A few years ago I learned to harvest yarn from old wool sweaters. I don't do it so much anymore, with the exception of if I find a sweater made from more expensive fibers. Last year I bought the holy grail of sweaters to harvest: a worsted-weight cashmere sweater in a nice navy blue.
It came apart easily, and then I unraveled each piece onto my yarn swift. I washed the yarn to de-kink it, and caked it into balls.
The result is a new cashmere pullover for me. The pattern is Caitlin Hunter's Koivua, though my version is edited down from the original pattern: I only did color work in the yoke, and knitted the rest of the sweater plain. It was the feather pattern that originally drew me to this pattern and I like the drama of setting it off by itself.
The light blue yarn was also harvested from a wool sweater and dyed with kool-aid some time ago.
I love wearing this luxury sweater from recycled yarn. I feel thrifty, ecological and cozy all at once.
