A Little Yarn On The Side

As I embark on the second year of knitting (and sewing) only from stash--and take others with me this time--I thought it appropriate to reflect on what (if anything) I learned last year: 1. I do not need to buy all clearance yarn. Sharing with other knitters makes me a better person. And saves me money. And might grow their stashes to be as big as mine. 2. No matter how large it is, a yarn stash really doesn't keep the house warmer 3. When buying fabric for the first time in almost a year, it would have been wiser to not attend a fabric sale unsupervised. 4. If it's been in the stash long enough, it can be hard to use up a really nice yarn. You have a history together--often longer than most marriages. 5. Once you stop being a buy-as-you-need-it knitter, there's no going back. 6. Freud was wrong. I have never met a woman who suffers from penis envy, but a lot of us do experience stash envy 7. Knitting up bulky weight yarn frees up a lot more space than lace yarn....

At 1:00 tomorrow--or earlier if Theo can manage it--the cast comes off for good!!!!! The last one has finally defeated Theo, though if you notice how long his leg looks he has managed to slide it down his leg about an inch and a half now. The horrible pink cherry-flavored antibiotics ended this morning, which is just as well as the bandaids ran out today too: We thought we were through a few days ago as the original prescription said to give the blasted things for 10 days. Last week I had to get a refill because of all the medication that had been splattered on the walls, carpet, clothing, sheets, and floor, and when I double-checked that bottle it said to give it for 14 days. When I called the clinic, they couldn't reach the vet so they said to go ahead with the 14 days. Easy for them to say. Theo has been a great sport about all of this, but he finally really started to struggle against this one. I don't blame him. The doses were more than three times anything I'd g...

The best way to make crazy things seem normal is to get people to do them with me.  (Just ask Andy about the month-of-not-buying-anything-new project) As I embark on Year of the Stash Part 2, I have started a thread on Ravelry's Stashdown group for people who also want to go "cold sheep" on yarn purchases this year. I have tried yarn budgets, I have tried buying yarn in moderation, but I can't do it. For me, it's all or nothing, so for the second year in a row, it's "cold sheep" for me! And this time, I'm taking people with me! I know a lot of knitters have huge stashes and enjoy them, revel in them, draw inspiration from them. I have a huge stash and I'm slightly afraid of it. What if it smothers a cat? Is it a fire hazard? What if it attracts a colony of moths? What if I can't knit it all during my lifetime? How long until it needs its own living space? For me, knitting from stash only accomplishes two things: 1. sav...

For 10 months, I sewed only from stash--which meant sewing a lot less even though the fabric stash is frightening--and knitted only from stash all year--which meant knitting more. Odd how that one worked out. I bought 7 balls of yarn to finish projects, so I had a net stash reduction of 111 balls. That would be even more impressive if I hadn't purchased 75 balls last December in preparation for the Year of the Stash. Still, that is still a net decrease of 36 balls and ALL progress in that direction is good. I seriously suspect that I have about a 10-year supply of yarn in my stash, so doing a second year of knitting from only stash (now that my window of purchasing is over and once I order that darn licorice yarn when it's in stock again) might finally make a visible dent in the stash. Could I eliminate one of the rubber tubs? Maybe two?????? It's January--hope springs eternal!!! Especially where merino is concerned......

So, yesterday I went to my "Project of the Month" pile and pulled out Knitpick's Alpaca Cloud and beads for Ice Queen . I know the pattern calls for mohair, but I think this will be fine. So... I cast on with my waste yarn and have done 3 rows. The idea, of course, is to finish it during January. The problem is This is a blanket I started for a niece's birthday in March. The first part of March. So, I have 8 weeks to finish it, and February 1 will mean Project of the Month #2. Have you ever wondered just how important sleep is to the human body? Rather than finding a substitute for the out-of-stock Licorice yarn, I have decided to wait until it is available and order it then. Of course, that is all I can order as yesterday was my "window." I would feel a bit odd about setting such strict rules about buying yarn if I hadn't tallied my yarn up on Ravelry and found that I could knit from my stash for 10 years. Yikes! But, if global warming does b...

So, I had a clear plan of attack--I needed yarn for a sweater for Andy, a shawl for my mother, a blanket for my niece, and one project for me as a reward for all the kitty convalescence. Still, it was going to add up to only 21 new skeins of yarn (4 being really big skeins, but that's another matter) which would still mean I had LESS stash. For myself, I finally opted for the Kauni cardigan and tracked the yarn down at WEBS . The yarn is on backorder, but that is fine by me. Just knowing that yarn will be on its way to me someday is enough. For Andy, he had picked out Elann's Highland Donegal Tweed in "licorice" and it has been in my online cart for weeks! Months! This morning I was doing a bit of casual browsing before hitting enter, and someone else bought my yarn!!! Sure, there's 50+ balls available of every other color on the planet, but only 8 of licorice, and I need 13. ARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!! Still dazed from that epsiode, I wandered over to Knitpicks to...

Even someone who is able to delude herself regularly regarding knitting could not pretend that there was any way to increase the "yarn used" total by midnight tonight, so..... I started working on Christmas presents for 2009 . Yes, with this totally uncharacteristic burst of planning ahead it does make one wonder if I have been possessed by aliens or something, but as they are obviously highly organized and productive aliens, so I am leaving well enough alone. I found this fleece yesterday and thought it would make delightful fleece throws--especially with a decorative stitch hem and embroidered names--so I bought enough for 6 blankets. I finished one tonight: and got to add one and two-thirds yard to my fabric tally. Do you know, that was more exciting to me than the prospect of going out for New Year's Eve--who needs crowds and noise when one has fiber? I also found some flannel for new pajamas for Andy and myself In reality, I'm sure I have purchased more fabric...