Monday, January 30, 2012

2012 Stash-busting Challenge Update and Link up!


It's time for a stash-busting challenge update!  I hope you've all been making some progress on your stashes and coming up with some really creative projects.  To link up your latest stash-busting projects, use the linky list at the bottom of this post.  There's still plenty of time to join the 2012 Stash-busting Challenge (after all, the year is still young) -- to learn more about the challenge and sign up, visit this post.

Okay, here's my update:

Earlier this month I spent a few minutes organizing my stash.  This did wonders for my creativity!  I organized my yarn by weight (for the most part) so I can better plan my projects.  This also got me reacquainted with my stash -- now I really know what I'm dealing with here.  And now I have all kinds of ideas on what to do with it all!  Which is why I promptly cast on three different projects this past weekend -- haha!  I'll get to those in a minute.

First, a glance at a few important sections of my stash:

My sock yarn drawer

More sock yarn plus sportweight cotton for baby sweaters for charity

Fingering weight wool plus straight needles

Baby yarn and WIPs (you'd be surprised how many baby WIPs I have in progress, as if there's no deadline for babies!)

Worsted weight and DK weight yarn (I love these canvas bins with the labels on the sides -- I have one for my bulky wool, too.)

More worsted weight yarn.  You'll notice some acrylic that had been gifted to me and I don't have the heart to get rid of it...and thanks to the way it makes my hands feel when I knit it, I don't have the heart to knit it, either.  I'm working up the nerve to make some tough-wearing baby blankets for charity with it, but maybe they'll be crocheted instead of knitted.

Onto the knitting!


Behold my Spilly Jane Cupcake Mittens, which I started last winter and made quite a bit of progress on the second mitten this month:


And then there's the Dale baby sweater I found in the baby yarn/WIP basket that I picked back up for the first time since Nathan was an infant.  (He grew faster than I could knit -- figures!)

 
I'm still making progress on my winter shawl now and then and a cotton baby sweater for charity.  And of course there are the three projects I cast on this weekend -- only one photo, I'm afraid.  One is a swatch for a pair of felted slippers I'm designing for Nathan, one is a knitted pear for Nathan's kitchen set (the free pattern is from Natural Suburbia!) and the third is a secret for now because it's a gift.  I look forward to gifting it and the sharing with you -- it was a really fast and fun knit.


So what have you been up to?  Please link up, or share in the comments section!

Thanks for joining in on the stash-busting challenge.  I can't wait to see what you create!

9 comments:

  1. What a great challenge! I'm working on a year-long quilt that will (hopefully) use up a lot of embroidery floss and fabric that I have on hand.

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  2. You have some serious amounts of yarn there! You may need more than a year :) Those mittens are so sweet, they must take quite a bit of concentration to knit, lovely x

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  3. I took pictures of my "before" stash too, but I am saving them up until I have an "after" picture. I have to admit...my before is not quite like yours.

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  4. The mitts are adorable! It's incredable how good it feels to get it all sorted and planned out, no matter how slowly the actual progress is :) (For me at least.)

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  5. Just found your blog. I'm determined to tackle my stash and ...eek!...not add to it. I like the challenge of seeing how long I can just work from what I have. I'm in.

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  6. I'm totally crocheting my way through your stashbusting challenge! Hope that's okay. Here we are, a month in and I haven't purchased any new yarn yet. :) Thanks for the motivation. (You've got a gorgeous stash, by the way!)

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  7. Ahh, thank you for this challenge. There have now been a few liberated WIPs around these parts lately.

    I'm liking your idea of sorting the yarn by weight. Actually, sorting the yarn at all is impressive in my books.

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  8. This is one way to use the rest of the ball of dyed wool...

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  9. A few months ago I gave away a half full garbage bag of acrylic yarn (to a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store). I just hated the feeling too. I kept about 5 of them mostly hair colors for dolls that are non-wool and a white one for the kids to tear up and use as they please. There is a fun art project for kids where they use paints (primary, secondary, warm or cool colors)and dip yarn in them. Then they lay the yarn between 2 sheets of paper, put a big book on top of the top paper and then they pull out the strings. It's lots of fun and a great use for acrylic yarn!

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