Does this count?

I am mailing this pile of yarn to Susan at the Appalachian Institute. This is a camp that encourages kids to explore the arts. I found Susan on the Elann chat center and sent her an email asking if she still needed yarn. She sent me a very nice e mail back saying she could use any yarn or needles I might have. If you want to e mail her you can contact her at byebluemonday@hotmail.com.

I weighed the box I put the yarn in and my scale said 8 lbs. I am not sure if that is accurate but I will find out when I take it to the post office in the morning. The yarn is a mixture of fibers, from acrylic to wool to cotton and some blends. Some is yarn I bought myself and then changed my mind about a project and some of it has been gifted to me from one source or another.

I also was able to get rid of some more of my stash while I was looking for yarn for Susan. My daughter has started knitting, and confiscated several skeins of yarn for future projects. I know that might not really count because the same amount of yarn is in the house but now it is not my yarn, it is hers

In the true spirit of the Summer of Stash, I have been making tessallating fish for a blanket for my cat. Here is a shot of the blanket and one with my cat checking it out. He looks annoyed because he felt it was time to eat, not time to pose for a picture :-)



I am using some Knitpicks Wool of the Andes that was gifted to me. I will probably make it twice as big as it is now. The fish are nice mindless knitting and take about 1/2 hour per fish.

Ta-da!

A finished object. My first pair of adult socks. And almost 200 yards less in the stash (which I still have never totalled). Wanna see? I'm so proud of them that I've worn them twice this week already. They make my feet happy.
Hubby said, "Neat socks. Where'd you buy them?" and almost got bitten, even though I knew he was kidding.

Adding up the yardage

This morning I decide to add up all the yardage of my yarn stash. I guess I would have to look back to the beginnings of this KAL to compare with other people's yarn stashes. But here are my numbers:
6689 yds of sock yarn - enough for 15 pairs
5934 yds of other yarn - scarves, hats, sweaters, etc
For a grand total of 12'623 yds... Or a grand total of 7 miles.
Is that a lot? Is that a big stash? Or a small stash? Knowing that I started knitting last November?
FYI, I am currently working on 3 projects. That's about 1129 yds of the stash.

The Stashbuster Gets Lucky!

Look here and see what I got:



My Sundara Petals Collection Yarn and my Lorna's Laces from Grumperina!

I received the Sundara yarn yesterday, and let me say, once SoS is over, I highly recommend that you patronize her (and other indie yarn artists out there!). Her yarns are absolutely beautiful, and the package was put together with such care.

The colorway is Calla Lilly, and she definitely captured the colors perfectly. She also included a beautiful postcard, a lollipop, and a fantastic exclusive pattern.

Then, today, I received my Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock from Grumperina. She selected a beautiful colorway, called Cool. She also included a chocolate bar! Yum! Thanks so much, Kathy! I promptly ran to the yarn room and picked out a pattern: IK's Winter '05 Embossed Leaves.

This Stashbusting ain't so bad after all!

See what I knit with it over on the blog!

It didn't use as much yarn as I thought it would...

but I'm pretty dang happy with my little sheep puppet!



Even if she does look a little bit...not so smart.

Anyway, this is an Estonian sheep puppet from the Summer 2006 issue of Spin-off, knit with leftover Knitpicks Palette in brown and light pink on #2 Addi Turbos, magic-loop. The pattern calls for something like 88 yards of each color, so it's good for using up little leftover balls. Too bad all the other colors I have are not at all sheep-like. However, with some adjusting to the length of the face, I think this could be made into all kinds of different animals--goats, horses, rabbits, dogs, cats, whatever.

Anyway, I had so much fun with the fair isle that I've decided on my end of summer reward--the Dale of Norway Team USA 2002 pullover kit in the cherry red colorway. Even with all the money I'm saving this summer, it's still a little pricey for me, so I've decided that the Sock Hop yarn exception is out. No Sock Hop for me. Also, I must finish my dad's promised scarf before I can order it. Hopefully that should be enough motivation to get cracking.

Dyed Stash Knit Up

Front Closed of Orgami Pouch
Originally uploaded by wavybrains.

I am so in love with the yarn I dyed it is not funny. In fact, I resolved to only buy white yarn from here out, until I went into LYS to get a new yarn needle and proceeded to fall in love AGAIN with the entire Cascade line, a bunch of sock yarns, the cottons . . . . But I was brave and only got my size 4 circ's, Chibi yarn needle, and new tape measure for knitting bag. Oh and the adorable buttons on the little pouch I made to try out the yarn. I just kind of made it up as I went along as I was much to madly in love with the yarn to do much more than cast on and start increasing. You can see the lining in the other pics as well as what it looked like pre-folding and stitching.

i am a (blessed &) lucky yarn girl

as we all know, i am on a yarn diet. i am probably one of the few dieters that has gained weight vs. losing weight. but, it is quite wonderful.

first up, i am in cahoots (how ever does someone spell that?!) with a knitterly queen that sent me a special package with some sock yarn! i adore sock yarn ... simply adore sock yarn! and this sock yarn ... it has BAMBOOOOO in it! it's 45% bamboo, plus wool and all the other sock yarn stuff. i didn't realize that until i read the label. i just observed its opulence. it glows. it's almost pearlescent.



and it loves me ... i swatched it on some available needles, but i think i need to go down to a crystal palace size 1 vs. an addi size 1. it's simply lovely!

what else came my way this week? some kolibri ....



the shades didn't translate well in photography, and post-production, but these shades are turquoise and emerald, ... destined to be something crocheted and farm-like. madame rrrrrrrita read between the lines, and answered the call.
another GIANT THANK YOU!

if that wasn't enough, a madame angelheart showered me with some knitterly gifts today!



the gift bag included knitterly notecards with envelopes, a 1 litre water bottle, and ...... SOCK YARN !!!!

