Knitting was harmed in this post

I should clarify the title, my knitting was not harmed, only purchased sweaters.

I have a tendency to hold on to clothes forever. So I end up with a closet full of clothes that I never wear. And eventually I run out of storage. Additionally, I'm a bit lazy and refuse to handwash most sweaters. So I occassionally end up ruining sweaters. I've learned pure silk sweaters should never be washed in the machine. And even when the label says it can be washed, it may not actually wash in the dryer without having areas that felt.

So at some point this weekend, I decided I needed to clean the closet/dresser. I considered taking picture evidence, but I was too embarassed by the sight in the midde of the closet purge. I finally gave up on fitting back into three cashmere sweaters that I love and have outgrown, but they were still in very good shape. And I couldn't bear to part with them. At some point I saw a sweater blanket/quilt online and was inspired to save my sweaters to make my own blanket. Once I looked at the pile of sweaters I had two distinct color schemes: blues and browns; and greens, greys, and blacks. I started with the blues and browns.

So I washed and dried all my sweaters I'd set aside. It included cashmere, merino, and cotton. I wanted to be sure that the blanket would withstand washing and drying, as I have no desire to handwash a blanket or line dry it. So the surviving sweaters, as determined by softness, were nominated for cutting down to squares. I measured the smallest sweater to determine what the largest square I could get from it to make my first cut into each sweater. I could do a 12" square, 2 from each sweater. Additionally I had sleeves and turtlenecks that could be cut down to smaller squares, 6.5" square. I kept the cardigans with buttons, thought it added a bit of personality to the blanket. I ended up with 16 solid squares and 14 pieced (2x2) squares. As I hate trying to match corners, I decided the layout would not include any of the pieced squares meeting each other.

I still need to find a backing and batting for it, but can't wait for fall so I can curl up under the blanket, so incredibly soft.

What did I learn? Sweaters are easier to piece than other fabric, as there tends to be more give, easier to match corners. Ribbing and cabling gives far more stretch than you need most of the time and the piece tends to grow. Be careful with the seaming. With the stretchiness, the stitche tend to shrink down and make it difficult to rip out the stitches, and much easier to put a hole in the sweater. And I'm too inpatient for perfection. I have cables and ribs that are clearly not straight. But I wasn't aiming to get this judged at any point in time.

S