A Long-Awaited Wreath

Last Christmas, the mother of a friend of mine asked if I could make her a wreath for her door using some old sweaters.

The sweaters had belonged to her parents, and had been knit by a family member. Pretty special.

There were three sweaters, and I felted them all with a hot water/hot dryer process. 

I was initially worried  because the wool didn't felt like I had seen in other sweaters. The sweaters were definitely much smaller, but I could still see the knit stitches very easily. 

I called my "client" and asked her what she wanted me to do.

"Just use them up. Do your best, and don't worry if they unravel a bit." Perfect!

I cut one sweater up first, snipping out squares about 3"x 3".

The sweater was really thick, and although I have good, sharp scissors, my hands were aching!

Once I had all of my squares (I didn't measure, by the way, I just eyeballed the size), I grabbed a metal coat hanger. 

I bent it so that it formed a circle, 

...and then snipped it at the base on one side. 

Then I started poking the middles of my squares. You can see just under my left hand the number of squares that I had already "threaded" onto the wire when I took this photo. 

Once I had all of my squares on (you'll know this when there is barely room to see the wire between squares, even with a little effort), I snipped off the hook part of the coat hanger and made my own hook. 

I made a hook on the original end as well, and looped them together. 

I then pushed the squares around the join together, over the hooks so that the join was essentially hidden. (You can slide the square back on itself AND thread it over the looped end....)

The finish product is (in my opinion) a very striking wreath that could really be used any time of year. 

I love the oat-y colour of the sweater squares, and I love the messy-yet-organized look of the wreath itself. 

Go ahead and make one of these for your own door this year! It took me all of about 30 minutes (after the initial washing and drying), and didn't require any special tools. 

Make one for your neighbour, too! ;)