Inspiration Mondays: What's Old is New

I'm leaving in a little while here to take part in a clothing swap with some friends. We're all different sizes and shapes, but I figure that you never know what someone has been hiding in her closet that you might want to try out.

I'm usually pretty good and clearing out my wardrobe on a regular basis, so I don't have much to bring with me. Usually, my things end up at the local charity shop, and, if you read my post about my yarn basket, you'd know that I enjoy a good bargain, and that I love making "new to me" discoveries. I think it's the most fun form of recycling: making use of something that would otherwise end up in the trash.

In this spirit, I've decided that, rather than waiting until a new season to have a good clean out, I'm going to try to go through and clear things out on a regular basis. I'm getting into the habit of doing things a little at a time, thanks to an application a friend of mine introduced to me through Facebook called Mindbloom. I'm not one to load up on applications (Farmville... bleh...) but this is perfect for a person like me that easily gets stuck in her ways. So far, it's reminded me to do yoga every day, to clean one room every other day, to work on my blog and YouTube channel regularly, and to put money away regularly. Way better than looking after virtual cows, if you ask me!

The idea of trading and swapping has always been interesting to me. I love using freecycle.org, the online organization that helps people to trade items that are still useful that would otherwise end up in a landfill. I have to admit, I was a little addicted to it for a while. It's how I got our first microwave, our coffee table, a little side table in the living room, our ironing board, a huge body pillow (carefully cleaned), and our weedwacker, to name a few things. It's also how we got rid of our moving boxes, some candle-making supplies, and a George Foreman Grill (you gasp, but seriously, I couldn't stand the thing).

Anyway, I thought I'd have a look through my yarn to see what sort of things I've ended up with by purchasing from charity shops and through friends who are destashing. Here's what I came up with:

These sock yarn skeins were purchased through a destash on Etsy (except for the Bernat Cotton hanging out there at the back). I got them for a steal... something like $5 a skein. I did attempt to make a Multnomah shawl with some of it, but it ended up back in the basket. I have better plans for those skeins that will likely be more suitable.

This came home with me from the charity shop. Nice huh? I'm thinking it might be handspun, but it's sure purty. I'm pretty sure it's wool, but it's soft enough to make something that could be worn on my neck (I know that because I walked around the store with it tucked under my chin *grin*). I think that the pattern, 198 yards of heaven might be a perfect fit.

This is a ball of laceweight acrylic, I think. It's wound into a cake but has been squished and tumbled through my yarn basket, so it'll be a good time trying to find the end! I want to use it to make a lacy scarf called Silver Bells, that was formerly available at Knitting Fog Blog, but is now a free download on Ravelry... That is, once I find the courage to start untangling...

Not bad for a bit of hoking around someone's second hand stuff, huh? I think that it's worth having a look through the church yard sales and summer garage sales. It's only junk if it sits around doing nothing in your house, and it's only wasteful if you spend money you don't have on things you have no plans for.

The real test will be weather or not I'd be willing to part with my yarn in a true destash. I've swapped a few things here and there and... well... hrm. I guess we'll see. In some ways, having a big stash is kind of like getting new things every once in a while, because you forget you own some of those yarn balls, and it's a nice surprise when they work their way up to the surface...

Yeah... that didn't quite convince me, either. I'm working on it, ok?