Holiday Trimmings

Over the holidays we baked,









peanut butter blossoms,









chocolate chippers,

clockwise from top:

coconut macaroons,

lemon poppy seed, and

pfefferneusse.

Happy New Year!

Stash Reduction!

I picked up the manos and the free pattern during the yarn hop. It's now a hat for my hubby -- our new dog, Elsa, ate the last one. Well, at least now we know that she likes wool -- no laying handknits around -- or balls of yarn, for that matter. And yes, that would be me in the picture -- glamour shot taken a very long, long time ago. Stash Reduction: 1 sk

Here's my Clapotis! This is a lot of fun. I started out using markers but removed them (purling the dropped stitch on the stockinette side, instead) to make this more portable. Yarn is Cherry Tree Hill wool/silk in one of their "potluck" colorways. Twice a year Cherry Tree has this big sale, one on Labor Day and one on New Year's Eve. Projected Stash Reduction: 4 sks

Finally, I finished a One Skein Wonder for K. She had a formal dance to go to and a summer dress that she wanted to wear so we had to "winterize" it just a bit. I finished this in 2 evenings and 1 lunch hr. Started it on a Wednesday eve to be worn that Friday eve! Stash Reduction: 0 sk, sadly this yarn wasn't in my stash...it was in K's!

The Stash

It's uh, getting a little out of hand. You can't see all the stash in this picture. Most of the stash is in plastic tubs. This is, um, just the new stuff that doesn't fit in the tubs. Basically what happens is I buy yarn, add it to the database, put it in a ziplock bag and throw it into the left side of the stash room. Oh, did I mention I have a stash room? It's a room built in the garage. It's 14'x10' and has 4 book shelves, a big work table, 4 organizers for my rubberstamps (3 of which you can see here) and tubs of yarn and fiber. I used to be able to walk around the work table, which is now also piled high with bags of yarn.

I can't buy more tubs. They won't fit in the stashroom. But I can't get to my rubberstamps w/out wading through the sea of yarn. More importantly I can't find any of the "new" yarn. I needed a "temporary" solution. Something that I can use now that can be easily put away when I don't need them anymore -- you know like when I knit up the yarn in the tubs, right? So I bought a bunch of these. Cute huh? It's a laundry bag (Walgreens). And it pops open to one of these! I needed 8 and I also bought 4 laundry baskets (same idea, different format) for all the yarn on the work table. They hold a lot of yarn -- probably more than a tub and you can stack them, sort of. They're super light (when empty) and you can see through the netting (if you look closely). It kinda solved the problem. At least now I only have to move a few of these as opposed to all the wading. And I found the yarn I was looking for (Sea Silk for a WIC shawl). The next thing to do is figure out what's in each bag/basket, label it and add that "temporary" location to the database.

Yarn on Tuesday

You know how people hate Mondays? After a nice weekend doing whatever going back to work the following Monday really bites. Not for me though. I'm ok on Mondays. I accept that I work 5 days a week (sometimes more) and thoroughly enjoy my weekend (whenever I get the chance). When Monday rolls around I go to work still high on the buzz of the weekend's activities. Now, Tuesday -- that's hard. The weekend is now a distant past and there's still a good portion of the work week to get through before Saturday rolls around again. Tuesdays are when I really need that yarn fix. Used to be you could go to any yarn store and buy yarn on a Tuesday. There are a few yarn stores open 7 days a week, mostly though they are closed 1 day and that day is either Sunday or Monday. But now there are stores that are closed on Tuesdays. I get the point -- if you're going to be open both Sunday and Monday then being closed on Tuesday works -- and maybe Tuesday is the slowest day of the week. And if I know a yarn store is closed on Tuesday I'll just go to one that's not. I work in Santa Clara and if I really need the medicinal qualities of yarn fumes I'll turn my car south on a Tuesday, north on a Monday and I'm fine. It's okay, really. As long as I know.

