Sunday, October 12, 2025

Stash-buster crochet Taos wrap, final Make Nine for 2025

This is 9 of 9Make Nine, that is! My final project for 2025 for the “yarn” prompt is completed, blocked, and ready to wear.

My Taos crocheted wrap. Make Nine 2025.

My “yarn” prompt: pattern and project parameters 

In late Spring, I decided the "Yarn" prompt project for my Make Nine 2025 challenge was a commitment to use a collection of leftover yarns I had from a shop-and-swap. The parameters were:

  • a pattern intended for a variety of yarn colors, or one that could be adapted for my collection of disparate yarn leftovers (a stash buster), 
  • an easy-to-memorize pattern—something that required little concentration (no stitch markers, or the need to carefully count stitches),
  • a flexible finished size,
  • portable for traveling—perhaps something with modular units,
  • and, if possible, I wanted it to be a crochet project this year.

I mentioned my search for a portable, scrappy yarn project to Pati, the owner of Louisville Fiber Supply, a lovely yarn shop in Kentucky. She turned to her earmarked collection of patterns on Ravelry and shared inspiration with me. 

Make Nine 2025 “yarn” prompt: the Taos wrap.
16.5” x 66.5”

The Taos wrap

The pattern that had the most potential for what I was looking for was Taos by Cristina Mershon [found on Ravelry]. It checked all the boxes.

Shawls are perfect for stash-busting because they don't require exact yardage and can easily be made wider or longer with additional rows or blocks. The Taos wrap, with its modular units, could accommodate the diversity of colors and fibers that I planned to use up (for example, for fingering weight and sock yarns, I sometimes used two stands held together). The resulting piece would be a beautiful tapestry of my leftover balls and impulse buys! 

Swatching

 
Swatching the motif.

After doing a few test swatches of the units, I realized I needed to modify the pattern because my initial swatching efforts produced diamond shapes rather than the squares. I also needed to accommodate the different yarn weights of the leftover yarns. This meant being flexible with stitch count and adding border rounds of single crochet (if needed) to get them to a 2.75” size (the size of my units). This project was a true exercise in intuitive crochet.

Wrap stats

I worked on this Make Nine wrap from mid-August to early October. The finished piece incorporates yarns of many earthy colors that reflect nature’s end-of-summer to early-fall color palette.  

  • motif size: 2.75” square
  • 6 x 24 = 144 motifs
  • finished size: 16.5” x 66.5”

Here are “before” and “after” photos of the yarns used.

Collection of leftover yarns.

After completing the wrap:

Remaining yarn after the project’s completion.
Several small balls were completely used up. 

I incorporated these yarns from an impulse buy (before photo):

Impulse buy yarn.

I made a dent in reducing these—especially the two balls of the blue-green yarn that was used for joining and the edging. (I actually had to introduce one new blue-green yarn that very closely matched the original in order to have enough yarn to crochet the edging around the perimeter.)

Remaining yarns after completing the wrap.

One of the fun parts of making the motifs was using the variegated yarn. It had long color changes, so I could usually crochet the entire inner or outer motif section before the color changed. The color combinations reminded me of the changing colors of the leaves in the landscape—especially with the leaf-shaped motif of the Taos pattern.

Using a variegated yarn resulted in a variety of motifs.

One of the not-as-fun parts of making many independent motifs with two colors of yarn is weaving in the tails. With 144 motifs… there were A LOT of tails! Here is my thread tail jar [ORTs (odd random threads) jar] from making Taos

Empty mayonnaise jar with yarn tail cut-offs—ORTs.


The picot edge

The final detail, and perhaps my favorite, is the picot edge. The edge had 3 rows of single crochet plus the picot row. 

Pico edge detail.

This simple, elegant border treatment provided a beautifully finished look that added a delicate little design element to the wrap. It took minimal extra time to crochet the picot edge, but that detail was so worth it!

Taos wrap with a picot edge.

A stash-buster project is the perfect way to honor the yarn you already own by turning “potential” into “purpose” in a truly unique item. This one came together in a harmonious color story that was not planned, but worked out very well.

I was able to finish and block my new wrap just in time to show it to Pati when I visited her shop again this past week. 


Make Nine 2025 is complete

Make Nine 2025 is “a wrap” (so to speak). I finished this Challenge earlier than usual (in October) and will be looking forward to Make Nine 2026. I’ll post a Make Nine 2025 recap—with photos of all 9 projects—some time before the close of this year.

