Monster Butt!

This is a bonus post, and a bonus project that technically didn't use stash yarn. My sister-in-law asked me to make these for her 9 month-old daughter, and how I could I resist?! She bought the yarn (Swish Sport from Knitpicks) and I knitted away using the Das Monster pattern until we got...

...this.

So cute I could DIE! I had enough yarn leftover to make some hats, and I wanted to give SIL the most for her money. Thanks to Gemmie for modeling them both!

Now back to your regularly scheduled stash-busting!

Love is in the air!

I haven't blogged at all because, well, I haven't had anything to document! I've been really focusing on sewing lately (also from my stash...maybe I should change the name of this blog to include my fabric obsession, too!). I'm really into making baby stuff--high chair covers, shopping cart covers, burp cloths, quilts, etc. But I digress...

We know several couples getting married this year, and I'm working on gifts for them all. I can't name them here, on the off-chance they read my blog--I don't want to ruin the surprise! I just finished one of the gifts, using the Hemlock Ring pattern by Jared Flood. I love this pattern--it has enough interest to keep me focused, but is easy enough to do while I'm watching TV. I used yarn I bought while we were visiting family in Massachusetts. At the time, my wonderful mother-in-law was battling cancer (a fight she lost shortly after this trip), and I made a trek to The Sheep Shack in Holden with my dear friend Andee. It was so nice to forget the stress for a while and browse the yarn with a good friend. I found this luscious grey Tahki Truffles and knew I could make something fun.

It's an easy, breezy cotton and angora throw, perfect for cool evenings on the porch or when there's a slight chill in the air. It can be used as a lap throw or a table covering, and would look really pretty draped over a couch.

More wedding presents to come, but for now, consider my stash 920 grams lighter!

Kitchen Kitsch and a Word about Weight

When someone asks me to make something for them specifically, I take that as a huge compliment. It means they trust your work, they like your work, and they're proud to own it or gift it to someone. I have a few friends and relatives who ask me for stuff on a semi-regular basis. My great-aunt, for instance, commissions me to make baby blankets or quilts as gifts. She sends me some money and I put something together. I just finished sewing this for her to give to a relative on her husband's side.

It's a simple 9-patch quilt, and I appliqued the name on the center panel. I'm bundling it off to my aunt today. Hope the baby likes it! :)

My friend Ray Ray usually asks me for kitchen items. Her grandma has always made kitchen scrubbies and hanging towels for the family and Ray Ray was jonesing for a little taste of home. A year or so ago I made the scrubbies with net fabric. Oh. My. Goodness. That really tears up your hands! No more scrubbies (sorry Ray Ray!). The kitchen towels, though, that I can do! I hadn't seen these in AGES! They seem so old-fashioned and kitschy, but since when is that a bad thing?? After much trial and error I came up with a technique for attaching the yarn to the towel and voila! Five hanging towels, using some Vanna's Choice from the stash. 

I'm not very good at combining fabric and yarn. I don't like the inconsistency in the weights, and the fact that you can't easily get a yarn needle through the fabric is troublesome to me. So, I ended up doing embroidery stitch along the front of the towel, and then crocheting into the embroidery stitches, then flipping the towel over to the back and crocheting into the backside of the embroidery stitches as well. I'm sorry, I didn't take pictures of that (rats! Shoulda thought of that!). But the result is a very sturdy, very neat looking towel. Ray Ray will be thrilled!

Project Stats:

Each towel used 15g yarn x 5 towels = 75g

With that, a word about weight. I'm keeping track of the finished weight of each of my projects, and then subtracting that from my original stash weight back in the beginning. This isn't an exact science. I'm not counting the snipped ends after weaving, or any failed attempts (tangled yarn, a small project that didn't turn out exactly how I pictured it in my mind, etc). So, the stash is actually losing weight at a more rapid pace than what the Stash Stats widget shows. Maybe I'll re-set the stash weight every few months to get a more accurate accounting of where my yarn goes...

I'll leave you with this yumminess. I'm training my four month old to nap during the day, which is a tedious process. It keeps you cooped up inside while you watch the clock and put them down at the appropriate times. Today I decided to make these muffins because I had all the ingredients on hand. I know! How often does THAT happen? 

They have whole wheat flour, oat bran, oats, and wheat germ in them, so they're packed with fiber and they're surprisingly moist, thanks to the blueberries and banana and applesauce. Mmmm, a cuppa Joe, a muffin, a napping baby, and my knitting! What could be better?

