Slow Fashion October: My (Small) Approach to Stash

Three different versions of the
Gradient Flower Cowl, all
hanging in a row ...

Hello everyone - happy October. In case you haven't seen anything on social media with the #slowfashionoctober hashtag, all this month Fringe Association is celebrating all facets of DIY clothing and fashion with weekly prompts. I've already started to post some photos to my Pinterest account relating to the topic, so I thought it was about time I did a little blogging about it.

It also coincides with the end of my hosting duties in the Gradient Flower Cowl CAL on Ravelry. I want to thank Crochet! Magazine for hosting the CAL, to Lion Brand for their lovely Amazing Yarn, as well as to the many, many lurkers in the CAL thread (and you know who you are!). I managed to complete three different cowls for myself (yes, mine all mine) using nothing but scraps from stash. This designing with yarn scraps in mind is something that I've been contemplating for over a year. It has been such a treat to not only see some of the outward fruits of this contemplation, but to experience the joy of stalking my own stash and putting together different color combinations. It brings me no small amount of pleasure to know that I am de-stashing in such a mindful (and rather stylish and colorful, if I do say so myself) manner. I've already got ideas on how I will be incorporating these cowls into my everyday wardrobe, and hopefully you'll get to see those ideas here on the blog throughout October.

In the meantime, I'm currently showing off the version in which I used a bucket load of fingering weight yarn (and a few lace weight ends held double). Quite frankly, this version is autumn encapsulated - and my neighborhood trees kindly reinforced the seasonal mood. I've got it paired up with a suede jacket, and I love the texture play. I fully expect I'll get a lot of mileage from this cowl, and I couldn't be happier.

Yeah slow fashion!