A Little Yarn On The Side

Today this appeared at www.elann.com: http://www.elann.com/productdisp.asp?NAME=Elsebeth+Lavold+Silky+Cashmere&Cat=NEW&ProductType=5&Count=1 I love the sweater, the yarn sounds fabulous (though REALLY expensive), and I'm on a stupid self-imposed yarn diet! What moron thought this up?? Oh wait, that would be ME. A smarter person would stop checking visiting their website--I realize this, but then a smarter person probably wouldn't restrict themselves from buying yarn, nor would they buy more yarn than they can use. It's a vicious cycle when you give up on rational thought.

OK, this really wasn't "taking an easy shot just for the yardage." This really was a project I wanted to get done this year: It's a nice fleece throw for fall. And, if it makes it more of a project, between hemming it and doing the decorative edging, it took about 2 hours--some of which can be chalked up to user error, but even with the best sewing machine, decorative edging around an entire blanket takes a REALLY long time. The pink cardigan is done except for the edging, which is a mind-numbing 9-stitch strip of garter stitch which will be sewn onto the sweater: Thinking that I knew better than the designer, I did try knitting the border on, but she was right--that doesn't work. It only took me about 10 minutes to come to that conclusion, which is good for me. Usually it isn't until I'm halfway through the project that I discover that the instructions I decided were "stupid" really had a purpose and now I have to rip back because I am tota...

Yesterday it hit me--an entire year without buying more yarn or fabric! No www.elann.com, no Joann trips, no fabric.com....Not that I have any shortage of either one, but it is a lot of fun to go to the store & pick out new projects....In fact, far more fun than making them, which is the problem. But I am making progress! The January cardigan is down to just sewing on a sleeve and adding the border around the edges, and it will be done! Monotonous, oops, I mean monogamous, knitting really pays off! The count now stands at 13 balls of yarn down and 7 yards of fabric (I've been working a lot this week).

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...