Rectification of Stash Multiplication Situation

I am convinced that stash can reproduce on its own. Admit it. You know it happens when you aren't looking. The stash is fornicating behind your back. Don't be one of those knitters in denial. We know who you are. You think, "My stash would never do that. I taught it better." Wrong. Just think about the following situations from my own stash.

Here comes Mal, the sexy, slinky stash siren.


She meets up with Jamie, a rough around the edges dude from Scotland. It's love at first sight.


And voilà! More stash.


This is just one of dozens of examples from my own stash. Here's another:

Ella + Cass


Meet Cass Jr.


Rob and Bonnie got together...


... and look! TRIPLETS!


I cannot watch the stash to prevent this from happening. A woman has to work now and then to support herself. So I've hired some help. Meet Scrappy, Stash Muppet and Chaperone Extraordinaire.



He's not too scary, but he is ever vigilant, ready to report any naughty goings on each time I open the stash cabinet.

Welcome, Scrappy!

Mission: Stash Organization

So I've been kicking around some ideas for a combination craft room and guest bedroom for a while now, and I finally started to take action. Dad built me this desk armoire when I graduated from college just a few years ago, but when I moved into the new house, I decided to repurpose it. It was going to be an additional clothing and linen storage area. Which is stupid, because I have a walk-in closet, a regular clothes closet, and a linen closet, not to mention two dressers. So it's just been sitting there full of junk for five years. Not anymore.




Yarn is stored in crates and bins by color.


A rainbow of stash.


Variegated and pinks/purples. Note to self: do not ever let Small Children #1 and #2 see the box on the right lest they beg you to knit all sorts of things with it.

The right side of the cabinet also has storage bins for more yarn.




Neutrals and the sock blankie stash.

I also purchased some containers to store needles, buttons, and other notions. The cupboard isn't completely organized yet, but I made a significant dent in the past few days. Yay! Progress on my declaration to improve the house and reduce the stash.

Okay, stop rolling on the floor laughing now about me reducing the stash. Admittedly, the stash has indeed grown this year. But doing this made me realize all the yarn that I've accumulated. It's time to stop buying stash.

Maybe.

If you think I have a lot of stash, check out this knitting space (scroll down a little). Fantastic, isn't it? Totally cozy. This is my inspiration for my craft room, although mine will be much less pink. But I hope it ends up equally cozy in the end.

And if you think that's a crazy big stash, brace yourself, then check this out.

Reincarnation

This yarn hates me.

First it wanted to be this:


Then it wanted to be this:


And now it wants to be something else. It keeps reinventing itself, and every time it reinvents itself, the product just isn't quite right.

Michael Jackson. This yarn is Michael Jackson.

Oops Aplenty

Wow. I really blew it this week with the yarn purchases. Aside from the 220 I purchased for the vest, these all managed to come home with me this week.



But here's the even bigger mistake I made this week.



This is a ginormous Thermis. Ginormithermis? Anyway, the finished measurements are supposed to be 18 inches in circumference and 7.5 inches from top to bottom. Ginormithermis measures 23.5 inches in circumference and 9.25 inches from top to bottom. This is what I get for refusing to do a gauge swatch. I had a sneaking suspicion it was too big, and yet I sewed on the pretty buttons.


See? Pretty.

And then I tried on Ginormithermis and was dismayed when I didn't even have to unbutton it to get it over my head.

When I told Mom that I was going to have to reknit, she gently suggested I make something that she can button around her neck rather than pull on over her head. Back to Sarah Beckman's Mock-Cable Neckwarmer, I think.

Interjections Abound

Just two short things to say this evening...

YIPPEE!

I spy buttons, needles, and thread. A trip to the post office is on the agenda for tomorrow.

OOPS.

We really, really wanted to come home from the yarn shop so that we can become this vest. After all, it is Vestuary.

Favorite Things Friday—Fearless Fibers

Hello, all! Sorry I missed another Friday. I was attending the 24th annual Silver Bells in the City. My good friend Carol's church bell choir gives a concert immediately following the lighting of Michigan's Christmas tree and fireworks display. A good time was had by all, despite the below-freezing temperatures.

I finished my Smoke Rings Cowl just as the weather turned brutally cold, and I've worn it a couple of times already.



I loved working with this yarn, Fearless Fibers Superwash Sportweight Merino. I'm pretty new to the world of indie dyers; this was only my third time purchasing hand-dyed yarn. I just love Deb's colors. They are not quite variegated, not quite semi-solid. I purchased this yarn along with some Superwash Merino Wool Sock in the Gluttony colorway this past fall.



To purchase Fearless Fibers yarn, go to Deb's Etsy shop.

Yarn
Fearless Fibers Superwash Sportweight Merino in Smoke

Needles
Size 5, 3.75 mm

Pattern
Stacked Eyelet Cowl by Ami Madison

Irons in the Fire

I've done it again. Too many irons in the fire. A rundown of my current WIPs and where they stand...

I went to my mitten class today and learned stranded knitting. Not so bad with bulky weight yarn. Holding the second color in my left hand is still a little fiddly, but I'm quite proud of myself. I'm sure it'll be more difficult when I use a finer yarn for my Selbu class in a couple of weeks, but overall I'm pretty happy with how easy it was. I was really worried that I'd have a lot of trouble using my left hand.

Today in class I finished the cuff and the thumb gusset of the first mitten.



Janeen is a great teacher. She even brought us a "happy bag," a present to open when we got frustrated and needed a break. I didn't even need to open mine, so I opened it at the end. A pair of scissors, which is great because mine always disappear. I swear Scooter takes them and hides them.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who voted in my poll! As you can see, I stuck with the original colors.

A pair of fingerless mitts is well underway for a certain someone. I'm sure she can figure out who she is if she reads my blog. The button kinda sorta gives it away.


These two neckwarmers need to be finished... weaving in of ends, sewing on of buttons, washing and blocking. That sort of thing.


I started this little Yoda toy almost a week ago and haven't touched it since. (The picture below is from the pattern. I have about 2/3 of the head done and that's it.)


My Pundit Babies have also lay dormant since I started them. Hopefully I'll have my little boy and girl donkeys done by the election. I wanted to have them done sooner, to ride them around on my dashboard these past few weeks.


I participated in a swap to get some more sock yarns for my blanket.


And I'm organizing a similar one for worsted weight yarns.

I've been summoned by the staff at my school (actually, I volunteered) to knit a toddler-sized beanie in our school's colors. Our principal is adopting a little guy from Russia, and he needs some Panther gear. I need to swatch for that tonight!

Finally... I abandoned the idea of knitting the pair of Spey Valley socks for Socktoberfest. They were supposed to have been for my brother's birthday, which was Friday. Sorry, Joel. Maybe next year. On another note, it's freezing in my house and I would like to knit a pair of socks for myself. It's going to have to wait until I knock a few of the above projects off, though.

Newly acquired stash is tempting me, calling my name, saying "Cast me on! Make something out of me!"





All right. Enough blogging. I'd better get knitting.