G O A L !!!!

... that's my tribute to the world cup. when i traveled in south america, way toooo long ago, ... all i can say is that when a small, third world country is participating in such an event, every radio and television in that country is tuned in ... and when something great happens, the shouts of GOAL and the sounds of firecrackers popping all over the city just ignite the air! VIVA BOLIVA !

.... anyhoo, i digress .... it has been raining here in the south, and it has been raining especially hard here. and, i am NOT complaining! here's a little close up of what the art is on the note cards ...



now ... for the icarus shawl winner ! may i present .... ?



... misti alpaca lace wt, in color #8105, a pearly gray la gran baby alpaca 2 ply, at 437 yds/50g. this should, technically, take only 2 balls! but, of course, i have a third ball on stand-by. now, this is where things get fuzzy in terms of the yarn diet. i went through my stash. i even ripped out a partially knitted shawl in lorna's laces. i swatch the charcoal merino. i was dissatisfied. i have a gift certificate to my LYS. i had no exceptions. i treated myself with money already spent (by someone else) on the yarn to knit the shawl of my dreams !!!!!

and perhaps i am cursed. perhaps my shawl is cursed ... perhaps i was chatting with customers, answering the phone, and doing other things while transitioning from one repeat to another ... but, i got off pattern somewhere ... and i'm frogging. it's okay though. i will be more careful from here on out. i'm almost to the mistake too.



let's just say, i'm in love again ......



this posting is a duplicate of the one i just posted on my other blog.

Assistance needed in using stash!

Okay, so it isn't the best headline, but I really do need your help! I REALLY want to use some fabulous skeins I own to create Grumerina's Picovoli (http://www.magknits.com/Aug05/picovoli.htm) but my yarn is more of a dk weight...so the size 4 needle just isn't going to work. I am a small framed person (a pune according to my hubby) so I can't up the needle size and use a smaller pattern size. Has anyone already "done the math" for this beauty?

dobarah

I will not fall off the wagon, I will not fall off...

I thought I'd better post because today was the first time during SOS that I considered cheating. I read some helpful posts and stayed the course. Not getting a lot of stash reduction done due to a very, very busy time at work, but at least the collection is not growing.

what to do with some gray Lamb's Pride?

Well, I'm halfway through my Soleil, kinda slow knit because the Denise needle grabs the yarn. But I digress.

I have some gray Lamb's Pride that I frogged, lots of it. What have you made with LP? Any photos?

Any good ideas that you've been thinking about but haven't made? I'm thinking something coat-y. I googled for a pattern, but I'm not finding anything that appeals. Any and all ideas, once again, are welcome.

I don't think I'll get to it over the summer, but maybe there will be a Fall from Buying KAL. Goodness knows I have enough yarn for that!

I really need to unsubscribe from Elann's and Little Knit's sales emails. Resisting so far, but the flesh is weak.

Out of exceptions

So I've done really well so far this summer! I've been in and out of Michaels, Joann's, and other yarn shops without trouble at all. A few weeks ago I placed my knitpicks order (only ordering things for my SP and some undyed yarn to try dying with since I was just short of free shipping). It came in, and I've started the project for my SP8. Plus I've been working on other on-going projects (Jaywalker socks, a shrug from spring 2006 IK) and I started a christmas gift for my SIL out of stash yarn. Today, I went to Woolwinders, my LYS to pick up size 10 DPN, which I needed for the gift for my SP, and found some size 1 short circs (for socks) which I've been wanting to get, and they were on sale 30% off. THEN as I'm walking around, I am touching all sorts of lovely yarns, making my mental list of what I want at the end of the summer, when the manager asks me if I've used Manos before (I was right in front of it). I say that yes, I have! I love it, and am definitely going to use it again, when she says that the price will be going up as soon as the owner goes and prices out the new ones that came in. Apparently Manos is raising thier prices by a dollar or two per skein, and she wanted to let me know in case it influenced my decision making. Which, of course it did! But on the plus side, I thought about it a lot first. I looked through some pattern books, and found an Oat Coutoure vest pattern that I really liked. I picked that out, and then decided on which manos to get. PLUS, as I went to the check out, I said that if my husband got upset with me, I'd simply explain that I just had my birthday and I deserved it. She then went to say that they have a Birthday Discount! It's half your age in percentage off. So not only did I get the Manos at a price before the hike, I got it for 15% off! So I had initially said that one of my exceptions was if I got birthday money/gc for yarn, but I couldn't resist the yumminess that is Manos. Plus my dad did say that a check will be in the mail this week, so I will just put it in the account an dont use it for a gift, I'll consider the Manos my dad's gift to me!

So my exceptions are gone, but I have a feeling that I won't need anymore for the summer. Possibly through the fall!

Sabotage

From my husband, no less. I finally mentioned last night that I'd joined this stashalong, and I'd vowed not to buy any yarn until Labor Day. He just stared at me and asked why. I pointed out that he was the one who said I bought yarn every time I left the house, and he just laughed and said that maybe I liked collecting yarn, and that if it made me happy I should do it.

Men.

CeCe up to neckband

I am sorry I doubted Bonne Marie as CeCe turns out just right. I just need to knit the neckband and sew the ends in. I am just trying to figure out if I can knit the neckband on instead of sewing it on. No help so far in my books, but if an applied i-cord works, this might work too. Any ideas?

The red socks are resting, but I did knit a bit on the blue ones.

I danced with the yarn today

and I came out a Winner! The kids had a dentist appointments, so we took the 2.5 hour trip to "town." As it is usually REALLY slow around there, I decided to go downtown to the yarn store. Although I was VERY tempted to purchase some of the stuff that looks like weed-eater line...they made purses out of it...I only carressed some yarn, oogled the finished socks, and created my mental birthday list of skeins I need. I did come away with Addi sized 2 dps, and a sock pattern to use with the yarn I already have. I even withstood the urgings of the other knitters...I bought no yarn!