Fun with Java

I have a couple of big projects in my WIP basket, but I needed to take a break from them to work on something with instant gratification. My husband is a bit of a coffee fiend lately, and he takes his re-usable cup to Starbucks just about every afternoon for a pick-me-up. Sometimes I get one too, and when I do, I pull out the coffee sleeve I made a few years ago. He asked me for one, but he wanted it with some added coolness. "Can you make me one with a skull?" Sure, why not? I tried a couple of things but failed--either they were fair isle, and thus not stretchy enough, or the skull just looked amateurish and wonky. But I persevered, and found a very cute skull pattern to embroider onto the finished piece.

But I also saw this, and being big Gru fans in this house, I gave that a shot, too. Unfortunately, the author of the pattern has taken it down temporarily, so I just used the picture and improvised as best I could. I'm pretty happy with the results. My daughter has claimed the Minion for herself!

Project Weight: 40 grams

New Stash Weight: 12,193 grams

Now I'm going to enjoy a cup of tea while the rain falls softly on this chilly Arizona day. I'll leave you with this highly unusual image: the Superstition Mountains to the east of our house, covered in snow! Breathtaking sight!

BFFs

When my daughter N1 was born 6 years ago, my very bestest friend and her mom gave her a Bunnies by the Bay security blanket. And it was so cuddly and soft that my baby girl latched onto it right away. Bun Bun went everywhere with us--bed at night, daycare and preschool, Grandma's house, even Disneyland. No matter where we went, Bun Bun was right there in N1's arms. Once we left her in Palm Springs, and we pulled a totally illegal U-turn on I-10 to go back and get her. Another time we left her at the hair salon, and it was a month (and an overnight order from Amazon for a second bunny) before we got her back. Even now, N1 looks for her bunny first thing when she gets home from school and she has to sleep with her every night. This is the Bunny Pose:

Fingers in mouth, nose buried in the ears or neck. N1 is in kindergarten now, so Bun Bun has to stay at home with us. One morning after we dropped N1 at school, this happened:

Oh no. Now this just won't fly. N1 already has to share her parents with her sister, don't make her share Bun Bun too! I knew then and there I needed to get N2 her very own lovey, stat.

I make baby gifts left and right--I love to do it. My cardinal rule is that it has to be machine washable, whether it's a blanket, a quilt, a stuffed animal, or a sweater. It's going to get puked on, peed on, spilled on, dragged through the mud, dropped under the wheels of the stroller, etc. This was the perfect use of some craft-store acrylic, namely Hobby Lobby I Love this Yarn. I had some grey and pink leftovers and I found this Bear Lovey pattern on Ravelry. About 4 hours of work later (stretched over a couple of days), I came up with this:

Time to see if it flies with N2. 

Something tells me they'll be BFFs just like N1 and Bun Bun. Maybe I need to make a second one, just in case...

Project Stats:

Item Weight (with fiber fill): 188 grams

New Stash Weight: 12,233 grams

Surf's Up!

Socks are really fun to make. I'm not as prolific a sock knitter as my friend Andi, who is the queen of pretty socks, but I can hold my own. They need to be interesting for me to make them: lace is good. Purling is not. I hate switching between knitting and purling in the same round on those tiny toothpick-like needles. I'm a thrower, you see, so it takes a lot of effort to do that. :)

I saw these socks on Knitty, and I loved them! I used part of my Christmas KnitPicks gift card to buy the stripey yarn, and I pulled the deep green out of my stash. This was the result. It was fun, and a relatively easy knit, despite the intarsia and knitting back and forth. It's toe-up, meaning you start at the toe and work your way to the cuff. I prefer that method to starting at the cuff and working down to the toe: you can always ensure that your foot is the right length and you can stop knitting the cuff when you run out of yarn. So much safer that way, and no fingernail biting to see if you'll have enough yarn to get to the toe! I'm pretty pleased that the stripes line up as well as they do. There are a few hiccups, but whaddya gonna do?

Project Stats:
Pattern: Stitch Surfer
Source: knitty.com
Yarn: KnitPicks Felici Fingering Weight, Hummingbird; and KnitPicks Essential (Discontinued).

