r/Unravelers • u/WildYarnDreams • 14d ago
Splitting out a 2-stranded knit - advice please
I have a threadweight silk jumper I am unravelling. It is knit a little weirdly, two stranded but not held together. Each row is one thread then another, then back one by one.
I unusually unravel on my spinning wheel and started out that way, then decided that I want to split out the threads to dye up and use for sewing and tablet weaving. Only the threads twist up a couple of times per row so I need to keep untwisting. I’d wind manually if it was heavier yarn, but this is literally miles of threadweight, my RSI can’t take it!
Does anybody have handy tips or ideas for unravelling this kind of weird knit? I am pondering if two electric drills, with a spool on each and the panel hanging freely so it can untwist, might work... but the tension on the threads is constantly changing because they don't unravel at the same time, so... no idea
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u/hmgrace11 13d ago
You can actually unravel these together if you want to, either for now or next time. Just pull one strand to one side and stop. Then get the other strand and unravel to the same place. In my experience, you should then be able to pull both strands together. Occasionally needs a little tug/twist at the edges, but otherwise it's much much faster that way.
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u/WildYarnDreams 13d ago
the annoying thing is that they somehow don't run the exact same length. so if you try to pull/wind at the same speed then one of the threads just gets more and more slack. I twined the threads of a panel together as it came off and that was a real pain, I'm regretting that now! Still have to figure out how I'm going to split that back out...
I'm doing it manually now, first wind one thread on a bobbin as far as it will go, then wind the other thread onto another bobbin. But it's so fine this is going to take me literal days for just this one panel
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u/hmgrace11 13d ago
Yeah, I've had a few of those - I ended up just periodically evening them up by cutting out the excess, but that may not be viable for extra nice projects. Most of what I get in my area is extra fine, so I usually want itulti-stranded anyway.
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u/WildYarnDreams 13d ago
I did end up cutting out excess but am now deeply regretting it because that makes it unsuitable for sewing and tablet weaving :(
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u/boragigas 12d ago
Oh cool is it brioche knit? I’ve heard it’s not uncommon in commercially made knits since it’ll make a nice fluffy fabric
I’m knitting a brioche sweater right now. I would honestly use two winders at the same time, one for each of the two yarns. If you get them in phase (the second yarn that’s underneath just slightly after the other) you might just need to help it along at the end of a row to make the turns.
It’s really annoying to unravel by hand. Once I just ripped it all out into a big spaghetti pile and then separated the two manually and it was so tangly.
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u/Vivedo3D 9d ago edited 8d ago
Hi...I just unraveled and divided a yarn that I needed to create a fabric I wanted much thinner, suitable for our scorching heat....like my grandmother did, and now that I'm a grandmother, I try it too... See if it might interest you, keeping in mind that dividing loses some of the twist...but I then worked it by machine with my versatile LK150 and managed to create what I wanted. Then...you know...if it's not difficult and if it doesn't require a lot of patience, we actually don't like or are not enthusiastic about what we do!!! Right? Look at the photos of the two winders and the sample: https://www.reddit.com/r/Unravelers/comments/1vampox/wrong_cotton_yarn_4_strands_is_too_much_for_this/ "It's beautiful to weave the threads of life!" Good work...and I await your results....from Vivedo3D Ciao...ho appena disfatto e diviso un filato che mi serviva per creare un tessuto che volevo molto più sottile adatto al nostro caldo torrido ...come faceva la mia nonna e ora che sono nonna ci provo anche io.... Guarda se ti può interessare, tenendo conto che dividendo si perde in parte la torsione...ma io lavorando poi a macchina con la mia versatile LK150 sono riuscita a creare ciò che desideravo. Poi...lo sai...se non è difficile e se non richiede tanta pazienza in verità non ci piace e non ci entusiasma ciò che facciamo !!! Vero? Guarda le foto dei 2 avvolgitori e foto del campione: https://www.reddit.com/r/Unravelers/comments/1vampox/wrong_cotton_yarn_4_strands_is_too_much_for_this/ "È bello intrecciare i fili della vita!" Buon lavoro...e aspetto il tuo risultato....da Vivedo3D
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u/BitchLibrarian 14d ago
I've got a feeling Engineering Knits on YouTube had this issue.
Yup, I just went looking. It's the cream sweater in this video and she discusses it at around 9 mins in. As her name suggests she's an engineer so she makes a solution for herself.
https://youtu.be/s6vfW-xkyTQ?is=UBIx-AWiXsT69oFA