I need ice cream.

dobarah

cheating ?

is it cheating if you were gifted yarn? though i'm on this diet, some lovely yarn just happened to fall into my hands ....



on the fly, i did a favor for a friend ... and in return, she passed on some of her stash cotton yarns ... it's all provence! i can't wait to make a colored holstein with these yarns!

i already started playing with it yesterday, and crocheted this ....



the design is called the catherine wheel and i followed the instructions and chart in my harmony guide's _300 crochet stitches_, volume 6. there are two books in this series for crochet, so be sure to get both volume 6 & 7 if this is your kind of thing. these books are essentially stitch treasuries for crocheters.



i'm probably going to add some kind of border to the square and call it a washcloth.

i also knitted a couple of dishcloths for my LYS yesterday. these little dishcloths are from leisure art's _garden dishcloths to knit_. i knit my two samples with tahki's cotton classic and size 6 short clover bamboo needles. each cloth only weighs about 20g, so i clearly got two out of one hank of yarn with some leftovers. mine ended up being about 7" square.



in other news, my head has just been in a cloud lately, and that's why i have not worked on any of my larger projects ... such as the crocheted dress or aran blankie, or even socks. my attention has dwindled to wee projects such as potholders and dishcloths. if i start to feel any more distressed, i just might resort to crocheting chains!

Another reason to knit your stash (and forgotten WIPs)

As I mentioned in a previous post (or comment, I guess) I am knitting Soleil (Knitty) out of frogged yarn from a failed sweater for DH. His loss is my gain! But.....................because I have way too many forgotten WIPs, I didn't have the right metal needle (my preference for cotton) available. I did have a clover circ, but the yarn just hangs on the join. Denise Needles to the rescue---------------sort of. The yarn doesn't hang on the join, but it also doesn't glide. I have to tug it along. Now, this may be the nature of cotton, I don't use it very often, but I think it may be the nature of plastic in humidity. How I wish I didn't have my Susan Bates Silverlume size 6 needle already in use! This would go swimmingly if I could use it. The Denises are okay, but just not perfect. Yes, I could buy another needle, but this IS the Summer of Stash, and I already have two size 6 24" circs, I don't NEED another one. So next on the agenda, after this shell: Locate which WIP is using this needle, and FINISH IT!

Oooooh............I'm feeling empowered!

Warning! Dyeing Stash may be Addictive

Sunrise Sunset Finished!
Originally uploaded by wavybrains.

So I totally expected to love dyeing yarn. I was a bit blown away by how much I loved it. I have a humorous account of everything that went wrong up on my blog, but still I can't wait to try it again. Circumstances conspired against my going to Black Sheep gathering, but I can't say as I was too disapointed. Since Black Sheep was one of my two exceptions for the summer, I traded my $100 budget for Black Sheep for $30 (penance for trading exceptions) of more yarn to dye.

Also, it was nice to put into practice my new philosphy towards clearance. I didn't glance at the novelty yarns in clearance at the front of the store, but instead headed for the back of the shop towards the workhorse yarns. I found some natural yarns on clearance there, and that to me was a true bargain: what I needed and wanted at a great price.

Anyone want to trade some gorgeous stripey yarn for a ball winder? Yarn swift? I will even dye your stash for you and mail it back for one or both . . . I'm thinking I might give up some non-essential organs for these guys. . . . . . . .

Exception Help Needed

So one of my exceptions is that I can buy souvenir yarn on my trip to Seattle and Vancouver Island. Peg has already given me the name of a great store in Victoria ( Beehive Wool ) with some cool silk/seaweed Hand Maiden Yarn from Fleece Artist (expensive, but a very nice treat!).

Does anyone else have suggestions for yarn stores in Seattle? Victoria, BC? Tofino, BC? Thanks! I'll be taking along some stash sock yarn for the flight and for camping!

I am in the process of turning the second of my red socks and so far no second sock syndrom. This would be my first stash project finished for the SOS. I knit a bit on my blue socks as well, but they got stationed at My Guy's place and I do not knit that much there.

I also took up CeCe again and am getting closer and closer to the neckline. I am not quite sure if the sleeve stitches will all be decreased by the time I have only 6 stitches for the front, but for now I am plugging on. I am looing forward to wearing it. I just needed my red socks for some color relieve...

My First Exception is USED

Well, you saw in a previous post by Jen, that she went to Black Sheep Gathering. We met up for a short bit to knit. On my blog, you can see the additions to my stash, and on previous posts you can see my FO's so far. Even though it was supposed to be super hot, it wasn't too bad on Friday or Saturday, with a nice breeze coming through.

Seaside Stash Knits

Here are some ideas for Summer Stashbusting:



From L to R --

1. Stashbuster Kid's Poncho Beach Cover-up - 2 balls of Sugar and Cream, using a simple openwork (YO, K2tog) pattern. This is a long-ago knit project, so sorry that I do not have more specifics, and you can clearly see where I misaligned the stitches. I was a new knitter; give me a break!

2. Stashbuster Fixation Schmatte -- with that last little bit of Fixation left over after knitting kid socks and baby socks, I knit this little kerchief, which is a triangle with an applied-i-cord for the tie.

3. Stashbuster Beach Tote -- one ball of Sugar and Cream with the teeniest bit of a second ball to bind off the handles. Pattern here. Super stretchy and fits all the essentials.

Have a good week, y'all!
Liz K.

help needed to use this stash yarn!

How many times have you knit and frogged the same yarn? I think with this particular yarn I'm going on five. The first was actually knit into a sweater for DH, but it never looked good on him (bad choice of pattern for the yarn--big surprise!), so I frogged it and have been trying to match it to a pattern for me ever since.

