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Stash-busting
*waves hello to the comm after a long absence*
Last year I set myself the task of reducing my knitting stash by half. I wasn't successful in that task but I did make a lot of projects last year using stashed wool. In fact, with the exception of the first two projects I made last year - which were made with wool I bought in the January sales - everything I made was with stash wool. I made lots of projects that used up a ball or two of odd wool I'd picked up in bargain bins, at wool swaps and had leftover from other projects.
If my knitting had a theme this year it was 2015. First I picked up and finished a project that I'd mostly knit back in 2015, part of it need re-knit and for a long time I couldn't face doing it. However, I finally frogged the part that needed frogging, re-knit it up, and then assembled the cardigan. It took me less than a fortnight from restarting it to getting it finished and now it's no longer hanging over me! We had a really nice summer this year and I got a great deal of pleasure being able to actually wear it!
Most of the rest of my knitting in the first half of the year involved wool that I picked up at a yarn swap when I first joined the knitting bee I'm part of in Inverness, I made a small throw out of leftoveer sock yarn that was lots of fun, used up some random chunky wool as a hot-water bottle cover, knitted two kerchiefs - discovering along the way that I'm not really a kerchief wearer - and made a small cowl out of the leftovers from a kerchief that has been the single most useful knitted item I've made all year. I may not be a kercheif wearer but I'm definitely a cowl wearer, so I'll be making more of those!
I made my first pair of double-knit socks this year which despite having chosen a somewhat confusing pattern I actually finished in a short enough time that I actually wear said socks - mostly as house socks but they get worn. My last project of the year was a cosy hat, as I lost the hat I had that matched my duffle coat so I made myself a waffle hat with leftover wool from a tunic I made a couple of years ago which was satisfying on lots of levels.
Also my first completed project of the new year was actually started in November and was my single biggest stash project, as it was a jumper that I bought the wool for in the sale a couple of years ago and hadn't got round to. I've still got a couple of ongoing stash busting projects - I'm making a patchwork cushion and a striped throw that are both projects that use up odds and ends of wool - but mostly in the year ahead I want to tackle the sweater volumes of wool I have in stash that I bought years ago in over-ambitious hope of knitting something with them. I want to give them a concerted effort and either knit a finished project with them or pass the wool onto someone else who will. (Some of them were bought over a decade ago so both my knitting skills and preferences and my own style have changed considerably in the intervening period.)
What successes have you folks had in stash busting over the last year? Or conversely what's the oldest/longest lurking wool in your stash and what did you originally intend to knit with it?
Last year I set myself the task of reducing my knitting stash by half. I wasn't successful in that task but I did make a lot of projects last year using stashed wool. In fact, with the exception of the first two projects I made last year - which were made with wool I bought in the January sales - everything I made was with stash wool. I made lots of projects that used up a ball or two of odd wool I'd picked up in bargain bins, at wool swaps and had leftover from other projects.
If my knitting had a theme this year it was 2015. First I picked up and finished a project that I'd mostly knit back in 2015, part of it need re-knit and for a long time I couldn't face doing it. However, I finally frogged the part that needed frogging, re-knit it up, and then assembled the cardigan. It took me less than a fortnight from restarting it to getting it finished and now it's no longer hanging over me! We had a really nice summer this year and I got a great deal of pleasure being able to actually wear it!
Most of the rest of my knitting in the first half of the year involved wool that I picked up at a yarn swap when I first joined the knitting bee I'm part of in Inverness, I made a small throw out of leftoveer sock yarn that was lots of fun, used up some random chunky wool as a hot-water bottle cover, knitted two kerchiefs - discovering along the way that I'm not really a kerchief wearer - and made a small cowl out of the leftovers from a kerchief that has been the single most useful knitted item I've made all year. I may not be a kercheif wearer but I'm definitely a cowl wearer, so I'll be making more of those!
I made my first pair of double-knit socks this year which despite having chosen a somewhat confusing pattern I actually finished in a short enough time that I actually wear said socks - mostly as house socks but they get worn. My last project of the year was a cosy hat, as I lost the hat I had that matched my duffle coat so I made myself a waffle hat with leftover wool from a tunic I made a couple of years ago which was satisfying on lots of levels.
