Yarn Harvesting

This may be a minor exaggeration, but it feels like our circle of family and friends has been producing a couple of newborns a week lately. I know this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, since I too happen to have a bun in the oven, but see, I firmly believe that those new little bundles of wonderfulness need cozy warm sweaters and it's my calling in life to make sure that happens for the babies. At least for the babies I know. And at the rate we've all been going, my formerly healthy stash of baby sweaters has been reduced to zilch, zero, nothing.

So will everyone I know please stop procreating long enough for me to rebuild my stash of baby sweaters? I'm not asking much really, I only need a couple of weeks. Thanks!

Whenever I need to embark on a baby-knit-a-thon, I get busy harvesting yarn from thrift store and/or hand-me-down sweaters. It's a great way to get wonderful, soft yarns at an unbelievable price.

A couple of teeny tiny sweaters worth of super soft merino wool yarn for $2.50?

Yes, please.

{a lovely cashmere-blend sweater with a funky fit: perfect for reincarnation into something baby-sized}

{The newly unraveled yarn enjoying a nice warm bath}

{drying and de-kinking}

{and finally, reincarnated as an itty bitty sweater}

This, by the way, is the very best yarn harvesting tutorial I've ever come across-- and I've read lots of them. You'll definitely want to check it out if you're at all curious about the process.

Dawn, the woman who wrote the tutorial knows what she's talking about; she does good business selling recycled yarn in her Etsy shop, TwiceShearedSheep (she also sells some lovely stitch markers that I've been drooling over lately). I think it's incredibly generous of her to share her knowledge.


(I'm not in any way connected to the shop, incidentally. Just passing on some link love in gratitude for her great tutorial.)