The yarn: Super 8 cotton yarn. It's kind of a light worsted, heavy DK. I like the fabric when knit with size 6. Mercerized. Slate blue color.

I've tried CeCe from chicknits, Shapely Tank from White Lies, Cabin Fever's Braids Cardigan, the original pattern (basketweave pullover from IK), and one other that I can 't remember.

I really need some suggestions! So far, nothing I've started looks good with this particular yarn. I'm at a loss. I wonder if it's the color (not really my favorite, but I think it could work), texture (I usually knit wool for myself) or what.

On the plus side, I finished a pair of black fingerless gloves for DS, the budding rock star. I get the heeby jeebies when I look at him wearing them in the summer, but hey, he's the one who has to deal with gloves in the heat!

Off to continue with some socks for DH (or me if they don't fit him!). Hope someone here has a suggestion or two for the cotton yarn above!

Not tempted!

Well I have been trollying the stores LOOKING at the yarns but not buying. I am finding it hard to get any knitting done ( I may be at the SOS till Christmas!). I think I have done 10 rows of knitting this week - really pathetic but I have done alot of jam and freezing of strawberries! Third set will be done tonight. For me its canning, freezing and gardening season. I am going to try and get my to do list done. I really promise to try.

At least without buying I won't be adding to the stash - I am contemplating selling some of it as there is some yar I know I won't use. Will let you know more later on that one. May I can even swap it. hmmmm....

Well off to do some house work so I can do jam so I can do berries so I can knit! lol

Have a great weekend!


Leigh Ann
http://knittingngardeningjunkie.blogspot.com/

Stashbusting

I have been pretty good in my stashbusting since the project started. I used a whole hank (150m) of Handmaiden silk spun to make a shoulder wrap, I am more than halfway done with a scarf that is using 2 balls of 135yds each, I started a baby sweater to use up 2 balls of 120yds each and a ball is Trekking is slowly changing into socks. I am also going to be starting another pair of socks from some Lorna's Lace I have in the stash.
I did receive more sock yarn from a swap I am part of though, so I have to add about a 1000yds to the stash.
Last weekend DH and I went upstate NY for a wedding. On our way home we stopped in Skeaneateless at 2 yarn shops to see what they had. I considered myself on vacation so buying yarn there was part of my exceptions. But there was nothing to buy... All the yarn there was something I could get in most yarn shops, except for one brand: Greater Adirondack that I'd never seen before and never heard of. But it was $40 a hank so I passed. Overall it was easy resisting temptation and the fact that I didnt really have any money to spend helped a lot too!
My only complaint is that I dont knit fast enough...

yarn dreams

i had a crazy crazy dream last night of hiking & cobras, then more snakes, a giant water wand converted to a fire gun, and yarn ... i dreamed of YARN. i dreamed i went somewhere and purchased. and in the back of my mind i knew i was violating my "diet", but i didn't care. i was happy! good grief!

I Have not caved.....yet

But boy these last couple of days have been full of temptation. First during my local thrift store jaunts I ran into wool, and some really cool retro fabrics for the very cheap. I picked them up, I put them down, I picked them up again, then I finally put them all back down. In my head flashed all the thrifted stash I already have waiting for that perfect project. I thought I was going to be stressing out the rest of the day about missing a good deal, but actually I think I felt better that I did not cave. It was funny though because my eldest son was totally shocked - oh he thinks he knows me so well.

Then while doing some blog reading I ran into this beautiful sock. I wanted the pattern and found that one of my lys was a stockist. So I went. I entered. Went straight to the sock patterns. They did not have it in. I left totally empty handed. Yeah me - I don't think I have ever done that before.

As far as stash busting goes I'm working on the airy cardigan (IW winter 2004) it's going pretty fast so far, though not much yarn has been used. But it's aged yarn bought just for this purpose so I'm happy.

The organizing of the stash is going a little slower than I want. I'm taking over half of my daughter room for a craft room (she does have a big room) I'm still in the painting stage. Since I am taking over half of her room we are giving her a room a redo. The ceiling is bright sky blue. The walls are bright yellow, waiting for the big green polka dots, and I just started painting the trim today. Oh the color choices of a 12yr old - gotta love them.

Michelle

BLACK SHEEP IS HERE! BLACK SHEEP IS HERE!

So I didn't get to go today, but I'll be going tomorrow to Black Sheep Gathering...are you all sick of hearing me talk about it yet? LOL. Anywho, I got one e-mail saying positively yes I'll have knitters to meet, who else is coming? I'll be there between 11&12 with Boogermonkey, then at 1:30 a group is meeting at the BMFA booth in building 3 & we'll probably find somewhere to have our own little stitch & bitch :D

As for de-stashing, I finished Liam's doll (pictures very soon at my blog), I'm about 90% done with Jann's strawberry hat, and that's about it. I started a new job Monday (daycamp counselor) that's sucking the energy straight out of me, so it's taking a lot to even pick up the needles instead of falling into bed with Booger at 7 and not getting up until morning (like I did 2 nights ago).

And hooray, Llamaface just came home with the mail & commission payments came in! I'll actually be able to buy something tomorrow! Yay!

slowly but surely ....

... margarita was born today. she looks just like her brothers, mojito & cosmo ... i think it's because they hatched from the same kolibri egg. there's still a bit of this yellow kolibri leftover ... a little bit from each of the three balls i worked with. i may be able to squeeze out one more chicken. i figure if i run out, i will just finish it with some double stranded embroidery floss.

i have been enjoying making these chickens, and they are using some stash, though just a little bit, that otherwise would still be occupying space. this yarn was originally earmarked for socks. i don't know what i was thinking. i unraveled a partially knitted sock to use the yarn for cosmo.

on sunday, i hope to do some stash evaluation, and see about recovering and reusing yarn from long ago abandoned projects. i also need to drop some stitches and make a repair on the larger cable of my aran heirloom afghan. i had run away from the afghan to the chickens because i was so distressed that i had messed up the cable, and i couldn't find my 10.5 dpns to fix it.

sunday. yes, i will get to it on sunday.

