Yarn Thrifting: Part 1 - Buying and Prepping

Previously I talked about my second hand yarn obsession and how I prefer to wash my yarn before using.  If your interested, here's the details on that process from bargain bin to finished object.

First, the primary reason I wash thrifted yarn is I don't know where it came from.  Sometimes there is a smoky smell, or a musty smell and those items are first in the wash bin.  There's also a very distinct "thrift store item" smell which seems to permeate everything, be it yarn or clothing or furniture. Maybe they use a deodorizer for items before it goes to the floor...who knows?

At my local Value Village, they store the yarn and miscellaneous bits and bobs for crafting in a bin with half open packages of incontinence products.  True story.  Maybe they think the two go hand in hand?  Old ladies need incontinence products and yarn...why not put them together?  Hilarious.

Here's the bin:

I sort through the random skeins and bags, pick out the ones I think I'd use, usually in a multiple of 6 if I can (there are a LOT of novelty yarns which I don't tend to go for), then head to the counter. Once home, I take everything out and give it a good once over.  I check for obvious stains or defects (I once found a skein that had been sliced by something through the label and a good inch in, the yarn was in short strings...I salvaged about a half skein), then I photograph each skein with its intact label (if it has one) so I can identify it after washing.  If it has no label, no photo until after washing.

A typical haul looks like this:

Next, I get out my beautiful swift and start turning each skein into a hank.  Please note my lovely assistant in the background who much prefers playing fetch over playing with yarn.

Once everything has been turned into a hank, it's ready for the wash basin.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - Washing Process.

Tools of the Trade for Yarn Thrifting

I'm very lucky in that I have a dedicated room for my hobbies.  This room has a designated knitting corner which is slowly spreading across the room (This pic was taken a few months back...things have "expanded" since then).

With my penchant for thrifting yarn, a swift and winder are very, very useful.  The winder I had no trouble finding and purchasing.  The one pictured above I got on Amazon for $25.  It's a bare basics hand crank model which works great.  The swift was made by my husband.  It was the temporary model while he worked out the plans for a more permanent version:

Isn't it lovely?  Don't ask me about the mechanics...all I know is it works great and is smooth and sturdy.  I use this swift when I'm making hanks from thrifted yarn; its sturdy construction allows me to quickly dismantle a ball of yarn into a hank I can then wash and dry, like these lovely darlings:

 When the hanks are dry, I either leave them as is but twisted (like this).

Or I wind them using the ball winder.  Unfortunately, because the wooden swift from the hubby is not adjustable, and sometimes the hanks shrink after washing, I bought a cheap plastic umbrella swift to make life easier.  It also works for yarn I buy new as hanks like the Cascade Heritage pictured above.

This thing works but I'm not sure how well it will hold up.  It feels rather flimsy compared to the wooden version but it is easily adjustable so it makes winding from a hank easy.  I did try making hanks using this swift and it sucks.  Its ok for lightweight yarn but anything heavier than DK and this baby is bouncing around like crazy.  It is adjustable from horizontal to vertical which is nice but I still prefer the wooden version for making hanks.