Handspun Recycled Newspaper Yarn

206 by Doug Gunzelmann on June 17, 2008

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 usable 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!

More Recycled Craft Ideas

Have any of you guys worked with recycled newspaper yarn? We'd love to hear what you're working on!

Category: Concept+Design, DIY | Tags: craft, DIY, handspun newspaper, upcycle, upcycling, yarn

About the Author:

Doug is in perpetual motion and a self-proclaimed adventure junkie, that has had a longtime love affair with the great outdoors.

“I love being a part of the active world. The stuff that blows my hair back is adventure (all shapes and sizes), photography, mountaineering, Muay Thai, and seeing natural beauty in all its forms. The living earth is the framework on which I build my life and free time. My ideal trip would be BASE jumping at Sotano de Las Golandrinas in Mexico (closest I could come to skydiving through the jungle!). I work towards keeping it real, green, and healthy. ”

Doug is the co-founder of LiveOAK, although he says he didn’t know what a blog was until a couple months after he started.

Follow Doug Gunzelmann on Twitter: @amazonpilgrim

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Thanks for taking the time to discuss that, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on that topic. If achievable, while you gain experience, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is highly helpful for me.
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What a neat idea! Can’t wait to try this and share it with my spinning group!

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Won’t this break easily? I mean, is it practically possible to do something creative with this yarn? I’m deep into crocheting. I’ve done a lot of stuff with plastic bag crocheting. So was just wonderig…

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My idea of a perfect store would have everying in bulk–BYO bags. Since that is not the case, I was estatic when I discovered plarn. So, you can only imagine my delight when I discovered yarn from t-shirts, yarn from blue jeans, and my latest recycled yarn find: yarn from newspaper…even though I get all my news on virtual paper these days!!
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I’ve always wondered what to do with newspaper other than making paper mache. This is such a fantastic idea. Thanks a lot.
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this also works for clothing and upholstery, although it washes out so you have to reapply it after you launder them.
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I’ve always wondered what to do with newspaper other than making paper mache. This is such a fantastic idea.Absolutely delightful themes. Thanks
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Is this “yarn” waterproof or can it be waterproofed?
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When looking at some examples of yarn bombing, I came across this which would be perfect, seeing as I have a year-and-a-half’s worth of newspapers from home
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year I happened into a blog that gave instructions on how to spin using the drop spindle
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This paper yarn
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Love this idea. I’m developing a whole line of practical gifts made from recycled items. I don’t have the time right now to do the spinning. Is there a supplier where I can purchase this yarn already finished? Thanks for sharing this great green idea.
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aww I love this – though it made me sad to see others had discovered it before I “invented” it at home one day

I love using newspaper yarn made of bad news into good news like birthday cards and wedding cards – it’s my favourite material!
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thanks for great topic post ,DIY Handspun Recycled Newspaper Yarn really excellent idea! ,must be top of idea must to do.
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So what are you DOING with the yarn? I’d love to have a root crocheted from it for my Mother Tree Project! http://helenhiebertstudio.com/Helen_Hiebert_Studio/Mother_Tree_Project.html
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you save your newspaper to recycle why not create something you can re-use out of it yourself? GreenUPGRADER has a tutorial on how you can actually handspin newspaper into yarn. Newspaper can be durable
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Yarn: Okay, so this is a work in progress. The tutorial I found calls for a spindle, which I don’t have, so I decided to hand-spin the newspaper
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