The good thing about clearing out all my WIPs, is that I can go through my stash and decide on new projects to knit. Last week, I sat down with my boxes of yarn and my pattern folders, and started to match up the two, waiting for inspiration to strike. Unfortunately, most of my stash is single balls, which makes it really hard to find good patterns. I love the search functions on Ravelry, as you can look for patterns using the yarn, or a similar yarn, and see how things worked out when someone else knitted the same pattern.
Eventually, I chose a couple of balls of Rowan Scottish Tweed 4ply. They were in slightly different shades of blue, but there wasn’t much yardage on just one ball, so I decided to use them together. The Skye Hat pattern on Ravelry was free, and promised to use just one ball of yarn. As it turned out, I needed to use both the balls, which was perfect! I finished it off with a wee pom pom in bright pink. This is my new favourite hat. It was a bit of pain to knit, as there were so many stitches in 4ply, and if I did it again I’d maybe knit it in the round rather than flat. However, the pattern looks lovely even though it’s quite simple, and it’s so comfy and fits perfectly.
I also dug out some Rowan Handknit Cotton, picked up for £2 a ball in the John Lewis sale. It’s the colour of sunshine, absolutely beautiful, and I wanted to knit something that would do it justice. Four balls wasn’t enough for an adult garment, so I chose a baby pattern by Sublime. I’ve knitted this before lots of times, and have learnt from experience to knit the button bands as part of the garment, it’s way too fiddly otherwise. Sewing up a garment with this cotton is hard because it’s so thick, but it seemed to work out ok in the end.
Seven balls of yarn out of the stash – now to move on to my next project!
Torya Winters Designs 
Pretty!
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I would do something freeform and make it as bright as possible. You could make a play mat for baby or a wall hanging for the nursery. Or maybe some cushion covers? I hope you find your inspiration. 🙂
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Ooh, a play mat sounds interesting! Lots of bits for the baby to feel and play with. Thanks!
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The sock blankie on Ravelry is a nice project. You can just do it in DK though the pattern is for sock yarn. It's nice & easy & you can just plod away at it. x
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Great projects, I love the colour of the hat, and the sunshine cardigan. Gorgeous!
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Thanks! I do love bright colours 🙂
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