Hi there! Welcome to hollyrussellcrafts.com. Here you’ll find my musings on all sorts of crafts, with a primary focus on knitting.

I started knitting in 2009, and since then much of my free time has been spent making hats, scarves, sweaters, socks, and more. I grew to love the experience of visiting yarn shops wherever I went, feeling all the luxurious wools, feasting my eyes on the bright colors, and dreaming up beautiful projects. In December 2014, however, I realized I had a problem. I had bought so much yarn that my shelves were overflowing. It’s NICE yarn, too – not just cheap acrylic stuff, but glorious  Noro, Malabrigo, and Brooklyn Tweed. And still I kept buying more. That stuff is addictive! So I made a promise:  no more yarn buying until I use up all the wonderful supplies I already own.

This is where this blog comes in. To make sure I keep my promise, I’m tracking my progress knitting through my stash right here. My goal is to use up all my yarn by January 1, 2016. Is this crazy? Definitely. I estimate that it will take at least 25 projects to use it all up, and that might be a low estimate. That is a lot of knitting, people!

I am allowing myself a couple exceptions to the no-purchasing-yarn rule:

1. A lot of my friends are having babies, and there’s nothing cuter than little knit baby hats and sweaters and booties! I’ll purchase yarn for baby projects if I need specific colors due to the parents’ sports allegiances or other preferences.
2. Usually I just knit whatever suits my fancy, and that can mean a lot of hats for myself. If anyone I know makes a special request that I don’t already have yarn for, I’ll purchase some for this project.

In addition to knitting, I’ll occasionally post on other topics. (Spoiler alert, there will definitely be some sewing posts.) I plan to post about once a week, typically on Saturdays. I hope you enjoy the blog, and please feel free to leave comments.