This last Tuesday though I decided to go further north. I thought, yeah, that's the store where I left my shop hop passport -- I'll go pick it up -- I earned a bumper sticker and I can ask about those beads I bought for that scarf and see if I have enough. Then I can go to that italian deli and get a prosciutto sandwich on fresh foccacia, ooh and a limonata. Convinced I got in my car and headed north. Way north. I parked behind the store. Walked around the block to the front only to find that it was closed. On Tuesday. Damn. Well, it's a short week. Sigh. Ok, I'm here I might as well get my sandwich. I walked up the block, entered the deli and placed my order at the counter. I went to the beverage cooler and picked up my limonata. And while I waited I thought, I really wanted to buy some yarn. Nothing in particular, just a little something...in pink -- sock yarn? Yarn for hand warmers? A little fair-isle project? I was lost in my little yarn daydream, I absentmindedly went to pay for my lunch that I got to go, when it hit me like a sack of sweet potatoes -- there's another yarn store in this town. I headed out the door and back down the street. It was a nice day and the limonata was quite refreshing. I'd gotten a small one and finished it just as I got to the door of the other yarn store, it was open. Yes!

Ah the sweet smell of wool. Ooh the touch of cashmere -- mmm, a nice deep pink colored cashmere blend in the odd ball bin, on sale, 1, 2, 3 balls, score! Hey and what's this? Wool silk in lavender blue and deep purple yummy, we'll need some gray for those fair isle hand warmers. Oh look, sock yarn -- alpaca sock yarn -- hey I don't have this color, a cool red and rose with a touch of gray. I can feel the tension leaving my body. I'm in heaven. I go to pay for my goodies. And I leave the store $70 poorer but I can see the end of the week -- hey and it's a short week. As I pull into the parking lot at work I smile. I leave my purchase in the car. I head up to my desk with my lunch and log into my computer. And, I note what yarn stores are closed on Tuesdays. At least now I know.

If you want a quick fix and need to know where you can buy yarn, right now -- be sure to check knitmap I should have, well, maybe not.

I'm on Ravelry!

OMG! Gotta admit, I sorta tried to resist it. Like a ostrich I buried my head in the ground and pretended it was not there. I signed up and I think I waited, what, a month? But I didn't hold my breath, I wasn't expecting an invitation anytime soon. I keep track of my projects using NeedleTrax. And what was this Ravelry thing but a way to keep track of projects? I've got my lists of "dream projects", "WIPs", "FOs", books, patterns, and oh yes, the stash. Any of which I can export to excel spreadsheets and download to my PocketPC and have at my fingertips. Who needs a new system? I mean really. I was blissfully happy in my own little world.

And then my world imploded. Two things happened pretty much simulaneously: 1) my Yahoo! Photos got move to Flickr and 2) I got my invitation to Ravelry. After a little frustration (step away from the computer, go knit) trying to get my Flickr account settings so Ravelry can see my pictures, I was golden. That was yesterday and I got 5 projects up -- 3 wips, 2 FO's and a few books. This morning I've got 2 computers going. One has Picasa and Flickr running so I can upload more pictures into Flickr. And this one's got Blogger and Ravelry going so I can add more projects, books, and I don't know maybe yarn. I mean should I even go there? This is madness! But evil good fun.

The goal today is to get some of my favorite FO's up and start a "queue". I'm not going to take a picture of every yarn I have and project planned. At least, not today. I will also try to get most of the WIP's in. This one's already there:

Florence Shrug is done. Vivace Bamboo in Rainbow. It's big and it, um, grew, but I'm moving on. After 10+ years knitting you'd think I'd know my own gauge! I do know my personal sock gauge, I durned well knit enough socks to know that 64sts around with size 1 or 2's works for me. I've yet to find that magical formula for sweaters that fit. So far it's work the next size smaller w/ needles also down a size. Yes, I'm a loose knitter. And no, I didn't do that with Florence. Sigh.

Now that I've finished something that was ALREADY ON NEEDLES I don't feel so bad starting a Clapotis (in CTH wool silk) and Lady Eleanor (with CE Embrace, oh yes I did). They're already up on Ravelry. And with all this "ravelry" going on, I'm ready to finish up some more stuff. Next off the needles: Jester Scarf (no really) and Tokyo Bloom which will now be a shrug. If you're on Ravelry -- I'm "fiberdev".

