new stash - cephalopod yarns

i splurged and bought new stash:

skinny bugga! in montauk monster.  becos, seriously, how freaking cool is it to have a yarn named after a mystery creature!  plus, i don't have a lot of grey in my stash - it'll make a nice shawl someday.

more skinny bugga! in strawberry crab.  i thought the color way would be a bit more pinky fuchsia as it's a bit darker than i planned.  i think i'm going to use this for another mystery shawl!


bugga! in sea star.  i love this burnt orange shade - it'll be a shawl too!


cephalopod yarns is half of the sanguine gryphon duo.  i'm liking what i see so far!

to stash or not to stash

while visiting stitch your art out a couple weeks ago, a group of ladies came into the store.  a lady was looking for a match to her dwindling skein of noro and she thought they might have the same colorway.  she found a reasonable match and asked her (i'm assuming) daughter for her opinion.  the verdict:  not sure if it was a close enough match.  well, said the woman, it was close enough, and noro is so variegated it would be good enough.  i wouldn't buy it, said the daughter.  what if you get home (they lived out of state) and you're not happy with the color, and you're stuck with yarn that you don't want and can't use and can't return?  on top of that "it cost more - she could get it cheaper elsewhere" (yes, she said this in front of the clerk.  i was gobsmacked).

the ladies buzzed around the small shop, picking and admiring yarn while the lady paid for her yarn.  the ladies saw my arms piled with yarn, crochet hooks, beads and a button tube and asked what i was making.  "don't know yet - the yarn was beautiful and some day i'll find a project for it."  the same mouthy woman commented "only buy what you need - it's a waste to have yarn that you don't have a project in mind for it".

i've documented my SABLE here so it's no surprise what my thoughts on stash are.  after they left, i commented to the clerk, "i wonder what that woman's stash looks like?  imagine only buying yarn for the project you're planning!"  the clerk agreed - she had stash too.  i know one other knitter who only buys yarn for projects - a lady at the library knitting group only bought yarn when she had a new project.  i admire her restraint.

the upside to no stash is not worrying about where to store it!  no worries about infestation.  it certainly keeps the credit card bills in check!

on the other hand...i have vacation and souvenir yarn.  i probably won't ever use it, but when i see it, it reminds me of the good or bittersweet memories associated with it. i had a lot of fun planning my PSOTMC with my sock yarn stash - i found yarns that i'd forgotten about.  when i wanted to knit a sweater for my cousin's new baby, i had the yarn sitting in my stash - i had it for years, and it took that long to find the perfect project for it.

my stash, as i've mentioned  before, is scattered across the house in various baskets, bins and containers.  today i found this at target, on sale for $10:



a mere muggle would see this as a cheap picnic basket.  as a knitter, i see stash containment:



it's messy at the moment, but soon it will be home to sock/lace yarn.




what are your thoughts on stash?  is it good or bad to have stash?

in my defense...

the yarn i bought was mostly on sale.  and the stores i went to are closed on sundays.  so the next time i'm at these yarn shops, will probably be next year.

hubby had a board meeting at penn state, and i tagged along.  i yarn crawled 2 shops that are closed on sundays, when hubby's meetings are usually held.

i visited knitters underground first.  the last time i was in this shop, it was in their old location in centre hall.  it's been at least 3 years.  i missed the old funky house it was in, but i love this warehouse.  it is huge.  she sells a lot of brown sheep, dale of norway and galway, but i found a lot of things that i can't get locally.  they also have spinning supplies.

this is what i walked out with.  she was having a fabulous sale:



at $2.50 a skein, that's a pair of socks for $5. seven pairs of socks for $35. can. not. beat. that.



then i traveled to the other end of the county to stitch your art out.  i visited this shop's stand at KDO but never the b&m store.  i can't be trusted here.  i could spend hours in this place.

