A colleague told me there's an acronym for this syndrome: 'S.A.B.LE. – Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy'. This struck a resounding chord, so I have vowed to go on a stash diet, and buy no more new yarn and fabric until I get rid of the old.
I'm starting with yarns. Those I'm keeping for special projects have gone into one drawer. The rest are in a bag by the sofa, and will be used for TV knitting – scarves, hats, slippers and other things that I will give to charity. I made a start with this scarf, which I finished in about a week:
Specs
One 200-gram ball of 8-ply Alpaca from Bendigo Woollen Mills
5 mm needles
I used a favourite stitch, a slipstitch rib:
Cast on an odd number of stitches (45 for this scarf).
Row 1: Knit 1, then (slip 1 purlwise, knit 1) to end of row.
Row 2: Knit all stitches.
This stitch is one I found in Joelle Hoverson's Last-minute Knitted Gifts. She used it for a rug that I loved from the instant I saw it, and which I made as a friend's housewarming present.
The stitch is simplicity itself (no purling!), very quick and rhythmic to do, and produces a lovely lofty fabric with vertical ridges on the front and a loopy effect on the back. I've also made several charity scarves from this stitch, and I'd love to see it in a sweater.
One ball of yarn down, so many more to go...
