They Call It Nesting

In preparation for the (rapidly approaching) day when I'll have to move my stash for the first time, I've determined to use up as much as possible beforehand. Right now, I've got a steamer trunk stuffed to overflowing, four laundry baskets hidden under the bed, and numerous bags and balls of yarn floating around my room. While the basement space we've got set aside for my crafty studio is great, it's certainly not an unlimited amount of space by any means.

I have skein after skein of Red Heart and Caron sitting in those laundry baskets--remnants of my early knitting days when the majority of my yarn was sourced from sale bins at Jo-Ann's, spotted in bags at Goodwill, or given to me by well-meaning but apparently colorblind relatives. Now, no offense to anyone who loves to knit with this stuff, because I really do understand that it has its good points, and I'm sure my appreciation for it will triple once I have people in my life (i.e., my kids) that I want to knit for but simply cannot trust with anything that needs to be hand washed or remembered on the school bus. But it's really just not what I want to wear next to my skin.

You can disagree, that's okay. I might even send you some of my stash.

 But, in the meantime, what better way to use it up than make a couple crocheted afghans?

(image from here)

When FH and I first started dating, I'd made him this giant, ugly monster of a granny square afghan. He's a guy, of course, so I'd made it primarily black with occasional stripes of red, blue, and grey and big enough to hide a small camel. Even today, it's still his favorite thing. So, when we'd started planning out everything in our apartment, I'd always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to make another afghan or two for us to snuggle under together. Especially since the old one is neither sightly or pleasant smelling--nothing I'd ever offer to company. However, now I'm obsessed.

(image from here)

I'm already well on my way to having another granny square one. I swear I just started it last night, but it covers my lap already. I always forget how easily you can zip through a crochet project once you get some momentum started. What's next after this one? Ripples? Something circular? Modular? Some kind of squares, despite all the seaming those involve? So many possibilities.

(image from here)

One of those days where Ravelry is not only fun, but absolutely necessary.