Sock yarn stashbuster blanket

We are gearing up for more renovations here at Doran Towers. I have had to clear out my craft room before work commences. Most of the contents have gone into a storage locker including six big plastic boxes of my yarn stash. It was quite a wrench letting them go along with the furniture.

Many of my WIPs (works in progress) that I couldn’t bear to live without and I may want to work on here have had to be squirrelled away and are currently nestling in various hiding places in the rest of the house like sad little refugees til I can get round to finishing them.

The one pictured above is the largest. It’s a sock yarn scrappy blanket. I throw away very little. I am a hoarder, particularly when it comes to craft supplies. Every time I finished a pair of socks, or any 4-ply project, leftover yarn was chucked into this box. When I got enough to make a good start, I cast on about 150 stitches using four strands at a time on 9mm circular needles. Every time a ball of yarn ran out, I Russian-joined another in, doing a few odd rows when I wanted something I could knit without thinking about. As it’s the biggest WIP, and nearly large enough to be considered finished,  I’ve given it a priority to complete.

My embroidery threads are living behind a cushion on the sofa, bless. The DMC cotton in the brown paper bag were rediscovered from my cross-stitching day’s in the late 80s. I forgot I had such treasure (told you I never threw away craft supplies). 

So there is a downside to the latest refurbishments but the biggest up is the discovery, under a cheap carpet, of a wonderful floor of real floorboards. It’s a bit careworn in places, some old woodworm and paint spattered but it’s beautiful and destined to be a backdrop to many photographs in the future.