I originally conceived of this cute red, white and blue bunting as a way to make the house a little more festive for upcoming events like the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee. But it would also be great for patriotic holidays in any country that uses red, white and blue, from the Fourth of July to Bastille Day and beyond.

This patriotic bunting could be used for all sorts of celebrations in all sorts of countries. © Sarah E. White.

This would be such a cute decoration for your backyard barbecue (it is almost Memorial Day weekend after all, and you can start this now and have it done in plenty of time) or you can use it inside like I have.

If you don't live in a country that's all about red, white and blue, make this the colors of your nation's flag to cheer athletes on at the Games or to decorate for your national holidays. Or just make one in whatever colors you like to make a room more festive for a party, or a Thursday.

Once you knit one of these really simple buntings, you'll want to come up with more excuses to make them. This would be a most excellent stash-busting project, too, just work a triangle in every color of oddball you have and put them all together for a riotous decoration for your next riotous celebration!

How would you use a knit bunting? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Between the upcoming Summer Olympics (check that link out for a live blog of the torch moving across the country!) and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, all eyes are on London these days. And while crochet has been in the new related to the Olympics thanks to those awesome crocheted lions, knitting has so far played less of a role (though there was the great mystery of the Saltburn yarnbombing). But there are lots of knitters in London -- and all of England, of course -- and lots of knitters who love London for various reasons.

Stitch London by Lauren O'Farrell. David and Charles.

So it makes sense that these coming occasions might lead some knitters to want to stitch up some London-inspired knitting, and Lauren O'Farrell's book Stitch London allows knitters around the world to do just that. Here you'll find patterns for little versions of Big Ben and the queen, of course, but also some more commonly overlooked denizens of the city like pigeons, mice and foxes (!).

There are also patterns for making the most of city life, such as a plarn picnic blanket and decorations for your umbrella, since, after all, it rains on about half of all days, O'Farrell says.

Whether you're celebrating on of England's big occasions or just want to knit a little something funky for your office desk, this book is a lot of fun and is sure to inspire you to knit your world in a small scale.

I love that one of the reasons Gail Callahan gives for becoming a dyer in her wonderful book Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece is that it's a way for us to fix regrettable yarn purchases. I actually thought about that unfortunate lime green yarn I was talking about yesterday as I was reading this book, though I think it's cotton and this book focuses only on protein fibers (meaning wool, silk and the like).

Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan. Storey Publishing.

This book does a great job of making it seem like anyone can dye their own yarn, and it starts with super-tiny baby steps (food coloring on paper!) to get you comfortable playing with color.

I may not need that one, but I do love the yarn "color wheel" made with different concentrations of regular old food coloring. There are several projects you can complete with food coloring and equipment you already have in your house, but once you get the point of using the acid dyes that are used for most of the projects in the book, you'll need to invest in some supplies. Callahan tells you exactly what you need and where you can get it cheap (hello, garage sales!).

Not only does this book give you lessons in just about every technique you can think of for dyeing yarn or fleece (including tie-dyeing and injecting dye into the center of a yarn ball), it also has knitting patterns you can use to try out your newly dyed goodies.

Of course this book is about much more than that, but because we're talking stash this week I want to know if any of you have overdyed a purchased yarn to make it more usable? How did it turn out?

As knitters we naturally think of knitting as the main way to use our yarn stash, but there are plenty of other options.

Pompons are a great way to use up a lot of yarn, fast, without knitting. © Sarah E. White.

If you're serious about paring down your stash by actually using it, you might want to consider taking up crochet or weaving (admittedly a dangerous proposition that could lead to more yarn purchases!) or make a yarn craft or two.

I've been sorely tempted to make my stash of remnant yarn balls into a bunch of pompons to make a garland or just for the girl to play with.

Do you have non-knitting ways to use up yarn? I'd love to hear about them!