*cries*

Why is it that every yarn I really like that I -don't- buy for myself gets discontinued? I just discovered that Patons has discontinued Katrina, which is a lovely slinky-stretchy rayon/polyester blend. And I don't have any. And it comes in the most delicious colors .. *sighs*

Ah well. I don't -need- it. Another yarn will come around that makes me drool.

Look what else I finished!

Re-flashing

I've just finished organizing my stash after decluttering a bit of acrylic to my sister. Now, now, I know what you're thinking....but she has a 2 yr-old and will actually use the stuff. My DH created these shelves for me based on some I saw in a yarn shop and loved.

The first cubby I intend on defeating is the sock yarn, as I am competing in the Summer of Socks. I haven't been knitting too much lately, just plugging away on my Green Gable and petting some of my prettier stash that I haven't found patterns for. I did use one of my exceptions though. I've been working on an orange tank (old pic, there's a lot more progress now) for a while and I'm almost done but have barely enough yarn to do another row. So I sucked it up, and ordered some more to finish. I also threw in on that order a few things for my Secret Pal. It felt good to buy yarn, even if it's not for me. I think that I've decided what my big splurge will be. I was going to do a huge shopping spree, maybe even a "yarn crawl" of my region, but I've got something better planned. My one year anniversary is Sept 17th, and hubby surprised me by showing interest in going back to Jamaica to celebrate (that's where we got married). I thought for sure that was way out of our budget. So no big yarn party for me, but Jamaica is way better! I will indulge with getting enough yarn to make a Rogue sweater, but I might just do knitpics or elann to save $$$ for my trip.

Upgrading the Stash

Check it out. I put this in the mail on Monday June 19, sent off to a land far, far away for someone who will actually make good use of it:

It's all the necessary yarn for Wild Stripes from Knitty, minus the two skeins of "Asparagus," but plus two skeins of green Wool of the Andes (all from KnitPicks).

This may not actually count as de-stashing, since I am expecting a package from the recipient of stitch markers and random sock yarn (as part of a Knittyboard swap).

But maybe it does count, since I will (theoretically) now have yarn in my stash that I'll actually use, rather than yarn for which I have little to no use.

Check out My Stash Busting!

Come check out my lastest stash-busting projects here!

The Ultimate De-Stashing

At some point in your life you have to stop, take a good, long look at yourself and decide to let go of childish things. The things that drag you down and cause you unhappiness. This, my fellow stashers, is me growing up by letting go of this:

I finally realized that I was never, ever going to knit all of this acrylic. It would just sit and waste away, filling me with guilt and a sense of worthlessness. So, I decided to give it a new home. Last night I put an ad on craigslist (go ahead and click it, there's a site for most metropolitan areas, even some for overseas) offering my yarn free to a good home. I came home to over 50 emails all requesting to pick up and use the stash that will soon cease to haunt me. The new owner will pick it up tomorrow morning and I will be free!

Free I tells ya!

A Gift of Lorna's Laces...

Hi SoS-KAL-er's,
I know this bloggy thing was my idea....and I know that I have been the one most encouraging people to rediscover and fall in love with their stashes. I have been urging restraint, delayed gratification, etc.

Perhaps some of you read the blog of Grumperina? Maybe you saw her contest last week, urging readers to send in finished knits for submission to her gallery? She offered prizes for certain mileston submissions.

Well, here is the 200th Jaywalker. I knitted it in December of 2005, before I even had a blog.

And I won a yarn-y prize! Yes, the prize is yarn -- two skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn. This is one of my fantasy yarns, one that I was going to purchase as my reward at the end of the summer. I have been waiting to encounter it in real life before actually purchasing it, and I just have never run across it.

It would be terribly rude of me not to accept, right? It's not like I bought the yarn, right? I just won it. What knitter in her right mind would reject Lorna's Laces just for some silly yarn diet?

Not me, friends, not me. So throw invective my way for cheating on the SoS-KAL, but tell me how many of you would have done anything differently?

So it appears that I may finish the summer with a larger sock yarn stash than expected, but oh, will it be better with the addition of Lorna's Laces.

As far as stash busting projects, my latest little stash buster was a little schmatte-kerchief-thingy for my daughter with the last little oddball of Fixation from her knee socks and the baby socks. Thus, the tally for two balls of Fixation is a pair of preschool knee socks, baby socks, and one kerchief. I am also knitting up a quick-knit mesh bag to bring down the shore for this and future shore weekends. Besides this, I am knitting Orangina (well, I am three whole rows in), a pair of Trekking socks, and a designing a baby sundress. Pics of this, and more details of the big Grumperina win on the blog.

Phew!

How do you inventory kits?

Okay, so I'm still slogging away on my inventory. The guest bedroom is done, which is one of two main repositories. I'm wondering how people inventory kits. Items that I've "kitted" myself I've listing by the yarn with the name of the projects in that column (I'm doing this in Excel). Things that I bought as a kit though, I'm putting on a different worksheet for now, but I'm not entirely happy with that. Just wondering how others do it.

Mary

Status Update

I finished off 6 skeins and two FOs this week- another Critter Knitter blanket and the Colinette Ab Fab throw.
9 FOs down/ 41 to go

Summer O' Stuff

I have been good, though it honestly has not been hard. Progress moves forward on the Chocolate Mariah apace; she is now almost completely seamed and has another two inches on her hood. Now I just have to figure out who is going to weave in all the ends... I have yet to take a decent picture of her, so you'll just have to hold tight.

