stashbusting

I kind of don't like that word..."stashbusting." It just sounds corny to me. But it is the best description of what's been going on around here lately. AMAZING what you can make out of what's already there. I haven't bought yarn (other than to fulfill etsy orders) in months. And I don't need to, either.

Let's browse through the items I've been able to make. My itchy twitchy fingers have been busy as I wait for my new house to close. To calm my nerves throughout the process, I've been knitting. Boy howdy, have I been knitting!

First up, a baby gift for my husband's boss. They have two elementary age boys and gave it one more go, and they are having a wee girl. So exciting! I had to whip something up.
Knitting pure & simple neck-down baby cardigan in size 6 months, plus a hat of my own "design" (meaning I didn't follow any particular pattern, just winged it). The yarn was part of a clearance purchase at Joann's last summer...it is 100% wool, worsted weight and very soft, from their Sensations line, but I can't quite remember the actual yarn name. I do remember that it was $.99 per ball. Frugal!

Next up, a sweater for Daughter to wear this coming fall, again from Joann's clearance yarn.

This is a top-down raglan, made using the "raglans unlimited" pattern that I've posted about before. Nice pattern because it goes from a toddler size 2 up to a men's size 52 chest, but fiddly because they call for the sleeves to be knit flat and seamed, and also they expect you to use teeny needles for the ribbing, which I think looks way outdated and ridiculous. I used larger needles than called for and my ribbing still pulls in a bit much for my taste. Good pattern, just needs some tweaking.

Anyway, it's moda dea washable wool in raspberry, only 3 skeins which were $1.98 each. CHEAP sweater! Oh, and the buttons? Yeah, that's what happens when you let the 4 year-old choose. Oh well, they had to be huge because the buttonholes are huge in this pattern (another change I will make when using this pattern again). No chance of anyone accidentally picking up this sweater and taking it home.

And something for the little man:

I still don't know how I feel about this one. Ugly? Not sure.

In an effort to use up stash, I had to combine colors, so this is the knitting pure & simple top down hoodie, size 18 months, knit in Wool-Ease worsted weight. The colors are denim and charcoal gray. Both leftovers I dug out of the bag 'o scrap yarn. Still need to weave in the ends on this one, but there is time. It's quite large and intended for this coming fall/winter for AJ. If nothing else, it will be good for playing outside in autumn leaves and dirt!

And finally, I've been knitting up some soakers from my wool leftovers.
These have sold fairly well in my etsy shop, but I may keep the ones I'm currently making for AJ. These are Patons Classic Merino in various colors, size 6-12 months.

Backstory: I have been using prefold cloth diapers and Gerber vinyl pants because they work and are cost effective. I have some lovely higher quality covers (thank you again Karen!!) but I really can't justify buying the pricier covers for my son. He is my last and I don't see any family members doing cloth diapers in the future, so I'm going for inexpensive covers. HOWEVER, the "new and improved" Gerber pants totally suck it. They are made of some new thing called "peva" and are now much more flimsy and low quality than they were in the past. I have put my finger right through several pair while pulling them up over a diaper, and the side seams have come apart just through normal use and washing. They are total crap, and I wrote to Gerber to tell them so! They are sending me a postage paid envelope so I can send them the ripped pair I have, but I have thrown away several ripped pairs. I will tell them that and hopefully be reimbursed for all of them, but it's not the money...I just wish they would make a quality product again!

Anyway, in light of the fact that I can't seem to stop accidentally ruining the Gerber pants, I have decided to give wool soakers another go. So I think I will keep on knitting them up, keep some, and put some in the shop. They are like the potato chips of knitting...can't knit just one! They are easy, addictive, and can be worked on while watching children play on beautiful summer days.

So that's what's recently come from the stash. I thought I wouldn't have much knitting time this year, but as of today I've finished 19 items...almost entirely from stash! I've completed 1 pair of longies, 10 soakers, 4 pair of socks, 4 (child size) sweaters, and 1 hat. Not bad.

And after AJ's therapist leaves this afternoon:

Ahhh, summer.