Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Stash-Busting Afghan Projects

by

The first thing I think of when I think of stash busting is a really big blanket. I guess that’s because I’m working on a really big blanket, and have been on and off (mostly off, admittedly) for about a year now. It’s in strips that are 6 feet long, and I’m hoping to make it 6 feet wide, if I can stand it that long (there is no worry of running out of yarn before it’s that size). It will be massively huge, heavy, warm, completely unwashable and awesome. And it will use a lot of yarn.

You can find more Stash Busting Knitting patterns here

I guess that’s the main reason afghans and stash busting go together, because they’re a great way to use up a lot of yarn. You can make individual squares with the different colors, or just let it stripe, or make log cabin blocks and sew them together. (Speaking of log cabins, check out the Parcheesi Afghan by Janine Bajus, which combines log cabin squares and garter stitch borders.

You don’t really need a pattern for a project like this. It can be as simple as knitting long strips and sewing them together when you’re done (as in this project, Blankety-Blank, from Completely Cauchy), which has the benefit of being more portable than my join as you go method. If you want a slightly more organized look, try the N² Imaginations Stashbuster Afghan.stash busting

Mitered squares are another great choice for stash-busting, because you can make them small or large and they’re really portable and easy once you get the hang of the shaping. The Stained Glass Mitered Afghan by Joan L. Hamer is a beauty and a free Ravelry download.  Looking for more Stained glass style knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

Looking for a shape that’s not quite square? Why not knit “squares” that are shaped like fish, as in this project from April Broken? Or try Frankie Brown’s little buttons, which are still square but are filled with fluff to make a puffy blanket. (Frankie also has the amazing 10-Stitch Blanket, which is worked in a squareish spiral so that you never have more than 10 stitches on the needle at a time.)

If you want to get really crazy, check out the Oddball Sampler Afghan by Sarah Bradberry, which is made up of all sorts of different squares.

And if you’re willing to pay for a pattern, the beekeeper’s quilt by tiny owl knits is a classic with its puffy hexies. Lee Meredith also has a cool-looking project in her Color-by-Number Stash-Busting Blanket, which uses fun tricks for minimal finishing.

Next Pattern:

Trackbacks

  1. Use Up Your Yarn Stash To Make

    […] squareish spiral so that you never have more than 10 stitches on the needle at a […]

Have you read?

Embellish Your Knit Dishcloth with Flowers

One great thing to knit when the weather is warm (or honestly any other time) is dishcloths and washcloths. They are fun and easy projects and a great way to play with new skills. Pretty washcloths make cleaning a tiny bit more fun, and they’re great to have on hand as a quick addition to a store-bought gift. 

The Daisy Delight Dishcloth from Yarnspirations is a fun one for using leftover bits of green in your cotton yarn stash. What looks like the bottom in the picture is actually the left side as you knit it, and each little color section is worked with its own ball of yarn, intarsia style. 

That’s a little fiddly for a washcloth, but the effect is cute, and it’s a simple way to learn the basics of intarsia knitting (as well as reading a chart) if you don’t already have those skills. 

One the knitting is done, you add the flowers with a bit of lazy daisy embroidery, which is really easy to do even if you’re not that into embroidery. You could also potentially add flowers in duplicate stitch if you’d rather. 

This may be the most work you’ve put into a dishcloth, but isn’t it adorable? It would be fun to use as a hand towel through the spring and summer, and if you already have some leftover green yarn from other projects it should be pretty easy to do. 

You could also take this same concept and make it different colors. All dark green stems with stars on top might be reminiscent of Christmas trees, or brown with daisy stitch on top in different colors could be trees in the fall. 

However you stitch it, this looks like a fun little project for knitters who are comfortable with intarsia and reading charts or who are ready to try those skills. 

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations. 

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Book Review – Dishcloths for Special Days [Knitting]

Book Review – Holiday Knit Dishcloths