Stashless 2021: Finding a Pattern

Well this was interesting. I saw the video from A Crimson Stitchery about going Stashless in 2020. It doesn’t quite mean that they got rid of their stash completely. What it means is that they worked through their stash and outstanding projects to try and get a better handle on what they had in their stash. (Part 1 and Part 2). My stashless journey started with finding a pattern for one of my works in progress.

I decided this was going to be a good idea for me. After commenting in my own video that from where I was sat I could see 3 boxes of yarn and then thinking that I didn’t really know what was in those boxes, it was time to sort it out properly. That’s when the plan started to formulate. I know for sure that apart from the projects I already have on the go, I definitely have a Janie Crow blanket and a Handknits and Hygge jumper in progress. Both should be relatively easy to finish but might need some tweaking to get there. Not impossible right?

Time for Some Detective Skills

So I sat about finding the pattern for my Stormy Open Back Jumper by Handknits and Hygge. I knew it was a test knit at the time, I also knew that “storm” appeared somewhere in the title. Having tried various combinations on my email, I headed off to Google Photos, after all, if I’d taken one photo of my project (and still had it) that was where it was going to be. Thanks to some clever programming at Google searching “knitting” was enough to cut through all the other photos and narrow it down so photos that had crochet or knitting in them – as well as some others that I’m not sure how they fell in there but it was fine. I ended up finding 3 or 4 photos but they were all artistic “here’s my knitting with the pattern blurred in the background” so again close but not close enough. Having now got the date range, I headed to my Instagram.

If I had these photos in my Google Photos account, maybe I shared them on social media. I went back through my Instagram feed, and no I hadn’t actually shared any photos of it in progress (why had I taken the pictures then or maybe I’d taken them and intended to share them only to not?). So then I went to my blog posts, maybe if I hadn’t posted about it on social media, I had at least blogged about it. The first few posts were useless as I’d written about it but in vague terms with no titles or designer. Then I found it – Monthly Review: August 2018. There was the name of the pattern and the designer.

Okay but now what?

So I have the name of the pattern, and I have the name of the designer. But do I have the actual pattern? I’m sure I must do somewhere in the depths of my email account or somewhere else online. I headed to Google to see if she was still designing. Yes, she was – okay so if needed I could buy the pattern from her again. I went to my email to see if I had it saved in there or a clue to where I might be able to download it. As it happened when I searched for Handknits and Hygge I actually had 4 emails pop up. They didn’t have the pattern but they gave me the next step in the search and I was able to find the pattern. As it happened, it was there and I was able to download it pretty quickly.

So back to my other challenge, which repeat in the pattern was I up to? Well after a little bit of studying I think I know where I am. Also because I’ve now learnt how to do to the magic loop, I should hopefully be able to knit through the rest of the sleeves that bit easier.

So now it’s time to put down the blog post and go and knit.

Chat later!