Unraveling: Can you still use the yarn afterward?

Dear users, dear authors,
is the yarn still usable after unraveling? 

Most of it, yes—but some of it gets tangled or a little rough, so it’s no longer nice to use.

If it can be unraveled, then I reuse the yarn too. 

I once had some yarn that was a hooded scarf — unraveled. Then I tried out at least three different patterns, but I didn’t like any of them. In the end, it became a slipover. I still have it today and always enjoy wearing it. 

With anything that has fluffy yarn in it, I’ve found that you have to unravel it fairly quickly. As Veronika wrote above, once it has become rough from continued knitting, it becomes difficult, if not impossible. 

I agree with the previous posters. Some yarns are very difficult or even impossible to unravel. But most can be, and you can then use them to make beautiful new things. After or immediately while undergoing unraveling, wind the yarn into a skein. Then soak it in water and hang it up. This smooths out the yarn, and once it’s dry, it’s ready to use again. 😉

Sometimes you just have bad luck. I once had a situation where the yarn had somehow become thinner after unraveling
and winding it. And then, in the finished crochet
piece, you could clearly see the difference between the unraveled yarn and the yarn that hadn’t been unraveled
. I didn’t like that very much. But that’s just how it was.

I’m currently working on an old ball of yarn that I once knitted into a scarf—along with other yarn.
While unraveling it, I had to pull a little tighter in some spots because the fluffy yarn tends to get snagged.
But thanks to the yarn’s irregular texture, it’s hardly noticeable.

I usually crochet with smooth yarns again. I find that the unraveled parts aren’t as noticeable that way.

My mom used to unravel old woolen items quite often; she would always soak the yarn in baby shampoo and then wrap it around a board or chair legs to let it dry. This made the yarn nice and soft and smooth again, and it could be worked with very easily afterward.

Best regards, Inge

I read somewhere that you’re supposed to wrap unraveled yarn around a 2-liter bottle (e.g., an empty Coke bottle) and then dampen it; apparently it’ll be as good as new 🤔.
I haven’t tried it yet.
I just wind my unraveled projects into a ball and then use the yarn again (mostly with yarn cakes or cotton). I think fluffy yarn works very poorly, since the fuzz gets caught.

@Petra
I also had a yarn that I’ve now knitted up three times; somehow it never quite worked with the pattern/shape, but I’ve realized there’s a “right” pattern for every yarn — you just have to find it 😂
And after knitting it three times, I didn’t like the color at all anymore, but I didn’t want to unravel it again, so I finished it — and my friend loved it so much that I gave her the shawl (in exchange for yarn 🙃, which I really didn’t need with my stash 🙄 — I was just glad the yarn was finally gone 🥳)