the almighty destash: actually knitting through it

Last week I finished my first actual jumper (details here and here). While I've knit a few cardigans and am a dab hand at socks, I've always been kind of hesitant about the whole jumper thing. (For one thing, I'm still hesitant about calling it a jumper. It's one of those things I still have to consciously translate before I say it. I'm afraid they might always be 'sweaters' to me.) However, about six weeks ago I decided to take a leaf out of Jasmin's (from the Knitmore Girls) book and enter into Operation Destash, i.e. have a proper rummage through my stash and my pattern collection and match them up.

I really like this idea of destashing through knitting. It's a clean, methodical and thoroughly logical way of tackling an overrun stash. Mine is relatively tiny compared to some, but it's still far too overgrown for my liking. In fact, it has that very much in common with my garden at the moment. Sigh. The hours in the day, as Poirot might lament in his peculiar fluent pidgin English, there are not enough of them.

In any case, one Sunday I spent an entire morning rooting out all the yarns I will not and refuse to ever use, the yarns that I admittedly quite like but are destined to languish if they stay with me and all the quality yarns that I've impulse purchased collected throughout the years to sample but have not. About half have gone to our local charity shop, while the other half are on hand to be donated to whatever good cause will take them.

My stash thoroughly weeded, the rest of the day was dedicated to pattern browsing, queue perusing and squinting critically at designs through skeins held aloft to get the full measure of them. Is there anything more satisfying? It's so utterly self-indulgent and yet a completely necessary use of a knitter's time. In the end, I picked six garments I am desperate to wear in yarn I am desperate to knit, and the plan (The Plan) is to go through the list one by one until I have six new things in my wardrobe.

First on (and off!) the needles: #23 Lace Yoke Pullover by Sandi Prosser from Vogue Holiday 2008, knit in Fyberspates British Merino DK in deep plum, Heaven's Hand in saffron and Madelinetosh Eyre in dove grey.

Next up: Cobblestone by Jared Flood from Interweave Knits Fall 2007, also knit in Fyberspates British Merino DK, this time in this deep-rust-scarlet hybrid solid that makes the colour of Matthew's eyes even more hard to define but no less intense.

Before I wrap this up, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on the last post. The last six months have been pendulous to say the least, but overwhelmingly I've come out of it still bursting with all the good rather than dwelling over the rest. And there's more good things to come, of that I know.

Comments

[Janet Navin]

I am interested in knitting your weekend jacket,SRK180, but find the measurements confusing to me.Is the jacket knitted as a regular sweater? I find the three parts, each of 66 stitches, for a small--rsulting in a 37" finished bust measurement
hard to vision. Can you help me?
[email protected]

[kathrine]

ok, i'll say it..nice SWEATER you've pulled off. like the colours too. i hope ir will keep you warm this season.;)

[Camille]

SO GOOD to see you the other day!!! Going to try to follow your example on the stash-weeding when I get home. (Er...naturally, I've just bought two more balls of sock yarn, plus two hanks of Fyberspates Scrumptious chunky the other day because THE MAGENTA, I could not resist!)

xoxox

[Tikabelle]

Holy shit, Emms, I don't know how I missed your last post. Huge hugs to you! I have missed the last 5 weeks of thinking beautiful healing thoughts your way, but I intend to make up for it starting right now.

Your sweater is adorable! Where are the pom-pons?!? And I fully support your decision to toss your stash. I should do that too, since I'm moving... Anyhow, I'm so glad to see you pop up in my blog feed! <3!

[Robynn]

Totally fabulous colour combo. But where are the pompoms?!

I still can't say "jumper" without self-consciousness either. To me it's a jersey. But I've now been here long enough that "jersey" sounds weird too. As does "sweater". Argh.