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Scrap Yarn Knitting

One of the interesting things I took from my first read through of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Opinionated Knitter was a project idea using scrap yarn. If I recall correctly, she mentioned she put aside like sized yarn scraps into nearby containers to use together for knitting something, I don't remember what.

I loved this idea.

I am plagued by what to do with yarn scraps. My natural sentimentality dictates I should keep a reminder of the yarn I used, especially for those projects which went away from me as gifts or failures or even natural attrition.

I've kept this idea in my mind and then somehow it melded with the log cabin knitted afghan project from another book I read through this summer, Mason-Dixon Knitting. Maybe something brought these things together outside of my mind but for the life of me I can't remember what it was, if it was anything at all.

Two things have stopped me from starting this project. First and foremost is which design philosophy to employ. Do I use the add on method of the Mason-Dixon pattern, adding sock yarn in the order of the socks I knit. Or do I knit up squares and rectangles as I go along and piece them all together at some far distant date in a eye-pleasing way.

The first idea really appeals to my preference for serendipity, as well as sentimentality. In this way I'll have an instant reminder of the order in which I knit socks. Also there will be the surprise of the design element since the color integration will be random-ish. It also appeals to my dislike of finishing, as you build the logs on top of each other, eliminating the end of project seaming. I may never get the project into the FO pile if I have to seam a hundred little garter stitch logs.

But will I really love something that is full of awkward color combinations? Will the FO be a knitted eyesore that I'll wind up hiding in a cupboard because it's too hideous to display? It may, it just may.

Yesterday in my internet wanderings I came upon the Mason Dixon's Slogalong blog where there were several similar projects, that is leftover sock yarn afghans. One was even a sock yarn log cabin afghan. The other two I saw were mitered square afghans using different orientations, see here and here.

What to do, what to do.

Comments

Minerva Turkey said…
I like the idea of making some extremely weird project out of scraps. Maybe a funky bag or a crazy scarf. Have fun with it...what's the worst that can happen?