Crafty by Nature

How to Make Recycled Cotton Art Yarn

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Lee Meredith, contributor

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All-natural cotton makes for a soft and pretty spun yarn.

Lee Meredith

You can use recycled wools if you prefer, as I did with this skein.

Lee Meredith

I love my finished one-of-a-kind recycled cotton art yarn!

Lee Meredith

All-natural cotton makes for a soft and pretty spun yarn.

Photo: Lee Meredith

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If you're using a spindle, you'll be doing the same thing, just putting twist into the yarn. Because you'll be plying the yarn, you want the yarn to be overspun, so it twists up on itself when you bring it in on itself.

Move the yarn up and it should twist up like this.

Or if you fold the spun yarn in half, it should twist with itself like this:

The yarn is plying with itself.

When you reach the end of a color section, tie the two ends together (if you haven't already)—be sure to bring the new ball through the lid hole of your yarn container if you're using one. If you are spinning the single with thread, then the thread will really help out at the joins. Twist the ends along with the yarn and wrap the thread around them to hold them in, making for near-seamless joins. If you are not spinning with thread now, you can let the ends hang loose, and later when you ply the singles you can wrap them in place with thread.

I twisted the thread extra around the yarn ends to hold them in.

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Comments (9)

zoozi writes: Amazingly beautiful and so creative. A friend just lent me one of her ashfords for a while and this is a great project to start off with.
Thanks for sharing this!
Posted: 11:50 am on October 6th

creddy writes: Ok...that CD case trick is INGENIOUS!!
Thanks for posting this!!
Posted: 11:38 pm on August 31st

Jen1964 writes: I'm not sure my hands would welcome the spinning (due to repetitive strain injuries from over the years); but they are much prettier the way you've done them, than any of the original counterparts.
I had not thought of dissecting cotton sweaters. You see them all the time in tag sales. I don't usually care for them "as is" but admire the yarn. NOW I have IDEAS!
I mean the dog only needs just so many "sweater-sleeve jackets" for herself.
Posted: 2:27 pm on June 15th

ojosdelaluna writes: this yarn is soooo pretty!
Posted: 6:28 pm on May 30th

PamHarris writes: I am very excited to put your fabulous ideas to use to make a weaving stash! Thank you!
Posted: 2:42 pm on April 3rd

croqzine writes: LEEEEE, you're my hero. I love all your work, and this is no exception. Also, I love the CD spindle tip!
Posted: 9:45 pm on March 31st

Jen_W writes: I love this. You really made spinning yarn seem doable and I love how you merged our button theme with the crafting green theme.
Posted: 2:52 pm on March 31st

janetdawson writes: Another fabulous recycled yarn tute! Love them all so far. :)
Posted: 12:30 pm on March 31st

Joannie_N writes: This is so neat. My FIL brings me thrift store finds all the time. This is definitely worth a try. Love the beads and buttons!
Posted: 9:27 am on March 31st

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