This post may be painful for some of you, and I understand that, believe me I do.
However, for me, as I did a serious reality check it became painfully clear that the number of knitted accessories I own far exceed the wearable day factor in any given year. Add to that my closet size and the idea of Knit-Konmari blossomed, thanks to Vicki.
I have two sweaters I wear with great regularity – they are going to the Soak Spa today. One vest will be joining them – it brightens my day considerably that my weight loss has improved its appeal and wear-ability tremendously!
However, one poor sad vest is in desperate need of some cosmetic surgery – in actuality, I wish it was 2 inches longer and I may be able to make this happen, however the colors would not be the same. So, here is my dilemma – take out the neck and sleeve bindings, remove about 2 inches from each side, and then knit some additional length to the bottom of the front and back, re-seam the sides, and then reknit the bindings in the new bottom colors? Thoughts? Additional ideas? Better ideas? I loved this vest, however the current fit makes it very sad.
Likewise, the Custom Fit sweater no longer is custom fit. Maybe it can become a Cardigan? But it needs the deletion of some fabric to fit again. I still have a good bit of the yarn I used, so I could modify it. (Perhaps doing something really out there and make it a cardigan with a nice shawl collar – idea thanks to someone sharing this on Slack) I have a good bit of leftover yarn (1.5 skeins!!) This might work, yes? Different or better ideas and suggestions are welcome!
Now, on to the Plethora of Knitted Accessories…
Keeper’s on their way to join The Sweaters at the Spa:
- Handspun shawls
- All Kirsten Kapur Designs
- My work horse shawl – Donegal Tweed Boneyard FTW
- Citron Grand
- Tales from the Isle of Purbeck
- My Rare Gem Pincha
- Aestlight
- Jen Lucas Mystery Shawl (that was just finished)
- Noro Clapotis
- Honey Cowls
The Land of Uncertainty:
- Litchfield – love the colors, but this is not easy to wear.
- Lion and Lamb Clapotis – this feels too big when I wear it, unless it is really cold out
- Beautiful – again, love the colors, but ease of wear is an issue.
Not Making the Grade, or Re-homing, recycling, re-purposing FTW:
- Luciole – I loved the pattern, but it is too small to wear so I frogged it yesterday, see above – yes I ripped the entire thing out. It was really quite painless. Now the yarn can become something new!
- Stripe Study – awkward design that I find unwearable. I am not sure if I will frog this or not…
- Echoes of Color – I like this but it is way too big, again making it unwearable.
- Color Affection – great colors, but not very wearable, and the knitting is not fabulous.
- Knit Night
- Saroyan
- Too big cowls
- Greyhound
This was a good exercise for me, although I am ashamed by the excess I found in pulling out all my hand knits. It was also a great wake up call the next time I want to knit a shawl – do I really need it or am I just bored and want a new project to knit.
Where are you in your knitting journey, Gentle Reader. Are you in need of some Knit-KonMari?
Now this is an interesting post and really quite a testament to all your knitting. Because they’re handknit, I automatically assign mine a greater value than something from the store, but that doesn’t mean that I wear them all. Since I’m such a slow knitter, I don’t think I have too many pieces, and I do wear a Hitchhiker almost every day once it cools down. Out of my four current wips, only one is for me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
That purple sweater is a gorgeous color and I think it would be a beautiful and more wearable cardigan. The process would be daunting to me, but if anyone can do it, it’s you!
The key is if you WANT to make the changes to the vest and your custom fit sweater. I have dozens of shawls and I’ll end up gifting many of them, but I will never stop knitting shawls as I love to knit and to wear them. I will start spa treatment for my knits…some day soon.
It’s funny, but I wear my Color Affection nearly every day, but almost never as a shawl. Instead, I wrap it around my neck like a cowl or scarf — twice on nice days and thrice on chilly ones to keep out the draft. If you like the colors, I’d suggest trying it more like that if you haven’t already.
I love to knit and because of this I also had too many finished items that I never or rarely wore. A few years ago I decided I wanted to gift items to my family at our annual reunion. I chose items from my handknits and supplemented them with some additional knits and ended up with a laundry basket full of items to take and gift. It was wonderful to watch everyone try items on and pick one to take home. Your knit items are gorgeous!
I think your final question is the problem – the answer to that is why we have so many hand knit accessories. But. What’s a knitter who loves to knit lace shawls to DO??
Yay!! That is awesome and I can’t wait to pile all my knits on the bed and make some decisions!
The trail of WIPs behind me — and projects that have been started but don’t even merit “WIP” status — is testament to the fact that I love the PROCESS of knitting & creating more than anything… “need” doesn’t have anything to do with it! And, while I have many a stalled/barely-begun project, I do manage to complete a few things!! Enough that Knit-KonMari is a THING! Haha. I am running out of room. I believe that a few of my shawls/scarves will also be frogged (thinking of a couple knit in Opal Hundertwasser, for sure)!
Sorry if I’m a bit late to the party here but I’ve been traveling. What a good idea…to whom will you gift the “get-rid-ofs”? I often knit for other people (at least 50% of my knitting is that sort) so I don’t have much to re-purpose…but it is a great idea to do inventory now and then. I love that your vodka limeade made the cut…that one looks GREAT on you!
Call me a beggar, but my interest is piqued by those”too big” items. As a 3X gal, I would be happy to take them off your hands…
Well, since I’m a “knit at it” gal, I don’t have these problems…just a couple WiPs on needles but mostly yarn and patterns for “someday maybe” [not, probably]. Good luck with your decision making…and do enjoy your “new” pieces.
Cheers~