A Little Yarn On The Side

So far I've made it 6 months without buying any fabric, and only purchasing 3 balls of Kidsilk Haze Night so that I wouldn't be stranded forever in the Land of the Swoopies ( shudder ). Do you have any idea how much money I've saved this year??? Actually, I don't either because I try hard not to think about how much I spend on yarn & material, but I suspect the truth would leave my credit card reeling and myself a little nauseous. I assure you that I am not responsible for the collapsing American economy, but if Elann is struggling a little this year.... that I might have something to do with. 6 more months to go!!!

Today marks the halfway point in the Year of the Stash and with the help of a hat that has been riding around in my car for a couple months, I have reached 60 balls and 8745 yards of yarn used from the stash!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Sometimes having an insanely large pile of WIPs can really come in handy! A few more balls and I'll have used up the amount of yarn I bought to get ready for The Year of the Stash. After that, I really, really, really, REALLY will be reducing the size of the stash. So, at this rate I could have used up about 65 yards of fabric and 17,000 yards/120 balls of yarn by the end of the year. That is a definitely a cause for celebration, so.... WHITE CHOCOLATE MARTINI TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is the end of June and the halfway point of The Year of the Stash (nevermind that I've decided it might be a 2-year endeavor--I try not to think about that). To be able to say I've used up 59 balls by June 30 drove me to this: See where we're at? Only one more swoopy, then the side and back edging. This also marks the end of the first additional ball of yarn I bought for this shawl, making me extremely glad I didn't just buy one. That I bought three was perhaps a little overkill, but put "discontinued" with "mind-numbing never-ending rows of edging" and it's amazing I didn't orchestrate a hostile takeover of Rowan to get their remaining stock of Kidsilk Haze Night. Once I used up the 59th ball of yarn, I shoved the mohair episode into a bag and spent a little quality time at the sewing machine. I finished Andy's flannel pajama top today, which is extremely fortunate as it was a nippy 104 degrees today. The house is so warm t...

Through tenacity, dedication, and bribery, I have finished 9 1/2 swoopies: 2 1/2 swoopies left. This was on my list as the knitting project to finish for June, but that would be a lot of swoopies in 2 days. I'm just not sure even a box full of merino would be sufficient bribery for that sort of torture.... Hibiscus for Hope progressed all the way to the short-row heel, which looks fabulous until Unstretched, it's about an inch too long for my insanely-pale foot. Some frogging will be occurring this evening. Luckily, it's so far off that I think I can eliminate an entire pattern repeat, which would mean the least amount of frogging and pattern editing. Or I can find a woman with feet 2 inches longer than mine.....

Things you can blame on Ramon a: * The Lady's Circular Cape being totally ignored this week * My total lack of blogging because I'm completely enamored with her pattern I am test knitting * That everyone is going to be getting socks instead of the lace scarves I had intended * That I now REALLY want to buy one of Cat Bordhi's sock books--which I can't have because we're still in the middle of the 90 day spending ban * I am going to stay up WAY too late tonight knitting, making the 5:00 AM wake up call for the gym an even more hideous experience than usual. To be honest, I think I had become a little bit bored by socks and have only made the last few pairs because they were mindless and portable. I haven't purchased any sock yarn in probably a YEAR, so my sock yarn stash has dwindled to yarn for 11 pairs of socks (from a high of 23), making it quite possibly the most "reasonable" part of my stash. I have been using the same toe-up pattern because I do...

Ramona has asked me to test knit a pattern she has written as a way to help raise money for a good friend. I'd like to think I would have agreed to help with such a great cause even if it didn't give me a whopping good excuse to avoid the swoopies for a few days, but let's just say that it might have helped her cause a bit . In Knitting Land (unlike the Real World), good deeds are generally rewarded. Not only do I get to help someone who is helping a friend, getting a pair of great socks, getting away from the swoopies, I learned a fabulous new cast on for toe-up socks. Look at this: OK, it might be really hard to see this, but you can't see the cast on AT ALL. I generally only make toe-up socks, but the pattern I have been using leaves a really rough line across the toe. I love this cast on! There is a video of it here , though I will admit that I cannot make it through the entire video. I am not really a "cutesy" person, so when Cat pretends that the...

I still haven't found where I stashed the in-progress top to Andy's Christmas pjs that I tucked away in November because I ran out of material. I think I might be able to piece together sleeves--after all, it isn't like he's going out in public in the things--but I don't know where I hid it! Normally, I am the one who has the really good memory and the organizational skills, so this is doubly embarrassing. I have even cleaned the sewing room! (By cleaned I don't mean to imply that you can actually see much of the floor yet, but it is better .) Who gives someone half a pair of pajamas????? There are only 2 places I would have hidden something from Andy--my clothes closet or the sewing room. The former he wouldn't really ever have a reason to be in and the latter he'd be too afraid to. So that narrows down the options considerably and yet, here we are 7 months later still without a pajama top. If I can ever figure out what it is, that is a darn goo...