(All images: Imogen Hedges)
Take a re-use idea, add a bike and some creative design and you have something that is so far up our street that it’s actually in our house, sat on our sofa, drinking a cup of tea with us.
The Un-Knitting Machine was designed by Kingston University student Imogen Hedges. She came up with the idea after she discovered that some charity shops spend hours unravelling hand knitted items to sell as balls of wool (as home-knitted things don’t sell well).
Her invention takes the time and the effort out of this noble reusing idea. Using a bike wheel, some pedals and a kettle to steam the wool (to take out any kinks), all it takes is some gentle pedalling to un-knit the garments. Add a bit of hand winding at the same time and you can neatly wind your wool up into a ball, ready to be sold on.
It would be great if the pedalling powered the kettle too. But we love this project regardless. And we bet those un-knitters in the charity shops will be big fans too.
(Spotted on Unconsumption)
