FemiKnitMafia

Irish Sweater
Originally uploaded by The Feminist Mafia.

A new obsession has pined me to the floor. Yes, I have succombed to the recycled yarn fetish. Ashley Martinea has started a little revolution with her tutorial on ripping out thrift store sweaters and reusing the yarn. What yarn-lovin’ Mommy doesn’t want to save a pile of cash through a yarn recycling binge? So, after reading her tutorial, I attacked an old hand-me-down Irish wool sweater. I love this sweater. I love the yarn. But it’s ginormous! So it flew out of storage and onto the scissors.

However, after an hour of gleefully cutting the good seams and tugging and pulling and hearing the beautiful pop-pop sound of stitches unraveling, I started to sneeze, itch my eyes, and honk my nose. I’d like to think this allergy-fest was brought on by the cloud of dust circling this unwashed heap of hippie fabric, but perhaps I’m allergic to wool (?). Oh the injustice of it all!

Needless to say, I took a Benadryl and kept ripping. Even as my breathing started to require a noticeable effort, I kept ripping.