A Tale of A Stash

Today we bring you the tall, tall tale of a stash.

Not just any stash, by MY stash. But maybe we should make this tale about the knitter....

Once upon a time, on the outskirts of town there lived a knitter. Many years ago this knitter decided to organize the tools or her trade and organized her yarn stash. It was a beautiful thing, including a spreadsheet with a listing of every odd-ball skein of yarn she had. During the course of this endeavor the knitter discovered that although she had yarn, quite a lot if the truth be told, she didn't have enough of any one thing to make the sweaters and cardigans she usually knit. This had not been a problem when her children were smaller, many a sweater was knit with two or three hanks of yarn*, but as they grew the yarn requirements got larger and larger and they were starting to get tired of stripes!

So, our knitter did what any reasonable person would do...she bought a ton of yarn online and went on knitting happily away putting sweaters on her offspring's backs on a regular basis.** As time went on, this hoard of yarn started to dwindle and she was again faced with a lack of "anything to knit with" and this time she decided on a different course.

Socks! our knitter said to herself, They only take a skein or two and I have lots of skeins or two to knit with. Alas, everyone soon grew tired of worsted weight (or worse yet lace weight) socks that didn't wear well and so she went on a hunt for a better answer. Of course she found it, in sock yarn. Amazingly there was actually a yarn specifically designed to wear like iron when knit at a fine gauge and so she started buying the "good stuff" and suddenly another stash was born...the stash of walnut sized and larger oddments of leftovers. I'll use them, she said to herself and threw yet another partial skein into the basket.

Well today I did!
That is left over Sha Sha from Land O Lace (I don't keep the tags with the left over yarn so I have no idea what colorway!) What was left from a pair of fingerless mitts paired with some Knit Picks Stroll left over from that Baby Vest I showed you the other day. You can barely see that I needed the Stroll through the lace! Match those up with Bad Cats Saint-Michel's Beret (rav link) or grab it from her blog here. This is destined to travel across the country as a Christmas gift. I almost wish I was keeping this one for myself!

While I was shopping in the oddments baskets I found the leftovers from my FrogCable Cardigan and paired them with leftovers from Skinny Durrow to get this:

Turn a Square by Jared Flood (You might know him as Brooklyn Tweed) This one has been washed again since that picture was taken yesterday as it is also destined to take a long trip across the country.

But, back to our knitters story.

The latest stash organization did turn up a couple of bags of yarn that our knitter did not recall as having, the spreadsheet organizer, being six years out of date at this point, did not help but she put them with like weights of yarn and today started using one.

Colorado Yarns, Durango. (rav link, I can't find another) and here is a picture of the started knitting :Now is it just me, or does that look like it spent time in a laundry room stash - right in the dryer vent???? I have been picking out the particularly big "tweedy bits" that seem to just lay on the side of the yarn as I go.

The moral of this story, you ask?

Wait for it...

You don't have to hide your stash in the dryer vent, there is a yarn company out there that will do that for you!

To paraphrase Bad Cat Designs....

Knit On ! Christmas is right around the corner, but I will be back tomorrow with more knitting pictures and a small, surprise delivery that is making me smile!

~M

*Part of the problem being that if you need 2 hanks of yarn to make a baby sweater she would buy three and store the third.
**Funny side story : One of the teachers my children encountered in school (preschool as it turns out) would start each day standing behind my child during the morning Pledge of Allegiance so that she could turn back their collar and see if that was a hand knit or a store bought sweater they were wearing that day! Apparently she made a game of it with herself, guessing each day if the item was a "real knit" or a "store knit".

Nothing to see here...

A favorite author of mine who hangs out (sometimes) in an online virtual bar once let the cat of the bag that she was working on "the next one" with the comments...Nothing to see here, just move along, keep moving along.

In case you hadn't noticed there are some big holidays looming in the not to distant future, and too many of my family and friends have been known to stop by here...You know who you are, so take these words to heart!

