I am a crafter. I am also a hoarder.This would be fine if I was organised and had everything in its place. But I don't. Boy, I don't. One of my worst habits is keeping small pieces of fabric that realistically can't be used for anything, but I hold on to them, "just in case". Well this year, this will end! I hope...

The first step is to pick a project that can use up your scraps. I took my inspiration from this tutorial from the Fading Charms Quilt. So messy pile of scraps? Or organised project in process?

 

First, I ironed my fabric scraps. I decided to use a 2-1/2" template for my squares so I could get a nice bit of pattern into them. The templace I made from a cereal box (the only reason to buy cereal really, is for the template material), and I had a pinking shears to cut the fabric as I wanted to prevent the edges of the squares fraying. Who only knows how long it'll be before I decided I have enough colour variation to start sewing. 

Use the template to centre the pattern if you like, and cut out the pieces with the pinking shears, making sure to give a seam allowance outside the template. 

And voila! Instead of an untidy pile, I have pre-cut squares all neatly stacked in a box, which can be put away neatly. The left over pieces from this cutting I can now be sure will not be useful and can be binned without further thought. Sure, it's a long stash-busting step, but it's a step in the right direction.

Winter is coming. It's time for socks.

Well, ok, it's not quite winter yet, but it has turned into a very soggy autumn. And with the return of the cold weather, my sock knitting mojo has returned. It's very hard to think of lovely thick, warm, woolly socks when the weather is too warm for boots. And in Ireland, that's as warm as it gets most of the time.


The pattern I'm working on is called Skew, published by knitty.com, and my using my very favourite sock yarn, Jitterbug by Collinette. The colours are fabulous and it produces such warm and cosy socks! It may also have been the first sock knitting yarn I used, thus reserving its special place in my affections. The pattern is just starting to get to the interesting part, but thankfully is straight forward enough to still be workable on public transport.



Also, I'm am trying to work through my quite extensive stash these days, with an aim to completing projects without having to buy anything extra. Project one was completed this week, a "sit upon", a simple cable pattern Outdoor Seating made with left over yarn, backed with upcycled oilcloth, as the kids are saying these days. The result is a delightfully fully springy mat, which I can see accompanying me to many an event.