Quiet winter knitting & #knit1000g

There's been a lack of finished items posted around here lately. During Slow Fashion October, I waxed lyrical (and at length) about mending and anti-consumerism; but really, there's only so many photos of darning socks and patched holes in T-shirts that I feel I can bore you with! I'm now three-quarters of the way through my mending pile, and I'm finding it rather uninspiring. Coupled with the dim winter light, I haven't been doing much sewing lately.

Instead, I've turned to knitting as the perfect antidote. I'm continuing with my Year of Socks project, which I'll write about fully in December. I'm nearly at the end of the sock yarns that I bought in Stockholm, so I'm sitting somewhere in the middle of itching to buy more yarn and wondering what to make next. Regular readers will know that I have rather negative feelings regarding my stock of craft materials (or 'stash') that has amassed during periods of being time-poor. Whilst not exactly time rich at the moment, I am currently rather poor space-wise and monetarily, so it's good to have the reminder to use what I have.

I recently discovered the #knit1000g hashtag on Instagram. The idea is to knit up a kilo's weight in yarn before buying any more. I'm cheating slightly, and am including projects that were already started when I discovered it; but all in all, I've committed to 4 pairs of socks and 2 sweaters before buying anything else. I haven't weighed this, but I'm pretty sure that it'll be over 1000g. Two pairs of socks use purpose-bought yarn from Stockholm; the other two are based around using up leftovers. Both sweaters use yarn that I acquired  8 or 9 years ago; I began projects, but they were unsuccessful for various reasons, and I've recently unravelled them. All patterns used are from my library or free downloads; and any additional projects made from my stash will be bonus, not a substitute.

#Knit1000g is a rather quiet initiative: it is not a knitalong, there are no prizes, nor any Internet celebrities endorsing it. However, I think it's a really valuable way to remind ourselves of the beautiful materials we have at the ready, before just excitedly ordering more yarn for the next make. I'm still forcing myself to reach for my knitting when I find myself endlessly scrolling on social media; and I've really sped along on the socks since then!