Old Stash Love

Other than buying for my projects I have been very good in not randomly adding to my stash. I’ve actually been quite good for the last few years. Before I dropped away from blogging I had something to show every month. I’m quite proud of myself and don’t ask me how I have managed to stay so strong. I still follow all my favourite dyers and I have come across new ones too (new to me). I wish I had that will power in other ways. However, I have not been so good at using my stash. Maybe just a skein here and there but certainly not enough to make a dent in it.

I decided that one of my challenge projects should be a shawl. I have maybe finished one for myself and it was a very easy one. I remembered I had bought a kit for a mystery knit along. So I looked out the yarn and I looked out the pattern. There is one skein missing. I have pulled my cupboard apart. I have no idea why it wouldn’t be with the rest and I have a horrifying feeling that I have knitted it up not remembering it was part of a set. The yarn is by Felt Fusion and it is beautiful. If I remember correctly I told her my favourite colours and I asked her to surprise me which she did and I don’t think that I could have done better. I loved it. My plan is to clear out my cupboard and sort out my stash to see if I can find that speckled yarn. If not I know I have similar in my stash. The pattern is Starting Point by Joji Locatelli. I LOVE this designer. I don’t think I have seen a design of hers that I haven’t liked and my favourites on ravelry are filled with her patterns. At some point this will definitely be going on the pins.

I’m afraid I had to look up who I got the yarn for my shawl from. The bundle was tied with ribbon and it is long gone. Thankfully my etsy history came to my rescue. While I was there I came across a Star Trek bag that I had bought for my sister who was into her sewing at the time. I had an instant pang of jealously and wondered why I hadn’t gotten one for myself. As I was searching my cupboard for the missing yarn I realised I had as I came across my sock project bag. Yes people, I’m a huge geek and I don’t care. I love my bag and the drawstring on this one is Molly proof. Trust me, she has tried. This gorgeous bag was made by Owl About Yarn and I have a few of her bags. I can testify that they are well made.

Hiding in the bag were two beautiful skeins of sock yarn. Also by Owl About Yarn. The dark one has a sparkle base. I have no idea what I bought these for. I have a feeling it would have been something specific given hat I bought them together and that they match well. It seems only right that I use them both for the same project. They have now been wound and are on the pins in an effort to continue my Brioche education. 

I also went into my last fibre share box and pulled out these two 50g skeins. I am thinking of using them for fingerless mitts. Again as part of my garment challenge. Or maybe I should knit gloves since I have never done that before. I could look out one of my many mini skeins to go with it to add a pop of colour. The yarn is beautifully soft and I can’t wait to knit with it. I have had these in the back of my head ever since I received it a few years back.

Sitting on my bookcase in my cupboard was this yarn by my talented friend Lisa of For the Love of Yarn. I think it was on my bookcase because I must have brought it over from my dad’s. I originally had two of these which was part of one of Lisa’s themed clubs (I can’t remember which one, sorry Lisa). I love the bright colours and these will definitely be a pair of socks. If I use mini skeins I might even get two pairs out of them. I am thinking that I could pick out a pattern for them since the colour changes are in large blocks.

The last thing I pulled out of my cupboard is this pack of mini skeins. Unlike the vast majority of my stash these are DK and it works out at 100g. These were a thank you gift from Mothy and the Squid. Again, I can’t for the life of me remember why she sent them. I just remember being so chuffed at her kindness at the time. As well as being just a little bit in love with them. I had a project in mind for them but I have since changed my mind. Any ideas what I could do to highlight the whole pack? This is a set that MUST be used in one project. Oh, and they are 100% merino and therefore super soft.

I’ve been enjoying rediscovering these little treasures. I know that there are many more in there and as I said, I plan to give the stash cupboard a good tidy. I think that once my Brioche faze is done I will have a stash busting challenge (alongside my garment challenge). Just so I can finally knit with these lovely yarns.

Oh, and both Mothy and the Squid and For the Love of Yarn have new club boxes out which are so beautiful and make it very difficult for me to not buy yarn. If you are in the mood to treat yourself I highly recommend that you check them both out.

2018 - The Year of Colour

This colour circle is based on my instagram photo's from 2017. How can someone who loves colour so much have so much brown? Let's ignore the fact that I seem to take a lot of photo's of my drinks which just happen to be brown on tables that are also brown. It still gave me quite the surprise but again I also think that's been due to the lack of yarn images too. This year I am determined that this circle of colour will look very different. I want it to show lots of bright colours and hopefully with my determination to be more creative this year this will happen. If you are interested to see what your circle of colour will look like head over to Year of Colour. Probably better that you do it through your phone since you need to connect your instagram. I have to say that I am liking the little pops of brights in there the more that I look at it.

This is also the year of WIP. I say this every year and on occasion I have been successful (last year not so much). Thanks to not managing this last year and thanks to starting several new projects and not finishing them I have got quite the challenge this year. I am setting myself what I think is reasonable goals. Each month I work on an old project in between the new. That way I am not just working on WIP and become bored and unmotivated. This month I am working on my For The Love of Yarn blanket club from last year. I don't think I will finish it this month but I do seem to be working through it at a fair pace. Here I had five months of boxes done and I am now almost finished month 8.

This is also the year that I want to try to de-stash and the new projects will help with this. Last year I signed myself up for quite a few mystery knit alongs. Only a few of them were started but I have all the yarn for them. As you know I also have been building up quite a collection of yarn from my monthly subscriptions which is grown exponentially thanks to my little crafting. This year I have some projects in mind which will help me de-stash. I have a few ways of tracking it too and I hope to share you some of my knitting/crochet bullet journal trackers with you. This also means I am on a yarn ban. I may even cut down some of my monthly subscriptions. Do any of you have any de-stash ideas?

This is also the year of self care. I am sure most of you have heard this bandied about over the last year. I personally think it's a good one, especially after last year. It's about learning to not feel guilty about finding time for yourself. I like it because it is individual to everyone. So this is my year of self care and I plan to post more on that later.

Lastly this is also the year of the cat. My sister and I got a at in December there. Her name is Molly and she lives with me with my sister caring for her while I'm at work. She is very cute, lots of fun and a big bit mischievous. Most people who know me know that I am not a cat person. I have never been a cat person but that has changed with Molly. This flat would be a very dull place without her. While I don't plan to bore you all with constant stories and photo's of her you should still expect her to pop up every now and then. If you are interested she has her own twitter account (she's very bright for a 5month old kitten) and you can follow her there @MollySime.