Day 175 and Strings

I love how comfortable a nice worn t-shirt can feel, but after a while it needs a little refresher. If you're bold enough to make t-shirt yarn, than you're certainly bold enough to make this easy cowl/necklace/belt.

First, it's important to use a shirt that has no side seams around the lower body. This way when you cut your strings you'll have nice continuous loops. Second, it's important to cut cleanly. Jagged edges will make the strings hang strangely, so go slowly. So here's your basic recipe for a scarf of this kind.

One t-shirt (I prefer 100% cotton)
A small amount of yarn (less than an ounce is needed)
A hook or knitting needles that match the yarn

-Cut the torso of the shirt directly across from the underarm seam to the other under arm seam.
-Cut off the bottom hem.
-Cut long loops by making many parallel cuts through the shirt. Use your eye. I prefer strips that are between 1 and 2 inches.
-Put all the loops together over your arms and give a light stretch to make the fabric curl attractively.
-Option one: With your yarn and tools, make a wide squat rectangle. Use your eye again. It should be tall enough to just barely wrap around one leg of all the loops of t-shirt. Any pattern that you like can be used if you find it attractive. Sew or graft the rectangle so that it traps all the loops.
-Option two: If you don't want any seams to sew you might alternately choose to work in the round. Chain or cast on as many stitches as you need putting the loops in the center of the round before joining. Make a tube (it will enclose the loops naturally without you having to do any extra work) as long as you find attractive in any stitch pattern you like.

It's a very fast project and a good beginner project if you choose the seaming option because the amount of actual stitching is so slight. This might even be a situation in which one could truly wear the very first bit of stitching they ever made