Grab My Stash Busting Strategies Ebook

I have had the idea for a long time (since before my teenage daughter was born, probably) to write a book about stash busting for knitters and crocheters. Not necessarily about purging yarn (though I do have a book about decluttering your craft supplies, too), but ideas for helping you figure out what’s in your stash, what patterns might work for those yarns, and techniques to use to make your yarn go farther or to use more yarn in a project.

I’m excited to share that I’ve finally done it, and Stash-Busting Strategies is now available as a free download when you subscribe for email updates on my website Our Daily Craft.

This 50 page ebook covers all the basics of stash busting, including:

How to evaluate your stash and get it organized
How to figure out what those odd balls are: what yarn weight and material and how much you have, no ball band required
How to find patterns that will work with the yarn you have

After that, it’s rapid-fire ideas for ways to combine yarns so you can make the projects you want to make, or just to use more yarn so you go through your stash that much faster.

From adding stripes and other colorwork to pockets, hems, marling and more, I hope that these ideas will get you thinking about how to use your stash in ways you hadn’t considered before.

Rather than providing specific projects (since I don’t know how much of what kinds of yarn you have or what you like to knit), this is an idea book that intends to inspire you to shop your stash first and get creative. It includes plenty of examples from my own knitting life (because I’m notoriously terrible at judging how much yarn I need for a project) of things like working cuffs and necklines in a contrasting color, making a new yarn out of yarn I already have, and adding stripes to make a project the size it needs to be, just to name a few.

You can learn more about the book and sign up for updates here. I hope you’ll check it out!

Yarn Organization

22 Page Knitting Project Journal and Planner

Next Pattern:

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

Next Pattern:

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