A Little Yarn On The Side

I finished the green dress last night, so I have now OFFICIALLY used up 7 yards of stash fabric and 12 balls of stash yarn. Even if I stopped now, that is the most progress I've ever made on stash reduction in any given year.....

Sometimes it's possible to love the yarn, be enjoying the knitting, love the feel of the knitted object, and...... dislike the results. This is my Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi shawl. I am using a yarn that I have hoarded for several years because I love the colors so much that I didn't want it to be gone from my stash. I am making the pattern up as I go and loving the experience & how it is looking as a pattern, but now that the shawl is getting big enough to see the result.... Tie dye lace????????? This was going to be a surprise 40th birthday gift, but I have a thing about not giving gifts that I don't particularly like (so no one should be holding their breath for the MS3 stole as a birthday gift--even if I ever finish the beaded-knitting-abyss), so I finally sent pictures of the shawl in progress as well as some other options to choose from. Admittedly, I might not be "thinking outside the box" enough on this one, but for what occasion would this shawl be eve...

Well, monogamy lasted 10 days. That's something. I think it's all a matter of perspective--I joined the Victorian Lace Today Yahoo group several months ago, and had yet to start one of the shawls, so in one sense I'm just getting caught up and NOT being fickle and being too much of a child to commit to one project for more than 10 measly days. Side note: I have not gone colorblind--the green stripe will be removed when I put the border on. The January cardigan is progressing--the back, both fronts, and part of one sleeve are done. And the Pi shawl greatly enjoyed the trip to Disneyland and may actually be finished by its February target date. If so, that would probably be a knitting first for me.

The back for the pink cardigan is almost done, the fronts are on the final decrease, I'm over halfway there on the knitting....and I'm getting bored. I don't think it's just a stockinette stitch problem, although that has never been known for its excitement factor. I generally flit between 4-5 (10-11) knitting projects at a time, and this one-project-at-a-time idea is getting to me. I was hoping to finish one knitting project a month, and in order to do that, "flitting" won't work. I may have to start promising myself a little lace fling after every 20 rows.... Fidelity is easier when sewing--the projects take less time, it's almost easier to finish than to pack up the project & put it away, and my wardrobe needs the help. In addition to the finished pajamas, I just have the finishing hand sewing to do on this: It's my first adventure with microsuede, which is sad since there are at least 25 yards of the stuff in the closet, and it was a l...

This is where we started 6 days ago: There's actually even more to the stash, but I think you get the idea without me embarrassing myself too much. While even at my most optimistic/delusional, I can't pretend that I'll get through the stash in a year, but I am hoping to make a serious dent in it by the end of the year. Check up: Today is Day 6 and I am just finishing a set of flannel-backed satin pajamas for my husband (for some reason he's really keen on this set having both tops AND bottoms--perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I keep the heat so low during the night that I keep expecting to find frost inside the house one morning) which used up 4 yards of the stash, and I have used just over 5 skeins of yarn in the pink cardigan: I'm using this yarn which is soft & fun to work with, but so far every single skein has had a poorly-done splice in it, which I keep having to cut out & redo, so I wouldn't recommend this one or ever use it aga...

I realize it's a little bit early to start gloating, but I am still holding firm on the Year of the Stash project. I have made a list of projects to finish this year, and I think as long as I keep it in front of me, I will be less tempted by the idea of shopping for new projects. Let's hope! I have noticed a disturbing trend to visit other people's blogs to see what they are buying, but at least shopping vicariously takes up no space and costs nothing. Seeing the wonderful yarns that other people are buying that I can't have....well, we'll be looking for a little maturity this year as well.....

January 1 - it begins. This year I am buying no new yarn or fabric. That's right, for 2008 Joann's, Elann.com, and Knitpicks.com will have to find alternative funding sources--I am only making projects from my existing stash. As my first day dawned, I had to decide--is this about decreasing the overall volume of the stash, saving money, or getting long-planned projects finished? While all are fabulous motives, what do I really want to accomplish? As I sit surrounded by shelves & tubs full of fiber, I had to admit--my number one priority is to decrease the size of the stash. This means that while I love lace knitting & will certainly do a lace project or two, the bulkier yarn & fabrics will be taking a higher priority. While I adore lace yarn, it's easier to store than, say, the bulky-weight mohair blend that reminds me a bit of an unshorn poodle. Fleece fabric will take priority over chiffon. It's a space issue--the stash has grown large enough that we...