The project plan for this item was based on a need: I had a beloved dark brown thrift shop hoodie that I basically live in in the winter months but that had become too worn and shrunken and pilly to be presentable any longer, and decided to knit a replacement.
I searched Ravelry for a good hoodie pattern in a DK weight, and found the Celtic Icon pattern, designed by Fiona Ellis. I bought 750 grams of a dark brown Merino Extrafine 120 to make it with.
This was a seriously time intensive project, but it was worth it, and it's so much nicer than my old ratty hoodie that I no longer regret its passing. When I had finished pressing the seams and had taken a few photos of the finished hoodie, I put it right on and wore it for the rest of the day. I'm wearing it as I write this. I'll be wearing it for much of the winter and for winters to come until it wears out. Man, is it ever satisfying to make a project that beautifully fills an actual need.
And there was an unexpected stash busting, money-saving bonus. After I'd begun knitting the hoodie, I came across 100 grams of a virtually identical yarn, a dark brown Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, in my stash while I was looking for something else. I ended up using that stash yarn to make one front piece, one side panel, and to sew the sweater together, which meant I could return two unused skeins of the Merino Extrafine 120. Can you see the difference between the two yarns? I can't. It's really astounding that two yarns from two different brands, with two different fibre contents, and purchased a decade apart, are so similar. They even had exactly the same amount of twist.
I had nothing but a few scraps of yarn left when I finished, so this project, which was supposed to be made out of entirely new yarn, subtracted 100 grams of yarn from my stash.
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