I like stash busting all the time, but I especially seem to think about stash busting at the beginning of a new year. Using what you have is a great new year’s resolution, and a great habit to keep throughout the year.
If you’re ready to be inspired to use every little bit of leftover yarn you’ve got in your house, allow me to introduce you to Audrey Borrego and her Cecilia collection.
These five patterns — for a cowl, scarf, mitts, hat and socks — are all free on Ravelry and all use fingering weight yarn, so they’re perfect for using up the leftovers from your knit socks and shawls. (You could also do the scarf and cowl with heavier yarn if that’s where your leftovers are.)
I first saw the Cecilia Cowl (pattern on Ravelry here) and fell in love with how colorful and fun it is. Each section of the pattern is worked in different colors so you can use all your little bits (or odd balls you don’t want to make into socks) on one project. Or you can use two colors throughout. It’s also fun that it has a twist built in, though I think that could be optional.
You can also make the pattern twice the length by repeating all the patterns. Colorwork is charted and only uses two colors per round.
But then I realized there was a whole set of patterns and that got me even more excited. Because maybe you don’t need another cowl (raises hand) but you can talk yourself into another scarf (pattern here). This one is a tube scarf worked in the round, and again you can use two or many colors.
Or if you don’t have as many odd balls to go through as I do, or you just want a smaller project, you can try the hat, mitts or socks. The hat is shown using four colors, while the mitts use three and the socks just two, though of course you can add more if you like.
You can mix and match the designs among the projects so you make a set that’s more matchy if you want, or go wild with a bunch of different patterns and colors.
You can find all the patterns on Ravelry linked above.
[Photos: Audrey Borrego]
