Foray into Crochet + Stash-busting

Yep, still stash-busting that inherited yarn. On Friday, I decided to finally learn to crochet something more than a simple slip-stitch border. I learned about single crochet by name, took to Youtube, and got right to it. After figuring out single crochet I wondered if there was such a thing as double crochet and repeated the process with another skein of my ugliest yarn. Come this afternoon, I'm well on my way to completing a big ol' crocheted circle/hexagon. Thanks Youtube! And thanks most of all to the kind crafters who took the time to make such clear instructional videos!

These massive swatches (well the rectangular ones anyway) measure something like 15" across each side, which happens to be great for a shelter cat or small dog. The lovely Rokoknits commented on my post about this on Instagram suggesting I look into a local shelter that would appreciate this donation, and I think it's just what I'll do. Thankfully cats don't really care about what color their blankies are so I'll have no qualms about donating such garish colors.

What you see here is my stash of 'free' yarn--that is, yarn that isn't attached to a project or plan of any kind.Those tinier wads of yarn on the very left are all cottons, which i'll go ahead and make into a washcloth for personal use. The bright pink cake at the top was given to me without a label so I'm unsure of what exactly it is. It might be Lion Brand sock-ease? If I don't suck it up and make some plain stockinette socks, they might just end up being crocheted held double in another little cat blanket or something.

It's really pleasing for me to have a system put together to handle the yarn stash. The once untouchable pastel acrylics are going to a good cause, the cottons will soon go to good use around the house, and any scraps left over from shop or personal projects will be food for GD.

The fantastic and creative Marie of Frogged Designs made it very easy to choose what to do with my sock-yarn scraps, so I'm just letting that small stash grow for my very own Operation: Sock Yarn. STASH-BUSTING! ~ For those who are curious: I used this tutorial by theknitwitch to learn single crochet, and this tutorial by Andrea Lemire to learn double. This page on The Purl Bee helped me figure out circular crochet, so I recommend it.