Finishing

The yarn harlot sets the pace in this knitting household. Although I can't keep up, I do try. She was on a finishing stint but has since moved on. She finished Kauni, I bought the kit. She finished MS3, I'm on clue 3. She received her reward yarn. I ordered mine and since it's "dyed-to-order" it'll be awhile.

Having just bought a whole slew of projects the guilt in not finishing anything was weighing heavy on my shoulders. Looking at the mountain of work ahead of me seemed too overwhelming. Everything currently on needles either needed lots of knitting or lots of thought. But I had to finish something...so I cast on this:









Sometimes you need a boost.

The Haul

Not bad for a weekend jaunt, eh? Ok, ok -- the bag in the back right only 2 of those colors were purchased during the hop. That's the Rowan Summer Tweed, now I have enough for the Tobias sweater -- you like the colors? Bag in the back left -- that's four hanks of Schaefer Esperanza, yum. Also in the basket are 2 sks of Suri Elegance -- enough for a full sized shawl. Among the bags here there are 2 sweaters, 1 shawl, 2 shrugs, 1 stole, 1 hat, 1 sack, 4 pairs socks, 2 pairs fingerless mitts, 2 scarves, 1 vest, 1 pair of slippers, 3 sks laceweight merino and 2 sks alpaca which I don't know what I'm going to do with,...well I'm not sure what I'm going to to do with the Esperanza either -- but there's enough for a sweater.

Note: 3 of these projects are K's ;)

More Shopping!

Whew! I don't think the KFYS 07 was such a good idea. It was suppose to keep me from adding to the stash and all it did was made me wait and do it later. And boy did I make up for lost time! This weekend was the Peninsula to Pier LYS Shop Hop, and I did all 16 stores. I started slow by visiting the middle stores (where I live) during lunch, Rug & Yarn Hut and Yarndogs Thursday, and Commuknity and the Knitting Room Friday. Friday night my favorite Aunt VJ came up and Saturday morning she, my eldest daughter K and I piled into my Pacifica and did the "southern" stores starting with Continental Stitch in Morgan Hill.

In the morning I programmed the 7 stores in my GPS and off we went. The day was beautiful for driving and shopping. CS was a good first stop as they have so many inspirational ideas! VJ bought a kit for the carpet bag in IW Felt, something she's been wanting do since she first saw the bag in a previous issue of IW Knit. The Pacifica got us to Carmel even though I already knew how to get to Knitting-By-the-Sea, however I didn't have a street number to put into the GPS so I made one up. But you know, the funny thing about making up a number is we had to drive to that spot before the GPS would move to the next item in the itinerary. Each shop on the tour features a 1 skein pattern and special on the yarn used -- K got the yarn for KBTS's project, a cute mini duffle purse. The next stop was Monarch Knits where I saw a Summer Tweed sweater out of Rowan #41 in a different colorway and I thought, "Hmm, I have that magazine but I don't remember that sweater". I got some luscious karaoke to SPIN! MK had expanded since I'd been there last and has a full spectrum of spinning fiber! It was lunchtime and I highly recommend being in Monterey when you're hungry -- there's lots of places to eat off Lighthouse -- we got directions to Sea Harvest and enjoyed fresh fish, yum!

Half the day had gone and we had 4 more shops to go starting with Yarn Place in Capitola and ending with Luminous Threads in Felton. These shops we go to semi-regularly when we do our annual retreat. I bought the crochet project featured at Swift Stitch (the sample and yarn was so luscious that I don't mind that it's not knit). VJ bought fuzz for a felted Hedge Hog. At the Golden Fleece both of us got a mini needle felting kit and I got a deal on 8 sks of a discontinued color of Kathmandu Aran (I'm not one to turn down pink yarn on sale). As an added bonus we stopped at Yarndogs so K and VJ could get their passports stamped.

When we got home we all put our pj's on and knit -- we were sooo tired! My awesome husband (and I'm not saying that because he's reading this over my shoulder) got us takeout from our favorite Chinese restaurant and we all got to rest up for the next day's itinerary.

