MOTHER, SON CREATE A NEW LIFE FOR THAT OLD SWEATER

National Public Radio (NPR)
February 24, 2010 Wednesday

Think about the far, dim reaches of your closet, where that
stretched-out sweater sits patiently waiting. Or maybe it’s one
that’s too tight or out-of- fashion, or just plain ugly. Well,
a new, very small-scale operation called Reknit will take that old
sweater and repurpose it into something usable: a scarf or gloves
or a hat. You send in the offending sweater, along with 30 bucks,
and Gayane Avanian will unravel it and reknit it into something new.

Gayane Avanian is a computer programmer by day, a reknitter by night.

She joins us from Boston, along with her son, Haik Avanian, a graphic
designer who joins us from Toledo. Welcome to you both.

Ms. GAYANE AVANIAN (Computer Programmer): Hi.

Mr. HAIK AVANIAN (Graphic Designer): Hello.

BLOCK: And we mentioned this is a small-scale operation – really,
just the two of you. And there’s a note on your Web site, Haik:
Because I only have one mom, we’ve decided to limit orders to the
first 30 for February.

Mr. AVANIAN: Right. I mean, after the unexpected response in January,
we really didn’t know what to expect, and so we just put up that note
and decided that 30 was a manageable number per month.

BLOCK: For just one mom.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. AVANIAN: Yeah.

Ms. AVANIAN: I’m glad he did.

BLOCK: You’re glad he did.

Ms. AVANIAN: Yes.

Mr. AVANIAN: Yeah, I mean, this way, we don’t really have to worry
about, you know, what if all these people order, and then, you know?

BLOCK: Right. And let’s explain here that you offer one reknitted
item per month. Last month, it was scarves. This month, Gayane,
you’re knitting fingerless gloves, and people can go to the Web site
and vote on what the item for March will be, right?

Ms. AVANIAN: Yes, and then on the last day of February, Haik will
redesign the page. He will change the colors, and then he will change
the item.

BLOCK: And so far, at least for March, it looks like hat is in
the lead.

Mr. AVANIAN: Yeah. I think…

Ms. AVANIAN: Yeah, I need to get ready.

BLOCK: You need to get ready?

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: And how long does it take you to unravel one and to turn it
into something else?

Ms. AVANIAN: Altogether, I think I will say like, about seven,
eight hours

BLOCK: Your family is originally from Armenia, and it sounds like
knitting really runs in the family. Is that right, Gayane?

Ms. AVANIAN: Yes. In Armenia like, almost all women there know how to
knit at least the simple things. And I learned to knit from my mom,
and she learned it from her grandma. My mom is real good knitter.

Mr. AVANIAN: And I think that’s what’s interesting is, you know, taking
something that’s fairly normal to us, and it’s a really resourceful
thing, and then just kind of sharing that part of our culture with
as many people as we can here, which is kind of my favorite thing
about the whole situation.

BLOCK: Gayane, do you get any notes in the packages when people send
in their sweaters?

Ms. AVANIAN: Yes, sometimes, and I really like the notes because
they’re always nice: Thank you for doing this. Can’t wait to get my
scarf back or gloves back. Sometimes they – like, I got a note from
a woman who said, this jacket was knitted by my grandma. Please,
if you can incorporate the buttons from it to the scarf and if no,
could you please send the buttons back? So I tried to incorporate
the buttons and send it to the woman.

BLOCK: Well, Haik, what do you think? Do you want keep this project,
really, with just you and your mom, or do you think you should expand
it and make it bigger?

Mr. AVANIAN: I mean, I’ve gotten so many different emails about,
you know – I’ve gotten emails from people offering me to hook me up
with their friend who has a friend in South Korea, who has a factory,
and people asking if they could be one of the moms because they don’t
really believe that it’s just one mom.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. AVANIAN: I’ve seen other skeptical, kind of, discussions online
talking about how this was probably just some giant factory full of
people working. I think for us, the whole reason the thing worked is
because it was so small and simple. And I think if we overcomplicate
it, it’ll stop being fun and it might stress us out. It’ll stress my
mom out.

BLOCK: You don’t want that, Gayane?

Ms. AVANIAN: No. I kind of like it because I consider this as, like,
Haik’s gift to me. And I just want to have a small and have, like,
a reasonable amount of orders.

BLOCK: Well, Haik and Gayane Avanian, thanks for talking with us.

Mr. AVANIAN: Thank you so much for having us.

Ms. AVANIAN: Thank you.

BLOCK: That’s Haik Avanian and his mother, Gayane, talking about their
Internet project Reknit. And you can see some of the reknit items at
our Web site, npr.org. Haik was in Toledo, and Gayane in Boston.

Ms. AVANIAN: Bye, Haik.

Mr. AVANIAN: Bye, take care.