Happy New Year!  It’s been a long time since I last blogged.  I have had a very busy time in the last couple of years and I moved house recently, so my focus has been elsewhere. I don’t make resolutions normally but I’m making an exception – I resolve to blog regularly this year!

You may have noticed that I haven’t designed anything new for quite some time.  For the last few years I have slowed in my designing and tech editing work, eventually giving up the latter last April.  Since then I’ve thought a lot about where my designing should go.  I love the creative side but not all the behind the scenes work required to formally publish a paid-for pattern.  The New Year has made me focus and I have decided that I am not giving up designing just changing focus to share my creativity and hopefully inspire you.  I may publish the occasional new pattern but it is more likely to be free. 

My first share is a problem that I’ve seen escalate in recent years and it is ‘the stash problem’.

We live in a consumer society and all around us companies of all shapes and sizes are blasting marketing techniques at us to encourage us to buy their goods.  The yarn world is no different although probably not the worst culprit.   So it is not surprising that many yarn users have a stash of yarn that is far too big or, as some say, stash beyond life expectancy (StaBLE).  One of the ways to tackle a stash problem is by a declutter and I will blog about some declutter tips next time.  This blog I’ll share my thoughts and ideas on choosing ‘stash busting’ projects. Stash busting projects are the subject of many blogs these days.  It’s a reflection of the realisation that we do have a problem.   I’m not going to point you in the direction of specific projects share my ideas which may help you decide what sort of stash busting projects to take on. 

There are questions that I ask myself every time I take on ANY project but the major ones can be summarised in 3 groups.

Will I make it?   Am I being too ambitious with the planned project?  Do I have the time to make it?  And will I enjoy making it?  At first I found this difficult to answer but it’s a lot easier now as it made me aware of what I really want to make.

Is it practical ?   Will it be used by me or the person I am making it for?  Some years ago I spent a lot of time making presents and I exhausted the number of scarves, mitts, hats, cowls and shawls that people could have in their cupboards, even if they actually liked them.  Yes, let’s face it what we like may not be what other people like.   I’ve seen and heard of so many crafters being disappointed, or even reduced to tears, when someone doesn’t appear to like their gift which is sad as we all know how much thought and effort we put in, but it has helped me think very hard about why I am making something.    It gives me a buzz each time I see someone wearing a gift I gave them several years ago, so I get it right sometimes 😊, but I am so much more realistic now.  

Is it sustainable?  In a nutshell – how long  before it ends up in landfill?  This question forces me to consider carefully any manmade fibres in a project, which are good for blankets that will be loved and potentially used for many years or baby clothes that will be washed and then probably passed on but not necessarily good for fashion pieces which may be thrown out after a season or two.

So I ask myself these same questions about a stash busting project and these are some types of project I found ‘safe’ to take on.

Small projects   There are some great ideas out there for small projects perfect for using up bits of leftover yarn – but do the little items made get used?  Everyone is different so what I would like may not be what my friend likes.  So, for example, I would avoid pin cushions and cute little amigurumi toys but I would happily make washcloths (in cotton or linen), bunting/garlands, Christmas tree decorations or fingerless mitts.

Large projects I think it is difficult to make a garment sized project from leftover yarn but if there’s a lot of excess yarn of one type it could work.  And the same ply of yarn in lots of different colours could make beautiful and colourful scarves and shawls.  But in my experience the best large stash busting project is a blanket.  You can mix and match different plys and colours of yarn and be very creative, holding 2 or more yarns together and being as dramatic as you like in your colour scheme.

In case you need some inspiration on stashbusting blankets, here are some stash busting blankets I have made in the last 5 years.

My Lockdown Blanket which I made in 2020 and was a fabulous way to use up some of my well-loved stash.  The pattern I used was Nature’s Walk by CherryHeart but I used my own border.

My Ultimate Stash Blanket made in 2023.  I used a couple of variations of some squares I designed  (Octoghan and and a simple open square) and carefully recorded the yarn I used – over 5,000m of yarn!

My Granny Stasher made in 2024.  This was a real stash buster and you can tell from the colours that it’s mainly leftovers in this.   I used 2 granny squares, one normal and the other with a circle in the centre, and this enabled me to use up so many little scraps of yarn.

The last one was made a year ago and I called it Mindless but Magic because I used a kit I had which was for a more complicated blanket and I just wasn’t in the mood to make it so wanted something mindless! I took a simple 3 row granny stripe and added an Attic24 border. It isn’t quite full double bed size but works well and was a satisfying and quick make.

You may have spotted a couple of things from my stash busting blankets but if not I’ll point them out. My favourite colours are blues and greens and I prefer to use luxury 4ply yarns, although the last blanket was in Stylecraft Special DK.

I hope this has inspired you a little and will help you next time you want to select a project to bust your stash!

I would love to know how and why you choose stash busting projects. As always you can comment on here, on Facebook or on Ravelry.

Happy crocheting xxx