Not much to report on Danica. I completed another repeat and taught myself how to purl backwards! I have made lots of progress mentally, but not enough physically to bother taking a picture...

But this whole declutter, simplify, and accomplish theme has really got me thinking (always a bad sign). In the spirit of these ideals, I sheepishly present one of my first non-yarn destashments:

My Comics on eBay

I am sad to say that these are not all my comics (not by a long shot), but these are the ones I can definitly do without. And all the proceeds go back to refurbishing my stash after the great de-stuffing is over =P

I have some help...

I have a 15 yo daughter who has not been real interested in knitting. She did attend a beginners knit class last fall and knows how to knit and purl but has not wanted to knit anything.

That is until she got into some typical teenage trouble last week and finds herself without any TV, computer, radio, phone or boyfriend privledges (OUCH! Mom is tough hehe). Yesterday she says "I can't do anything so I might as well knit". She thought she was going to annoy me by saying she was going to pick yarn from my stash. She doesn't know about SOS :-) I just smiled and said sure, go ahead. She picked some peachy yellow ribbon yarn that I had orginally gotten for a wrap of some kind but never got around to knitting it. She is making a garter stitch scarf for her boyfriends mother. She made some good progress on it today and I am hopeful it will use up three balls of yarn from my stash!

I am slowly using up some stash yarn for the fish blanket I am making for my cat and I promise, I am going to start the cabled shrug again soon....

Bag Lady

This reveals my true pattern whore nature. I saw Ginabeana's beautiful bag on this here blog not more than a week or so ago. And today -- my own is released into the wild. Now that I look back, hers is classier -- look at that lining! And I couldn't wait to go somewhere and buy a handle so I bloody well knit one.
The pattern is superb. You cannot tell because this is knit from too-dark-to-photograph Paris Night Malabrigo, but the decreases, the cables and the whole shape work together very well.

I am this close to finishing that other almost finished thing I showed you when I was still at the beach (sigh) but I ran out of yarn and am currently wrinkling my nose at my feltable stash to see what will work to finish it. Since I am not buying more. This picture does not show knitting put to its proper use. And it will not be a hat. But it probably should be, from the evidence.

topflappen !

... the sky is falling ! does it count as a stashbuster if you only use 31 grams of cotton?! the yellow for the body is dale's kolibri, and the other chicken parts are double stranded embroidery floss. i tried my best to embroider the eyes, but i could not manage to get them to come out the same, so i popped in some plastic safety eyes instead ... which, probably will make this wall art vs. a usable pot holder.




the pattern is from a booklet by annie's attic, the _ultimate book of pot holders_ , book #873151. peaches & creme yarn is used for most of the designs. since i don't have any of that in my stash, i substituted. the kolibri is a finer gauge, so, my chicken isn't as large as the sample in the booklet.

for stashbusting, i am starting to lean more towards smaller projects. i will continue to work on my aran afghan, but i need to see more progress with quicker to make projects .....

all of these cute pot holder patterns makes me wish i had more cottons in my stash! continue to read up on my other knitterly happenings on my blog.

new home for the blog

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know that I've moved the blog. It's a little boring right now (working out the kinks & trying to find a fun layout - if anyone knows anything about WordPress, shoot me an e-mail, PLEASE). So the new home of my blog is http://blog.gonzopants.com. It's not (just) a knitting blog, and I don't have pictures on there (yet, need to get in the habit), but that's where I am.

And so far I've gotten one response about the Black Sheep Gathering; if you're interested in a meetup, I'm probably going to get there 11-12ish with Boogermonkey in an Ergo or his Jeep stroller (can't miss that monstrosity!), and I'll be joining up with a group meeting at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts (no link, no temptation) booth in Building 3 at 1:30. I think it would be awesome to have a big blog meetup in little ol' youjean the way MD S&W or Rhinebeck always gets :D

I Used Up Some Stash

I crocheted this wrap for my mom for her Birthday last Friday. It only took a few hours to do, and I adapted it from a pattern in Family Circle Easy Crochet book. Sorry about the fuzzy picture from my camera phone.

This is a stashbusting scarf I knit for my daughters' dance teacher. It's a narrow "fashion" scarf with plenty of sparkle for a fantastic performer.

Between these two projects I used up 3 1/2 balls of yarn, a total of 570 yards!

I really am enjoying this "finishing" and stash busting. I'm sending out cyber encouragement to each of you - it can be done! And without new yarn at that!

Here's the situation ...

First of all, I'm happy to say I'm still plugging away at my stash. I'm gonna re-flash it here in a little bit, once I go water the plants. I wanted to post my latest little FO. I took the baby cotton I made the hooded towel out of with me on the trip to my nieces' graduation party. (One from High School, the other from Preschool. *cheers*) And I managed to whip up a fast and pretty baby washcloth to go with the towel.



It's made with a gingham stitch pattern I found in The Knitter's Bible. I love it. And since I still have even more yarn, I think I might make another. Or maybe I'll use a heart block pattern they have, which is equally adorable, at least in the pictures.

Here's my dilemma. My eldest niece Brittany just moved into a new apartment. And she asked me if I could make her some dishcloths. And the colors she wants I don't have yet. I know that Lily's Sugar & Cream has a cotton in colors she would love. They just came out with Key Lime Pie .. and Britt wants bright green and white as her colors. It's perfect! The problem is .. I'm supposed to be stashbusting. But I can't wait till September to make her these cloths .. that's not fair.

Because I have no intentions of keeping -any- of this cotton .. and I'm only buying at most three balls of it, probably only two .. do you think I'm okay buying it? It shouldn't take me any time at all to whip up 4-5 dishcloths for her, and I can get back to stashbusting, right?

