Oops…I Did It Again

I took a step (or several) backwards on my 2013 destashing project. And it was worse than last time, lol.

I had several special requests after my 10 year reunion from old classmates and family members who saw me knitting. Not my fault right? I mean the FOs they requested couldn’t be filled from my stash without detracting from the usefulness/beauty of the item. (Which by the way is sort of the point of de-cluttering my stash. I want to get to where I buy yarn a few projects at a time!)

So here is a little stash flash of what I purchased from Knit Picks

Brava Bulky in red, black, peapod, solstice heather, and cobblestone heather

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Easy care acrylic yarn that is destined to be a multitude of baby items requested at my reunion. (It’s also easy on the pocketbook!)

Swish Worsted in Lost Lake heather and Squirrel heather

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This wool blend is for some warm hats for a friend who works outside all winter!

And finally Felici Fingering Self Striping Sock Yarn in mixed berry, aquarium, and peachy!

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This was a little “just for me” yarn I threw in my shopping cart. I needed some incentive to teach myself to make socks! How can I go wrong with a beginner sock pattern and self striping beautifulness?

Just nobody tell my hubby I bought yarn again, ok?

Happy Knitting!!

Breaking the Yarn Diet

I broke my stashbusting trend a bit. I had to swing over to the Yarn Barn, my LYS, and get more Soak. And I browsed while I was there….

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I have been watching other knitters post about Neon by Joji Locatelli. So I bought the pattern online and picked the lovely yarn above…

It’s 12 hanks of Berroco Pure Pima cotton in green. It’s a new yarn from Berroco. (I think I’m quickly becoming a Berroco kind of girl) It’s very spring like to me and just called my name. It’s a very soft cotton and I can’t wait to try it!

I have so many other WIPs it will have to wait a bit. For now I’m just going to mark up the directions for my size and read the pattern through a few times. It’s by far one of the most complicated sweaters I will attempt. It uses the contiguous construction method, which looks amazing.

For now it sits in cakes on my craft desk and I fondle it every time I walk by, lol! The hubs and I are off to a BBQ for lunch with friends and some relaxation!!

I hope you have an awesome Sunday!!

P.S. I did remember to buy Soak as well. That justifies my trip right?

FO Friday: My New Craft Space!!!

One big item is crossed off my vacation t0-do list, setting up my craft room! I spent most of Wednesday getting everything unpacked and situated. I’ll apologize for the photos. I took them with my DSLR but there is no natural light in this particular room and Photoshop can only do so much.

Here are the before shots:

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About half of those boxes are my craft supplies and the other half is just boxes that got dumped in the room as we set up the rest of the house. I’m happy to say that most of the house is now set. We are still waiting on a new bed to be delivered and my parents to bring the upstairs living furniture that we are “inheriting”.

But I digress….now the after photos. And I’m really proud of how it turned out!!!

_MG_0392First up is my yarn stash, all my reading books, and finished scrapbooks. I picked up some clear storage bins at Big Lots and thanks to my all 2013 destashing efforts all my yarn fits in the bins on the right. I can see what I have now and no more under the bed storage. I prefer to organize my yarn by fiber type rather than weight/category.

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This is my fabric storage, sewing machine, craft books, and other craft bits. I hope to find a chair so this will become my regular blogging spot. I mostly likely will sew upstairs on my dining room table but will store everything down here.

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Behind the door is where I put my old notebooks and my WIP scrapbooks and other assorted bits. I don’t want to store too much here as the furnace is on the other side of the peg board and puts out occasional dust.

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And finally our second guest bed and my new “couch” in the craft room. We are getting a new master bed and moving our old master bed to the guest room. So this bed had to go somewhere. It will be a nice place to stretch out and knit and when we have extra company we can pull it out for guests.

I can’ t wait to get to crafting in my new space!! TGIF!!!

 

Holy Cow I Knit A Lot!

My husband asked me the other day much yarn have I used in my “2013 Stashbusting Quest”. I honestly didn’t have an answer, so I sat down to do some calculations. (Thank god for Ravelry and my OCD need to organize and catalog everything!) I have completed the following so far in 2013:

Completed Projects Yds/Feet Used

Chevron Lap Blanket 1,308/3,924

Rachelle’s Cowl 206/618

Mere’s Cowl 206/618

Zig Zag Baby Blanket 684/2,052

Balaclava 196/588

Holy Cowl 206/618

Cascading Ruffles Scarf 33/99

Chevron Baby Blanket 548/1,644

Wonky Cowl 81/243

Seed Stitch Ear Warmer 27/81

Tardis Washcloth 48/144

Frilly Knit Scarf (2) 60/180

Waves N Ripples Blanket 680/2,040

Evening Sparkle Scarf (4) 40/120

That is a total of 14 projects and 4,323 yards of yarn goodness. All that translates into 12,969 feet or 2.46 miles of knitting! And then I went through my current WIPs:

