I always like to start a 3-day weekend by accomplishing something--it sort of takes the pressure off the rest of the weekend. Not that holiday weekends should always be about GETTING THINGS DONE, but I always convince/delude myself into thinking "if I just had more free time, I'd get all this done..." which is not true, of course, but I'm a gullible human being. 
then he "helped" me embroider some towels,
then he helped me with the knitting bag for Jennifer, our first contestant to finish 10 WIPs in a row.
Of course, it could have been worse--I could have been trying to knit tonight.
I honestly forgot it would need to be wound. Obviously the shock of A.) being able to buy anything at all after the 90-day spending ban and B.) getting to buy yarn at ALL addled my brain entirely. Good thing it wasn't a 6-month spending ban. I'd be a talking monkey by now.
ended up back with Andy's sweater because that little ball of yarn on the side is almost used up and might even be able to be added to the tally tonight.
Entering the 9th month of The Year of the Stash, that little tally is the only thing keeping me going at this point--especially since there really is no visible dent in the stash. Maybe a dimple, but definitely no dent.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with 
it was the right color but the wrong yarn. It wasn't even a yarn that would "get by" as the recipient is bound to be machine washing the poncho and a feltable yarn would be a disaster. Discouraged, I went to bed and read of knitters who checked the labels before leaving the store.
Remnants!!!!!! I have kicked myself over and over for being silly enough to keep little tiny balls of leftover yarn and for once I have been truly, TRULY thankful for this obsession.
and I, flakiest of knitters, have finished 8 WIPs in a row!!!!!! And people say miracles never happen!!!
and two of them aren't even overdue yet.
and then spent some time drying ourselves and the counters off.
I have almost a full yard of the beaded trim done and I'm going to have to rip it all out if I can't find these #*(@*$%&@! beads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
was really close to using up a second ball of yarn & we all know what kind of a sucker I am for adding to the tally. Whoo hoo!!!!! 83 balls of yarn used so far this year! 
* The yarn to finish Fir Cone is en route, but only in Denver as of tonight. The Denver US Postal Facility is the only place I've ever had packages lost, and so many of them have gotten lost there that I think "Help Yourself" must be part of their employee retirement plan. I will sleep easier when the yarn is safely out of Colorado & the land of Lightfinger Louie.
It's been zipping along this evening, but I promise that I am not the slightest bit smug....nope, not me. Not ever.
but if you knew how much I didn't want to work on this, you'd understand that I need all the encouragement I can get. After all, tonight I have buckled down & worked on my second entry for Ravelympics--the poncho. We started out here:
An "L" of loopy knitting, then I sewed one bottom edge to the other panel's side to create a funnel shape,
then added the top border.
It's a bit long right now, but I think I just need to wash it as I stretched it a lot while working with it, and as it's acrylic it won't stay that way.
then promptly abandoned it for Fir Cone,
which also finished up a skein of yarn--bringing me to 79 balls and 12,662 yards used from the stash for the year. I would LOVE to keep going on Fir Cone--it's a scratchy wool & really hot and just the sort of thing I am generally dumb enough to fall in love with in August--but that ball of yarn was the last one I had, so until the new yarn arrives, it is on hold. The good news is that the 90-day spending ban is finally over, and I have already ordered the yarn. I decided for purposes of the Year of the Stash project, if I started a project in good faith and subsequently ran out of yarn, I could buy the yarn needed to finish the project provided I kept working on it. Because you know that by the 8th month I would have been converting cardigans into robes and socks into longies just to be able to buy yarn if there was a loophole. The loophole is, therefore, closed but the yarn has shipped and will be here soon!!!!!
for my first Ravelympics WIP
which is my 7th WIP in a row. Yay!!!
then rewarded myself with a little lace:
And the cheering section is waving me on!
but it's really close. I just finished the sleeve and just need to sew it on. That will be 1 for Team Stashdown and WIP number 7 in the WIP marathon. And if I get some of the seam done tonight, I've promised myself some quality time with those beads!
and it's making great progress. It could possibly be done this weekend, which would be WIP number 7 in my WIP marathon, and 1 completed for Ravelympics. YAY!
