Wrapping Up

Well I completely finished the stash inventory last night. I had bogged down on a bag of unlabeled stuff I needed to weigh and measure. But over the weekend I got that done and the rest in the stash.

While I was at the computer a friend that is staying with me decided to take me up on the offer to use some of the zippered plastic bags I have to store stash in. Next thing I knew she was sitting in the middle of the upstairs hall, surrounded by yarn and holding up a couple of balls saying "where did this come from?" All I could say was, "welcome to my world."

So I'm thinking this is contagious - she's organizing her yarn that is stored at my house since she's in the middle of a move, I'm inventorying and destashing other craft stashes. Life is good.

I only used one exception, and I don't think I ever reported on it. When Colinette's new Parisienne yarn came to my LYS this summer I almost swooned. I'm a sucker for fingering weight mohair anyway, and what's not to like in their colors. But I could have resisted until September, but then the owner and I talked about me doing a KAL class on the beaded shrug from their pattern book, so I went ahead and got some so I could get started on the sample.

I didn't get a lot knit this summer (I don't consider it done until its DONE) - a couple scarves, a pair of socks and a dishcloth. I did get rid of almost 50,000 yards of yarn in various ways this summer.

I started playing with the numbers a little and I'm comfortably over my goal of reducing the stash by 10%. On the downside, I also calculated that if my rate of yarn knitting this summer is indicative of my average, I still have 83+ years of yarn in my house. Probably still a problem.

So then the contest ideas got posted. So I'm running a little "how many jelly beans" type contest of my own (i.e., how many yards at the beginning of the summer, etc.) and the winners will get some of the yarn. I'm also doing a few "What Would You Do With This" contests. Things that I couldn't remember why I had bought them (or maybe the only reason was "pretty"). It will be purely subjective, but the person with the answer I like best will get it.

Which I hope means I'll get a good running start on my own Autumn of Stash!

I am working at the LYS this coming weekend, so might get some more knitting time in, so my final numbers could shift a little. But I really feel I'm strong enough now not to be tempted to buy anything so close to the end!

So thanks for this KAL. It really was the kick in the pants I needed to start getting control of my stash!

Mary in VA

Progress Report

I haven't had as much a chance to post here as I had hoped, since I was extremely busy for most of this summer with an intensive language class. But, now that it has ended, I've been turning out some long-lingering projects from the stash!


First up is the "Big Bad Zoe Blanket," a.k.a. "Big Bad Baby Blanket" from the first Stitch 'n Bitch book, but for my dog Zoe. She loves curling up on towels or small blankets, so I figured I'd make her a little blanket of her own. Despite the August heat she took to it right away!


I also recently finished this little crochet towel border, made with some leftover Cotton Classic, which (to my surprise) turns out to be a great yarn for this kind of project. The pattern is from the book Crochet Basics by Jan Eaton.


Hot off the needles are some bedsocks for my sister from Wendy's toe-up pattern. (Hey, when you make socks for your sis you know she won't mind your feet modelling them!)

And last but not least, I have made some progress on my cabled sweater, which I adapted from an old Classic Elite pattern. That's seven big skeins gone from the stash when I finish this one.

I've also made a few potholders from leftover cotton, both to practice my crochet skills and to use up some stash yarn. Also, I made up a bag of yarn to give to my mom - I have an overabundance of white and ivory-colored yarn and she is planning some projects in just those colors. All in all, I feel pretty good about my progress - but I am going to keep going with my own private "Autumn of Stash" (and probably Winter and Spring of Stash - let's be honest!) until I am down to a "clean slate" (aside from some of my grandma's yarn that I am saving for heirloom projects). I am determined!

It was lots of fun knitting along with y'all - here's wishing you lots of fun fall knitting!

Oops

I joined Socks for Soldiers yesterday, and didn't have any black yarn for socks. So ... I ordered some (some? more like almost 3 lbs -- one ginormous skein = lots of big black socks). Why couldn't I have waited another week? I don't know.

And then I was reading Eunny's blog, and she was talking about spinning, and where she'd ordered some roving, and I followed those links, and ... ordered some roving, and some yarn got into my cart, too.