There is nothing to see here for you.

Nothing you see on this blog is for you.

These are not the Jedi you seek...oops wrong movie!

So skaddale so I can show pictures of what I am working on, already!




Yes, this means you and you know who you are! Scoot!



Are they gone?


Just in case anyone is still lurking around...Hah! I fooled you, this certainly isn't your Christmas present.

I was asked if I could replicate a store bought vest in an infant size before Christmas, and as it turns out I can.

Stats: Baby vest
Yarn : Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dyed in Soot
Needles : US 1's and 2's
Pattern : copying this one :


It has been a long time since I had any new little ones running around my house so the vest seemed to fly off my needles and while it is not an exact replica, it isn't too far off. Hopefully it is close enough to keep the new parents happy. :)

I still have one sleeve on TDQ's Christmas sweater to knit. I decided to change my system and it is actually on the back burner for a while. There are people that I have to mail gifts to and I really should get theirs knit first as I can (and have) sit up on Christmas Eve to finish things for people who live in my house.

I might be moving faster on this if I hadn't decided to make up my own pattern as I went!

Like I said, nothing to see here, you might as well move along!

~M

Bad choices and I need a photographer

There was a little finishitupus this weekend, finally cast off and blocked my second Endless Knitted Cardi-shawl This time it was knit using Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2ply in the color Ayers Rock. My intent was to use larger needles and get a softer drape than I did in version 1 and if my gauge had been consistent that might have been what I got....instead I got an almost-too-big-man-that-is-a -lot-of-drape piece that I had the bad judgment to wear with red sweat pants and pin with a double pointed needle for self portraits!

The least I could have done was brush my hair before throwing the finished piece on and trying to get pictures!

And while a double pointed needle can certainly step up and act like a shawl pin, grab a wooden one for a much better look than I presented here!

In other knitting news, such that it is, those long rows didn't stop me from making progress on my Feather Weight!

Terrible picture coming up!
No, I am not knitting a mud colored cardigan, the flash was just a little too much to show the sweater but here is the real color...
I made this longer than the pattern called for, and am about ready to start my third hank of cashmere to finish the sleeves. The Drama Queen opted to not have a lace edge on this, if I get around to making one for me it will certainly have a much more interesting border than the one she likes! But before I get there I have some more Christmas knitting to do and a sock that is crying piteously to have a heel, foot and toe so that it can join it's mate and be a pair.

~M

From my Calendar

"You can do whatever you with this information, but there are about nine weeks until Christmas. I don't know how fast you knit or what your plans are, but I thought it might be time to start thinking about it. No pressure."

I have page a day calendar with quotes from none other than the Yarn Harlot. This was today's quote, and I checked, there are nine weeks until Christmas, and even though I have been knitting like a mad woman, and have a couple of things in my Christmas Gift Stash there is plenty of knitting left to do. I am sure I can get all of my Christmas knitting done in time. I knit fast, and I have picked some pretty easy patterns for this year.

I am sure that I even have time to knit for another person or two. If I stumble across the perfect pattern or yarn.

Why just today I was browsing through Ravelry and came across.......

Who am I kidding?

You know what, face facts family and friends of mine... no matter how fast I knit, or how well I budget my knitting time someone WILL get their present still on the needles!

~M

Blame it on.....

Say hello to Dear Son #1 or The First Twin, or one of the chance brothers*, however you would like to know him! Modeling does not come easily to him, and truth be told this was still a touch damp from it's final blocking when I made him put it on for the photo shoot, so he does deserve a pat on the back for trying!