Socks started

I have knit the leg and the heel of my first red sock and am fairly happy with it. I have finished my Lakes sweater (just needed a bit of sewing up) so there is one less UFO. No new stash, but I am enjoying wearing some of my summer knits from this year and last year.

Need Some Help

Hi Everyone...
I have not made much progress on stash busting but I have myself not purchased any yarn (my son bought me 4 skeins of eyelash to make a bear for his half brother and 1 lone skein of baby yarn.)
However, the Dayton Knitting Guild is having their indoor picnic and yarn-over sale. I have started rounding up some yarn to take to sell or trade for patterns but I have no idea what to ask for it. Most of it is Red Heart 8oz skeins acrylic but I have some other skeins and fancy yarn too. I really need some help in trying to come up with asking prices. Also, how does everyone decide what they will never use, I am having stash anxiety right now, but I really really need to thin this mess out. I could really use a professional organizer to hold my hand. Please take a look at my blog (it may take a little bit as I still have to put up pictures) and check out the battle against the stash I am fighting.
Thanking everyone in advance for their ideas.
Katherine

I did it!

I went to Hobby Lobby for boxes and didn't buy any yarn. Yay, me! (I made my best friend go along to keep me honest.)
So far, I've completed a pair of baby socks and a matching hat- which were for a baby shower yesterday- I'm almost halfway through my second Mandarin Petit sock, and I've gotten a few more dishcloths done. The stash is shrinking very slowly- such happens when knitting such tiny objects, I suppose- but it is shrinking, darn it!
(And I finally found the lost usb cable so I can use my digital camera again. It was in the drawer with the picture paper and iron-on paper- go figure.)

OMG, I finished something!

I'm loving the Summer of Stash! I've actually been finishing things instead of starting new things. I've posted some photos of my recently-finished socks and felted bag on my boring blog. I hope the link works. I'm kinda new at this. I'm also enjoying reading about everyone's stashbusting adventures. Isn't it amazing what we find when we go shopping in our very own private LYS?

Update on me

Hey all. Hope June is going well for eveybody. I had surgery (hystertcomy) and my mom came to help since I have two kids under the age of three but thank god all the tumors they found (which is why I had to have it done) all 12 came back non canercous. So I had two weeks of napping and knitting a little more than I would. I have no bought yarn. Yeah.
I finished:

1- Baby surprise sweater
2- felted bag for mom
3-Two pairs of felted slippers for mom and my hubby

I started and am working on:
1-shawl that is my amazing lace entry
2- Lopi sweater that has been living on needles for ever.
3- my sons sweater
4 Pi shawl for KAL.
5- my socks for soldiers socks.


So I am making progress. Hope your summer is good
Casey

An FO, almost

I have finished the Lana Grossa Cardigan.You can see pics and details on my blog That was the last "new" yarn I bought before I joined the summer of stash. Now that that is finished, except for seaming together, it is time to start in on the stash. I have a tessalating fish blanket in progress for my cat Reno, and I think I am going to start working on the cabled shrug from IK that is just sitting in the basket begging to be picked up again.

I went to my LYS today to buy buttons for the cardigan and I DID NOT BUY YARN!! Yay Kim!

Busted!

I turned this

and this

In to this

and this


Using up a total of 7 skeins from my stash!

The V-Neck sweater is a Glampyre pattern and my little guy's knit is an Elizabeth Zimmerman Tomten Jacket. The pattern can be found in her Knitting Without Tears book. Both knits were quick and easy and stash busting :-) I finished the V-Neck sweater the week before I had offically started the SOS and had one skein leftover, perfect for the body of my little guy's jacket!

~SpiderWomanKnits

Feel like I am in withdrawal

Its been 2 weeks and I still feel like I am in withdrawal. I've been to Zellers, Walmart and even a yarn shop but haven't bought any yarn. Yeah!!!

I have knitted up 3 dishcloths so far, still working on the poncho and sweaters (temps today are 30C, with a humidex of 38C) so no winter projects today). Bought some buttons to sew on things.

I did buy one yarn related thing. The pattern book by Patons - Where did you get that hat? I bought the yarn before I joined SOS but couldn't find the book. Well found the book and will start the hats later. can't wait!

Hoping to get some more knitting done tonight. I like some of the depletion ideas and may have to incorporate them into my stash.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Uh-Oh, exceptions are required

OK, so in my intro, I gave myself two exceptions: yarn required for commissions but not already in my stash, and the Black Sheep Gathering (btw: e-mail me if you want to be part of the meet-up I'm planning for Saturday, 24 June). Well, commissions have started snowballing in (ah, the power of the internet!)! I used stash for the watermelon felted basket (blocking now, pictures later), Liam's girl doll (as yet unnamed & armless), Addie's headband & monkey (no pictures, I forgot), and Crystal & Janice's strawberry hat & bootie sets (picture of Crystal's set here & here). Unfortunately, I have to get yarn for:
a raspberry hat
a peapod hat
a blackberry hat
a wetbag (lanolized knit wool bag for transporting soiled cloth diapers)
a bumblebee cardigan
and a Flying Spaghetting Monster doll.
*sigh* My stash was taking a significant hit, and now this. It's going to be nearly $50 for all of it from knitpicks (not linking, not giving anyone any temptation), but it's nearly $300 in income, so I guess "you gotta spend money to make money" applies here.

I Used Up Some Stash

I have a FO!

I used 2.5 skeins of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease to make this Short N' Sweet Shrug from Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker




I'm feeling somewhat liberated. You can find out more about this at my blog

And Here's the Stash

Click for details on the yarn & potential projects.

