Recycled Sari Yarn Project

[jumpuphigh]

I was so excited to find recycled sari yarn on eBay. It arrived and I pulled out the skeins, lined them up and petted them. However, I'd read about how this yarn tends to have a musty smell so when I caught a whiff, I wasn't too concerned. The advice was to spritz it a few times with Febreze. Be prepared for this if you want to work with this yarn. It smells like it has been sitting in the moldiest, mustiest, darkest, dankest corner of my grandmother's basement for the last 10 years and that is after I've soaked it with fabric freshener multiple times. I've even soaked a hank in water and dishwashing soap and it is hanging to dry. It didn't help. There goes my vision of sitting in a coffee shop, knitting while people exclaim over the loveliness of the yarn while I show them sketches of my geometric wall hanging that I'm creating. So sad. I'm going to have to do a sniff test on the swatch I knit up as well as figuring out the gauge.

Has anybody else worked with this yarn? I've heard it's a tough one but I love how it knits up and the colors are so gorgeous that I want to figure out how to make it work.

Comments

[seryn]

I haven't knit with this, but I did spin up some "Bombay Nights" from Paradise Fibers which had a lot of recycled sari silk in it (more than the percentage suggested really). It did not have that same smell issue.

Maybe you could find something that is blended with sari silk? That would give you the same shock of color, but perhaps dilution would give the silk more space to breathe before you get it.

[jumpuphigh]

I will definitely continue experimenting with different materials. I'm still hoping to resolve the problem with this yarn though since I have 10 hanks of it.

[beckyzoole]

It's so beautiful! If you have a place where you can hang the hank in sunlight and wind without water and bugs getting to it, that would probably be the best way to get rid of the smell.

[jumpuphigh]

I've put a hank outside to see what happens. I've never had yarn that was such an adventure before.

[aquaeri]

Have you worked with any relatively unprocessed silk before? It has a characteristic smell which is a bit musty I guess, and it's just part of the fibre. I found it a bit offputting at first but I like it now because I know that smell means it's definitely silk!

(And hi! great to see you here! I'll have to make some more posts, but right now I have to get some work done before Monday.)

[jumpuphigh]

I haven't used it before but the smell was definitely not just a slight musty smell. However the hang it outside idea was a WIN. I'm back to being excited about using it again. Time to start knitting swatches and drawing up shapes. Fun!

[auntruth]

Mine was less smelly on purchase, and smelled fine after a couple of days of hanging outdoors in direct sunlight after being wetted. Sunlight is an active ingredient!

I have knit and frogged a couple of scarves, deciding that it made too stiff and thick a fabric for that. It really is pretty thick, and it's relatively stiff for its thickness.

1. I am very intrigued by some jewelry I've seen made of the yarn run through big-holed beads, or, a couple of strands of the silk yarn mixed with a couple of strands of chain. They look wonderful! But at that rate one hank would be a lifetime supply.

2. I am wondering whether I would like the yarn better, displayed to better advantage, in some kind of weaving (where it's the weft/filling on a minimal/unobtrusive warp --

3. or in a knitting pattern with a lot of dropped stitches (e.g., clapotis http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/PATTclapotis.html) or long runs of stitches (e.g., the Cross-Stitch Scarf -- Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/keepinknitreal/koigu-cross-stitch-scarf ) Something to make long runs of the yarn show and glimmer, without piling up a lot of layers of it like crochet or garter stitch would do, so the drape of the fabric is lighter and looser.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Perhaps the yarn would be well used knitting/crocheting beads? Or perhaps knitting lapels and cuffs for a special jacket?

[jumpuphigh]

iirc, I ultimately soaked it all in Febreze, rinsed it and then hung it on doorknobs all around my house for close to 2 months to get rid of the smell. I've since knitted it up into various projects which I then washed multiple times again.

I won't be buying it ever again.