Sunday morning we were all gung ho to visit the "northern" stores. VJ hadn't been to ANY of those stores. Nine Rubies was the first stop. I'd never been to this one either and boy was it a treat! They had hired a consultant to do the their layout and it was well worth it. You could do a 360 in the room and see everything they had. The yarn/project featured was Baywood Yarns and the dyer was there. I got 2 sks of the featured yarns (1 each in the same colorway, which by the way was called "Jocelyn's Red" -- ha, ha -- named, not for me but for one of the staff at Nine Rubies). From there we headed back south to Creative Hands where I found a pattern book for my Kathmandu (score!). We had lunch in Menlo Park after a visit to Knitter's Studio then left for the last two shops in Los Altos. At Uncommon Threads I thumbed through their copy of Rowan #41. Remember the sweater I saw at Monarch? Turns out I already had 2 of the 4 colors for the sweater so I bought 2 more. At Full Thread Ahead K got the featured project, a lovely feather and fan in hand painted merino laceweight, and I got my 16th stamp and turned in my passport. This was the end of the line for VJ too as she had guests waiting back home. K decided she wanted to fill her passport so we went on to revist those shops that were close to home before calling it a day.

I'm still buzzing from the yarn fumes -- the hop was fantabulous fun. Please visit the shop hop link to find links to all the shops and pictures of the projects. Kudos to the organizers and all the yarn shops that participated -- my stash runneth over.

Shopping!

So, do you think I still like pink?

Here we have laceweight from Danette Taylor Original Yarns.
I don't know what I'm going to do with this -- it's 1875yd so it should make for a nice shawl...






And yarn in a similar colorway from the same vendor for a sweater. This was a kit and came with a pattern for a nice cardi. the loopy stuff is for the rib, cuffs, collar, and buttonband.






Then from Discontinued Brand Name Yarn I was lucky enough to snatch this kit for a scarf in Wool in Woods.







I also purchased the last of this dk mohair boucle again Wool in the Woods. Just yarn -- lots of yardage -- but I've no idea what it will be. It's pretty tho, no?






Finally I got this fiber -- sight unseen -- the only description I got was rose pinks from Spinning Bunny. I never know what I'm going to do with fiber. That will all depend on how it spins up. It's 1lb total, I think.




Notice how the yarn and fiber purchased from 3 different vendors all coordinate? Weird.

And here is clue 2 (and 1) of MST3. I know I'm slow -- but I've been busy buying yarn. Today -- last day of TKGA.

The Last Straw

You know the one? The one that broke the camel's back? This would be that one. What we have here is 10 sks of cascade -- 9 of which I bought for 3 pairs of felted clogs. The 10th being, um free because if you buy 10 sks of cascade you get 10% off the lot making one essentially free. And there's the 3 miscellaneous balls, one for each of the clogs for "interest". Now, I could justify this, watch, it's a stretch, but since clogs are for your feet, they could pass for very thick socks therefore the purchase would be exempt from KFYS, because, it's sock yarn! Even the extra skein, the pink one at the top, would be fine because it was a "gift" (w/ purchase). However, do you see that little bitty shiny skein at the bottom -- the glossy, laceweight, yes that's the one...that's the last straw. There's no justifying it. This lovely thing from Schaefer Yarns, Andrea, is 100% silk in colorway Margaret Mead. This cutie pie is contraband all the way -- even my anniverssary around the corner couldn't save this little outlaw. Because, although my hubby gifted me with a yarn card, it's for a different store. So even though I could buy even more yarn (which I did) with that card (some beautiful laceweight, 100% soy silk from Conjoined Creations, thank you very much), I couldn't lump this little guy with that -- I could but it wouldn't be just stretching the truth, it would be a flat out lie.
I give up. Just in time for a sale...yay, me!

Everybody Need Socks

These feet belong to an American Girl doll. Cute socks, eh? They were made by a friend of mine. This is what you can make with your leftover sock yarn.

Speaking of sock yarn. I'm back on the wagon. The Knit From Your Stash wagon that is. Went to Yarndogs to beef up my needle collection and came home with another ball of sock yarn. By the looks of things next year I'll have to do a KFYSS and knit up all the sock yarn the KFYS resulted in -- or SFYS for all the fiber I've purchased in lieu of yarn. Oh and while I'm at it I should do a KFYB for all the knitting books I've acquired.