Make Nine 2025 tracker.

Every year, the Make Nine Challenge pushes me to tackle a new technique, work with a new material or art supply, try a new-to-me pattern, or finish projects languishing on my to-do list. Each project and finish is very rewarding. 

If you’ve been thinking about doing Make Nine or tackling your fabric or yarn stash, let this be your sign of encouragment. Sometimes the best projects are the ones you build from what you already have—and the people who inspire you along the way.


Sunday, October 5, 2025

Participating in September Textile Love 2025

Last month, I again joined the September Textile Love Challenge hosted by Seam Collective—a month-long celebration of textiles, process, creativity, and community. Each day brought a new prompt, encouraging artists and makers to reflect on their practice and share pieces of their journey. The prompts this year were relective of reseach done on working sustainably, both individually and collectively. This was my 8th year participating. 

The 30 daily prompts for September Textile Love 2025.

Revisiting my work through daily prompts 

This Challenge is not only a platform to connect with the vibrant textile artist community across the globe, but a wonderful opportunity to revisit my own work. Going through my photos in search of pieces that responded to the daily prompts, I found myself rediscovering work I’d made in the past, and remembering the context in which it was made… the materials… the processes I used in the creation. 

“Working with nature” prompt: embroidery on fabric that was monoprinted with a leaves. 

As in past years, some of my pieces were the outcomes of guild challenges or a Make Nine prompt, however some were created for the pure joy of making. The September Textile Love daily prompts are always inspiring and thought-provoking. Some prompts asked for specific materials or techniques, but others encouraged a deeper reflection on themes like sustainability, tradition, or the emotional significance of textiles in our lives. 

Exploring color with scrappy hand-knit dish cloths.

The ”Micro/macro,”  “Lifecycle,” and “Growth” prompts particularly posed a conundrum for me in relation to my textile experiences. But stepping back and looking at these terms in a broader sense, or from a different angle, brought insight. 

Micro/macro: My scrap quilt reminded me that whether close up or at a distance, there’s beauty and interest at every level of a quilt—even when using random fabric scraps. Up close, there are the quilting pattens, the choice of variegated threads, or a piped binding.

Detail of a scrap quilt reveals the stitching and choice of variegated threads.

From afar, the choice and placement of the fabrics illustrate the importance of value in defining the patchwork design. It’s a reminder that both the big picture and the tiniest choices matter. Every fabric scrap, every stitch, has a role to play. 

The scrap quilt at a distance shows how value plays an important role in seeing the design.

Lifecycle: My mom instilled the love of books in me. As a youngster, she bought me any book on any craft that I showed an interest in. Now, I especially like vintage textile books and have several “vintage classics” in my personal library.

Vintage textile books contain insight and wisdom from
previous generations of makers and artists.

I’ve used these books as references for several projects, including my 100 Day Stitch Projects. These vintage books hold secrets and wisdom of past generations of makers. I am continuing the life cycle of the techniques as well as the books themselves, by preserving and passing on this knowledge. 

The “Growth” prompt brought home my affinity toward classes, workshops, and learning. Growth isn’t always linear, and it’s not always visible in the final piece. But I can see and feel it in my approach to a work-in-progress, in my thought processes, in ways I troubleshoot problems, in the choices I may make with color, composition, thread, fabric... Some workshops have influenced my technique, and others have influenced me! It reminds me just how layered textile work can be. 

Fellow students at a Shakerag Workshop with Merill Comeau.

I was thrilled to see the “Found” prompt! I responded to it with my stitched fabric scrolls that sparked conversation from viewers. I shared a video of my 100 Day Project: Stitching with Found Objects—a series of stitched fabric scrolls made by combining embroidery and hand stitching with commonplace materials I gathered from my rep travels—discarded packaging, parts of travel brochures, cancelled postage stamps, and other found objects.


 

A Community of Creativity

The other highlight of September Textile Love is seeing how other participants interpreted the prompts. The range of responses was inspiring. It illustrated the incredible diversity within the textile community—and how even a single word or theme can lead to such varied, creative responses. It reminded me that no matter the technique or background, we’re all working with thread, stitch, and textiles in some form—stitching and weaving together ideas, meaning, and memories. 

