Tag: stashbuster

Posted in colorwork, knitting

C.O.M. * Stashbusting Mania

Posted on by Laura Kate

Okay my friends, I have been concentrating on knitting projects that use up stash yarn for just about seven months now. I have knit two-color cowls, socks and mittens; three color scarves; and four-color shawls. Yet, based on the looks of my yarn closet, I still am not making a big dent in the wool. Soooo much remains. Argh! 

At this point, I am dropping my careful technique of pulling full skeins of compatible colors, weighting the volume of yarn then selecting a pattern that will make use of the mass. Now it’s just grab anything and cast on, then think about what it will become. Hence my current cast-on using these pitiful pieces of yarn.

There’s not much to work with and the weather is getting colder. The obvious answer is fingerless gloves. I happen to have a quick and easy pattern sourced from Klamath Basin Wool Works. It’s called Off-the-grid mitts.

Wool stories

As I recall, these are available as a free download from the site.

Here’s my start, using size 3 double point needles.

Off the grid is an appropriate name for this pattern. It is a playful reference to the grid-like texture which results from the mosaic stitch. (Slip one and knit one for two rows, then knit two rows of the main color.) In the end, you will have something to warm your hands if you live off the grid.

This knit should go fast, satisfying my manic need to keep knitting. Then, in a cooler frame of mind, I can return to a more methodic way of using up my left-overs.

* C. O. M. = cast on Monday.

Posted in sewing

Stash-Busting Border

Posted on by Laura Kate

I’m onto a new project that, I hope, will enhance my home while using up a ton of fabric scraps that are stacking up in my studio. It all started when I got tired of looking at the naked drapery rod over my bedroom window.

So I did what any practical woman would do. I browsed images in Pinterest to find out what is trending in home decor these days. Here’s what grabbed my attention:

QUILTED BORDER ON PLEATED DRAPES

I like the look, but wasn’t too keen to make this curvy pattern. Instead, I seek to emulate the look of slate mosaic, like the tile border in my shower.

Settling on a pattern of 1-inch squares surrounding a 2-inch center, I pulled all the gray, beige and white fabric left over from my past quilt projects. Next,I sliced them into 1 and 1/2 inch strips, then sewed these together in twos, and fours.

The white strips will serve as sashing between blocks.

Strip sets on the work table.

Attaching the strips to the center, cutting back extra.

After three sessions, I have 25 blocks made with low volume, neutral colors. My estimate is that I will need about 30 for the two borders, depending on how long my draperies end up.

Time to lay out a few to see how the border might look.

Gosh this would be easier if I had a design wall (sigh.) Maybe I’ll have room for that in the next house.

Posted in knitting

Cast-On Monday: Time for Mittens

Posted on by Laura Kate

Knitting mittens is like eating tortilla chips with salsa. They go so fast and are so much fun that it’s hard to know when to stop.

When my grandson was a toddler, I think I made four or five mittens in the same yarn. I was operating on the theory that, since they are easily lost, spare mittens would come in handy.

This time around I am using the purple and pink Elision yarn for the third time. That’s extreme stash-busting in my world. The skeins were purchased for Lu’s simple sweater, to complement a hand-painted merino wool skein she had selected.

Earlier this year, I added a pale blue color to make her a balaclava.

Friday Finish: Child Balaclava

That left a full skein of purple and a partial of pink. I am using a basic pattern to get my stitch count and proportions right……

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/zen-little-fingers-and-toes-part-1-mittens

…….. but substituting a different stranded pattern: a favorite from 750 Knitting Stitches published by St. Martin’s Griffin, New York.

Diamonds in the Snow has a 6-stitch repeat. It works perfectly with my cast-on count of 36 stitches. In colors selected, the pattern looks more like Posies in the Meadow.

Now if I can only use up both colors at the same time.

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: UFO Transitioned

Posted on by Laura Kate

A few months ago, I wrote about my plan to assign unused yarns in my stash to potential knitting projects. Among those plastic bags hanging in the yarn closet were some UFOs (unfinished objects) including this one.

It had started life as a vest project, which involved knitting garter ridge triangles in strips, then sewing the strips together, adding shoulder seams, etc.

To make a long story short, I discarded that plan, partly because I really didn’t have enough yarn and didn’t want to buy more. Plan B involved making the strips longer and sewing them end-to-end to make a scarf.

This scarf is today’s Friday Finish

I enjoyed working on this project. It was basic straight knitting and made a good mindless project. It’s easy to pick up stitches along the triangle’s edge – one stitch per garter ridge. And the color play is gratifying to watch.

The final project is about 54″ long and 5″ wide. There is almost no yarn leftover.

Presto! Another Stashbuster crosses the finish line!

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Child Balaclava

Posted on by Laura Kate

Gosh, this was a fun and easy project, once I got the hang of the 3-color slip stitch pattern. The yarns were great (Cascade Elysian) and blocked out beautifully. If only I had a five-year-old to test the fit and pose for the photo shoot.

A quick solution for a head mannequin: Grab an oatmeal box and draw a face on it. At least this solves for the photo shoot. Checking the fit will require plopping the piece on a real live child.

View from the side. I stuffed in a small ball of yarn to fill out the crown.

Looking at the back, you observe my slight alteration to the pattern: I noticed in the pattern’s photographs that the neck increases resulted in a slight flare.

To accentuate this feature, I switched from 1 by 1 ribbing to seed stitch just in this section. This will allow the back of the neck to fit easily over a collar.

Or, the flare could be tucked inside coat, to keep winter winds away from tender skin.

If you like the pattern, here is a link to Gretchen Tracey’s website.

https://www.ballstothewallsknits.com/2014/02/kids-dice-check-balaclava.html

She offers the balaclava in a baby size as well as dozens of other cute head coverings for kids. This pattern was free. I hope you’ll give her designs a try.