Stash organization

I recently had some big news that changed all my plans in the upcoming months. I'll be leaving the country again this summer (and will tell you more about it when it gets closer) and there's a chance I might have to move out of my house several months earlier than anticipated. As a result, I'm already starting that familiar process of paring down my possessions. My yarn stash got ignored during the last move, and I ended up bringing a bunch of yarn across the country that I probably will never use. Last night, I brought out all the odds and ends to see what I realistically could use, and what will be passed along to a friend or via a giveaway.

I thought I would share a tip on what I did, cause I thought it was pretty clever! First, I organized my odds and ends into piles. I then took note of the approximate yardage and weight of the yarn. After writing all that down, I hopped onto Ravelry and used the advanced search to see what patterns might be possible with the amount of yarn I had. You can input the yardage and yarn weight, and even limit it to only free patterns. Let me tell you, there were a ton of great patterns to choose from that I never would have thought of on my own. I decided that three groups of yarn could stay and be knit up, and I feel much better now that they all have a purpose.

Leftovers from Sweetgum should be enough to make the Child's Placket Neck Pullover, which is from the book Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, and is also available as a free PDF from the Purl Bee.

Two skeins of Ultra Alpaca (one of which is currently knitted up into a never-worn Anthropologie shrug) will be used to make a February Baby Sweater. Now, I've never made baby clothes--mostly because very few of my friends have children. I'm hoping that by the time I knit these two baby sweaters I figure out who the recipient might be! I'll be able to get the Knitter's Almanac from the library for this project.

Two skeins of Knit Picks Shimmer lace weight yarn will be plenty to make one or two lace shawls. I've really enjoyed the bright red one I made, and this midnight blue color should also be lovely. I really like the look of the North Roe Shawl, which is available for free in French and English here.