using up yarn

One of my challenges in my office is organizing all of the stuff from my crafting.  While I enjoy corralling the items into pretty boxes and neatly displayed, the real reason for having the stuff is to craft.  So, I am trying to pare down my stash by getting rid of what I don't see myself using in the immediate future (my son sold most of the items at his yard sale and the rest was donated to local schools and thrift shops) and by making myself actually craft.

First on my list was tackling my yarn.  I have a bunch of yarn leftover from young children's projects (parts of costumes/holiday decorations, weaving, pompoms etc) and yarn given to me when my mom was helping friends clean out their stashes.  I'm looking forward to using the cottons, wools and mohairs, but the acrylic is really bright and scratchy.  I was planning to give the acrylics to the preschool my kids attended, but my hoarding inclinations kicked in and I pulled the yarns from the donation piles.

So, I had to find some way to justify keeping those bright, scratchy yarns.  I decided to start making Christmas ornaments.  Yes, it's ridiculous to be thinking of wintery projects while enjoying the heat of summer.  But, I had to get that yarn out of my office and I seem to have a lot of down-time while waiting to pick my kids up from their summer activities and while I'm sitting at day-long swim meets (I've logged 7 so far this summer).

I wanted to create stuffed ornaments, so I used the body section of this pattern:
http://thegreendragonfly.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/nibble-nibble-hop-hop/
This pattern is quite easy to follow.   I think I want to try the whole pattern for Easter decorations.

I also made some coasters, for my office and my daughter's desk.  They were free form, not symmetrical but colorful and functional.

So, I made a dent in my yarn stash.  I saw mandala patterns on attic24.typepad.com and on pinterest.  I hope to carve out time to try those and create something for my wall.  Maybe that will make an even bigger dent in the stash.

Happy crafting!