Handspun Recycled Newspaper Yarn

Jun 17, 2008 By Doug Gunzelmann 58 Comments

Recently a commenter asked what they could do with all the old newspapers they had piling up. With enough time, patience, and newspapers you can create newspaper yarn. From the design studios of Greetje van Tiem and her “Indruk” project she can purportedly spins 20yds of “yarn” from a sheet of old newspaper.

Similar to our post on Plarn, newspaper yarn can be woven into varying degrees of complexity to construct anything from curtains, to rugs, netting throws, or even upholstery. Its strength may be slightly less that of yarn but when spun tightly and woven into something like a mat the newspaper yarn is a durable and functional structure.

This great craft can create useable additions around the home and is a upcycle for your Sunday Post.

Of course the question is "how to spin newspaper yarn?" Well the supplies are few, the skills basic, and the end possibilities immense.

You will need:

Scissors
Newspaper
Spindle

1) Take a full sheet from your paper and fold in to about fourths.

2) Cut half inch strips along the width of this folded paper.

3) Create a “lead” with your first strip by twisting it up tightly with your fingers.

4) Wrap the lead around the base of your spindle to begin the process.

5) Use the spindle to continue twisting the paper in the same direction you began. When you get within about 4 inches of the end leave it untwisted so that your can splice the next strip together.

6) The next strips twists together with the last via the “tail” of the prior strip.

7) Keep rockin and rollin like this until you get to a desired amount of yarn baby!

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58 Comments, Comment or Ping

Mike

How flammable is it once it’s spun like this?

Jun 17th, 2008
livepaths

Very interesting.

If the economics don’t work, recycling and sustainable efforts won’t either.
Check http://LivePaths.com a blog about innovative entrepreneurs that make money selling recycled items, provide green services or help us reduce our dependency on non renewable resources. These include some very cool Green online ventures, great new technologies, startups and investments opportunities.

Jun 18th, 2008
Amy

Thanks for the tutorial! It was great to see pics of it being done! I had seen the results on the Internet but wondered if it had to be wet or was coated wtih a binder of any kind. So, thanks for the clear instructions!

Jun 18th, 2008
nancy

Where did you get the spindles?

Jun 19th, 2008
Doug

Nancy,

You can buy them at quite a few sites online:

heres one.

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd47999&source=search

Jun 19th, 2008
Woolly M.

Beautiful. I can’t wait to try this and make it for a friend who knits. Thanks for the lesson! Woolly M.

Jun 23rd, 2008
Carmen

How neat!

Jun 23rd, 2008
Pat

Very innovative!

Jul 11th, 2008
Kris

Intriguing, to say the least.
I weave, dye and paint, but don’t spin which means this will never happen in my world.
However, something to consider for those who do…………. I see a tremendous palette of possibilities. One could paint this surface in myriad ways, wild colors to soft & quiet, even photo transfers, which would probably strengthen it somewhat especially for foot traffic. I’ve done this to old, soiled sisal rugs and they are instantly transformed and changeable, as well. They’re also infinitely easier to clean forevermore.

So, with the paper wovens - bags, wall art, rugs……. possibilities abound!

Jul 11th, 2008
Christina

I wonder about the dye coming off on your hands and possibly on anything else it might come into contact with. I think it’s a really cool idea!

Christina

Jul 11th, 2008
janet

I haven’t spun newspaper, but I have spun used wrapping paper. There is a Japanese tradition of weaving with spun paper. They use strong, long fibered papers for their spun and woven kimonos. I think that newsprint is weak, though the photos of woven items are impressive in this article.

Jul 11th, 2008
Laurie

Could you do this on a spinning wheel? I might try it.

Jul 14th, 2008
RecycleCindy

Absolutely the coolest idea I’ve seen lately. Creating paper yarn definitely will be on my to-do list. I love crafting with recycled materials. Thank you for sharing and providing a wonderful tutorial.

Jul 16th, 2008
Nicole

I’m not much of a spinner, myself, but that’s really neat!
-Nicole

Aug 7th, 2008
Tanner (is creative)

Now that’s cool! I feel like spinning some right now, even though I don’t have any real use for the yarn. Though the idea of having newspaper furniture/rugs/whatever seems pretty chic to me. I like it.

