In the last year, I have come across a handful of sustainably minded knitwear start-ups that have expressed an interest in unravelling knitwear to reuse the yarn to make new products. Studio Constance and New Industrial Order, for example, believe this process would help them to reduce waste and be more circular. With this in mind, I reached out to knitwear manufacturers and knitting machine manufacturers to explore whether this concept could ever become reality. After doing some initial research, the first thing that surprised me is how unravelling knitwear is not uncommon. In fact, it’s been happening for “over 100 years, if not centuries”, according to Connie Huffa, textile engineer and co-founder of Fabdesigns in the US.
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