Also my first completed project of the new year was actually started in November and was my single biggest stash project, as it was a jumper that I bought the wool for in the sale a couple of years ago and hadn't got round to. I've still got a couple of ongoing stash busting projects - I'm making a patchwork cushion and a striped throw that are both projects that use up odds and ends of wool - but mostly in the year ahead I want to tackle the sweater volumes of wool I have in stash that I bought years ago in over-ambitious hope of knitting something with them. I want to give them a concerted effort and either knit a finished project with them or pass the wool onto someone else who will. (Some of them were bought over a decade ago so both my knitting skills and preferences and my own style have changed considerably in the intervening period.)
What successes have you folks had in stash busting over the last year? Or conversely what's the oldest/longest lurking wool in your stash and what did you originally intend to knit with it?
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Sad to say, my knitting hasn't been that productive this year. I've made a couple of scarfs and that's about it.
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However if you're on Ravelry then my projects almost all have photos!
Scarves are good though, they're my go to gift knit!
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But I stopped knitting socks for myself a few years ago and love sock yarn so I have two bins of it just sitting. (I can only make one sockhead hat a decade without stabbing something with a knitting needle. ;-) )
But if I make two wraps, then most of my sock yarn will be used up! And I will have to buy more!
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Which is of course the ideal situation - one where you get to buy more yarn! :D
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I started knitting in Sept 2017 but went really crazy buying yarn at 2 festivals and a couple of stores a friend took me to, so I now have about 4 bins of yarn! So since Oct (the last festival I went to) I have vowed to not buy any yarn until I get down to 2 bins. Most of the yarn I have project ideas for so I need to focus on that. I have 6 projects going right now, all shawls.
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I made a peacock shawl not very long ago—finished it in mid-2018—and am now faced with a tub of fingering weight yarn... I have made a Sagitta, which of course necessitated buying some bright pink, and this year produced my first fingerless mitts (with little hoods), of which I am rather proud, not least because I made them up as I went along. (All links go to Ravelry)
I have been making fairly random asymmetric scarves for a while, using up large bits of stash. There were some earlier versions of stashbuster shawls which are pretty good for using up random lengths and weights of yarn as you don't need to worry about consistency. This autumn I also spent quite a while producing teeny tiny hats and scarves for bottles in the run-up to Christmas. They're quick, and will use up very small scraps of yarn. So far I've only used one set: I had the hope that I'd do a charity sale/coffee morning but didn't have time.
Sadly for my still-full chest of drawers, I cannot resist new yarn, and I also very rarely find that I match up the yarn I have with yarn I lust after (and, of course, buy). I knitted something each for my nephew and niece this year, with yarn bought for the purpose, and found some fabulous autumnal tones in Bath which I have a plan for but not the willpower to knit, quite yet.
The trouble with stashbuster items is, I find, getting rid of them when they are done! I never have enough stash for an actual sweater, though *possibly* the tub full of fingering/sock yarns might make me a cardi, which will take years to knit. I have a selection of scarves and hats... ah well.
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Oh that peacock shawl is gorgeous.
I do often feel that shawls make excellent stashbuster items but as I'm rubbish at lacework and don't actually wear shawls myself, they don't really work for me. More cushion covers for me I guess!
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However, that said, I did knit one project (handwarmers for my spawn) for which I bought yarn, but I did finish a project that's been languishing for at least ten or fifteen years:
These started life as socks, but I ran out of yarn and then, after I got more yarn, never could get past the heel part. So this year I repurposed them into hand warmers and used at least a little of my stash to complete them:
Beyond that, I'm not sure how much knitting I will be doing in the near term.
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(I mean I can't cope with anything below 2.5mm needles but I admire the skill and patience involved.)
Oooh I like your handwarmers, well done on repurposing almost!socks!
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I think that my last attempt at stash busting was done incorrectly, since I ended that year with one more yarn bin than I started with. In my defense, roughly half the new yarn was gifted to me. The other half was on me, though.
The oldest yarn in my stash is a hank of sock yarn that I bought in 2010. That's also the year I learned to knit. Most of my yarn is sock or lace weight, so that hank is going to live in its bin for a while longer.
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LOL! It could be worse?
ETA: to clarify, it could be worse in that it could have been more than one additional bin.
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