A Little Yarn On The Side

Tonight I've finally had some time to knit, so with Theo holding my place in the pattern book, I have almost reached the halfway point on the Fir Cone edging. Theo has been quite miffed since Calisto was featured on the blog and he wasn't, so this is actually the first time he has joined me in the sewing room in about a week. I think the publicity has gone to his head.

I have just 3 months left in The Year of the Stash, but I've already decided it will have to be a 2-year project. I do want to allow myself to buy something in January, but every time I sit down to make a list, I come up with about 50 balls of yarn. Now, so far this year I have used up 90 balls of yarn--OF WHICH, 5 were not actually in the stash at the beginning of the year but had to be purchased for finishing specific projects. So let's say I have used up 85 balls of yarn from the stash. In December, knowing I was going to do a year without buying yarn but woefully optimistic about how fast I actually knit, I ordered 75 balls of yarn (that was a really fun box to get, let me assure you). So, I added 75 balls and have used up 85. IT HAS TAKEN ME 9 MONTHS TO REDUCE MY STASH BY 10 MEASLY BALLS OF YARN!!!!!! I could just plunge into 2009 without any "reward" yarn, but could I really last 2 whole years without buying any new yarn? And I do want to make another swea...

The first WIP Contest bag is finished and ready to be mailed tomorrow: Janet has also reached 10, and her bag is cut out but not yet embroidered. Still, I'm progressing! The Fir Cone shawl got most of the attention this weekend, and I have turned the first corner: I don't know if it's the slightly heavier yarn--or just the fact that there is so much less edging than there was on the Lady's Circular Cape--but this one is just flying along. Or it could simply be--child that I am--that it is not the project I am supposed to be working on, which of course makes it ten times more interesting than it would otherwise be. I am on to this immature streak in my character, and have designated vacuuming as quite off limits in hopes of inspiring myself. It's been 5 days so far, and as of yet I haven't felt even the slightest desire to clean, but I'm still hopeful...

I have wool, an audio book, and we had pizza. Does it get any better? I've almost done one full side of the Fir Cone Shawl's edging: It's actually square with 4 straight sides--not curved--but it's really hard to photograph without taking it off the needles, and I think that's just tempting the knitting fates unnecessarily. Could WIP number 9 actually be finished in just a few days???

I HAVE NO STOPLIGHT KNITTING!!!!! ARRRGGGGHHHH! I always keep knitting in my car to work on at stoplights or in traffic jams. It keeps my little Type-A self calm and free from the desire to kill other drivers for their collective stupidity. And I don't have any. To be stop light knitting, a project has to be a very simple pattern that is easy to recognize at a glance. And my current projects involve a lace chart and a cable needle--not simple knitting, This is a knitting emergency! I'm going to have to plow through the WIP bin this weekend or take some time off from work. I don't think my stress level can take this! And, for Danielle , this is Calisto. She's our moth hunter, which would warm this knitter's heart if she didn't actually catch them outside then bring them in and turn them loose. Not that moths aren't better than Theo's vermin gifts, but my stash gets very, very nervous.

OK, Andy's Christmas sweater is about 40% done, and I really, really have been mostly faithful, but the Fir Cone Shawl has lately been my Stop Light Knitting--since I can't cast on a sock or anything that would be more sensible--and tonight it just needed two more rows before I could start the edging, so.... I admit that after the mohair-knitting-abyss that was the edging for the Lady's Circular Cape, I was a bit hesitant about doing ANYTHING that involved edging, but the number of rows needed for the edging around the entire Fir Cone Shawl is about 60% of just the rows of edging needed for the bottom of the Lady's Circular Cape. That I think I can get through. At any rate, it feels like something new to work on, and that little green stripe of yarn was actually CAST ON, so maybe I can pretend like it's a new project entirely....? Or maybe rows & rows of edging will drive me--screaming and tearing my hair out--back to that black sweater..... P.S. To answe...

I have just used up the 6th ball of yarn (out of 14) on Andy's sweater, so I think I'm about 40% done--or in a lot of trouble as I only have 14 balls of yarn. I'm still loving the pattern, and it's nice to be working with 100-meter skeins instead of 200-400, but the monotony monogamy is getting to me. There's a really luscious teal alpaca over in the closet that is SERIOUSLY trying to waylay my WIP marathon, but I close my eyes and knit on. Which probably explains the frogging I had to do tonight. Note to self: You are only talented enough to do stockinette or garter stitch with your eyes closed.