So what have I been up to? Well,...I got sucked into the MS3 vortex. I dug out some nice laceweight wool/alpaca blend from jaggerspun and bought beads. I swatched, cast-on, knit through 1/2 of clue 1 and frogged the whole thing. I did the swatch w/ US4's and it looked fine, but when I started the pattern it was looking as good. The yarn over's weren't defined enough so I took a trip to the frog pond and dropped a couple needle sizes which looks much better. I've started clue 2, but here's a picture of clue 1:

I'm not in a hurry, clue 6 will be posted tomorrow. From clue 5 on the design is asymetrical. I don't know what I want to do about that so I'll knit through clue 4 and see how things are looking before I decide. Instructructions for symetrical options went up today. Being on the slow side kinda defeats the purpose of the "mystery", but it sure has its advantages.

Help, I've fallen

and I don't want to get back up. Those of you who read this blog will know that I buy yarn with reckless abandon. New yarn brings with it new possibilities. Of course, old forgotten yarn tends to do the same thing when brought to new light (or out of the stashroom). This year however I joined Knit from your Stash 2007, where I will buy no new yarn (with a few exceptions) and will "shop" the stash. I have, up until this month stayed true to KFYS...only adding sock yarn and various "gifts". But then I tripped and fell over my wallet at the "all you can carry" sale at Full Thread Ahead. Hence this addition to the stash -- and not one stinkin' ball of sock yarn:

7 balls of bamboo/silk, 3 super sks of sea silk. I hang my head in shame...NOT. This is yummy yarn! It was well worth falling off the wagon -- heck, jumped off was more like it (I even got my daughter to come with for extra "arms" -- I didn't need them though). And yes, those are new Longaberger baskets too -- if you have to know, bought direct from the Factory Store in Ohio.

Ah well. It was fun while it lasted. I'm not saying it's over now. I'm not sure when the next purchase will be. I have no plans to return to a yarn store anytime soon. The deadline lifts after TKGA in Oakland this September, and I am allowed 1 slip up. So far this is it -- no exclusions.

Evidence

Found this picture in my camera. It's dated 4/27 which means it was taken the day after the last guild knit night that I went to. Now, as I recall this is not in violation of the KFYS 2007. You see the cotton was "gifted" to me by one other guild member who was clearing out her stash. And the other -- while it was a purchase, some yummy bamboo -- was paid for with my b-day Commuknity gift card -- so that's a "gift" too.

Y'know, it's not hard to work around the rules here. As long as I'm getting gifts -- birthday, mother's day, pity party (left my job), celebrations (found a new one) -- there are many opportunites to shop, not to mention the sock yarn. So since that night at guild I've purchased the following: 3 balls of feza fiona -- which I cannot even recall (scary huh, this is a true sign of a very big problem) from Continental Stitch, 1 ball feza dazzle also from CS -- wonder if this goes with the other feza?; 1 sk kollage enchanted, 1 sk collinette isis from Yarndogs (odd, that's all?); 2 sks gems merino SOCK yarn from Purlescence; and a gaggle of sks 6? 9? 13? of more SOCK yarn from Knit Picks -- it's the 70/30 merino silk solids they have now...which I got in order to do these.


Sorry for the lack of posts last month -- I was busy with one thing or another...so busy that my blog'iversary just blew buy, I mean by. Yeah, okay so I'm a big fan of retail therapy. Anyways, the blog is 2 years old and this year I've knit 3 pairs of socks, a jacket, a shawl and a vest and another hat for Elana. Remember Elana? She was going thru chemo last year for bone cancer -- who's now got a clean bill of health -- what a trooper that girl (and she loved that last hat).

I'm knitting...I'm just not finishing lately -- I don't even know what's on the sidebar -- hmm...so what have I been busy with? The girls mostly and these:



Clockwise starting with the pink one they are: bazooka, mocha latte, icing, macaroon, toffee, ricotta, jr mintz, werther, bun bun and in the middle, cookie. They are our webkinz and we loves them all.






We mostly play with them online here.

Or we play with them in the real world. They are very hard to find in California. They've been big in the east coast for awhile, and anytime anyone gets a shipment around here they disappear. We're still looking for a horse, a cow and the black and white cat (who comes with an online yarn sofa complete with knitting needles -- guess who wants that?).

