Acrylic Invasion...

I finally got my last 3 garbage bags (and one little container) of yarn out of storage, and oh my I have a lot of nasty acrylic yarn. I will warn you now: this is going to be an image heavy post.

I know I should be working on my Ravelympics projects but how can I resist all the temptation of sorting through this mess and finding homes for this yarn.

I found one of my very first crochet projects, a large green granny square blanket made from red heart. I started this about 10 years ago. It looks like I got quite a few squares done. I even remember what pattern book the pattern was in so one day I may just finish this blanket. I found another patterned blanket kit I bought from Mary Maxim with cats in nice neutral shades of taupe, grey and black. I even have the matching latchook rug kit (what was I thinking). These each went into their own rubbermaid bucket and tucked into a corner out of sight.

Ever heard of Cloudspun by Mary Maxim? It is a bulky weight acrylic. I have 44 skeins of it. 25 skeins in a charcoal colour 14 skeins in varying shades of rose and almost 5 skeins in bright red. I have no recollection of buying this stuff or being given it. But its enough to make something with it, one day, maybe...

The next treasure I found was a scrapghan. I had no idea it was big enough to call complete. I have been working on it for years. I started it about 8 years ago and crocheted the last row about 4 years ago. When ever I had a little bit of yarn leftover from a project I would add it to the pile. I changed colours every other row. I thought the blanket was about 3 feet long but when I unfolded it it was actually over 5 feet. I think it must have crocheted itself all this time that it was stuck in storage. I will donate this blanket to charity.

I found this cute little doll kit. This was one of the first things I ever knitted. I was so proud of myself for making the first outfit but I never got around to making the other two... one of these days I will get it done.

When I first learned to knit those hideous eyelash scarves were the trendy thing. In fact my first knitting project ever was scarf with a 5-stitch garter stitch border around stockinette. I knitted it in dark blue Bernat boa on dark blue needles. That project was doomed from the very beginning. I couldn't see the stitches; all the dark colours blended together. But when I finally finished it I was so proud I thought I would make boa scarves for everyone so I bought enough yarn to make 8 scarves and I finished 3. I still have yarn for 5 more scarves and now eyelash is not so trendy anymore. Sigh...

I finished sorting all the yarn into acrylic and cotton that I may use one day and acrylic that I will never ever use. The never-ever-yarn is in a take-to-goodwill pile with the scrapghan. The might-use-one-day-yarn is now occupying two cubes of my Expedit shelf. And I am still left with a whole bunch of acrylic that will make about fifty wonderful Mother Bear Project bears. I sent two bears off to Africa last year and would love to find the time to make several more.

I learned today that there is a big difference in 20 year old acrylic and present day acrylic. The old stuff is nasty itchy and yucky. The new stuff can be soft and very pretty. If someone offers you some of their old acrylic stash say "No thank you, I really haven't got anywhere to put it." Trust me, you don't want it. Same goes for novelty yarns, if its got tinsel, plastic or eyelashes in it just say no. These yarns are like spandex, they are trendy for a brief moment in time and then the memories haunt you for the rest of your life.

I should really get back to my Ravelympic Projects...

Cali