size]
The winter will be here before you know it, so I thought Iād re-surface an oldy but goody for anyone in the market for a sweater project for this upcoming winter. Also check out this post for low-down on recycling yarn. 
Iām glad to see this post! I have some things to drop off at the Goodwill and while Iām there I might as well do a bit of recon. Canāt hurt to look.
No it certainly canāt. Have fun! Let us know what you find!
OOOhh, I was trolling the other day at the Goodwill store that DH and I stopped in at on a whimā¦Most of the yarns - er, sweaters - that they had were funky novelty yarn or really ugly - but I am not losing hope, and I know Iām going back soon - w/my Christmas list in hand!!!
:shock: TOO much to pick from!! WOWā¦
There was wool, and wool blends and merino and cotton and cotton blends.
I brought home 9 sweaters. 30 bucks for enough yarn to fill a LARGE hefty bag. Most of it is either wool or a wool blend. The woman at the check out thought I had lost my mind when I told her what I was going to do with them! Then she saw the wisdom and the light bulb went off!
Iāll definately be doing this again!
Can you recycle yarn from a sweater that youāve accidently felted? If not, what else can you do with it? I was thinking of giving it to the good will, but itās really uncomfortable to wear nowā¦the sweater has shrunk in weird placesā¦
I heard and seen (but never tried) that if a sweater shrinks (felted) that you can actually cut it up and it wonāt unravel. People say that they then use it to makeā¦ mittens (Iāve seen those - beautiful), pocketbooks, etc.
Yup, you can cut it - I saw one person :?? wish I could remember where :?? Who had found a bunch of sweaters and purposely felted them, and then cut out the parts she liked and sewed them together in a blanketā¦
You could also make a pillow out of it. I made my mother a sweater years ago that really was too snug for her so she sewed squares from the front and back and covered a pillow with it.