I am a recycled yarn convert! I just received a beautiful pink 100% cashmere sweater that I am reusing the yarn from to make a new sweater. Enough cashmere for an entire sweater, and I bought it on eBay for $2.25 plus shipping, it’s new with the tags still! I know it is a lot of work to recycle yarn, I just finished doing some silk, but it is worth it for the discounts!
Recyling Yarn
That is incredible!! Great find! :happydance:
Okay, update. I just won another auction. I have purchased enough cashmere yarn for two sweaters, for a grand total of $29.00. I am so happy! And to think I almost bought cotton blend? For shame!
wow great! is it the same seller?
do they have anything left?
Oh - I’m green with envy :mrgreen:
Well what I did was go online looking for some kind of expensive yarn I can’t afford. I went to ebay and there was a cone of cotton/cashmere blend yarn and I put a bid on that, knowing I wouldn’t win because there were hours left and it was already at the high end of what I can spend. But as I was looking through the yarn there was this beautiful cashmere pink sweater on the list. So I did a search for cashmere knit and started looking through what was available. There was the pink sweater for $2.25 with only 10 minutes left in the auction, so I took a chance and won it. Even with shipping it was only like $11.00. I am just so excited, because I can never afford nice yarn. I don’t mind recycling it because it is gorgeous! My husband does not have any idea what I am doing. He said, hey, that’s a nice sweater, you could buy it and wear it. sigh No dear, the whole point is to get my hands of some cashmere yarn to knit.
:happydance: 
:happydance:
Here is the pic. The other sweater was a beautiful red. I’ll put a pic up of that one too.
That’s a cute sweater. I might just keep it to wear and keep looking for yarn at that price! 
Great find. I go to the local thrift stores and look at the sweaters… found some nice wool!!
I know I said I’d keep it but I really would love to try this. When you search for sweaters on ebay is there a way you can tell if the sweater is ok to unravel and use? I’ve read how if it is machine sewn you can’t undo it. must be hand knit. Is this correct? shoud I search for hand knit sweaters only? Any tips would be appriciated.
Yes, it is more difficult to find out whether they are appropriate to unravel or not. As a general rule, I will take a risk on a brand that is considered to be “designer” or “upscale” as their knit garments tend to be at least hand seamed. Most machine sewn sweaters are cheaply made. With 100% of the silk and cashmere sweaters I have found, they have been hand seamed. Maybe the higher quality of yarn gives some indication of the sewing as well? It is a risk, that is why I only bid on garments that are very inexpensive for what they are. You can also send an email to the seller and ask if they can tell, or if the tag says anything about whether it is hand knit.
By the way: be careful about the difference between “hand knit” and “hand made”. Machine knit garments are considered hand made if a person runs the machine. Hand knit, means knit with the classic sticks.
Thanks for the tips! I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open for handknit deals on ebay and thrift stores! :XX:
Ohh congrats on that.
We have lots of thrift stores around here that often have sales like get a trash bag of clothing for a buck. Cheap way of getting yarn.
Wow! That is awesome! I just love cashmere! :happydance:
here’s something I just thought of to do as far as looking for sweaters on ebay for yarn. I look in the plus size section for sweaters. larger sweater = more yarn (I hope this doesn’t offend anyone :oops: )
As someone who was previously plus sized, no that isn’t offensive. Let’s be honest. We’re talking about yarn. And vanity and pride has no place in yarn shopping!!
Thanks! I’m glad it doesn’t sound crazy :XX: