A Little Yarn On The Side

Be vewy, vewy quiet.....I'm hunting WIPs. I have, right at this moment, 21 knitting WIPs.  I got to count the new socks as a WIP for the Spring Flower Basket Dash, so I earned an azalea:   That motivated me to continue on with the lilac baby sweater, AND to dig out a scarf   that has been languishing since January for no good reason.  These could be finished WIPs 2 and 3, and I'm hoping that finishing 3 WIPs in a row might just allow me to catch that very illusive fever known as finishitis .  It's the most rare condition known to knitting world, but I know it exists--I was lucky enough to catch it once , and finished 14 WIPS in a row.  If I can manage to catch even a light case, it would be marvelous, and I'm starting to feel that little finishitis twinge ........... If I'm vewy, vewy careful, maybe I can catch a wabbit finishitis..........

I finished my Waterfall Rib socks, and without even trying, they are as close to identical as I have ever gotten with variegated yarn: I had actually given up on the whole idea as it never seemed to work, so of course the Knitting Gods decided I shouldn't get off that easily, so now I will be haunted by how very close these came.   Of course, my first impulse would be to grab another ball of yarn and see if I can repeat my success, but luckily that involves moving many bins of yarn and I have distracted myself by this:  The Spring Flower Dash has entries for 3 WIPs, and the socks count as 1, this baby sweater is close enough to be within striking distance for the second AND would count for "Lily" as well because the yarn color is "lilac," AND it's a gift so it would fill "Carnation" as well.  The fact that I have crept back up to 21 existing knitting WIPs may also be a factor in my new-found finishing determination..  Well, that and the fac...

Last night I cut out the interfacing pieces for the jacket, so I could start on it bright and early this morning, but not earlier than Theo.  Apparently he's rediscovered the joys of sewing, or at least the joys of interrupting sewing.  This is why it's best to craft multi-task.  Even when they're both with me,  the cats just can't be everywhere.  Even when it seems like they can..... I was able to distract them long enough to get three more icicle ornaments made: and a gold snowflake: I decided I didn't need to be a purist about appropriate color choices.  I get a LOT more open-minded when I'm really far behind. The socks got a bit of action today while I was embroidering, and Theo had the other machine occupied, and the jacket did finally end up with some progress before my back got tired, and since we had snow when we woke up this morning, I could actually get this finished in time to wear it this year.  Unless Theo has other...

It's supposed to be "Flash Your Stash" time on Ravelry, so meet the lace yarn.  You're right--it's probably not at all smaller than it was a few years ago.  Remember that self-pity purchase over my back in 2011?  Let's just say I seem to believe that lace yarn has magical healing powers.  Ahem.. This: is the yarn I'm either currently supposed to be using, think I will use soon, or just want easy access to.  Or we could also call it, "two containers of yarn I was just too lazy to sort."  That works as well. This is about the time that my back decided it wanted no part of lifting pounds and pounds of yarn around, so we're just going to see pictures of the three tubs under the stereo: and the bags of yarn that love to drop on anyone crazy enough to get close enough to the closet: and the less-threatening lower shelf: and these are the worsted weight (non-feltable) tubs and the fingering weight tubs: which is all ...

As you know, I am trying to buy nothing from my personal account for one year (which, incidentally, will be up at 12:01 AM on November 1, just in case you were wondering).  Today I almost blew it. I've mentioned the Great Decisions group I'm in, and every-other week we meet in a library very close to a fabric store.  For the sake of my credit card, I've been trying to avoid even being NEAR anything too tempting..bookstores, fabric stores, anything even remotely resembling a yarn store.  Really, home and the gym are sort of my world right now.  But, today I was really close to a fabric store, had a little extra time, and was trying to rationalize buying more white machine embroidery thread.  And believe me, as someone who has been both a professional fund-raiser and spent a long time in sales, I can be very persuasive at times.  It was so close, but luckily I decided to get myself some coffee before the meeting, and apparently I've been getting out far les...

It's spring, and time for another basket-dash on Ravelry..or in the blog world.  Really, it's just a way to make spring cleaning about yarn, but isn't everything really about yarn anyway, or is that just me?  Anyway, Between March 16 and May 31, find the cheeriest bag or basket you own and fill it with: Azalea – finish 1 WIP Poinsettia – complete one holiday decoration or gift EARLY Carnation – make one gift Daffodil – finish a second WIP Tulip – start and finish 1 project Jasmine - make a project you’ve wanted to make for at least one year Columbine – donate one item (yarn or otherwise) to charity Aster – finish a third WIP Crocus – try a new technique Rose – write someone a real letter or notecard Lavender – do something nice for yourself that DOESN’T involve buying yarn Lilacs – take a 30 minute walk somewhere you can smell flowers Poppy – contact someone you haven’t seen or talked to in at least 6 months Daisy – finish or frog one item Hyacinth - try something...

In the past few years, I've made quite a few lace scarves.  I kept a few, gave a few as gifts, but had started wondering what on earth I'd done with them: Turns out, they've been long-time residents of the Bin of Needs-Blocking Knitting.  Yes, you do see 6 scarves, 2 baby sweaters, and part of a baby hat.  That was the first project this morning.  I'd like to say that the bin is now empty, but then again, I'd like to be taller and I'd like potato chips to be good for me.  Let's just say that the bin is slightly less full now. What prompted such responsible (and, frankly, uncharacteristic) behavior this morning?   "Flash Your Stash" is coming on Ravelry.  This is when you take ALL your yarn out of the bins, photograph it, then share the pictures on Ravelry.  Personally, I think it's the knitting equivalent of a horror marathon.  Technically, a less-full bin of finished projects really has no impact on the size of the stash, but it wil...