Unfurling

I just moved. It's closer school, which is nice. It's big change and adjustment.

I'm completely overwhelmed by the amount of yarn I have. I gave away so much over the summer, yet I still have 4 large storage bins full (not to mention the overflow into random areas). I'm making good progress getting through the cotton stash. I'm trying to make a decent amount of stock for etsy.

Today I stuck my hand in the top of one of my storage bins (you can just see the corner of it in the photo), and grabbed the first thing in there. It was some fake mohair stuff that's been lurking in the stash for a while. It pills like crazy. (I knit a hat for Vince using that along with a strand of icky green acrylic and it looks insane now.) I hope that blending it with two other oddly fuzzy yarns will make it a little less crazy looking after a few wearings. I am knitting a chunky little hat out of a strand of peach, pale grey, and the original tan fake mohair. I knit about half of it earlier today, but it turned out waaaaay to big for my head. I ripped it out and started again. I'm almost done with it. I'm not sure how I feel about it for me. It might go into a charity box.

The girl can't help it.

My socks haven't been touched in a few days. I've been concentrating on getting the Minimalist Cardigan done. I'm to the sleeve shaping on the fronts and should be able to get those done and ready to be blocked today or tomorrow. Maybe not today... we have Geeks Who Drink trivia tonight. We're on a hot streak having won last week!! Woo!

I'm working so hard to finish the MC because I want to knit quite a few other things but I am trying to not be a complete slag and actually finish a few BIG things before I start casting on for a million other things.

But I do have a nice little queue waiting - in no particular order...

Summer Tweed Lace Ribbon Scarf. I'm so excited to finally knit the gorgeous Rowan Summer Tweed Lauren got for me so long ago! Have I mentioned how much I am in love with everything Rowan puts out? I love their yarns! I will have to knit up a little swatch to see what size needles I will need. No one on Ravelry has knit this with Summer Tweed yet which really surprises me.

Nob Hill is also on the menu. I need to dig around and figure out what yarn to use. I might just double strand some stuff or look for some bulkier yarn in the stash. I'd really like to do it in colors similar to the ones in the photo, but I think the only bulky yarns I have are bright blue, red and black... We'll have to investigate.

I also have a few hats to knit: an earflap hat for a friend and a floppy hat for a friend's boss's daughter.

And last on the list for now is Alexa. I really need some short sleeved cardigans for the chilly evenings here in Boulder. I have some nice royal blue yarn that I think will look lovely with this. It's Caron One Pound, but I think it will knit up nicely for this. I'm lacking any sort of yarn budget right now so I'm knitting from the stash. It's time to get that thing under control!

What good little knitters do.

My stash is a mess. Always has been. I'm sure it's better than some people's. I've been pretty good about pairing like yarns in ziploc bags and then shoving them into hiding spots. Most of my stash are orphans though. I don't usually buy yarn with projects in mind - something I'd like to change. I tend to buy things because it's pretty, it feels nice or it's one sale. Maybe all three. So I have a lot of single or double balls. That's the majority of my stash.

I'm trying to be good and match things up with patterns. I freely admit that I would not be doing this it it were not for Ravelry and my new printer. So far I've matched up quite a few things. I've printed patterns and shoved them into the bags along with the yarn. I'm really proud of myself. Now I have an actual working queue. Want to knit a scarf? I have 2 lacey ones waiting. Hat? I've got waiting so far. I should have more in just a little while. Charity knitting? I have a lot of pale pink Cotton-Ease that has been in my stash for about 5 years. I printed off two baby bootie patterns and am looking for those series of hats I queued the other day.

This all started because of my upcoming trip to Ohio. I'm finally off to see a surgeon about my stupid gimpy knee. I will be without the BF, the dog, the internet and the DVR for 2 weeks. I need things to knit.

On the Sesame front - I am having some issues with the sleeves. I want to shorten the sleeves just a bit --- but if I do, the stripes won't match up. Ugh. I guess I just have to deal with long sleeves.

Spazzy Scarf

I decided to knit a scarf late Friday afternoon. I plucked some random balls of crazy sparkly yarn out of the stash and set off.

3 strands held together + size 19 needles = fun & fast knitting.



I used some "vintage" Caron Dazzle Aire in Earth Glow (2 strands of that) and Light Rust (which is actually peach). It's from the Oma stash. I'm trying to do some major stash busting and this helped. I just kept knitting in 1x1 ribbing until I ran out of yarn. The scarf is huge, soft and fluffy. I really like the way it turned out and it didn't take all that long. Plus, the huge bamboo needles were a welcome vacation for my hands. I will definitely make some more of these to use up some more stash yarn. They will make great gifts.