Ruthless

I started out by sorting through all of my fabric. The best thing about having a clear out is that you find all the things you’d forgotten about – like some of these gems! I love vintage fabrics, and all of these were picked up in charity shops or car boot sales. The 70’s sunflower print at the bottom right was a pair of curtains, the tartan is a man’s scarf, and the psychedelic prints are original pieces of fabric from the Magpie’s Nest in Glasgow. 

Not everything was lovely and exciting though. I found some bits of fabric that I would never realistically use. It felt really good to be totally ruthless and chuck lots of stuff away! I mean, look at some of this stuff! There’s a nice bit of tartan skirt, but it’s too bobbly to use. Some shiny upholstery fabric, a few loud prints, nothing that I’ll miss. I also consigned a knitting kit to the charity shop bag – Alan Dart’s knitted chess set. I don’t see myself wanting to knit a chess set any time soon, so it might as well go to someone else who will love it. 

After the fabric, I moved onto my yarn stash. I’ve sorted this out loads of times recently, but I just couldn’t bear to throw things away. I had lots of cream yarn that didn’t match, some nondescript baby wool, and some odds and ends and half balls from other projects. If I had the time, I’d sit down and make some kind of multi coloured crochet thingy, or find patterns for using up scraps of yarn. However, I have a long list of exciting things to knit, and I don’t want to waste any time on knitting that makes me feel meh! Someone else will rake through this stuff in a charity shop and feel inspired, so into the bin bag it went. I also got rid of a silk scarf painting kit. This kit was given to my mum about 20 years ago, she passed it on to me, and I shoved it in a box and forgot about it. Definitely one to add to the clear out pile. 

Once I’d got rid of all the stuff I didn’t want, I made a list of all my remaining yarn. There’s so much! It doesn’t look like much in the box, but once it’s all listed, it’s still a ridiculous amount. Maybe more ruthlessness will be needed in the future. I’ve taken some pictures, and listed everything in this post – not necessarily because I think anyone who reads this blog will be interested, but because I need to keep a list for myself and updating Ravelry takes AGES. And if you’re one of those people, like myself, who likes to have a virtual poke around in someone else’s stash, enjoy! 

From top left – Aktiv sock yarn x 7, Drops Alpaca x 5 – one each of green, yellow, orange, white and grey, Regia sock yarn x 6, Drops Garnstudio Baby-ull x 1, unidentified garish sock yarn x 1, Drops Alaska x 1, Sirdar Escape x 1, Rowan Felted Tweed x 1 in purple and 0.5 in green. 

Rowan Scottish Tweed 4ply – one blue and one light blue, Drops Lima x 2, Drops Extra Fine Merino x 2 – one in blue and one in white, multicoloured sock yarn x 2, Diploma Gold DK – 2 x lavender and 1 each of white, pink, purple and green, Rowan Scottish Tweed 4ply – 1 x orange and 2 x red, Sirdar Snuggly 4ply x 1. 

Sirdar Country Style DK x 2 – pink and purple, Regia sock yarn x 1.5, Drops Cotton Merino x 1.5, random green 4ply x 1, Debbie Bliss Pure Silk x 1, painfully pink DK x 1, unidentified 4ply x 6.5, Drops Karisma – half a ball each in red and mustard, Diploma Gold DK x 1. 

Rowan Milk Cotton DK x 6, Sirdar Simply Recycled x 3, mustard yellow 4ply in 200g skeins x 2, Rowan All Seasons Cotton DK x 14, Patons 100% Cotton 4ply x 1 in each of blue, purple and pink, Rowan Handknit Cotton x 2, Anchor Style Creativa x 2, RYC Luxury Cotton DK x 2, Rowan Calmer x 1, Rowan Cotton Glace x 1.5, Patons 100% Cotton DK x 2, Sirdar Baby Speckle x 2, Wendy Supreme Cotton 4ply x 1.5, Rowan Fine Milk Cotton x 1, random 4ply cotton in white, blue and navy.

There’s also some New Lanark Aran – 5 x blue and 2 x heathery purple, Sirdar Country Style DK x 10  in purple, Sirdar Country Style 4ply x 7 in purple, Patons Diploma Gold DK x 10 in black, Charisma Highland Aran x 20 in blue, Rowan Tweed Aran x 2 in red and 6 in navy, and Patons Linen Shadow x 16 in cream and 12 in green. The linen shadow might be the next to go, if I can’t find a suitable pattern for it. 

Now to find patterns to use up all this stash!