Makes me wonder what else you can do with newspaper that would be useful.

Aug 14th, 2008
Bodil

Great idea!

Aug 19th, 2008
Tara

I tried this myself a few months ago (posted it here), but didn’t really have great luck. It kept breaking as I spun it and it just went SO slow. JesSprkle sells some newspaper yarn and she coats her fingers with wax before spinning, which makes a very even, easy to knit with yarn!

Aug 20th, 2008
Turrean

This would make a cool looking rug for the porch, but what happens when it gets wet?

Aug 20th, 2008
curegirl0421

I’m thinking that spun wrapping paper (great idea) or newspaper would probably not do well outside, but it would make a great crocheted baskets for indoor use, no? Square baskets perhaps? I would think that once you’ve created something you would want to Modge Podge the bottom at least, if not the sides, to keep the newsprint from staining whatever you’ve stuck it on, but I think it might be a tad time consuming to coat the paper before spinning, and would also probably make it tough to spin. My 2 cents.

Aug 20th, 2008
Heather

How would you dye the finished yarn?

Aug 20th, 2008
Alan

Isnt newspaper poisonous? Or toxic?

Aug 20th, 2008
Nichola

Damn! Why did i sell my spindle?? i want to make newspaper yarn!

Aug 20th, 2008
Melissa

Oh now that sounds like a whole bunch of fun! I may have to try that

Aug 20th, 2008
Nyx

So I had been trying to figure out how to turn magazines into yarn for various knitting/crochet/basketry techniques and what do I see this morning! Thank you for the tutorial I finally got around to making a CD drop spindle and tried this out.. it works really well with crepe paper too

Aug 20th, 2008
sarahelizabeth

This is awesome! I will now be saving up my newspaper!!

Aug 21st, 2008
strawbird

I did this with recycled plastic bags in India. We cut up strips of colored bags and twisted them into clear bags- was kind of metalic. Thanks for sharing the paper!

Aug 22nd, 2008
shewolf

Newspaper isn’t poisonous. The ink is soy based, and paper itself, while not very nutritious, isn’t unsafe to eat. At least, the standard black-and-white paper. No clue about the sales circulars.

I think something great would be to ply a thick yarn, and use it to hold firewood. Or a place for newspapers and magazines.

Aug 22nd, 2008
julee

Thanks for posting this! I tried it and posted it to my blog!
http://www.juleedunekacke.com/blog/2008/08/22/hand-spun-newsprint/

I had some problems getting the yarn to be as small as it is in the picture above. I also had some problems with the yarn tearing. It never tore on the current row, but always the previous row that was being knit into. Any tips on that?

Thanks!

Aug 22nd, 2008
lennyb

try those printer ribbons from the kodak instant kiosks like they have at walmart.
spin it up into yarn and then from there you can put it on a homemade rope machine to make very strong rope.

Aug 23rd, 2008
Valerie

Has anyone tried making a hybrid recycled yarn? Perhaps newspaper spun with plastic bags? Or with cassette tape? Seems like there’s got to be a way to make the newspaper yarn thinner without sacrificing strength. I love the look of the twisted newsprint, but I would want it to be thin enough to make something more delicate!

Aug 27th, 2008
Erica

I had a hat I loved made of paper from China. It was brownish paper, not newprint. I wonder if it was waxed or oiled, but it didn’t feel oily. My Chinese-made hat held up pretty well in occasional light rain. It was the sort of bell-shape that dropped its brim down around my face and neck. It had little wooden beads worked into lacy holes along about an inch from the brim. Very charming, and made of paper! but flexible and strong.

I bet you could do something similar with newsprint, maybe colored ads would be pretty (though slightly more toxic with copper in the inks).

If you want waterproof, you could wax it (but it will be very flammable). If you want it less flammable, maybe use something like latex paint or ask at the hardware store for a good water-seal. Most liquids will soak all the way into newsprint, and when they set it’s like they’re part of the whole piece.

