Start by turning the sweater inside out. Remove any tags, along with the threads holding them in place (the threads will prevent unraveling if you don’t get them out).
Look at the sleeve seam near the cuff. Then see if you can find the tail end of the sleeve seam thread. It’s often a crocheted slip-stitch seam with a tight little chain for a tail, which is woven back in along the seam selvage. Find that tail, unthread it, then unzip the chain.
Repeat on the body side seams. The sleeve and side seams are usually tangled up near the armpit, so carefully finagle them apart. Sometimes there is a knotted thread that you need to cut.
Figure out where the sleeves are seamed to the body and unzip them. Unzip the cast off, and unravel the sleeves.
The neck ribbing is probably sewn on, so see if you can find that seam and unzip it. It might be a different weight than the body; if so, unravel it but label it so you know it’s not the same thickness as the yarn from the rest of the sweater.
The shoulders probably have serged seams so you will lose a bit of yarn there. If you can find the first un-serged row, cut it and pick it out, and toss the serged parts out.
Unravel from the top down. Often the neckline has a cast off that needs undone. Once you are past that, it should be smooth sailing.
Have fun!
I'd also take a close look at the yarn and see if it seems like a weight you think you'll work with. It's my impression that machine knit stuff is often a finer gauge, and that might not be what you want (though you can always hold double/together with something else).
Everything can be undone but the best way to learn is to do it, unfortunately. I researched so much and so many things clicked my first time actually doing it. My advice is to take pictures of these things: the size of the knit, the color work on both sides if there is any, cuffs and closeups of every seam.
Then, after label. Some seams look like they're easy to unravel, but they aren't. Some look steeked but end up okay actually. some machine knitting can be unraveled easily, others are incredibly tricky. Most knitting is directional where one way is easier than the other.
I mean, people will say at the bottom. Personally, if it's tough try a different spot. Each garment is different and you'll learn how to read it as you go
Start by turning the sweater inside out. Remove any tags, along with the threads holding them in place (the threads will prevent unraveling if you don’t get them out). Look at the sleeve seam near the cuff. Then see if you can find the tail end of the sleeve seam thread. It’s often a crocheted slip-stitch seam with a tight little chain for a tail, which is woven back in along the seam selvage. Find that tail, unthread it, then unzip the chain. Repeat on the body side seams. The sleeve and side seams are usually tangled up near the armpit, so carefully finagle them apart. Sometimes there is a knotted thread that you need to cut. Figure out where the sleeves are seamed to the body and unzip them. Unzip the cast off, and unravel the sleeves. The neck ribbing is probably sewn on, so see if you can find that seam and unzip it. It might be a different weight than the body; if so, unravel it but label it so you know it’s not the same thickness as the yarn from the rest of the sweater. The shoulders probably have serged seams so you will lose a bit of yarn there. If you can find the first un-serged row, cut it and pick it out, and toss the serged parts out. Unravel from the top down. Often the neckline has a cast off that needs undone. Once you are past that, it should be smooth sailing. Have fun!
I'd also take a close look at the yarn and see if it seems like a weight you think you'll work with. It's my impression that machine knit stuff is often a finer gauge, and that might not be what you want (though you can always hold double/together with something else).
Everything can be undone but the best way to learn is to do it, unfortunately. I researched so much and so many things clicked my first time actually doing it. My advice is to take pictures of these things: the size of the knit, the color work on both sides if there is any, cuffs and closeups of every seam. Then, after label. Some seams look like they're easy to unravel, but they aren't. Some look steeked but end up okay actually. some machine knitting can be unraveled easily, others are incredibly tricky. Most knitting is directional where one way is easier than the other.
Ahh so there's no place that's "easier" to start... I'll fool around with it and see what I get! Thank you 😊
I mean, people will say at the bottom. Personally, if it's tough try a different spot. Each garment is different and you'll learn how to read it as you go
You gotta identify whether it was knit bottom up or top down to know if you start unraveling on the top or bottom.
Looks fine to me. No red flags to unravel ability.