more unknitting

Rachel took me to this rad clothing swap a few weekends ago. I scored four sweaters and got right to work unravelling them. The first was this sweet lavender cashmere score, and the second was a periwinkle silk - both size large! Oh yeah.


The cashmere sweater took about two full days to unravel, plus some time to reskein it for dyeing. It's really cathartic.






After all that was done, it went into a pot to soak overnight, by which I mean all weekend while I was in Seattle.


I used some red and purple to enhance the original lavender, hoping for a plum/wine color. I think I achieved that.


Here's the comparison shot. I didn't use any blue, at all, but there seem to be hints of it in the finished product.


Perhaps it just seems more blue next to the red and purple? It's a really interesting effect. I don't like purple, but I like this color combo.



I have three skeins, all 2 oz apiece of ultra-soft, super lightweight lace cashmere. $20 on etsy! Kind of a steal, if you compare it to virgin cashmere. And, it's all recycled and sustainable! Double bonus, I did not use any slave labor in unravelling. Unless you count myself. I'm a slave to yarn.


Blurry. But at least I'm not making a stupid face?

Now, the silk sweater is the real excitement here. I've never found a 100% silk sweater before. It's a strong fiber, and didn't break at all during the unravelling process. I was so impressed with it.


(Well, I wasn't impressed with the sweater itself...just the fiber.)


It came apart so easily. It still probably took about two days, mostly due to the amount of fiber. I got nearly a whole pound of yarn from this beast!


I was able to unravel while reading (A Feast for Crows, in case you were wondering, in anticipation of the upcoming release of A Dance with Dragons!)


The color is off on my phone camera. I swear, it's periwinkle!


Here's a more accurate representation of the color.


So this got thrown in a pot to soak, too. Although I had some trouble with this one. I didn't soak it long enough, and I didn't use enough vinegar (not by a long shot) so the first dye just washed right out. And when I say "right out," I mean it took three days to get all the color out. Oh, silk, you are so finicky.


Comparison shot. There is not a whole lot of difference between the original color and the dyed yarn, but I enhanced the blue a little bit, and it has some purple/white shimmer in places.


It's heavenly. Smooth, soft, cool to the touch. I think the color complements this nicely.


The best part is, it's two-ply! So it's all doubly thick! (Sadly, it's not plied, so it's more comparable to holding the yarn double.)

This stuff is rad. I'm going to be sad to part with it. I have two 4 oz skeins and one 3 oz skein - $30 and $22, respectively. All the same dye lot. But you shouldn't need all three to make something awesome.