I’m reaching out to the knitting world for some help. I don’t know much about knitting, but I am an artsy dad with a dilemma.
We have a very special old and very warn Afghan. Very worn, the yarn is in bad shape. Looking for ideas about how it can be remade. Can the yarn be woven into something. Can the yarn be respun?
Any ideas from the experts would be much appreciated. Ty sincerely for reading.
Best wishes to all,
Ed
Condensed Backstory if it interests you:
35 years ago in high school, we had a severely handicapped girl who did not have many friends. I’d befriended her and was one of the few people who gave her a social life. I went to the prom with her so that she could go to the prom.
After high School everyone went separate ways. We loosely kept in touch across several States.
15 years later when my first child was born we received a hand knitted (oh dang, I’m getting a little choked up here…) Pink Afghan in the mail. It was from my friend from high school. It was very touching.
Fast forward 19 years, and my daughter is a freshman in college. If anyone knows a little bit about anxiety, they know that when an anxious child latches onto an item, often a blanket, it’s a lifelong thing. That Afghan has been with her every night since she was born. It’s been too Costa rica, Denmark, Israel, the British Virgin islands, and all across the United states.
Can you include some pictures of it? My first thought is that you could attach some fabric to it to reinforce the knitting, like a quilt backing. Some people specialize in repairing knitted items. You can google “visible mending” to see what I mean. I hope you can include a picture. I would love to see the blanket. Good luck!
A lovely story. I would frame this precious afghan in a shadow box that does not crush its texture. Maybe enhance the pink color by using a dark green mat. As a framed object it could continue to travel with your daughter by hanging on the wall. It would be interesting to frame a Companion map.
I agree with Tangoginny. If the yarn is very worn it will not hold up to unraveling and reworking. Framing it would be lovely. If you really want to remake it, a picture would be helpful so our collective eyes could see what shape it’s in. I hope that helps!
Knit finisher here…that yarn cannot be remade, respun, re-anything. You can obtain a compatible colored piece of polar fleece that is the size of the afghan, and back the knitted piece with it. Fleece has enough strength and stability to do this. It needs no edge finish, comes in at least 60” widths and can be readily sewn through. Use a “catch-stitch” hand hemming stitch to attach the afghan all the way around, and also anchor any holes or ripped areas to the fleece. Sew with a hand-quilting thread bought where you get your fleece.
Do not use any other type of fabric to back this afghan. Nothing else works as well. Safety pin baste the layers together to prep for sewing them.