Using up the scraps

can require thought or a little ingenuity or something... I am not sure what.

"Cat, is there any timber left if your father's shed?" someone asked me yesterday.

"Yes, do you need a bit?" I asked in reply.

"Mmm....yes - about this big." 

"Come and have a look."

I know that this man has a shed full of timber. He spends most of his waking hours working in his shed. I also know exactly what his problem was...he didn't have the "right" bit. 

I unlocked the shed. He looked in and nodded resignedly. I could see him thinking that here was someone else who had collected more timber than he could use. 

I showed him where to find the small pieces of timber and left him to it.  A little later he came out with a piece of "pinus radiata". 

"Just right! Thank you." 

That type of pine is cheap timber - as timber goes. Brother Cat has gone off with the Huon Pine, the Tasmanian Blackwood, the Silky Oak and other wonderful timber. He is in his "shed" making things for other people just the way the Senior Cat did.

My mother used to make up what she called "gardening jumpers" or sweaters or pullovers for the male members of the family. These were striped affairs made out of left over yarn. They were made so no wool got wasted. They were intended for "just around home" but the Senior Cat and my nephews wore theirs to the hardware shop as well.  I re-knitted the cuffs on these. I patched the elbows and other places. The Senior Cat only ceased to wear his when he went into the residence he now lives in. My nephews passed theirs on when they grew out of them. They were worn until they could no longer be patched.

I have made more than one garment out of scraps of yarn. Given time and the capacity I will make more. It's a challenge to design something like that. Where my mother simply knitted mismatched stripes I like to experiment in other ways. 

But, there is always the problem of not having the "right" yarn for the work in hand or the desired project. That means going out and getting yet another lot of yarn. There are more scraps and those scraps have to be used. It's never ending. The only comfort is that other craftspeople understand the words "stash advancement beyond life expectancy".