Fancy Silk Socks

Yarn: Regia Bamboo -- 50/50 Bamboo and superwash wool. Fancy Silk refers to the pattern name -- a la Nancy Bush from the book Vintage Socks. 5 months to knit a pair of socks. Longer than usual because I ripped back the first one from mid-foot to before the heel. You can't see from the picture here (hint -- you can always click on my pictures to get the full size) but there's a vertical lace in the rib that needed to land along side the foot -- I missed the first time and didn't realize it until halfway through the foot.

Stash Reduction: 2 balls (I know, I know socks don't count...)

Now I get to pick out another pair to start. I bought a bunch of patterns at my LYS from this designer. So maybe I'll knit one of those...since the stash diet I seem to have an endless supply in sock yarn, go figure...in the meantime Wendy Knits (see link on sidebar) put a picture of her fridge a few weeks back. I've always thought refrigerators were interesting, so here's mine. Enjoy!

Ribwarmer

Looks more like a vest made from one of those woven mexican blankets. I dug deep into the stash for this project. Some self striping Noro wool blend bought for a ribwarmer. 6 sks. I used a variation that allowed me to knit the two fronts and join them to knit the back in one piece! It's a bit long though. There are several things I think I'd do to make this more...um...wearable; 1) shorten the armhole depth; 2) round out the turns for the fronts and back (like the original pattern); 3) short-row some bust-darts. This would make it more bolero-style and I may even do it sometime soon in a wool silk! It was a bit stiff coming off the needles and it definitely improved once I had it washed and blocked. Very fun to knit -- esp with the striping!

stash reduction: 3.5 sks.

Self striping?

What do you think?
It's one skein of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in Purple club. At the top of the picture what the yarn looked like when it was dyed. The colors actually started pooling, not striping and it all started quite by accident. I didn't even notice, focusing instead on the stitch pattern I was trying out here. Don't ask, it's a long story. Anyways when I started to see what was happening it became of game of how long can I keep it going? I don't usually try this on purpose -- in fact I abhore pooling in any other project, but this? I think it's cool!

Stash reduction: 1 sk

Pink Cashmere

Isn't it lovely? Art Yarns Cashmere 5. Soft, buttery, and oh so pink with subtle hints of tan. Worth falling off the wagon? Almost,... A couple weeks ago I was at a yarn shop in Capitola. I wandered around with a mental inventory of my stash. Everything I touched I either already owned or owned the equivalent. (that's why we're on a yarn diet, remember?) The store is a refurbished house so there are rooms that are interconnected with doorways and hallways. I went round and round looking for something, what I'm not sure. While I was "shopping" a biker dude walked in. I say biker dude so you could have a mental picture, think black leather and boots. He was rather large, older with medium length wavy gray hair. He had a salt and pepper beard. He was looking for yarn for his knitter to make him a very special scarf. It had to be soft. He followed a staff person around who handed him various skeins of soft fluff in deep grays and blues. With each new possibility he shook his head, and continued to follow her around. Meanwhile I had found 2 skeins of this cashmere and held it contemplatively in my hand. He saw me, stopped and said in the softest voice, "That's so beautiful, is there more?" I looked at him and said, "It's pink," knowing what he was looking for himself. He replied, "I know and it's sooo pretty". I tilted my head, "You want this?" He nodded eagerly. I thought about it for a second. Possession is 9/10's and all, by rights it was mine to purchase, all $90 of it. But then the image of a biker dude, this biker dude, going down hwy 1 with a pink cashmere scarf tucked under his leather jacket flashed through my head. Hey, trust me, no one's going to cross this guy over his pink scarf. I smiled, and handed over the skeins.

We Interrupt this Knitting Blog...

To bring you a day at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA. The girls took the tour through the candy factory, tasted their favorite flavors and shopped for gifts.

We've been to the factory once before on the way up to visit the cousins in Reno, NV. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive just to the factory, and this time it was our only destination, you see there was this special event...

Longaberger was there,

and we made a basket.