Moving Forward 

As the challenge wrapped up, I felt a renewed sense of connection to both my practice and the broader textile community. In reflecting on the 30 days and the work I posted, I think I am conscious of working sustainably as many of my projects focus on using scraps and re-purposing discarded items. 

One of the last prompts of the Challenge was “What’s next?” I posted a few of my WIPs [work in progress] that I’m eager to revisit with a renewed interest and insight from participating in this Challenge.

A collaborative project that I look forward to making more progress on.

Kudos to Seam Collective for facilitating such a thoughtful experience—and to everyone who showed up each day with honest reflection, thoughtfulness, and creativity.  I’m walking away with fresh ideas and new connections to my work, and the wider textile community.



Monday, September 22, 2025

Reflecting on balance with the Fall Equinox

Today, September 22, is the Autumn Equinox, where the sun is directly over the equator and it appears to rise and set due East and due West from anywhere on the planet. In the northern hemisphere, animals are beginning to store food. Trees are shedding leaves. Plants are slowing their growth in preparation for less sunlight and the cold of winter. It's a gentle nudge to slow down, reflect, and find balance.

Stash buster crochet project.

As with most makers, I have many on-going projects... patchwork for kitty/charity quilts, several hand stitching WIPs [works-in-progress], a pair of jeans in need of mending, collage and slow drawing, and my stash buster crochet shawl. Each project brings something different to the table—in technique, materials, tools, set-up—and requiring a different kind of attention and energy.

Slow drawing in my junk journal.

Like the equinox—with an equal balance between daylight and dark—working on multiple projects is a balance. 

  • Sometimes the portability of a project is needed. 
  • Sometimes it’s the ability to leave the work in-progress, and not have to pack up the tools, equipment, and materials. 
  • Sometimes it’s a question of needing inspiration to move forward, or if following an established pattern will result in progress. 
It’s a balancing act between the availability of time, space, and mental capacity.

Hand stitching project.

Collage in the junk journal.

With the fall equinox and the turn of the season, I’ve determined that it's a good time to lean into a slower, more mindful approach. To find whatever balance is needed at the time.

Collaging in the junk journal.

And reminding myself that there is no rush to finish, but to enjoy the process. Like the turning of the leaves, projects evolve and unfold at their own pace. 



Sunday, September 14, 2025

Stash busting on-the-go: a scrappy crochet wrap

One of my favorite things about crochet (and knitting) is how easily it travels. Whether I’m on the road in a hotel room, or catching a few quiet moments outdoors, this small project has quickly become my portable, go-to project—and it’s made entirely from the yarn stash. 

Crocheted modular leaf blocks.

Fulfilling my Make Nine “yarn” prompt

Since early this Spring, I had been searching for a stash-busting project to fulfill my Make Nine 2025 “yarn” prompt. I wanted to use up a stash of odd, abandoned balls of yarn that I collected from a swap shop. I’m combining them with an “impulse buy” that never found a home. It turns out that when putting these stash bin finds together… something beautiful is happening. 

The collection of abandoned balls of yarns.
An “impulse buy” from the sale bin at a yarn store.

The Taos pattern

I modified a crochet pattern [Taos by Cristina Mershon, found on Ravelry] to make the leaf-shaped modular blocks. I’m also having to adjust on-the-fly to compensate for the different yarn weights/thicknesses—sometimes holding two yarns together, or crocheting and extra row around the perimeter to get size.

The format of the modular blocks is perfect for portability. The pattern is easy to memorize, and each block becomes its own little surprise when choosing different yarns. I’m especially intrigued with how the variegated yarns play out in these blocks—the color shifts in the skein produce a new color combination every time.

The leaf-shaped centers of these units were created from the same ball of variegated yarn.
They all look different.

My units finish at about 2.75”. While I don’t know the exact finished format and size or the wrap yet, I’m leaning toward a rectangular shawl that I can toss on around my shoulders in cooler weather—something cozy and full of color. The Taos pattern is an L-shape wrap, so that’s an option, too. Either way, my wrap will be a wearable memory of abandoned bits. The yardage of the odd balls, along with the impulse buy, should yield an ample size.

Portable yarn project: tools and supplies in a zipper pouch.

My crochet hook, yarn needle, and yarn stash are packed in a small zipper pouch. For now, I’m just enjoying the crochet process, exploring color combinations, and making bunches of leaf units.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...