Stats:
Modified Durrow
Obviously this is a cardigan and not a pull over, V-neck not crew and much skinnier than the smallest size. I went down a needle size and down a yarn weight to get this skinny enough for DS#1, other than that I pretty much followed the pattern and had the same problem I heard about on Ravelry...the neck was too big, luckily a round of crochet from arm saddle to arm saddle tightened things up just enough for it to stay on him.
Yarn: ColourMart 3/15 Lambswool just over a cone
Size 7 (US) needles
6 buttons, which is a mistake I meant to put in 7 and mis-measured the placement for the second button so I ran out of button band before I ran out of buttons.
I am not usually a big fan of marled yarns, but this one knit up so nicely I am very glad I have another cone to play with! It took six soapy washes to get the oils out, but once they were gone the yarn softened up like you wouldn't believe. Even mister picky there likes it!

I am still working on version 2 of the Endless Knitted Cardi Shawl, being in a heavy lace weight yarn it is a time sink getting through a row and even with my putting in faggoting instead of a drop stitch pattern it is pretty boring to work on at the moment. I would say I am about half way through that long haul now, maybe for next weekend I will have a finished object shot for you.

So, having just finished miles of k4,p2 ribbing and in the middle of miles of knit one row, purl one row what did I cast on yesterday?
I would blame it on Amanda, but truth be told I bought the pattern weeks ago. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go work on my mind numbing knitting!

~M

*What? You haven't heard of the chance brothers? I am sure that you have really...There is Fat Chance and Slim Chance and although the name comes from these books one or the other of my boys is always bigger than the other so although they switch roles, calling them The Chance Brothers is my prerogative!

Where did the week go? Or Should I call this Variations?

I have no idea where the time is flying off to, if you find some of mine laying around near your house having landed somewhere nice and warm, please send it back!

There has been knitting and frogging going on here, and some cleaning up and some trial runs at being the tattooed lady!

This is the tattoo that TDQ is determined to get, for real, sometime soon! Any guesses as to what that character means? (I already know, the answer for you will be at the bottom of this post!)

I needed something quick to give me that sense that I can finish something this week, so one ball of yarn and a couple of hours later I have this:



Yeah, I know the picture quality kinda sucks, what can I say? Artificial light, a flash and cream yarn do not play well together.

Stats: Fancy Gifts and Carlsbad Flower Fields Combo
Pattern: Edging from Bad Cat Designs Little Gifts...Plain and Fancy attached to Carlsbad Flower Fields wash cloth
Yarn: Sublime Organic Cotton DK
Size 4 US needles and two hours of knitting time. Just what I needed to catch up on the online broadcasts of NCIS.
This one is going in the Christmas stack, paired with some fancy soap it will make a wonderful teacher gift.

In other cast on news...yes I seem to have forgotten the finishitis I needed!

Another version of the Endless Cardi Shawl, this time in fingering/lace yarn.


I really hope I did the math right, there is a huge difference in gauge between the pattern and my knitting. I also changed up the pattern stitches as the dropped stitch wasn't doing it for me!

And just so that you don't think I have forgotten my other knitting projects....I did finish one sock (photoless, but finished) the second is yet to be cast on....And....

The top half of a sleeve and one front to go and I will be finished my variation of Durrow!

That's all for now!

~M


*The tattoo is Crazy

Nearly halfway through...

Here we are, nearly halfway through Socktober and all I have to show is half a sock. Not even half a pair of socks, just half a lonely sock.

Through the Loops is hosting another mystery sock, this Socktober. I have snerked* through some of the in progress shots on Ravelry and have to say that I will be casting on that sock just as soon as I get something else off the needles!

The Colourmart contest is still running, and I am still slogging through K4,P2 ribbing for that. I have now completed : one sleeve, one back and started on one front. The first twin has suggested a cardigan would be nice, so I split that pullover front up the middle and am working two fronts instead of one.

In other news, sometimes having an unemployed nephew is a good thing...look at what he got done today!

He took my house from this :

Click to embiggen and see all the moss/algea growing on the siding!

To this :

Click to embiggen and see clean siding!

Well, if I am ever going to be able to cast on some through the loops mystery socks I had better get knitting on other things!

~M

* from the verb snerk meaning to give spoilers or hints