Knitting Sustainably Every Day
Over the years, I’ve observed that knitters are caring people who are concerned about the welfare of others, as well as the environment. I know many knitters think about sustainability factors when choosing your yarns and knitting projects. Personally, I’m not a “fast-fashion” person, and I enjoy the hard work that goes into handmade knitwear. I take a lot of pride in my work and even spend time mending old projects to give them new lives. So let’s explore more ways that we can enact sustainable habits in our knitting. This way, we can keep these great items and projects in our lives longer and also be kind to our environment.
Here are four easy ways we can be more mindful during our knitting process:
Sustainable Fiber Choices
If you are looking for eco-friendly options, I suggest opting for yarn comprised of natural, sustainable fibers. Ethically sourced wool, organic cotton, and silk will be something you should consider to use in your projects.
Reusing Older Yarn
Do you have old knit projects you don’t wear anymore? Maybe it doesn’t fit anymore, or you don’t like the color or patterns. Don’t throw it away! There is an eco-friendly way that you can try to rework this—unravel your knitting and reuse your old yarn. Check out this useful article which shows you how to reuse frogged yarn.
And, here is a fun article I wrote from 13.5 years ago from my days as a “regular knitter.” I share how I frogged an entire sweater and recycled the yarn.
Mending
Sometimes tragedy happens. Perhaps, you have a lovely sweater or shawl that has a hole in it. Trust me—I’ve been there! You can still make this work and bring your project back to life. I actually have a blog post on fixing a hole, and you can also see my mending adventure on my Instagram story here.
For more information on fixing basic mistakes click here to purchase my DVD or digital download: Annie’s class “Knitting ER: How to Fix Your Mistakes.”
Sharing Resources
Do you have any extra knitting books or tools? Sharing is caring! Reach out to your knitting friends, and share the extra resources you have. Get together to trade books, patterns, projects…etc. It not only will help us reduce the waste and burden to our earth, but it’s also a great way to double your joy in knitting. Knitting is more fun when we help each other and share our love with our friends! Join my Ravelry group, so we can enjoy the fun of knitting and share our resources together.
This is only a start, I’m sure there are a ton of ideas I haven’t listed here. What’s your for knitting sustainably? I would love to hear from you. Leave in the comments and let me know!
Interested to know more ways to add meaning to your knitting? Here are 5 benefits of knitting with others that I’d like to introduce you to!
I think this aligns well with your talk with Carson Demers- knitting sustainability includes our maintaining our ourselves as knitters and humans as well!
For the first time I participated in FibreShare this year. You are encouraged to use yarn from your stash if it fits with the likes of your FibreShare partner. So my package was a combination of things I bought as well as items I had on hand.
I have long stopped buying superwash wool as I have huge concerns over the environmental impacts of its production. When can we address this? The majority of indie dyers and their customers seem to be turning a blind eye and pretending ignorance.
There are now several methods to create machine washable wools. Check with your yarn manufacturer to see what method they use. Look for the bluesign or GOT mark if you’re looking for sustainable washable wools.
How can I be sure the wool I buy is from sheep that have not been mulesed?
By asking the manufacturer.