This paper yarn could also be handy for ultralight paper-mache projects. Or as a base for clay - you could dip it in clay slip, fire it, and have a “crocheted” clay sculpture.

Aug 28th, 2008
betsy

How wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial!

Sep 2nd, 2008
Purple

Awesome idea. I’m spinning some right now. I don’t have a spindle, so I’m wrapping it around a chopstick withe rubber bands on the ends so the yarn doesn’t slip off. Seems alright so far. Once I get a good amount of yarn, I’m going to try and knit it - not sure what into, though!

Sep 4th, 2008
Patricia R Cramer

What is the practical application for this spum paper?

Surely you could not knit a sweater in case you were caught in the rain.

Also, as a knitter, I am much interested in the feel of my yarn.

Harsh or stiff is out for me.

Sorry for the negativity. Perhaps you can enlighten me.

Pat C.

Sep 4th, 2008
Andreia

Parabens e obrigado por dividir conosco essa ideia.
beijoss

Sep 5th, 2008
Luba

Wow, what a fantastic idea!!! I’ll try making some tonight.
Thanks for sharing and the great pics too.

Sep 7th, 2008
justin

this is school

Sep 16th, 2008
Meredith

As in anything fiber arts related, patience and the joy of making is key. Spinning is time consuming but if you are into it you just are…

I am looking forward to adapting this idea and recycling papers (maybe junk mail/catalogs) wound with other materials. I made yarn out of saran wrap a long time ago for weaving and the durability and effects were gorgeous! http://tinyurl.com/saranwrap

Sep 25th, 2008
FoggySonntag

Coolest ever. I’ve become overwhelmed with my stash of paper -magazines, shreds, tissue paper, wrapping, and newspaper-all of it! This is something I can’t wait to experiment with.

Sep 29th, 2008
Lexi

How easily do they break? I was thinking of making that string with newspaper beads and giving them away as gifts for Christmas to my friends.

Oct 8th, 2008
Nicole

I have been working at this for about an hour now and I am having a ton of issues. Primarily, the “thread” is very weak where joined to a new piece of newspaper. Spinning newspaper is a challenge, but that will probably become simpler with practice, but I want to know how the heck to keep those two pieces together.

Oct 30th, 2008
Kara

This is brilliant!! now to find time to do it, between all my other spinning desires … >.>

Nov 3rd, 2008
Anne

People in the Philippeans have been doing this for ages and then using the “yarn” to weave baskets, tissue paper covers and other things. Generally, once they are done, it’s painted to make it look more like a traditional woven good. This is the first time I’ve seen it knitted, though. Interesting!

Nov 16th, 2008
angelique

I found this at about 1:30 this morning and I tried it after I woke up. It worked pretty good for me on a homemade drop spindle. This is the first time I’ve ever spun anything and it was really easy. I understand that some people have had difficulty with breakage, I thought that I would also try this using casette tape folded in with the paper and it worked fantastic!!! If you fold your strips in half and run the casette tape in the center it doesn’t even show.

Nov 20th, 2008
Oh Nevermind

Why are all these things seen as “green” humans have done this type of thing for centuries until they were coaxed away from it by the seekers of power and wealth, who themselves keep the knowledge of all these arts.

This is not “green” it is HUMAN, perhapse my philosophy is shining through with this comment but it appears as though people call “green” in the west what people call LIFE in the countries that are being exterminated as overpopulated and primitave with convenient diseases from Dr.WHO.

Have none of you wondered why in England the title “Primate” is reserved for the ruler, the one who is uncivilized and of the guardian class, meaning should the empire fall they hold the knowledge to enslave the minds of men anew for their own peace and comfort. They tell us that man comes from the monkey but yet the monkey roams free and men do not, men are taxed and do nothing without permission. Men should long ago have thrown poo at the injustice he endures.

Thank you for this post it shall be put into practice as soon as i get my loom made. May all of you enjoy your time off from the work that we all must do to survive in slavery together.

Dec 22nd, 2008
celia

We have handmade spindles for sale. Just call or email me and I’ll send you one pronto! of course you could make your own out of a CD and some dowel!
Celia

Dec 22nd, 2008