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Wrapping up Stash-Busting Month

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stash bustingWhew! When I had the idea to do a “little series” on stash-busting this month, I didn’t quite realize what I was getting myself into. It ended up being 16 posts full of ideas, advice, patterns and inspiration.

I hope that it has been as helpful as it was fun, and if you missed any part of it or just want to have a reference to look back on you can find the whole series in the category Use Your Yarn Stash.

There has been such a great response that I think I am going to try to do another one (maybe not quite as big) next month on the topic of finishing: inspiration to finish those projects, the skills you need to do it well, and whatever else comes up.

Please keep sharing your comments and any ideas you have for things you’d like to learn about. That’s what I’m here for!

Comments

  1. Sarah, I really enjoyed this series,, lots of great ideas and some really great patterns. Thanks for putting this together. But I have to confess did buy yarn today.

  2. Really enjoyed this series you put together! So many good and interesting ideas, both from the posts AND the comments. Still using up most of my stash on a rug, but I’m also experimenting with using up colors of chunky yarn, in hooded cowls…

  3. Right now I am trying to work more projects from my ever growing yarn stash! I have that terrible problem where I go out to buy yarn for one project, and take home extra for hypothetical projects as well! Stopping by via your blog and via the #SITSBlogging thingy (belatedly!)

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]