Remainders

Leftovers, scraps; odds & ends, the more items you knit the larger the pile becomes. They're also extremely difficult to part with. Much, much harder than the actual garments they were used to create. If you're lucky, there's only a gram or less remaining. In extreme cases there may be several skeins. Either way, they become more stash.

I don't have a hard time tossing the odd yard or two, but when it's more than half a skein I tend to toss it in a basket I've set aside for this purpose. The sock ends go in ziplock in case there's a need for repairs. I've had to repair socks only once so that bag continues to grow as well.

Reducing the sock remainders became a goal when the sock stash exploded. It's been a relatively simple problem to solve when knitting for myself. I like my socks longer, my feet are large and my calves are about 14" in length above the ankle which allows me to get maximum yardage out of most 50 or 100 gram skeins. Out of the trio of socks below only one, the Broad Spiral Ribs pictured in the middle, consumed an entire 50 gram skein.




Even though I had concerns about the yardage for the Cascading Leaves, I need not have worried. I have about 10 grams remaining from the first sock and could have another repeat or two.

Theresa commented that the sock bag in the previous post "could double as evening bag. The smallest version is an ideal size for an evening bag. Excluding the flaps, the medium bag that I made is approximately 8" x 8" x 2" making it neither too bag nor too small. I can easily carry a hat or some other type of small project.