Stash Stall

I have completely lost track of my stash.  I need to toss it and start my tally over.  I was doing really well with knitting from the stash, then I bought my first skein in a year and it all went downhill. 

Pattern:  New Ancestral Christmas Stocking, by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne
Yarn: Paton’s Classic Wool, Red and Natural; Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids, Green.
Needles: US 4, 16’ and 32’ circulars.

I’m still knitting from the stash when I can, like with the stockings, but now I have half a skein of green left to take the place of the red and cream.  Took a week to finish the first stocking, and almost two weeks for the second one due to the third cold of the season hitting me pretty hard, plus holiday events and such.  I really enjoyed knitting both of them, they were just difficult enough with the color work to keep my mind engaged, then learning how to turn the heel was an adventure.  Maybe someday soon I’ll venture into the world of knitting socks…. But not too soon. They still intimidate me.  Maybe it’s time to take an actual knitting class? 

Two more skeins from the stash out the door and off the list - I finished the monster that has been languishing in my office cubicle since June.  It only took me two lunch hours to finish the big guy, then another two to finish the little guy.  That’s ridiculous.  Why didn’t I get him off the needles six months ago?  As frustrated as I am that it took me so long, maybe it was fate.  Now I know the perfect recipient to get them as a Christmas gift.  Yay for babies!

Pattern: Daphne and Delilah the Momma and Baby Monster, by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice, Dusty Pink and Dusty Green
Needles: US size 6, 16’ circular and DPN.

Speaking of languishing on the needles… All that’s left for that dang purple sweater is eight inches of sleeve (k2p2) and picking up and knitting the ribbing around the neck.  Also something that will only take me a couple hours ( ok, maybe ten or so), but I just can’t work myself up to finishing.  When I create my list for January, it will be at the top. 

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Cold Sheep Totals:

Total Yards:  16,161.7
Total Grams: 10,590.6
Number of Skeins: 119.5
Finished Objects from Stash: 12

Flurry of Finishing

Holiday season is upon us and I've been knitting furiously.  Oddly enough, none of it has been for Christmas presents.

I finished the purple hat I started with Black Friday yarn.  Wooohoo! Finished Object!

I finished a secret project using stash yarn that I can't mention here yet.

I finished all the knitting for the Monster, but still have to stuff and sew it up.  Can't count that one.

And I started a Christmas stocking.  I found this pattern in a book I checked out from the library and pretty much immediately cast on using stash yarn. I just happened to have red and white wool left over from the gnome I knit last year, and some green hidden away to make green gnomes.  Once I got knitting, I got picky and decided the green I had was too dark and heathered to go with the bright red and white, so I had to pick up a fresh skein of green. Oops. I've been having a really terrible time lately not buying yarn - but more on that later.  Stocking is coming along nicely.  I have reached the point where I have to do a new technique, having never made socks before.  These were worked from the top down, and now I am supposed to separate my stitches to knit the heel, then come back to finish the foot. I think conceptually I figured it out during my knitting lunch hour. Hoping I can finish the heel flap tonight, but that might be wishful thinking. 

Update: Finished the heel flap, which was very easy, just took a minute or two of thinking to understand what the pattern was saying.  On to the foot!

I guess I should have put a pause on my Yarn Diet for December, because I'm certainly not abiding by it.  I bought more yarn when I was at a craft store last week, more purple (two shades! fun!) and gold and some basic black. Then when I was buying the green for my stocking, I was entranced by some sparkly stuff that I "needed" for a holiday decoration project.

It's 100% acrylic but with a strand of SPARKLE in it. I attempted a Martha Stewart project Sunday night and I'm not sure how happy I am with the outcome.  When I popped the balloons the yarn stuck to them as they shrunk and my "balls" weren't very ball-shaped.  I'm not very confident that they will hold up and continue to be stiff. Also, how the heck are you supposed to get the dang balloon out of the globe? Maybe I just wrapped the yarn around it too many times.  I remember doing something similar back in either Indian Guides or Campfire, but we soaked the yarn in starch instead of glue.  I think that may have worked better. Oh, well.  Live and learn.  And add some sparkly yarn to the stash.