WWW: What in the World did I buy at stitches West

Right, I'm on a stash diet -- however, these items are exempt because they were purchased at a knitting convention convention (excl 2e). I actually didn't do too bad. I kept to my budget (if you only count the first group).
Clockwise from top:
1. Rib wrap from Continental Stitches
2. 2 sks Geisha from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Bleeding Hearts and Scaponia.
3. Lace wt tencel from Just Our Yarn
4. Claudia Handpainted 20/2 silk in Pink Posey from Commuknity
5. Linie 194 from Yarndogs
6. Merging Colors Adagio Shawl from The Mannings
center: Annie kit from Swallow Hill Creations

These items would have been okay anyways under exclusions 2a and 5.
Clockwise from top:
1. Seacoast superwash in Cherry Fizz from Full Thread Ahead
2. Paisley silk wrap from Shobha Imports (it's not even yarn)
3. Angora Valley Fly Dyed Supersport purchased from Sheila Ernst -- also purchased but not pictured -- cobalt blue Don't Drop spindle. More about this little guy later...
4. Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Seashore from Full Thread Ahead
5. Merino Tencel roving from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Red Rooster
6. Merino Kid roving from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Red Rooster
center: tote bag from Commuknity -- it's just canvas but it's big and it says "Knitting is my Yoga"

Me here at the Student Banquet with the esteemed Jane Sowerby -- I'm wearing my Shoulder Shawl in Cherry Leaf Pattern from her book Victorian Lace Today.

Up next -- the 12 hour sweater class...

addendum -- check out the sidebar for a new book coming out soon from a dear friend, knitter and blogger at Spin Dye Knit

It's that time again...

Just links today...first and foremost, since I can't express it any better than my blog buddy Cris read her take on Stitches West

Then, on the recommendation of another friend (knitting vulture, who could resist?) I went and ordered my own copy of Little Dee

Gotta go hide the ends on the RoundTrip and block the Victorian Lace shawl (I'll have a picture w/ the edging, later -- maybe while it's blocking -- watch this space)...Stitches awaits...just one more day and I can shop!

Post Valentines Pre Stitches

Here's a shot of the Victorian Lace shawl before adding the edging.














And here's a shot of the RoundTrip shrug. As you can see I've only got to tie up the loose ends.














Here's my todo list for Stitches:
1. finish; wash and block above 2 projects
2. prepare materials and do homework for class
3. pick out a project or 2 from the sidebar to knit at stitches.

I'm not starting anything new until after stitches west.

Hope you had a very nice Valentine's Day!

Knit from your Stash 2007

I've updated the sidebar. Notice the big new colorful button? I'm accepting the challenge. I know, I know...Stitches West is around the corner...I'm not an idiot. If you read the guidelines you can add your own exceptions to suit your own situation. My situation includes Stitches West so I'm adding the following 2 exceptions:

2e. Knitting Conventions are exempt -- yeah, you heard me -- if the esteemed authors of this challenge are holding out for Stitches East then I can shop at Stitches West and TKGA. But to be fair -- for every convention attended you must extend the challenge 1 month. So, for me this will go thru November.

2f. Yarn required for any class I take during the challenge is also exempt.

So far I'm doing okay. I have plenty of stash -- and we're talking yarn here, not books or patterns. And I do spin so if I really needed a fiber fix I can fulfill my needs in that manner. This weekend I bought yarn only for my class at Stitches West and completing a project -- and this was before I even knew about the challenge.

Anyone want to join me?

New Beginnings

I went into the New Year with 6 projects logged in the sidebar and 2 unlogged. Like others I reflected on my stash and decided that I must, MUST, knit it down to a low roar. New Year's Resolution, Knit More, Buy Less. So I went ahead and started a lace shawl from Jane Sowerby's new book:
















Which is now this:
And, I'm happy to report that this project is being knit with yarn from stash. That is to say, the yarn used here was purchased a long while back with no project in mind. It's all hand dyed, fingering weight alpaca. The other skein above is a silk boucle which I intend to use for the knitted on border. It's a very simple project meant to show off the yarn.





I also started this from Knitters Fall 2003, the Round Trip shrug:















Which is now this:
This is also knit from stash...I purchased the Noro Silk Garden from Webs last year. However, I decided that I wanted to do the band in a matching Cash Iroha and went and bought 3 skeins. That acquisition makes no dent in the stash, but at least the project is no longer part of it...





What? Have I bought any more yarn this year? Um, uh, yes, but not much. ;)