A Little Yarn On The Side

Meet the first stashdash finished objects: That's 691 yards used up from stash on these two, which doesn't count the yarn used for Andy's sweater, which now has two sleeves and is waiting until I exchange the zipper (not scary) and cut the remaining steek (pretty much scary) and figure out how to attach a zipper to knitting (definitely scary).  Which is why the socks got all the attention this weekend. Speaking of scary projects, the spring jacket is moving along.  I've gotten used to the fabric sliding around, and I figured out a way to mark the buttonholes without marking on the fabric, though my bright idea to hold the tear-away stabilizer in place using quilting basting spray didn't work.  I bought the home decorating fabric I'm using on clearance, and I'm only now sort of positive that it was normal home deco fabric and not something meant for outdoor use, as the material has very obviously been treated with something.  I'm hoping that it means...

When the iron starts spitting brown water onto your fabric, it might be time to clean it. Thankfully it happened before I got out the dry-clean-only stuff.......

...but we survived the steeking.  To be fair, so far I have only cut the armholes because I thought it would make more sense to figure out the zipper length before steeking.  Obviously my first guess  was a bit wrong.  The 26-inch zipper it is. There will be a collar, but not a 3-inch one.  One of the great things about making up a sweater is the ability to alter on the fly as needed.  Of course, one of the great drawbacks is the need to do so.  In spite of daily fantasies about other yarns, I am holding firm on my Stashdash challenge, and when I was in dire need of purse knitting for a day of running errands on Monday, I started a new scarf from one of my stashdash basket yarns.  I'd purchased this stuff years ago from Elann.com specifically to make scarves, and it's only taken me about 6 or 7 years to get around to doing so.  I think in the knitting world that might be sort of speedy.  There are (were) 3 balls of this stuff in...

Andy's sweater has a body! Andy's sweater almost has a sleeve! Andy's sweater needs to be steeked! This blog will return to its normally scheduled posts when its owner stops hyperventilating.

Knitting through one's entire knitting stash is a bit daunting if one has a large stash, but what if one had a small, manageable stash?  Or, in my case, lots and lots of small, manageable stashes? To sort of re-motivate myself and my Cold Sheepers, I have challenged them to a second quarter "Stash-Dash."  The idea is to fill a box, basket, or bin with the amount of yarn one feels one could reasonably knit by July 1, and knit it all up by July 1. Yesterday I put together this: which, aside from the skeins already in progress (which will be about 1250 yards of yarn when finished), the basket contains 3226 yards of yarn to be used up by July 1.  It's not as much as I need to be on target for 25,000 yards this year, but it's more than I'm currently averaging, so it is still a challenge.  And if I'm successful, all of this will be out of the knitting stash! And thanks to some dedicated knitting today, the body of Andy's sweater is done,  I've ...

So, I'm only half participating because as my back allows, I'm catching up on all the things I didn't get done over the past week, but when my back does NOT allow, my projects for the knitting retreat are: Andy's birthday sweater.  The one for 2010.  As he is about to finish my birthday gift for 2010, I thought it only fair. and I even have the sense to NOT try knitting him anything for this year's birthday.  I'll also hopefully get the baby sweater sewn together: but the latest chemo cap was finished last night, so it doesn't really count for the retreat.   Yesterday I also finished my monthly thread on the cross stitch  so I think I'm closing in on the 10-year plan for the thing.  The shawl has also received some attention this week and is actually moving slightly faster as I'm working on one of the "arms" so have fewer stitches to contend with.  Of course, I'd be much farther along if it hadn't been for this A new project...

I think it will come as no great surprise to anyone who has ever visited this blog in the past that I can think up projects faster than I can complete them.  (Hello...146,160 yards of yarn in the stash as of this morning). Not that I don't complete projects--I do--but my "projects to make" list can get a bit daunting, and I keep inventing ways to keep myself slightly balanced.  Well, balanced for me.  The 3 1/2 years of Cold Sheeping has helped, and I have high hopes for this year's fabric ban.  Last year's 100 project challenge also helped, and hopefully this years 111 project challenge will also help carve down the number.  My biggest ace in the hole, however, might be my personal allowance. When we got married, knowing that money was the number one source of marital fights, we set up personal accounts for each of us, and we each get a personal allowance every month.  This money we can spend without any input from the other.  We both have hobbies t...