Reclaiming Yarn

I did something new to me in the knitting realm recently. While working on cleaning the bedroom out, I ran across a pair of socks that I finished a few years ago, but almost never wear. They came out too big, and slide down as soon as I put them on. I have tried more than once, and always end up tugging at them and soon, yanking them off my feet.

During this clean-out, I did get rid of some of my old hand-knit socks, with a pang, but ditching these felt different than socks with holes and worn spots. They were finished over three years ago, but barely worn. And such nice yarn! Cashmere! Could this yarn be saved, and re-used? In theory, it is possible, and I decided to try.

I found the end, at the toe, without too much difficulty, and started pulling it out.

The yarn, naturally, is very kinked, from being in stitch form for so long. It's also fuzzy, the fibers melding together a bit. It wasn't hard to pull apart, but it wasn't quite what I would call easy, either. It wanted to be together.

The way it frogged around the heel amused me.

The yarn broke at one point, so I ended up with two balls from one sock (I figured I wouldn't do the other sock until I was sure I liked what happened with the first).

I took one of the balls, and wound it back into a skein. I've never used my swift this way; it felt backward.

Tied it off in a few places with yarn scraps, so it would stay in place.

Still very kinky, of course.

Next, I gave it a bath, lukewarm water and Eucalan. Is anyone else suddenly hungry for ramen?

After a good long soak, I pressed most of the water out in a towel and hung the yarn, with weights on the end, to dry. The side of the microwave worked fine.

And then twisted it up. Look at this little guy.

Slightly fuzzy, but much less kinked.

It looks like it should work, so I did the other one the same way.

And really, I think it should be usable! On to the other sock, and I'll give that yarn the same treatment. Kind of cool.