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Greetings knitters! I am not a knitter but am considering becoming one. Here's my dilemna... my sister has taken up knitting, she's gotten very good and is fond of making scarves for people. She loves working with a variety of yarns, and prefers to mix multiple yarns in a single scarf. She has made me 2 scarves where I love one of the yarns, but really don't like the second one. It makes the scarves very bulky and rather unwearable. I can't ask her to re-do them because it would hurt her feelings and she'd resent it, I know.
So I've decided I need to learn to knit so I can make these scarves wearable (she uses very expensive yarn). Will the yarn still be knit-able once it's been made into a scarf and then unravelled? What do you recommend is the best approach to learning?
I wish I could just wear the darned things as is and get over it, but they are so bulky I know they'll just take up space in my drawer cuz they are uncomfortable to wear. I feel like such a bitch.
So I've decided I need to learn to knit so I can make these scarves wearable (she uses very expensive yarn). Will the yarn still be knit-able once it's been made into a scarf and then unravelled? What do you recommend is the best approach to learning?
I wish I could just wear the darned things as is and get over it, but they are so bulky I know they'll just take up space in my drawer cuz they are uncomfortable to wear. I feel like such a bitch.
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Re: Scarf re-do... wise or not so wise?
Wed, December 28, 2005 - 1:40 PMThere's a good guide to unraveling knit items in this article from the wonderful people at knitty.com:
knitty.com/ISSUEwinter0...onnetric.html
The unraveling bit is about halfway down the page.
As for learning how to knit, I learned many years ago from my dad, who had learned from a book. Then I mostly forgot but picked up some needles again about three years ago after a jaunt to Purl, a charming yarn store in Manhattan. I re-learned from friends and tutorials I found online, though there are lots of really good books out there, I've heard. I think there are some good book suggestions in the knitters tribe.
knitters.tribe.net
Good luck!!! -
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Re: Scarf re-do... wise or not so wise?
Wed, December 28, 2005 - 3:36 PMYou shouldn't have much of a problem re-knitting yarn already used. I'd say Susan's reference to the knitty article is a good one, should be helpful.
What I know from personal experience - if you're going to unravel yarn, you'll want to wind it just a bit snuggly, to get some of the waves out of it. The down side to this is that you'll lose a bit of your flexibility, and the yarn may become less 'bouncy' - this depends ALOT on what this fiber actually IS (if it's wool, yes you'll lose some of the flexibility - if it's acrylic, it may bounce back a bit more - however, if it's expensive as you've said, it's probably not acrylic.)
Yarns are pretty forgiving - you shouldn't have a problem.
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Re: Scarf re-do... wise or not so wise?
Wed, December 28, 2005 - 3:53 PMIt depends on what kind of yarn it is. Fiber like mohair doesn't take kindly to ripping out and reknitting. But wool will work very well, in fact I just finished ripping out a merino sweater.
In order to keep the "stretch" in the yarn, I would not suggest winding it tightly to remove the ripples. Instead, do what the Knitty article suggests. Wind in hanks, then soak the hanks in soapy water. I use Eucalan so I don't have to rinse. Then gently squeeze some of the excess water out. I hang the hanks from plastic hangers instead of laying them out flat--the weight of the wet yarn helps straighten it out as it dries.
Hope that helps! -
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Re: Scarf re-do... wise or not so wise?
Wed, December 28, 2005 - 4:06 PMThanks.. this helps a lot. One of the yarns is like a wide flat ribbon so I imagine it won't be flat anymore cuz it'll probably get all twisted if I try to wind it to make it taut. I may just need to deal with whatever I get.
The other is like a dreaded knobby wool? Almost like a matted dreadlock with thick and thin spots. I doubt it has any stretch to it... I'm thinking using the technique in the article would be good for this one. Since there's another yarn knitted in with it, I'm going to need to be very gentle and patient when unraveling it I'm sure cuz this dreaded yarn looks like it could almost pull apart in spots. -
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Re: Scarf re-do... wise or not so wise?
Wed, December 28, 2005 - 4:23 PMHere's another tip--I rip out the knitting and let the yarn pile into a large bowl. I'm careful not to disturb the yarn in the bowl and am able to wind it into hanks with no knots or tangles. -
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Re: Scarf re-do... wise or not so wise?
Sat, December 31, 2005 - 7:32 AMJ - you are correct, it's safer not to wind too tightly - I should clarify - winding the yarn 'will' get the bends out, but at the price of losing some flexibility. There are times when you might want your yarn to be just a bit taughter - some Norwegian worsted I bought was SO bulky that I couldn't really use it until I'd wound it up and flattened it a bit, then it was much nicer.
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