Stash Stats:
Item Weight: 77g
Old Stash Weight: 12,498g
New Stash Weight: 12,421g

Precious Gem

My gorgeous niece Gemma, modeling the Baby Amanda hat, the Ruffled Legwarmers, and a basic cowl. 

Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Worsted

Color: Kool-Aid dyed with lime flavored mix

Not subtracting from the stash because I sent this off to Gemma before I weighed everything.

Chunky Monkey

I have some Lion Brand Thick and Quick in my stash, and for the life of me I can't remember why or when I bought it! Must have been for some craft project or stuffed animal I was attempting. I had almost a full skein of black, a full skein of a hideous yellow color, and scraps of off-white and a sort of moss green. I tried to make something useful from the yellow, green, and white, but failed. I may just toss it (and subtract it from my yarn weight!).

The black was ok, though, so I got on Ravelry and looked up some patterns using the weight, amount, etc., and found the perfect instant gratification project: A bulky moebius cowl. Now, I've been doing this knitting thing for a long time--more than 3/4 of my life. I thought I had seen it all. But this pattern uses a really cool technique for moebius knitting (for those of you that don't know, that's an infinity scarf that's twisted into a loop) that I had never, ever seen, but I'm totally entranced now! I watched the YouTube video over and over again and then came up with this:

And in case you're wondering, that's the Chloe Cardigan from Interweave Crochet that I made a few years ago.

I've been desperately fighting Second Sock Syndrome on the pair of Stitch Surfer socks I started, so I'm vowing here and now to get started on that second sock now. Onward!

Bulky Moebius Cowl: The Stats

Item Weight: 129 grams
Old Stash Weight: 12,627g
New Stash Weight: 12,498g

Weighing in

I looked at the big pile of yarn on the bed in the guest room and began wondering how much was actually there--sure, I can count the skeins, but there are half skeins, 3/4 skeins, full skeins, little bits and pieces, etc. Not easy to quantify neatly and cleanly, and I like my categorization of things to be neat and clean. So I decided to weigh it! That way, as I make my way through my stash projects, I can document how much weight my stash "loses" while on this "yarn diet." I dug out my food scale and big bowl (or a colander, since that's all I had clean!), and got to work. I put the colander on the scale, zeroed it out, and then added a bunch of yarn in batches.

Any guesses on how much it weighs? I was surprised, actually. I thought it would be more than it was. With that being said, here are the vital statistics:

12,627 grams = 12.627 kilograms = 27 pounds, 13.4 ounces

This is after accounting for all the projects I've already posted about. So, from here forward, I'll weigh any finished objects (FOs) and subtract that from the total, so I can see the progress. 

Malabrigo A-Go-Go

Who doesn't love a nice, soft skein of Malabrigo Merino Worsted? A few years ago I bought 13 skeins in Emerald, which was being discontinued, so it was marked down (score!). And with 216 yards per skein, I squeezed a lot of projects out of that haul: a hat and scarf for my fashionista sister-in-law, a wedding present blanket for a friend, and another hat and scarf set for another friend. But I still had one and a half skeins left...what to do, what to do? How about the Amanda hat from Ravelry and the Scrunchable Cowl, also on Ravelry. 

I also found some bits and pieces of two other colors--I've had them for a few years and I don't have any labels, so I don't know exactly what colors they are. I cobbled these together: the 75 yard Malabrigo gloves and a hat I found on Rav, but I can't remember the name...oops. 

I used nearly every single yard of the Merino Worsted I had in my stash. I'm pretty pleased with the results! Both of them have been worn on walks or hikes, and they keep my ears warm and they're pretty, to boot. I'll miss you, Merino Worsted, but you live in on in some pretty kick-ass projects!

Where is this "Fair Isle" You Speak of?

Let's lay down some ground rules about this here challenge I've set up for myself: yes, I'm knitting from my stash. But I'm ok with using yarn that is gifted to me, either directly or through a gift card to one of my favorite stores or sites. Also, my mom has quite the stash, and she has generously offered it up to me if I want to pick through it for projects. I'm not proud. I'll stash-dive in someone else's stash. That brings me to today's post. My parents, in their infinite generosity, gave me a gift certificate to KnitPicks for Christmas, so I bought me some yarn.

They have a WONDERFUL library of independent designer patterns, so I bought the Joule Hat Pattern and got to work. Don't ask me what possessed me to give Fair Isle a try, but I absolutely loved it!

