After I finished both mermaid blankets, I had a lot of yarn left over. Lots and lots and lots. You can see it in the photo at the top of this post — weight-wise, it works out to:
- 233g turquoise
- 235g jade
- 186g macaw (variegated)
- 410g peacock
That totals just over a kilo of leftover yarn. In fact, I'm just one skein short of the variegated to have enough to make a third mermaid blanket. I saw some comments on-line that the yarn estimates in the pattern are off, and now I have proof. It happens.
But no, I am not making a third mermaid blanket. That would be boring to the point of masochism.
Instead, I've been making some quick, small things to use up the yarn and get it out of the apartment as soon as possible. No net gains to stash!
I knew the most difficult yarn to get rid of would be the variegated. I like handpainted and self-striping yarn as much as the next knitter, but old-school variegated has always been... difficult. It has strong connotations with the items left over after the church bazaar, or gifts from well-meaning relatives you just couldn't get rid of politely.
The macaw called for in the pattern has the benefit that it isn't as ugly as the brown/gold/rust/white blends we saw in the 70s. I had a vague recollection of a feature set of patterns for self-striping/variegated yarn from a recent crochet magazine I'd bought, found the article in question, and stuffed the yarn in a tote bag before I headed to my hairdresser's. I picked a pattern (the Swoopy Cowl from Interweave's Crochet Accessories 2014) and started stitching between the colouring and the shampooing, and by the end of the following day I had a finished cowl:
I skipped the shaping and just made it straight-sided — it seemed like it would be too tight around the neck otherwise. This one is headed for the donation box since I don't need it and don't know anyone who wants it. I hope someone takes a liking to it.
Crocheted blankets are still of interest for me, because they are great for using up a lot of leftover yarn quickly. I tried out some of the square patterns I've been collecting on Pinterest:
I'm not completely thrilled with these, just because they're uncomfortably close to putting the "granny" back in "granny square", but they were all good exercises. The geometric-patterns square at the back and the mandala square on the left were both copied from photographs, and the flower square at the bottom right is a free pattern (Ravelry link). It's also my first attempt at crocodile stitch, so it was educational.
At this point, I have nearly all the variegated yarn used up (one more dahlia square should do it), but most of the turquoise, jade, and peacock solid-coloured yarn left over. I think it will go towards the stripey blanket I've had on the go for a while.
That's the next major stash-busting to complete: the two blankets I have on the go. There's always something.