It Seemed Like a Good Idea...

I had all this acrylic yarn sitting around not getting any action. I was in a mood to purge and it's about to get chilly in this drafty old house. Besides, I'm between projects and I want to destash. I decided to use up all my leftover yarn and make afghans. Mindless repetitive crochet.

My idea was to put all my scrap yarn in a bag and randomly use whatever I pulled out, regardless of color, weight or texture. Do you know how hard it is to completely random? It's virtually impossible. First, I realized there wasn't enough textured yarn to balance out the smooth yarn. I'd have a few textured patches and the rest would be smooth. Then, after going through everything, I realized I had enough yarn for 3, maybe 4 afghans. So I decided to start with what I had the most of: varigated purple (don't ask) and tan worsted weight held together. I used a size N or Q. I don't know. It's a huge, plastic hook with no markings on it.



I got about 2/3 the way done with it when I saw that there wasn't enough yarn to finish it, so I had to buy 1 more skein of tan and 2 more skeins of purple. Don't you hate it when you go to destash, and you actually have to buy more yarn? Anyway, it's almost finished. I should use up my yarn tonight and then it's done. Maybe I'll put a fringe on it. Whatever.

Then I put all my scrap Lion's Brand together, and boy, what a mishmash. There was everything from Microspun (I hate that stuff) to Chunky Chenille. This was my chance to make a true scrap afghan, in the vein of the wonderful crazy quilts of the 19th century. Each of these yarns was used to make something for either my kids or someonelse's. OK, there are a couple of Christmas scarves in there, too.

What a wonderful reminder of my kids' baby days, and old friends. And what a great chance to practice randomness. Well, not exactly random. After all, I did group them together as being the odd yarns. Then I thought, There is too much difference in the weights of some of these yarns, so I'll group them by weight and double strand the thinner yarns. I was going to try to be random with the colors, but the first time something really awful happened colorwise, I couldn't take it. Yes, I chickened out on total chance of colors. I ripped back and put something less offensive together. You can't really tell though, huh? I mean it looks pretty random, doesn't it? I call it my Crappy Scrappy Afghan. The kids love it, and argue about who gets to snuggle up in it. I'm just glad all that yarn is now in neat little rows that I can fold up and put away. I don't know why I care, that yarn wasn't hurting anyone, sitting in its basket, but I had to control it and make it into something, anything, even this:



I wish I had a better picture, but the camera battery gave out just as I was snapping the photo, and I don't have the recharger. But, you can see it, right? Something only a 4 or 6 year old could love? Actually, my husband likes it, too.

Now, all I have to do is use up my garish colors: oranges, blues, yellows, reds, greens, black and white. That one will definitedly be for the boys. And then my more subdued colors. I really want to use up all this stuff before 2007. Why am I so compelled to do this? Probably thinking about the new year, and a fresh start. Making room for the new stuff.