We've been pottering about the garden on the weekends, but I don't expect we will really get into the full swing of things until late April. I learned the hard way last year - after a frost on the 9th of May killed my beans - that you can't really rely on spring in England until it's almost summer. But in anticipation of summer knitting, I've been stash busting.
So, for any of you non-knitters out there, stash is your collection of wool, usually overflowing its designated container and stuffed into various other receptacles all over the home. At a certain point this winter I had to start a separate stash of partially used balls of wool because I needed more room in my primary yarn tub for all the 4-ply and lace weight I've been inexorably accumulating. The partial balls were all tumbled together in a plastic bag and stuffed into a drawer, which was a decidedly unsatisfactory solution, because any time I tried to extract a ball they all unraveled and tangled up. So the other day I took a spare gift box home from work and neatly sorted out my blues and greens. Now I just need another box for the reds, pinks, purples and browns.
Stash busting is what you do to clear up space for more wool purchases (that is, until you just bite the bullet and admit you need a larger stash box). I'm focusing on getting rid of any heavy wool I have in sufficient quantities to make a garment, because heavier weight wool takes up more room and knits up quickly.
I just finished a sweater the other day that used up 8 balls of amazing cozy bulky weight Rowan Cocoon.
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| Beetlejuice Tunic from Vogue Knitting Fall 2010 |
And I've just started Shalom Cardigan in worsted weight Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica, which should use up all 4 balls in my stash (bought at least 5 years ago, so long overdue for destashing).
After that I should have enough room to store all the linen I plan to buy for my Spring/Summer knitting.
Ooooo! I have the Shalom in my queue! We should have done a knit along... ;)
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