Julie

Holiday Time and temptation

Well I have been to a few store that have yarn. Nothing much and to Joann's who had the majic loops on for $9.95 from $14.95. A heck of a deal, but I thought...... will I really use them? Probablly not. So I didn't buy them. Then I was at the Walmart in Lapeer and as going to get some Softee Chunkie by Bernat (not sure the right name off hand) but showed hubby colours I wanted to make for a hat and scarf and he said no. That he wouldn't wear it. Well that save me some more money. Hoping to hit the mother load at Hobby Lobby or Mary Maxum.

So far we are having a great time. Kids have come to swim in the pool and are staying with grandma and granpa.

Talk to you later.

Almost the end!

Gee, this stash-bust-a-long is nearly done. Whew! Just in time for Rhinebeck, right?

I did gift the preschool/community center with a big bag of yarn I knew I'd never use. I also gave away some other stuff to folks at knitting group who will put it to much better use than I ever will. The stash isn't really visibly shrunken, but I know it's smaller and that's important, right? Of course right.

Back to my knitting deadline - the downside of designing is that I get sent bags and boxes of yarn even when I'm trying to get rid of it. Sigh. I'll probably have to go buy some more for some submittals due next week, too, darn it. Oh, well.

I'm not binging until tomorrow...

... but my diet hit a little snag. I'd like to blame Glampyre. Or Stitch Diva Studios. Or maybe even Boy, who finally caved in to my incessant whining, arguing, and cajoling and said it was okay. But we all know whose fault this really is.

Craftster

What, did you think I was really going to blame myself for my yarn diet slip? I will have you know I've lost plenty of yarn weight over the last three months! I lost a whole garbage-bag load of crap acrylic, for the love of Mikey! and I am proud to say that I have done some serious knitting this summer. I have finished: two sweaters, six pairs of socks, one hat, and one wrap to date. But after reading the Knitted Bodice KAL, I'm afraid I cracked. But, all in all, I think I cracked sensibly:

Angora Soft by Knit One Crochet Too in Soft Turquoise. $1.50/skein at WEBS.

How freakin' awesome is that? It's still nice enough yarn for me think it worthy of the pattern, but the entire sweater, including shipping and the pattern I downloaded today, will cost me a whole 35 dollars and 65 cents. And don't worry about my leading you into temptation, I checked today and they were sold out...

Holiday Time!

Well its holiday time for me. I will be away for 11 days and I can't wait. I was done at 3:30 pm and went to the Chiropractor and then had a massage. What a way to start vacation!

Anyway. I need to pack, BUT at least my yarn is packed. I have packed yarn for 3 dishcloths, 2 scarves and to finish a baby pattern. This all for a holiday to the states. Then we come home change up and I will bring the yarn for the kids sweater and finish them when I am there.

Have a great week!

Leigh Ann

Reality Check

I'm not wipping through the stash like I envisioned, but then again that was really not one of my true goals. One of my biggest goals was to get the stash organized. When we all first started this and everyone was figuring out their total yards and such, I was growing very envious. Not because I wanted the yarn, but because it ment that it was in at least a semi-organized manner. I mean you would have to at least know what you have to figure out the yards and stuff - right?

Well the painting of the room is finally done, and today was the first day I was able to start organizing stuff. It felt so good. In the process I also did de-stash quite a bit. Passed some on to my daughter (does that count?), mailed some out, and have a bag for the goodwill or freecycle. But with all that I got rid of at least 30 skeins.

Taking pictures in this very narrow (and very cluttered) area is hard. I can't get the full racks in a shot. Maybe when I'm totally done it will be easier.

I still have plenty of yarn left. This is the yarn from the numerous bags that never made it into one of the 40 gallon totes, and what's left from two 40 gallon totes. I still have a dresser to clean out, then it will all be in one place. It's so nice being able to see what I have instead of having to think :-) Plus I found a few surprises things I totally forgot about (like a couple of skeins of kid silk haze). I also found numerous WIP's but we won't go there. It was cool finding the needles along with the WIP's though.



On the knitting fron my airy cardi just needs to be seamed, and my lotus blossom tank just needs the arm holes finished. I'm so bad at getting to the finishing details.