Here is my stash, large and cumbersome and beautiful! I'm finding it really good to go through everything and plan out the projects I want to accomplish. I have changed my mind on uses for a lot of these yarns since they were bought, which is both good and bad, I suppose. I'm just excited to start stash busting! I've almost finished my first SoS project, Salina. Check it out on my blog!

Future Yarn Collector!!

O.K. Forgive me fellow SOS members for I have sinned!! It all started when I took my great niece (and NEW knitter) shopping for her very own knitting "utensils" as she calls them!! LOL. She has just learned to knit and I must admit VERY good!! She even joined my knitting group last night and had a BLAST!!!! SO.....back to my downfall.....It is a long drive to A.C. Moore....I drove ALL the way out there......and with gas prices being what they are....and being under an ozone alert yesterday.... I felt it my civic duty to conserve my gas and time!! I bought yarn awhile back for a scarf but it really needed some eyelash to go with it.....so I find myself in the middle of A.C. Moore with Montana....with blinders on my eyes to all yarn except the "warshrag" yarn she is wanting to buy....AND despite the fact that I have a drawer full and wanted more I was .....I was REALLY strong.....and then I accidentally turned just a tiny tad.....and there it was.....eyelash....on SALE.....I really needed this yarn to go with a previous purchase.....so it's not like I was buying something for MYSELF!!! AND....I only bought ONE skein to go with the yarn I previously purchased.....so I admit.....I am a weak, worthless, spineless knitter that just couldn't pass this particular skein of yarn up......but I promise it was ONLY because it is such a long drive and gas is WAYYYYY too high for me to run back across town later on to pick it up.

Does this mean I am excommunicated from the SOS????? Sure hope not!!!

Vacation Stashbusting

Even while on the beach, I am reducing reducing reducing. The first finished object of my summer of stash is here and here (although it doesn't feel like quite a stash project since I was given the yarn for mother's day -- after heavyhanding hinting).

Still, this feels more stashbusterish and I'm determined to finish today.Part of the reason yarn is so hard to resist is embodied right there: color. Just holding that wound ball gives my heart pleasure, my spirit respite. The play of blues and purples and roses against one another are so pleasing. Who would not want to be surrounded by color?

Does it count if you buy yarn for someone else????

UPDATE:

In my running through a few of the entries I would like to tell Lu that I am soooooooo not worthy.....486 skeins of yarn......I bow down to you oh great collector!!! I only have 200....well.....actually I have knitted up several skeins since starting this madness of not buying yarn till Labor Day!!! What W.A.S. I thinking???? Yarn withdrawal.....it is N.O.T. a pretty thang!!!!!

My great niece has just learned to knit and is really good if I do say so myself.....does it count if I take her shopping and get her started down the road to yarn stashing??? I PROMISE not to buy any yarn for myself....although it will be great to just BUY some yarn....even if it isn't for me.....so what do you gals think???? I mean...come on.....I'm ONLY buying this yarn out of the GOODNESS of my heart for my DEAR, DEAR Great Niece!! There....that should do it!! LOL!!!

So far I have managed to knit about 4 or 5 "warshrags", two lace style shawl scarves and that is it so far....my goal is to knit up all my cotton yarn that I bought for warshrags.....I have about 15 skeins to go!!!

i was good!

when was the last time you saw so much lovely koigu? i was on a mini-roadtrip this past weekend, and found myself at knit happens in alexandria, va. they had recently received a large koigu order, so the yarn was spread across the floor as they organized and shelved it. i couldn't resist rolling in it. they had some great sales on various yarns, but i left there with only a pattern. i have been on the hunt for some nice size 2 short straight needles, but they didn't have anything special (such as lantern moon) in that size.

so, i will fantasize about the koigu, and continue to knit on these socks ...



i didn't plan for them to match. it just so happened that when i snipped the yarn from sock #1, the color was set up for beginning the mate.

though i have a weakness for fresh yarn, my desire for less stuff in my space is stronger. destash = declutter.

Leftover Sock Yarn Ideas

1. Make a Bee's Knees sweater for a baby or small child.
2. Make baby socks.
3. Make a heart sachet.
4. Make gift cards. Knit a mini swatch, sweater, scarf, or sock and attach to the front of a card.
5. Make earrings (or pins).
6. Make Barbie clothes.
7. Make bookmarks.
8. Make a hacky sack.
9. Make patches for holes in jeans.
10. Make Christmas ornaments.

Anybody have some ideas to add?

Count 'em!

Just a quick update....

Last week I completed a pair of socks, a tank and now I'm working on the sleeves of a cardigan so I can get that one out of UFO status!

That leaves me with two socks in progress and plenty of stash to dip into for more!

I think next I will be working on a Chemo Cap, as well as Clapotis and Unbiased from Knitty.com.

It's nice to work from the stash....it will be interesting to see how much I can get done by September!

Watch my continued progress on my blog!

Stash Busting Projects

My stash is not shrinking at quite the rate I would like it too, but I have gotten a few things done:

1) 4 hollow block toys for Basil and Abner's Charity Drive . Yarn used--odd balls of 4 colors of cotton.
2) 2 mohair mice for the charity drive. Yarn used: not nearly enough of 2 balls of mohair. More mice in my future. Never buying mohair again.
3) 1 cotton "rattlesnake" cat toy. Yarn used: 1/2 ball of green cotton. Love cotton in a way that borders on innappropriate after all the mohair.
4) Book Cube for my mother's birthday. Yarn used: 5 balls of Lampedusa Redwood. Wonderful yarn to work with, devil incarnate to block :)
5) Patch Work Pillow for Father's day (on the needles since oh, January or so, looooooooooong hitatus when I hit the garter stitch back. Yarn used: Total project 6 balls, w/ some leftovers (ick). Still have yarn for second pillow as well. (double ick, but fun knitting)

I have more pics of the projects on my flickr account if you wanted more details.