Defragging

I have embarked on the defragmentation and liberation of yarn imprisoned in the form of shapeless, oversized sweaters knitted years ago when that was the style. It seemed so simple when I thought of it, but I can tell you now, it's a chore to frog a sweater. This is my first one I tackled, a sweater I knitted for Ian from commercial yarn before I was a spinner. Buster chewed holes in the sweater when he was a puppy so it seemed a likely candidate.




I sit on the deck while unraveling so the bits that would be a mess in the house can be recovered by birds for their nests. I have the back and one sleeve left to deconstruct but since we're going on a trip next week, I think I'll start a project with what I already have recovered. I'm thinking cardigan, with shaping.





I decided this morning that this sweater will be my next victim. It has all the shaping of a table cloth. It's been years since I've worn it, but it won me a blue ribbon from Judith MacKenzie at the Black Sheep Gathering. My friend Jen and had split a Merino fleece from Terry Mendenhall and sent it off for processing. It came back as very kneppy roving, and Jen ended up giving me her half in frustration. It was a struggle to spin, but I am proud of the three-ply yarn that I was able to produce.






It occurs to me that I could cut and sew a new sweater from this one. So many commercial sweaters are made that way, but I made this yarn, one bobbin at a time. There will be no cutting and sewing here.