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Posts Tagged ‘stash’

Project promiscuity

12 Sep

I switched projects again yesterday. Although more linen will be here today, and I still haven’t finished the cardigan, the lovely Fern Lace was tossed aside for some Hillswick Lumber.

Wait a sec. That sounds as if I was called by the fair isle’s siren song. That’s not quite what happened. I’ve been lusting after a new project. Symptoms: adding projects to my Ravelry queue; trolling yarn stores, both online and local; beginning the convoluted rationalizations required for a major stash acquisition.

To stop myself, I pulled out all my stash (ok, all my yarn stash) (well, except for sock yarn) and spread it on the floor. And there’s quite a bit there. Sweater-sized portions of Cascade 220, Sierra, and Harrisville Shetland, all the yarn for Feitelson’s Sandwater Jumper; tank-sized lots of misc. cotton; two shoe boxes of leftover Shetland, with no more than 400 yds of any color; and many leftover skeins of DK-to-worsted wool, perfect for hats, scarves, mittens, or perhaps an afghan.

I can knit for a year or more without buying any yarn.

Looking at this pile o’ yarn, I was rightly ashamed of shopping. So I convinced myself that finishing one of my UFO’s would be just penance. Irish Moss is almost out of yarn, which means I have to spin more … which will happen, but not today. Fern Lace has already been ruled out, because it’s not summer here any longer. [Looks like we'll have plenty of cool weather for Lisa when she gets here.] So Hillswick was elected.

To cure the itch for something new, I found this video showing how to hold both yarns in my left hand. I practiced all day, but it was annoying. I kept having to re-wrap and re-tension the yarn. I’m looking for the Aha! moment today or perhaps tomorrow.

 
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Posted in Knitting

 

When startitis strikes

15 Mar

kauni-skeins1.jpgSo … yarn is arriving here daily (at least for the last 2 days, though it’s pretty much over it still feels like such an avalanche) and I’m wondering where to start. Last night’s package was four big balls of Kauni Effektgarn 8/2, in the colorway, to make the Ruth Sørenson‘s Kauni Rainbow cardigan. Yes, these skeins are the same colorway, they’re just wound from a different starting point in the color sequence. I actually started rewinding one of the skeins, just to make sure. I had to cast on immediately, even though I swatched the Cascade Sierra that arrived on Thursday.

Everyone in the entire universe has knit this cardigan, nearly all from the same colorway. This makes me a lemming, and a late one at that. But. It’s interesting to browse through the finished sweaters in Ravelry, and see how the relative starting points affect the finished piece. I’ve been examining the ribbing on all of them, to see what I like best, and I’m not sure I’ve got what I want. So it’s paused while I get out my crayons and thinking cap. There’s about 100 gr more yarn than I need, so it won’t hurt to start partway up the skein.

Best wishes to Corrie and Bowden, who are tying the knot in Indianapolis today! I wish I could be there. My advice to Corrie: Don’t ask for advice from me. I didn’t get the marriage thing right, even with a do-over.

 
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Posted in Knitting

 

Well, blow me away

30 Jan

Literally. The temp has dropped 10 degrees in the last 90 minutes, and the winds are howling. What a great day to stay home! I can get some cleaning done, relax a bit, and hang out with the cats, listening to the house creak and shiver in the wind. Everything is icing over, so Be safe out there everybody!

I fell off the yarn wagon Sunday, and ordered some STR plus the pattern for Titania’s Revenge socks, after seeing this picture of them finished (this is the Ravelry link). I am so charmed by the crazy lacy cuff, and I even got this same colorway. No imagination lately, but I will have color. I’m hoping they’ll be here Saturday or Monday, and I can spend some Quality Time with them before going back to the grind.

Meanwhile, I’ve got 2700 yds of Harrisville Shetland burning a hole in my pocket, so to speak. I frogged and re-skeined it last weekend, after the horrible Fulmar Incident of 2004 – in which I knit nearly the entire back before noticing it was 30″ wide. I’m still dying to have this sweater, though – so I’m casting on again, this time with 3.0mm needles instead of 3.25 (“size 3″ doesn’t always mean the same size, flip that needle gauge over and read the mm size). My swatch, again, is perfect after washing and blocking, though it was significantly wider & shorter than gauge pre-block. Must remember that, and knit to row count instead of length. And not be alarmed when my 24″ back measures 28″ or larger. Maybe another swatch, unblocked, because I don’t remember how wide this one was before washing.

 
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Posted in Blather

 

It's a wrap

31 Dec

So much for 2007. It was the best of years, it was the worst of years …

I’ve not been blogging much, because I’ve been so whiny. So much is good in my life, but I’m only seeing “the pits” right now. I’m taking steps to correct this, so hopefully 2008 will be better.

Finished projects this year: I can’t remember any. No, that’s not true. I did finish the Endpaper mitts yesterday (woot!), and a scarf and socks for Christmas gifts. I finished the Meilenweit socks in early December. Before that – not a single FO since the yak wimple (where is that, anyway? I could use it now!) and the green socks last January.

I got two skeins of laceweight soy silk from Lisa for Christmas (Thank you, Lisa, it’s marvelous!) and I’m looking for a good pattern. I’d like to try something beaded, maybe. We’ll see.

On the needles now: second CTH sock, and Rowan’s Patti. Pattern is here, with an awful picture. I’m using KnitPicks Merino Style in Sage, with US 5 needles, and getting a fairly firm fabric.

Another two days off from work. Today’s mission: car maintenance. Then nothing but lying about eating leftover turkey & stuffing, until next year.

 
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Posted in Blather