1800 Stitches a Day

Like 1800 calories a day...I too am on a yarn diet.
Here are the Koigu socks that have been frogged from a previous baggy stockinette endeavor and are now snugger with baby cables. Fortunately there's no pooling.

Next up is the Tahki Donegal Tweed sweater that I worked on for a few years before my re-born obsession with knitting. Much to my dismay I had made a plus size by mistake. DUH! This needs to be frogged and reknit into something more fitting. Ha!

Now on to the stash. This is a very strange assortment of stuff that might very well be relegated to gifts for my nieces. I am NOT reponsible for the pink Sizzle in the lower right front. That was in my goodie bag at the Knitting Festival a few years back. In the back left is some weird Lion Brand Suede, a chenille, that knits up irregularly. I was going to make a scarf for my mom since she vetoes all the wool scarves I've done for her claiming everything is too scratchy. Her complaint WAS warranted on something I made in Reynolds Lite Lopi. That one's a big OUCH. It felts GREAT for the Felted Clogs though!

Clockwise from top left: KnitPicks Quarry in (Stream?) for the Teva Durham Fringed Pullover from Loop-D-Loop; some Cascade Quattro, Shepherd Colour 4 Me, Dalegarn Falk leftovers from niece projects, Dalegarn Baby Ull, Harrisville Flax and Wool.

The sock section, clockwise from left: Trekking leftovers, Sockotta (need to make mate), Lion Brand Magic Stripes, 4 Koigu (don't have colorway info handy), and 4 Knitpicks Sock Memories. The last sock memories here looks like it might make some interesting Jaywalkers!

And last but not lusciously colorful least is the Mission Falls assortment for "Fair Isle Jazz" from Pam Allen's Scarf Style.

More conducive to creating

I always like using one of my 3 days off, when no one else but the dog is home, to organize my life. We've lived in our new old house since August, and some of the rooms aren't arranged optimally. Two nights ago while trying to get to sleep after knit night, I was envisioning how to better arrange my craft room upstairs. The ideal situation is to have a room that you can walk into and start creating, and the ability to open closets and drawers and grab what you need right away without having to sift through piles of stuff and clear space. And most of all, it's great to be able to leave works in progress out and not have to clean up afterwards. I used to be one of those dining table workers...we all know the type. My husband would come home and say, "Uh...I guess we have to eat on the porch tonight?" This would be in the dead of winter.

So, here are some before and after pics. The befores look like a dark uninviting garrett. But the afters take advantage of the northern light.



Sheeks says, "Oh, yeah, watching TV from this angle works!" There are two big closets in this room. One has coats and stuff, and the other is full of totes of supplies. My plan is to get those plastic drawer wheely things so I can see what I have and find it in an instant. The couch only weighs 3000 pounds. The dog didn't even offer to help move it. We'll be cozier when we watch movies now, sat right next to the radiator.

This is sooooo much better! That windowless wall needs mega bulletin boards! You can laugh at the curtains. They were there before us.

This antique dresser is calling to be an art supply storage chamber.

The view of the back yard from the window above the drawing table. Fortunately the window is high up. I would daydream too much if I could stare out while sitting down.

Bond...James Bond

The year is 2...007!

Well, I felt I needed to add to the knitting from stash concept being bandied about. K stole the camera today for work, so I can't take pics yet but here goes:

Projects I have the yarn for:

From Teva Durham's "Loop-D-Loop": Cast Away Fringe Pullover in Knit Picks Quarry, a boucle. Hopefully fringe will turn out like cool dreadlocks.

From Pam Allen's "Scarf Style":
1) Fair Isle Jazz in Mission Falls 1824 wool. I have most of the exact colors called for in the pattern. Tweaked a couple in the fair isle scarf ends, but at least I have the raspberry for the main section!
2) Ene's Scarf in Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud. This will be my first lace endeavor. Think I might practice first making some little heart bookmarks for Valentine's Day.

Now that I have the "Knitting Sensational Socks" book, it sheds a whole new light on sock knitting, particularly the fit. I have an unraveled pair in Koigu that I shall reknit into something sensational that won't fall down. Also have another pair in (I forget the yarn) to unravel and reknit. Only got one of these done to begin with. Was very bored with them.

Still have to finish unravelling a sweater made out of Takhi Donegal Tweed, wet it, hang it...this was a sweater mishap that turned out way too big. Over $100 in yarn is too valuable to have sitting there in a useless state. I'm not in love with the color anymore, but I think the right pattern, i.e., if it's interesting and funky enough could revive the color. Recently found a nice cabled hoodie pattern in Vogue knitting that actually CALLS for this yarn! I'll probably have enough, since the original sweater knit was erroneously a plus size. Yikes. The unravelling process is arduous as I have to unweave all the woven-in ends! This really cuts into my KNITTING time! Would be a good project to work on during a camping/cabin week.

Also have odds and ends of Reynolds Lite Lopi that are good for adult hats, some Dalegarn Falk suitable for kids hats, and some Dalegarn Baby Ull that might constitute a pair of mittens.

Last but not least there's some Harrisville Flax Wool...not sure what that will be, and some Cascade Quattro that felts beautifully. Might make some bags.

I'm collecting wool sweaters from thrift stores to felt, cut and make into a throw. Need to find some more inspiring colors. There's a great pattern for turning these into tote bags in "AlterKnits."

Needless to say, my stash is not very organized, but my new old house has a cedar closet that is ONLY for the storage of yarn! How serendipitous is that?

In review, I have no business buying any new yarn for a while...but I got gift cards and money for such for xmas AND b-day is coming up soon! What I really should get is a swift and ball winder, which cost MORE than yarn. :-)