Sep. 13, 2007 - An Afternoon with my stash
On Sunday I put the finishing touches on a purse I made and found myself "in-between" projects. I had a few things in mind to make, but nothing was making me tingle. So I decided to visit my stash. Before we had children my husband's grandmother died in Northern Minnesota. When we went back to his hometown for the funeral, his mother filled our truck bed with garbage bags of yarn. I have been using that stash for over 10 years. I still have some of it left. Last winter I worked through a book I had found at a yard sale called "Afghan's in a weekend." This brought my stash down to one large plastic tub. Of course this tub is larger than the largest tub at Wal*Mart, but that's beside the point. The point is that I've got the stash down to ONE LARGE tub!
I decided a few weeks ago that I want to focus on working from my stash and try not to buy yarn for new projects unless I absolutely can't avoid it. For instance, my boys want these skull sweaters we found in a borrowed book from the library. I do not have the yarn required in my stash. This makes it absolutely necessary to go and buy yarn.
But I digress. Let's get back to Sunday afternnoon. My family had been fed. Football was on the television for the first time in a long time. And I was between crochet or knit projects. I meandered back to my bedroom and sat down in front of my large tub of yarn and thread. For the next hour I sorted and carressed my yarn. I sorted some by type. (scarf yarn, like chenille and eyelash in one bag, small amounts of worsted weight in another, thread sorted by size) I sorted some by project. (brown into a bag to make the cute bear-skin rug I saw in a vintage pattern book) And I sorted some by color, no explanation needed. I came out of the room with a kit I had purchased years ago to make a dishcloth and an apron you tie onto a dishwashing detergent bottle, some rug yarn, two partial skeins of cotton sugar 'n' cream, and some really thick yarn that was left over from knitting over-size mittens that took the place of Christmas stockings for a friend. I also had several other projects in my mind for my stash.
By spending an hour with my stash, my creativity was overflowing and my hook was flying. As I type this, it is Thursday. I've finished the dishcloth and detergent bottle apron. There was enough leftover to make another dishcloth. I've knitted a dishcloth with the two portions of sugar 'n' cream I found. AND last night I made a basket out of the rug yarn. I think the over-size yarn is a pot holder. Sometimes I can look at yarn and see what it is supposed to be.
Isn't it fun to be able to go to other sources and find your inspiration? Just getting my hands on a few loose balls of yarn has given me hours of fun this week! When my stash is gone, I guess I'll have to rely on my pattern books! But I'm sure that's months, maybe even a year or more down the road. After all, I've been working through this stash of yarn for more than 10 years. Rome wasn't built in a day!
Comments
Nov. 9, 2007 - So glad to have found you!
Posted by netherfieldmom
What a fun blog! I would love to be obsessed with knitting/crocheting, but I am too busy, distracted and a beginner. I cannot bring myself to make dishcloths,even though I have a nice book of them because I couldn't bear to put all that work into something that is going to wipe up gunk! How can you do it? Also, have you ever bought sweaters at goodwill and felted those, to avoid having to knit first? I would like to try that!
Nov. 10, 2007 - a comment on your comment
Posted by CrochetLu
Thanks so much for the lovely comment! I have a sweater that I picked up at goodwill to try and felt. I just haven't done it yet. "Highlights" magazine had directions last winter about making mittens from a wool sweater, so we'll give it a try. You know I think God just puts passion in you. I have friends and and relatives who would like to do what I do, but it's just not in them. It's like why I don't skydive or serve in the armed forces. God didn't put that in me! Also I don't like to be idle. I've never been one to just sit and watch TV, I need to have something to do while watching. So I knit or crochet!
Thanks again for leaving a comment!
Lori Lynn