Diet Deadbeat

I have been spending the summer binging instead of dieting and I should probably gracefully withdraw. I shame the rest of you with my conspicuous yarn consumption.
It all started on my trip to Macon. Now, you have to understand that in the land of Florida there is hardly a yarn store to be found within a 50 mile radius of my house. To get to these stores one has to brave mind numbing traffic. I consume online, oftentimes tempted by projects that I see on blogs or that I hear about on the occasional podcast.
Being a fairly recent knitter, my stash was not so out of control. Having subscribed to a minimalist and simpler lifestyle in the last few years, I wanted to further reduce items in my closet to projects that I could actually hope to finish in my lifetime. The trouble started when I drove my son to camp and discovered a new shop in Macon. Upon my first visit, I left the shop reeling, dizzy and intoxicated by the many skeins of Tilli Thomas, Trekking, Munsch, Debbie Bliss, Plymouth...well, I had to make a return visit. Once back in the door I had to get “just a few things”. I left with a Lantern Moon tote overflowing with goodies and a coffee cup, gift with purchase.

The dam was broken. When I returned home, Yarn Market, Elann, and Little Knits called out to me. More, more, more...I was “off the wagon”. I have since binged on sock yarn in all varieties and colors, mohair blends and skeins of variegated cottons. Each package more bountiful than the next. The Habu silk should be hitting the front porch in a matter of days.
My behavior has been shameful and glutinous at best. As I hang my head in shame, I am listing for UPS to ring the doorbell. Burp!

A Well-Edited Stash

I have knitted quite a bit this summer: a few pairs of socks, a couple of sweaters, some baby stuff, even a beach bag, a few ballband dishtowels, among other things. It represents close to 30 balls, skeins, or oddments of yarn that have been knitted into finished objects. I wish that I could have knitted some more of the stash, but this summer restored some sanity to my knitting, as my "to-knit" queue stopped growing exponentially, and some long-desired projects were finally tackled. Without the constant infusion of new yarns, I have been able to actually accomplish some knitting!

However, the most satisfying aspects of the Summer of Stash for me has been the "stash release." You may remember the big bag of acrylic-ness that I released to my kids' preschool at the beginning of the summer. I knew I would never knit with it. I also released some purple novelty yarns, purchased on sale when I first began knitting seriously 5 years ago. I had no idea what to do with it then, and now, 5 years later, I still didn't know what to do with it. I gave it to my friend, who loves purple, and is an extremely creative crochet-er, an expert at blending yarns.

I even re-purposed a long-languishing UFO, making a pillow from a cardigan. This cardigan was a knitter's failure, a loser of a project, as the sleeves did not fit around my arms. Keeping the yarn around was making me feel wasteful, and like a quitter. Now the pillow I made from the same yarn makes me feel creative and resourceful!

Sorry the pic is blurry. There may have been some apple martinis involved...

So last night, I released the last of the taunting yarns, the Plymouth Outback Mohair that has been lurking in the stash for three years. It had been knitted into a big fuzzy cowl-neck sweater, then immediately frogged, as it looked horrible on me. The pattern was for a lightweight mohair, a confection of a sweater, intended to float ethereally about the wearer. The Outback is bulky, the wrong yarn for the project, and it showed. My shoulders looked like a linebacker, and the cowl neck was so heavy it practically dragged on the ground. And so a sweater's worth of mohair, a knitting failure-in-a-bag was there in my stash. But last night, I released all of it to a fellow (blogless) SoS-er, Aileen. It is the perfect yarn for the Portland Pullover in the new IK, and this yarn is not emotionally loaded for her. For Aileen, the yarn is a potentially great project. For me, it represented a host of mistakes and bad choices, all typical beginning knitter mistakes, but ones I am still apt to make from time to time. The yarn will be loved with her.

My stash isn't significantly smaller than when I began this summer (remember my epic fall off the wagon a week or so ago?), but it has now been edited carefully, purging the guilt and failures and the useless, leaving only the loved and useful yarns behind. I now have a stash packed with potential and anticipation! What else can one ask of a Summer of Stash?

x-posted to Crossroad Knits

Make De-stashing Fun

Okay, so many of us have used far more exceptions than we intended this summer. Some will be ending with decidely larger stashes than we started with. Cough. Cough. Cough.

In the waning weeks of SOS, I have an idea courtesy of Mason Dixon Knits. So, Anne is de-stashing her entire house, and wants readers to guess how many bags she will get rid of. The winner gets a bag of yarn from the de-stashing. What an awesome idea! What a great way to get more readers. Not that I am totally jonesing for more yarn (in serious, serious withdrawal right now), but if any SOS'ers want to try this way of destashing to lower their yard count by summer's end here are some ideas:

1) Guess the total yardage in the stash contest
2) Guess the amount being donated/destashed
3) Stash for Cash--Tie stash prizes to donations for your favorite charity
4) Guess the UFO's-- picture and guess contest
5) creative use of stash contest--show the yarn and have readers come up with ideas

If anyone has tried this or wants to try it, please post it here. SOS has been a bit quite lately--let's wake it back up.