I'm a "thrower"--I knit in the English style, which means I hold the yarn in my right hand and wrap it around the needle to create my stitch. Two handed stranded knitting requires that you both throw and pick, that is, use the English and Continental methods, at the same time. I did it, and I loved it! I was a stranded knitting machine, kids! I started it last night, and finished it this afternoon. Where is this Fair Isle you speak of? As Liz Lemon would say, "I want to go to there!" A trip to Scandanavia is definitely on my bucket list...

The finished product:

Confession: I've been making a lot of hats lately. I live in the Sonoran Desert, for heaven's sake! What the heck am I doing making so many hats out of wool?? Well, it gets cold here at night in the winter, so I can use them to do my evening power walks (or my weekend grocery store trips when I'm wearing no makeup and haven't done my hair). But hats are great stash busters: they don't take a lot of yarn, relatively speaking, and they provide nearly-instant gratification. So there you go. Expect one more post on hats in the next week, and then I'm movin' on.

Warm Heads, Warm Hearts

My first stash-busting project of 2013: winter caps for my husband's uncles, E and M, in Massachusetts. These men are two of the warmest, most loving, and most talented people I've ever met. They wove the cloth they used to make my daughter's baptismal gown, and they embroidered it with her name and her baptism date. We'll be sending it back to them so they can do the same for our second daughter's baptism later this year. (And M is a fellow Notre Dame grad...go Irish!) A few years back, they asked me to make them some white skull caps to wear during the winter, and I used the Halfdome pattern from Knitty. Those hats got a lot of wear, and it was time for replacements, so I dug through my stash and found some KnitPicks Swish Worsted Bare and some Lion Brand Cashmere Merino. This was the result. I was a little worried that you could see where I switched from one yarn to the other, but I think it's rather seamless, don't you? I replaced the rolled brim with a 2x2 ribbed brim at the guys' request. I'm sending them off tomorrow! 

Great Beginnings

I'm a yarn-aholic. I love everything about the crafts of knitting and crocheting: the colors of the yarn wound into hanks, the feel of it as it slides through my fingers and onto my needles, the math involved in charting patterns and sizing garments, seeing how a blanket or a stuffed animal I made as a baby gift is loved over the years. I love teaching people to knit and crochet; I love watching their eyes light up when they finally understand the long-tail cast on or how a purl stitch differs from a knit stitch, or how to build height with double crochets. I love talking about yarn and how 100% cotton grows, or how silk makes a drapey fabric, or how alpaca always has such a subtle halo, or what a workhorse merino is.

After a challenging pregnancy, baby N2 joined her 6 year old sister N1 in November 2012. I decided to leave my job for a year to stay home with her. While I'm relishing the time I have with both my girls, not working means less disposable income for little treats like yarn. So I committed that I would knit only from my stash for all of 2013. Really, I'm going to do it. A real yarn diet! Then I thought I'd write it all down to remind myself what I can do with random string and a couple of sticks without spending any money!

I'm not necessarily an impulse yarn-buyer. I like to have a project in mind when I make a yarn purchase. However, I can't pass up a good sale--a trait I got from my mom, an epic bargain shopper. So my stash is pretty extensive. Not as extensive as others I know (and they know who they are), though...but I digress.

There are oddballs that I picked up at my local yarn shop (LYS) or online because I liked the colorway:

There are leftovers from other projects because I bought some extra "just in case" skeins.

There are skeins I inherited from other people's stashes because they couldn't come up with a project for them.

There are whole projects' worth of skeins I bought because they were discontinued or just marked down to bargain basement prices:

There are fine quality artisan yarns and craft-store acrylic:

Handspun from local fibers:

There's yarn I dyed myself with Kool-Aid:

Skeins with no ball bands so I have no idea what they are!

And every weight from cobweb lace to extra bulky:

Are you ready to see the whole stash? Are you sure? Well, here it is, in all it's merino-y, alpaca-y, cotton-y, acrylic-y, self-striping, variegated, semi-solid glory:

I have no idea if anyone is going to read this (besides my mom). I don't think I can ever write as well or as cleverly, nor be as good a photographer as my dear friend Andi. And I'm really bad at keeping up on other people's blogs out there in knitblog-land, but I'm going to try harder. I'm not a tech wiz, so this might look a little rough for a while. But I hope I can entertain and inspire someone along the way, even if it's only myself.

So, here goes. Wish me luck.