This scarf was my first foray into upcycling. I remember reading about unraveling sweaters on the internet and becoming instantly intrigued. It all seemed so....incredibly earthy. The excitement of transforming an object back to it's original state also seemed incredibly earthy and spiritual.

In some ways unraveling a sweater also seemed sad in a way....especially if it was a handmade sweater. All those many hours creating the object only to have someone else rip it apart? But if you think about it there is also joy in unraveling a sweater. Bringing new life to a forgotten object is always joyful.

I remember purchasing the sweater from value village and being quite excited, yet unsure that it would actually work. I remember painstakingly snipping each individual stitch in each panel. That first sweater took me FOREVER to get into panels. I remember being so proud that I took the panels to my grandmothers to show her. My grandma, mother, and myself ended up unraveling the panels and winding the yarn back up again together.

I remember crocheting the scarf from the upcycled yarn and enjoying the knowledge that doing this had been an act of green and that I was really keeping with the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, and recycle). I was amazed (and addicted!) with the knowledge that I could take an object that had been discarded and was unwanted and turn it into something beautiful and appreciated. I was even more pleased when a co-worker purchased the scarf this past December as I had not found it a home yet.