Two more projects from stash

I just finished my Tivoli (6 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay) and Shining Star (leftover from this poncho).

But my ball count is up from last time I posted, since I used my second exception to buy some SWTC Bamboo - too good of a bargain to resist (details on my blog tomorrow). But since I have a new niece, I am planning of using soon to make Samantha.

Lu

Cutie Pie

I made the tiniest dent in a ginormous garage sale haul from '05 by knitting this little baby sweater.

I have to say that I have always been a procrastinator and now that the end of SOS is in site I am knitting my stash with a vengance. No ball, skein, or hank is safe :-) But My Golly, there is a lot there! I'm gonna be pretty busy over the next month, eh?

Never Say Never

Originally, I'd said no exceptions, but over the last two weeks I took my two. Pictures are on my blog. The damage was 39 balls total. Unfortunately, my output isn't keeping up with my input, and I only have 3 Preemie Project hats to show this week.

The voice of Reason

Yesterday afternoon, I went to A.C. Moore with my 3 year-old son to find a zipper for my latest knitted baby sweater.

Of course, since I was there I went to take a look at the yarn department and irresistibly started to fill my basket (notice that I didn't take a kart) with some yummy yarn! The feeling was delightful! Because of my "yarn diet", I haven't bought yarn in quite a while now... But I was ready to shamelessly betray my commitment to SOS!

I couldn't find any zipper though... Customer Service told me that they stopped holding zippers when they stopped holding fabrics... Great!!!

I was already earing my DH saying that I went in there for a zipper and came out with yarn and NO zipper! Oh well... He'll get over that (once again) right?

As I was talking toward the registers, I heard my son saying:

- "Are you sure you REALLY need ALL that yarn? You have a lot of yarn at home..."

Out of the mouth of the Babe, right? My 3 year-old brought me back to reality!!!

So, what would you do?

Well, I left the basket in the store and walked away empty handed...

Isabelle aka Tricotine

Now I don't feel so bad...

...about the 2 skeins of sock yarn that have found their way to my house in the last couple of weeks. One of them was sort of an accident. How many times have you bid on something on eBay, and sat there refreshing your screen, watching the auction, and been outbid in the last 5 seconds? Well, I bid on a lovely handpainted sock yarn several hours before the end of the auction, then left to tour a gold mine (family vacation in Colorado), knowing I wouldn't be back before the end of the auction. And I won! So it was meant to be, right?
Then the other day, I saw another skein that I just had to have, and ordered it. But I'm good, now. Only 3 more weeks, anyway. Not that I'm going to rush out and release any pent-up yarn-buying urges.
Despite my less than perfect record, this Summer of Stash has helped me realize just how much yarn I do (still) have, and it has also caused me to slow down and really think about ordering/buying yarn willy-nilly. I still have too many works-in-progress. I think I'll spend these last few weeks of SoS focusing on finishing some of that stuff.

Julie

300th Post!

It only seems appropriate that for this blog's 300th post, that your hostesses should confess serious Summer of Stash offenses of an immense variety. Ann and Liz fell off the wagon very hard this weekend over on Crossroad Knits. Flog us or absolve us over on XRK, but be envious of the yarn we bought!

My UFO's

Hat, Pillows, Baby Bee
Originally uploaded by wavybrains.

I photographed my UFO's to give me incentive during the homestretch of SOS. Where are yours? What needs to be done to up your FO and total stash busted count in the last few weeks? You can follow the link to see notes and the rest of the UFO collection.

I"m going to earn

2 skeins of Mountain Colors Bearfoot Yarn will be mine when I make it to Labor Day without purchasing any yarn. (I also need to keep my Mom from purchasing any more for me...but that is another story.) I want the Flathead Cherry Colorway. My aunt and uncle have a small cherry orchard at Flathead Lake, so I need to get the skeins to make a special treat for my aunt and me. I had been tempted to order the skeins...but fate blocked that nasty thought by making that colorway DISAPPEAR when I refreshed the screen. I'm taking that as a hint to keep to my diet!

dobarah in Montana

Here are some of the knitting I have finished...a sweater that I had started for my DD about 8 years ago (perhaps my friends DD will be able to wear it now?) and then a shawl I used my vintage yarn to create...okay, the funky multicolored ladder yarn wasn't vintage, but it sure did add to the end product!