Then as a reward, I got to work on Fleur
This is the beaded band that will go all around the edges. I am still totally in love with beading,
but I've reached a bit of a snag:
I can't get more beads until the spending ban is over, so I might start showing a little more loyalty to the WIP Wrestling entries. I might only be capable of project monogamy under extreme circumstances, but when a gift is already 6 months late, I'll resort to pretty much anything.
who has officially declared the games open.
In the name of all the competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Ravelympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without Copyright infringement and with lots of yarn, in the true spirit of fiberworks, for the glory of finished product and the honor of our teams.Afghan Marathon
Amigurumi-n-Toys Toss
Baby Dressage
Bag-n-Tote Backstroke
Balance Beads
Cable Steeplechase
Colorwork Cross-Country
Cowl Jump
Designers Discus
Fantasy DecKnitathalon
Felted Freestyle
Free-For-All Freestyle
Fleece to Finished Fencing
Glove Decathlon
Gift Knits Pentathlon
Hand-Dyed Hurdles
Handspun Heptathalon
Hat Dash
Holiday Handball
Home-Stuff Hammerthrow
Itsy Bitsy Bikini Breaststroke
Laceweight Long Jump
Mitten Medley
Pets Pommel Horse
Scarf Stroke
Shawl Relay
Sock Put
Sweater Sprint
Synchronized Flirty Skirts
Vest Vault
WIPs Wrestling
2. A poncho for my sister's 40th birthday, which was actually in February. Ah well, we can't win them all.
3. The pink baby set, which is just so close to being done that I thought I might be able to squeak it in under the deadline.
I'm ready, I'm warmed up, and now the big question is, how tricky do I have to get with those needles before Wheaties calls me about their next box???
The pink is a bit paler than I would normally choose, but I wanted something that would go with almost anything so I'm ignoring the "Barbie-ish" quality. The beads are pinky-lavender and look quite fabulous. I had a couple options, but the darker purple beads, while looking quite fabulous in the container, looked like a bug infestation on the sweater, so I chose Barbie over Bugs. 
I like the beads, 
like the draping effect of the yarn (Skacel Merino lace),
am thrilled that it's finished,
and still dislike the shawl.
which now has me terribly excited about the whole project, and the right front was brought through the fussy stage and is making wonderful progress:
I am SUCH a sucker for beads!
until I got sidetracked by the beads, but at least if it gets put back in the WIP bin for now, at least it's farther along than it was. I have warned the existing WIPs of the serious case of frogging that struck the bin earlier this year, and thus far they are all behaving themselves and have not developed any irreversible errors or large snags. When one has over 20 WIPs, one has to be careful to keep them in check lest they gang up on the unsuspecting knitter and stage a wool rebellion!
which just needed a small seam, some buttons, and a couple snaps. Not terribly exciting, but it is the 6th WIP in a row finished. YAY!
It will look a bit better after being blocked, but how much depends on your perspective. I am a "symmetry" sort of person, so this takes top honors as my least favorite knitting project ever. But, it's done, and I get to add 1000 yards to my tally for the year. YAY!
I've had a little difficulty deciding what to work on next. After finishing 5 projects in a row, I would love to cast on something new, but I'm hoping to get to at least 10 WIPs in a row before I crack. So, I did a few rows on the Fir Cone Shawl
which can't be finished without buying more yarn, then on to Fleur
which I have a love/hate relationship with. It's a lovely cashmere blend yarn, but because of the shaping, it is really fussy knitting and yet boring stockinette stitch, so I lose interest pretty readily on this one, which drove me to
the Kimono shawl. It's quite far from being done or adding to the yarn tally, but I'm on a bit of a lace-kick right now, so it's enjoyable in spite of the fine cob-webby yarn.
