Stash busting or what to do with those left overs?

It´s interesting that for knitting and sewing you face the same challenge with those left overs from other projects. You bought the wool/fabric with allowance (because you learned the hard way that running out of yarn at last minute just sucks ^^). Now you have all those left over yarns or left over fabric scraps. What to do with them?

There are whole books, articles, what not, addressing these issues. In the end you have to make the decision to either make a new project (and sometimes by new yarn/fabric to complete it) or just give it to some kindergarden that will love those scraps. So I searched a bit and here is what I came up with:

Knitting
Fun fact, I didn´t buy any yarn this year so far. Which means I was knitting completely from my stash. It´s a little scary because while I´ve completed a lot of projects this year (12 to be precise, compared to last year at the time where I had finished 5) still my stash is nowhere near to be exhausted or anything. ^^

Without further blather, tada:

 

It´s a Color Affection (giving in on the soothingness of garter stitch) in DK. All of the blue and purple yarn is gone now. 
It´s squishy and awesome and as summer has not arrived so far I can really wear it and snuggle in it. ^^

Finished this in exaclty one week, cast-on on a Friday, cast-off and seam in the ends on the next Friday. I guess I´m getting faster? Or knitting DK with needle 4 is just going like a breeze.

Sewing:

This nice hair band from the lady from Hamburgerliebe (check out her tutorials she really has quiet nice ideas).

And some small baskets to either store stuff in or give away (sorry don´t have the link anymore)

In the end I decided to do both. Finish more projects with my left overs but also give away some scraps that are really just to small to do anything with them to a kindergarden. 

I still have a few more ideas and the stash to realize them, so stay tuned. Also MeMadeMay-Challenge is in full swing and I´m confident to achieve my goals in time.

How it´s supposed to look like ...

You remember the mini-KAL I was planning with my friends for this nice little shawl "Cameo"? First I picked the wrong yarn for the shawl, but the second time I was much more careful and went with the two color option. It went like a breeze. Just finished casting off. :D

I´m quiet pleased with it. Once I showed it to my BH he quickly grapped it, wrapped it around his neck, said something like "it´s nice, I like it" and continued playing his video game. So I think we will share this like the other unisex shawls in my closet. Ah well .... ^^ What more praise can you have?

Now comes the hard part. What to knit now? A finished project is awesome but I learned that I should quickly cast on another to keep my flow going. 

I did love the simplicity of the garter stitch so I might make another shawl. I´m thinking about "Color Affection" in DK weight yarn. I do have three matching colors ... and it would help the stash busting. Let´s see. It´s not like I don´t have other projects to finish, like the crazy night sky shawl or my two grandpa cardigans. But the knitter (me) is fickle and wants pretty new things to knit, or has a phase of garter stitch ... Let´s see. I did knit one row on my night shawl to keep the flow going, but I just might cast on the "Color Affection" to have something for tomorrow while riding the U-Bahn on my way to work. 

The MeMadeMay Challenge

I first encountered the "MeMadeMay" on Adri´s Blog and was immediately intrigued. What is it, you ask? Well as far as I understood it, it´s a time when bloggers, who sew, knit, crochet or make clothes, are challenging themselves to actually wear their projects and of course share them with others.

At that time  I thought I couldn´t participate, because I hadn´t had enough wearable projects (apart from shawls of course). This was a couple of years ago. Today I surfed the internet and thought about it ... why shouldn´t I participate? I had a rummage in my closet and there are a few cardigans or tops I´ve knitted, so why not wear them? I´m not as restricted as I used to be to Business clothes in the office these days, so let´s do this.

So here´s my challenge for MeMadeMay:
- Wear at least once a week one of you´re "self-made" projects out in public, document with foto.
- Wear one complete outfit! (ok, this is the tricky part, I haven´t sewed or knitted trousers or skirts so far, but I guess it´s duable, if pyjamas count, and as it´s my challenge, they count. :)).