WIPs Yds/Feet Used

Cascading Ruffles Scarf 30/90

Baby Girl Chevron Blanket 684/2,052

Simple Stockinette Baby Blanket 516/1,548

Waffle Blanket 315/945

Simple Raglan Cardi 721/2,163

My five current WIPs total 2,266 yards fiber and that is 6,798 feet or roughly 1.29 more miles of knitting. This brings my total Stashbusting 2013 up to a grand total of 6,589 yards of yarn or 19,767 feet, or 3.74 miles of yarn heaven. I did have to purchase extra skeins to complete my Chevron Lap blanket to get a satisfactory length and I did splurge on a clearance batch of Natures’ Choice Organic Cotton. But otherwise I knit completely out of my stash!!

Here’s hoping I can keep it going! Now I’m off to spend time back home with the Parental Units sans my husband. He is currently buried under his CIS/IT midterms and quite frankly is too grumpy to spend three hours in the car with let alone all weekend at my parents. I feel comfortable saying that because he doesn’t read this blog….that I know of…

Happy Knitting!

Falling Off The Wagon

I had a moment of weakness….a fairly large one. Despite having quite the large stash at home and my 2013 destashing objective…..I bought yarn, quite a lot of it…

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I was at Micheals in Sunday for their big sale (first mistake) and I found the Lion Brand Organic Cotton on CLEARANCE! With my coupons it was just $5 a skein when it retails for $9 most places. I gave in (second mistake) and bought what they had left.

I really really like this cotton! It’s soft and strong and oh so luscious!! I added 21 skeins to my stash. But I’m going to go with The Yarn Harlot’s point of view on this one and say a sale is too good to pass up. I got great cotton at a great price, win win! I’ll just have to knit that much harder through my stash.

No sense in crying over spilt milk so onward I knit! Have you ever gone overboard on yarn?

Stashbustin’ Post #3

I love portable small projects!

The cold weather has put my knitting into overdrive. I have a lot of Loops and Threads Charisma and Premier Yarn Serenity Chunky Weight in my stash and I’m chewing through it!

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I have blogged about this before, but I purchased a fun pattern Trinity Stitch Headband from Angela Juergens. About half a skein of either of the above yarns makes one headband. (I alter and take out a few pattern repeats in the pattern for a shorter headband.) I have been packing one of these in my purse every where I go and I’m knocking out some bulky FOs at a pretty good clip.

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Still need to select and sew on buttons but I’m delighted to see my pile growing. So far my destashing is going full steam ahead….fingers crossed that it continues!

Happy Knitting!!

Stashbustin’ Post #2

I have WIP-itis……and it’s bad.

I cast on another WIP just because I felt like it. I have at least five baby showers to knit for (that at least partially substantiates my WIP-itis right?)

I have a LOT of Caron Simply Soft Solidsbin my stash. I picked up most of it from a destashing friend years ago when first learning to knit. It’s soft and washable and I used to love it. But my admiration has flagged a bit and its been relegated to mostly baby knits.

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I found the Waffle Blanket (free pattern) through a Pinterest pin linked to a Ravelry pattern. I was smitten immediately and cast on! Not sure who this blanket is destined for yet but I have a few months left to decide. I’m very optimistic and can’t wait to see the finished product.

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I knocked out the border and one repeat of the pattern while watching a TV DVR-ed episode. It’s very pretty and I’m sure after a couple repeats very memorizable.

I must have baby blanket fever!! (Or baby fever if you ask my mother.) Stay tuned for updates on this and my Waves and Ripples Blanket!

Happy Knitting!!

Stashbustin’ Post #1

A few years ago I made a couple electronic device covers from the Premier Yarn pattern.. It was a nice knit that was easy to memorize and visually pleasing. That stitch pattern has been bouncing around in my brain for awhile. I thought an adaptation of it would make a lovely crib blanket…

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I pulled some Brava Bulky from Knit Picks from my stash in cream and white. I modified the pattern to 134 stitches and alternating color stripes but otherwise using the same two row repeat pattern.

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I shall call it my waves and ripples blanket. It’s a little curly right on the needles but I think a little blocking in the end will go a long way. I’m not sure which of the five spring baby showers this will be for but it’s destined for a new bundle of joy! Follow my Rav notes here.

Happy Knitting!!!

Stashbustin’

I have a yarn stash problem……

Between great sales and coupons and then impulse purchases, I have A LOT of yarn. I need to work through it. My goal for 2013 is to bust my stash down to size. I need to choose a project for skeins in my stash or donate to a worthy cause!

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I’m almost done with one stash project, a One Row Blanket de la Harlot! It used up four skeins of Caron Simply Soft and is destined for a new momma and baby in the spring.

Feels good to knit for people I care about AND bust down my stash. Here’s to hoping I can stick to the plan!!!

Happy Knitting!