Renew, Revive, Recycle

Our fall Rowan order is trickling into the shop, and the most recent shipment included Rowan's second fully recycled yarn, Purelife Renew. It's a chunky weight wool blend yarn made purely from recycled fibers.

This is the second completely recycled yarn from Rowan, the first being Purelife Revive, a recycled cotton and silk blend I worked with several months ago. As with Revive, the colors of Renew are marled and tweedy rather than solid due to the way these yarns are produced.

Rowan's recycled yarns are created from used clothing and waste from fabric and yarn production. After seams and adornments are removed, the clothing is sorted by fiber type, color, and quality. It is then sterilized and shredded into loose fibers with a rag grinder. The resulting fibers are carded, and the yarn is processed and spun as usual. It's such a great way to reuse fiber that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Purelife Autumn contains several designs using Renew, including this cropped jacket called Cyclamen. This would be a fast knit on size 10 needles, and it would be perfect over a tee shirt as we slowly sneak up on the cooler weather here in Portland.

For me, part of the appeal of knitting and sewing is taking materials that are not inherently useful and transforming them into something that serves a purpose. I appreciate that Rowan's recycled yarns take this idea one step further, and it's wonderful that they are able to do so with the style that we expect from Rowan.