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...
Great to see a post from you again, I missed your updates! Good work on knitting for charity, so kind and a great way of using up your stash.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely in the SABLE category too, though my recent fabric cull has left me itching for more. Still hunting for wearable fabrics...
Thanks, Kitty. The wool stash is easier to use up than the fabric stash as one can knit in front of the TV - it's harder to do patchwork or quilting while glued to the box. And I have SO much patchwork fabric. Sigh.
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