Stone Soup

Remember that story from first grade about some lady who turned a stone into soup? I sort of do too! What  I recall is some lady has a stone, some miracle happens, and they make soup out of it. (Seriously how much worse can life get when you're having hot rock water for dinner? Kind heavy for first grade, but whatever).

Anyway, my point is all about turning a bad situation into a good one. And I just cooked up a big ole batch of sweater soup.

I found this amazing tool on Amazon and I'm really jazzed about it. The Sweater Stone. Being the second cheapest person that I know, I looked for a way to save my pathetic looking knits without just replacing them. And these puppies are not about to hit the charity bin*.

 I had three items in mind for this venture:
1) The Old Navy amazing-thick-hot-pink-and-navy-sweater-so-warm-and-gigantic-the-winter-air-conditioning-at-work-can't-even-get-through-it-great-sweater that I erroneously threw in the washer with my new Tahari towels, and have purple fuzz pelted into the fabric.
2) The J. Crew light pink cashmere** hoodie that, in a fit of insanity, I paid full price for, and got sweater pills under the arms almost immediately.
3) The red jersey tank top that I bought on a whim in Spain in high school that I REFUSE to let go of. So pretty, so flattering, it's as essential to my going-out-top rotation as Susan Lucci is to Days of Our Lives.

How to use it:
1. Get a flat surface where you can use an elbow or knee to keep the section of fabric you are working on tight
2.First of all, be very careful with delicate fabrics like cashmere. Start with less pressure, and add more as you see fit. Stretch the fabric, take the stone, and basically scrape it against the material in the same direction multiple times with enough pressure to see the pills getting looser. Continue this until they are collected into a fuzzball you can pick up, or at least go over with a lint roller.
3. Go over everything (I had to use a few on my bathrobe after de-fuzzing the gigantic old navy sweater above) to get the removed sweater pills and keep the mess contained.

*I'm all for charity, but do they really need my nearly new cashmere? Please.
**Although I need to touch on this J.Crew cashmere vs. other (like, good?) cashmere, which requires an entirely separate conversation.

Check out the before and afters!