My Stash Reduction Knits

I see a lot of you are doing great with the Stash reduction thing. I have been knitting some small cute things with leftovers of yarn that were in my stash. See them in my blog...

I didn't buy any new yarn! YAY me!!! LOL

My next project is Kate.

Isabelle aka Tricotine

Dos it count as breaking SoS...

...if I order yarn now, but don't take delivery until November?

I'm one skein short of what I need to finish off an alternate pair of (plain) sleeves to go with my son's Skully (SnB) sweater. The Youngest Teen also wants a Skully. I live outside Knitpick's mailing area, but I want to make sure I can get the right yarn, in sufficient quantities.

I can order it now, have it sent to my NYC mailing address and pick it up next time I'm in town--early November. If it doesn't get added to my stash until then, it isn't really added now, is it?

Horray! Some FOs!!

Well I have three dish cloths finished and I am currently working on a baby sweater. I am invited to a baby shower a week from tomorrow so I am knitting like crazy. thank goodness the heat wave is done. With temps up to 48C With the humidex it was not nice to knit in and I didn't.

Hoping to get more knitting done now as I am on a role.

Leigh

Horray! Another FO from vintage yarn!

Back around 1980 I purchased 4 skeins of Brunswick Alaska Yarn in a Marine color. It is acrylic which looks like Mohair...yet there is a subtle shimmer of a metallic thread in with the hand spun look. The old label has a $3 sticker...I wonder what it would be now?

I had said that I would only purchase yarn to finish projects...well, I found that the 130 yards per skein wasn't going to make this shawl. I purchased 2 skeins of white Unger Fluffy and one of an Italian ladder yarn...I just LOVE it! I will upload a pic as soon as I get the ends woven in...this was a great use of my exception!

Need another stash busting excuse?

Hey all! Exciting to see your stash busting efforts. If you want a great stash busting excuse post SOS, Scout is having a funky scarf SWAP KAL. I am so stoked about this---and I know a lot of you probably have one or two skeins of gorgeous, divine yarn just begging to be matched with a secret pal. This is also a great chance to try out new stitches or new patterns on a smaller-than sweater scale. Anyone else know of coming KAL that we can use for more stash busting excuses????

Now it can be told

I finally sucked it up and took pictures of the whole stash. The stash lives in its own custom-shelved closet, under and on top of my worktable, and in two big drawers in the family room. Um, I also have a stash of knitting books and magazines. Hands shook as I photographed the full magnitude of the stash. Good grief. I have only fallen off the wagon to spend a gift certificate for my birthday, which I managed to spend mainly on knitting books rather than Yet More Yarn (sock yarn! sock yarn has, like, no mass and no volume, right?). There are... several pictures. I don't want to crash Blogger, so they're at my Flickr archive.

So far, so good!

www.flickr.com Liz the Crazed Weasel's Stash photoset

466

I am down to 466 balls of yarn from the 498 I had when I started this - whooo!

Recently and not so recently completed project from stash:


Yarn: Inspirations Yarn Chai and LB Cotton-ease.


Pattern from One Skein
Yarn: The Alpaca Yarn Company "Glimmer" in bronze


Yarn: Patricia Roberts Angora
Pattern from Jimmy Beans Wool

Lu

Girls Behaving Badly or How I fell Off the Wagon...

I bought yarn.

If you want to read about my shameful lack of self control you can do so here.

Toodles,

Spidey

Wanna See the Fair goodies?

This is how I have been using some of my stash...I guess it was okay that Mom has restocked my yarn shelves!





I have been busy with the Summer of Stash...and here were the Shelby fair results! First there is the Irish Scarf KAL. Then there was the poncho I made for Carly. Next there was the Felted Lopi Bag. I will take this to the State Fair...I bet it will have a better placing there as they will know more what they are looking for. Then there are the mittens,(adult was given blue, the childrens were given a red...in the larger fair there are actually 2 sections for mittens, but there is only one section here in Shelby)dish cloth, and pot holder. Finally there is a rolled brim hat, socks, and key hole scarf. Whew, there is even more knitting which didn't go to the fair, but that is for another post!