I have now officially gone crazy. You heard it here first.
Went to Marshalls with my friend Marama and found a little something. Okay, a big something. A big, cushy cashmere sweater, size men’s large. It was kind of gray/brown tweedy, and I LOVED it. I wore it around the store, begging Marama to tell me it was WAY too big for me.
– Nah, it’s all right.
– No, TELL me it’s too big.
– It’s kinda cute in that sloppy weekend way.
– I canNOT buy it.
– Fine. Don’t buy it, then.
– I HAVE to buy it.
Then I told her I was gonna buy it and rip it apart for the yarn. She looked at me like I had grown a third ear. But come on — it was huge, and the yarn itself was pretty heavy-gauge, as cashmere goes. Standing in the Marshalls aisle, I studied it: Looked to be about 6 thin plies, threads of gray, brown and a soft off-white. I examined the seams: It was made in pieces, not in the round, but I could see the seaming okay, and I thought I could do it. I figgered it would either be the best or the worst fifty bucks I had ever spent. (Fifty bucks! Imagine! At Marshalls! It had originally been two hundred, then marked to ninety-nine when it hit the discount store, and then another 50% off by the time I arrived. Meant to be, I tell you.)
Got home, and got nervous. So I tried it on.
Yep, a leetle big. Then I sat down and started snipping. Okay, ripping up sweaters is HARD. Especially when it’s fifty bucks of glorious cashmere. (Some people love it, some are ambivalent, but I am a cashmere whore. I mean it. It makes my stomach drop to touch the good stuff.)
I worked for about three hours on it and now it’s mostly in pieces and I managed to get one sleeve unravelled. I put it into a loose, curly skein using the swift, then wet the strands and hung them in the bathroom from a coat hanger, another coat hanger hung from the bottom (with a box of shower-curtain rings attached for weight.) When they’re dry, and straighter, I’m gonna wind them into balls.
Dude. Good thing I got that ballwinder and swift! (But if I hadn’t, I prolly wouldn’t have bought the sweater. Damn. Chicken or the egg?)
I hope it works I hope it works I hope it works. I want to make a nice, simple V-neck raglan, in this thick cashmere sin. Oh, yes. I’ll keep you posted.
And just for Friday fun, here’s where Adah slept last night. I didn’t have the heart to move her. It’s my overflow yarn basket, where I had thrown a couple of sweaters. And yes, that’s Indulgence to the left. Shhh.
P.S. Got some Imitrex from the doc yesterday for the migraines. Whoopee!
I love that yarn. I love cashmere.
Can’t wait to see your new sweater!
Fellow cashmere whore here. If you love cashmere, stop by my blog on Monday to see the January contest.
Ooh! I gave a hint! 😀
Wow, what a find! I have to admit, I’m a cashmere-whore-wannabe. One of these days…
You crack me up! I’ve thought of doing that myself more than once but as I’m the queen of unfinished projects it seems smarter to just keep a finished sweater finished!
Love, love your journal! Bright spot in my work day. Have been lurking for months. Thanks for writing!
Oh, sweetie, another major cashmere ho here. You are so brave — and so smart to think of doing this. I can’t wait to see the results!
Wow- you are a brave woman. I am echoing what Maggi said. But, wow–I can’t even imagine doing that. Now that you’ve explained the process, I am visualizing my closet and my husband’s. Hmm….
can’t wait to see how the cashmere looks!
that’s such a brave thing to do!
This is rather like hiking up the mountain in order to ski down. Showing commitment and balls. Might you be tempted to spin if the fiber in question was fluffy pure cashmere? Hmmm.
Awesome! Can’t wait to see the finished product 🙂 Cashmere… ahhh… As a spinner I have to say you got a killer deal. Probably cost more to buy it in the raw. Go girl!
Too funny, but no, of course you’re not crazy! I tried ripping out a store-bought sweater with disastrous results (eh, thrift store find, so no big loss), so best of luck to you. How exciting!
Crazy, but in the BEST possible way. Have fun!!
You are the BEST! I have been fondling thrift store sweaters…wondering if I dare attempt it…so now I will live vicariously, and drool as you document the Grand Experiment. Love the idea of a FUN closet…you just saved me an hour of work and a boatload of guilt. Out to make snow angels I go….OH, just one more thing. You haven’t LIVED (ho wise) until you have spun your very own cashmere and knit socks out of them….bwa ha ha….
I think it’s well worth the risk. It wasn’t that nice looking of a sweater….cashmere deserves better. good luck!
Way to have a plan girl! I would have done the same thing–I’ve only used cashmere once and now it’s all I think about.
One thing–don’t weight the yarn too much when you’re hanging it because it will mess with the natural elasticity. When I unravelled my first kureyon to make Rosedale I soaked the skeins for over an hour, then hung them as you did–though without the shower curtain rings. I also found the act of winding them into balls took out the extra few kinks and when I knit it up it worked great.
Sooooo jealous (but glad to hear of Wendy’s contest!)
I need some of your patience. I’ve thought of ripping apart sweaters but in my minds eye all I see is me tangled in a mess of yarn and bits of sweater pieces as I snip snip snip one too many times.
Yeah, no way I would ever do that, which makes it so much more exciting and naughty that you DID do it. I would totally destroy a sweater if I did that. I wanna see a picture of it hanging up on the hangers…I don’t think I’ve ever had a cashmere anything in my life. But if there are so many cashmere whores out there…
You wild thing you!
Oh My! That’s amazing! I found a cashmere sweater the other day and just walked around the store petting it. 🙂 I didn’t buy it because the style wasn’t me and the construction of it made unravelling impossible. Keep us posted!
Ooh! Good idea! Anxious to see how it works out.
Did you buy your Proust, young lady?
You are so brave! And I hope the Imitrex works. It should.
Oh, I hope it works too! I can’t wait to see the results. Maryse is so right: cashmere deserves better.
(I bought my first-ever cashmere sweater last month: a baby blue cardigan. It’s love.)
Oh mhy gawd!!!
You have achieved the pentultimate Title of Zena, Warrrior Frogger Princess!!!
Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the retail waters after the Christmas crowd stories I’ve been working on, now I’m programmed to L@@K for those rippable baybees waiting for my sword, uhh, needles, to achieve their final destiny!
YOU RULE!!!
Nose pressed to the glass watching intently…
Good luck with the froggin’. My attempts at unravelling cashmere were disasterous. So, instead I felted the sweaters and am making mittens, scarves, maybe slippers out of them. The 2 sweaters were hole-y, thrift store purchases that I wore for years, so no great loss to me.
Can’t wait to see what the cashmere becomes!
You’re lucky! I had a store-bought aran sweater that I used to love but never wore anymore b/c of the too-huge aspect so I was going to rip it apart for the yarn but however it had been knit they’d used, like, one length of yarn for each row. So basically… I wrecked the sweater AND couldn’t use the yarn : (
Ahhrrrg! Errgg. I’m in shock. I can’t believe you did that. But it’s incredibly brave and oh-so-bold. Good luck with it. Yeah, having a swift and ball-winder is great. Can’t imagine what I’d do without mine.
Good luck with the ripping. I have done the same thing but I haven’t been lucky enough to find cashmere. You are going on my watch list and I am looking forward to seeing your great success.
My name is Tam and I like to watch.