It’s been three long months since I’ve posted but I’ve continued to knit every day. I tell my friends, I now knit full time. I’m fortunate to have a stash of yarn that will last for a long time and since all my favorite festivals have been cancelled, I’ve decided to work my way through my stash.

As I wrote back in March when the quarantine began, I really want to reduce the amount of dishcloth yarn that I’ve accumulated. It’s funny to look back at the beginning of this blog in 2008, My first post is about knitting dishcloths and reducing the size of my stash. I guess this is an on-going project. First, I separated my cotton yarn into 2 groups. Ones that I would use and ones that I would give away. My new friend, Stacy operates Soap Sacks, a project that donates soap and these lovely knit or crocheted sacks to food pantries all over the country. Check out the website HERE.

I continue to knit my Dishcloth Dresses and here’s a new one that I designed. This is called Women Rule. You can find the pattern HERE

Be sure to check it out and if you haven’t already done so, sign up for my newsletter and you’ll receive a free copy of my Friends and Family Dishcloth Dress.

My Summer project, inspired by Soap Sacks is to knit dishcloths, pair them with dish washing detergent and donate them to local food pantries. As cleaning products are usually last on the list of things that people with limited resources can purchase, I thought it would be a nice addition to the food they receive at the pantries. I discovered this delightful pattern on Ravelry called Sinkmates. They knit up quickly as they are a mitered square with an i-cord edge.

I folded them and attached them to the bottles with a little note.

I donated my first batch this week and was greeted with such enthusiasm that I came home and started to knit one a day. This is really putting my stash to good use.

The Stay at Home order is lifted but I’ve discovered that the extra time at home is really enjoyable. I’m knitting lots of hats and finishing some of my many projects. How about you? What have you learned during the quarantine?