Yarn is the new Black

A sweater lot of Canopy Worsted intended for a Maeve Shrug.

This post has been brewing in my mind for a while and it all started when my husband commented that he noticed that according to our budget I was spending money on clothes but he curiously wasn't seeing any new wardrobe items. Just by way of explanation, we try to be very careful with our household expenses and so I have an annual amount that is budgeted for clothes and I record my spending so that we can keep track of everything. Here is where my husband noticed that I was recording my spending but he wasn't seeing any new clothes and it puzzled him a little. So, I explained to him, "Oh, I've been buying clothes but they are all still in skein form." and that "Yarn is the new black."

Fellow knitters will understand exactly what I mean; I have been buying the materials for projects that I intend to make into clothes for myself. This is part of my desire to shift away from store bought items and to have more handmade garments in my wardrobe. I have my heart set on knitting a couple of sweaters for myself before the year is out as well a range of accessories to keep me rugged up this winter. When I look at my Ravelry queue I have so many projects that I want to knit and I have been steadily acquiring the yarn for those projects. 

Unfortunately I have noticed that my stash has been growing but my wardrobe has not. I suffer from the problem of being surrounded by so many beautiful yarns and fabulous projects but not enough time to turn them into finished objects. A lot of dreaming and stashing seems to be going on. However, on the plus side I have been able to avoid shopping for clothes because I really want to make things for myself.

I picked up this Shilasdair yarn back at Easter and hope to cast on for the Fairchild pullover before winter is over.

There has been a challenge throughout May called 'Me Made May'. I don't know a lot about it yet but I think it is something set up by Zoe on her 'So, Zo...What do you know?' blog where makers and crafters are encouraged to wear and love their handmade, refashioned or upcycled wardrobes. The challenge allows everyone to set their own personal parameters such as to wear one self made item a day or if your daily wardrobe is a uniform then to wear self made garments on the weekend. I have not signed up for the challenge this year but my instagram feed has featured many photos of lovely self made outfits from some of the people and bloggers that I follow throughout May. It has been quite inspiring to see these lovely items worn with love and pride. 

This challenge resonates with me because I want to have more handmade items to wear from my wardrobe. Already, the few things that I do have I love wearing even if they are not 100% perfect, like my super slouchy Rosebud hat that makes me look like one of the seven dwarfs from Disney's Snow White. When I make for my kids I proudly put them in their knits almost daily, not because I want to show off my skills but because I love those items and seeing them worn makes me happy.

My new personal challenge is to make those two sweaters for myself and to add more 'me made' to my wardrobe. Then maybe next year I can be a participant in the 'Me Made May' challenge.