SYAO also sells material for quilting and sewing projects. i bought these becos i love material and maybe someday i'll quilt. yeah right. but some of those squares (fat quarters, right?) are for a secret giftie. shh!



beads and buttons. becos it's hard to find nice beads and buttons! the multicolored shell beads i got at KU and they match the beads i bought at my first visit there, 4 years ago.  the seed beads at SYAO.  all but the daisy buttons, i got at KU:



patterns and labels from KU: ring markers, crochet hooks and purple stick thingy from SYAO. the bag i got at barnes and noble, just becos it looked like it would hold a lot of crap. i think i would make a nice knit bag too:



some "light" reading:



gotta figure out when to find time to cross stitch, since i spend so much time knitting (sarcasm).  i got these at joanne's (still annoyed becos i couldn't find sheepish, which was the reason i stopped by):



hubby ate lunch at his meeting, so i ate at chik-fi-la, which was a rare treat for me. it's also closed on sundays, and the last time i ate at one was 3 years ago after my miscarriage. i forgot what their sandwiches were like and wished mine had mayo/salad dressing, and i ditched the waffle fries becos i was hot and not craving salt (the sandwich was uber salty). sigh. i really wanted a BLT at meyers, but they didn't have it on the menu. oh well.

driving home this passed us:



i thought it was a tri-cycle. apparently it's a motor cycle with the ass end of a car:



my apologies for my sucky kinnear of the cycle. dude's wife was sitting in the back with her legs crossed. it was a sight to behold.

we had a beautiful day to cruise. a lovely day with hubby indeed.

and while i gave mr. credit card a work out, i now have a lot of wool to work with!

excuse me, but would this be too goth?

i saw this cute hooded cardigan in a recent issue of love of knitting.  my track history of knitting sweaters isn't the greatest - i start out big but they wind up collecting dust in the bottom of my knitting basket.  the only one i've completed was the backward zippered hoodie i made for my cousin's baby.  but i saw this sweater, and thought wouldn't that look cute on petunia?  she's outgrowing the backwards zip hoodie, and i thought the pattern was simple enough for even sweater phobic me.

there's nothing really special about bellflower baby hoodie (rav linky) - in fact, when i looked at the FOs in the ravelry gallery, a couple knitters complained about the construction of the sweater and many modified the pattern to fit their needs.  i guess that's the beauty of any pattern - making it work for you.   

the pattern calls for lion brand natures choice organic cotton.  as i'm currently "dieting" i stash dived for 500 yards of something similar.  the majority of my stash is made up of small samples of yarns (it's rare that i have anything over 200 yards in worsted/aran unless i purchased several skeins for a particular project), but i did find mushishi (rav linky) hiding in a picnic basket.  it's only 491 yards, but as the sweater is worked sleeves first/ bottom up, i could work as much as i could, and if i found myself running short, i could bag the hood and modify the collar.  

my other quandary is this.  i love the color of this yarn - a dark green/grey with white marls.  it's a wool/silk blend and feels lovely.  i'm not sure if i want to use it on a sweater that petunia will literally beat on.  washing it will be a PITA (especially when i'm constantly throwing their backward zips in the wash every other day).  the color would be pretty on her - she has red hair and porcelain skin - but i think it's a bit too heavy for her.  almost too goth.  

so i hopped in the car and drove to michael's to check out the yarn.  i did like the pistachio color but they only had 3 skeins.  they had a pretty blue but 5 skeins would cost $40.  i know it's organic cotton but, $40 FOR LION BRAND YARN?  i'd rather spend the money on a yarn that i really like, in a color i like, in a fiber i like to work with (i'm not a big cotton knitter unless it's cotton/wool blend, or i'm knitting a dishrag).

i sighed, drove home, and promptly ordered some swish superwash in lotus.  i love the feel, it's great to work with, i can throw it in the wash with little thought, and coral pink will look really cute on petunia.

i also bought some nickel tips, extra cables, and The Big Book of Knitted Monsters.  you know, to pad the bill.  ;)

here's my question for the week...when you find a pattern you like, do you use the yarn suggested or modify it to work with a favorite yarn or stash you have on hand?

baby stash

over the years, i've acquired baby stash.  i'd see a skein of yarn and imagine knitting a sweater or blanket or booties for my baby with it, buy a couple skeins then squirrel it away until the time was right.

over the past 3 years, this yarn sat mostly untouched.  i tried to knit a sampler square blanket with one yarn, only to abandon it out of boredom.  i found the perfect apricot dale of norway at rosie's during one trip to philly and was lucky to find a few more skeins on a return trip months later.  i found the perfect layette - a tiny sack in a delicate shell pattern - and tried to knit it with bella dk in a sweet baby blue before frogging it out of frustration.

do you think yarn has a destination?  i think so.  i tried to knit with these yarns for petunia and freddie, but i just couldn't do it.  i could sell or trade it, but it's my baby's yarn.  nutters, right?


i think i found a perfect home for the yarn.  my favorite cousin is pregnant, due in late may/early june, and found out recently she is having a boy.  for the past few months i've been thinking about what to knit her, and now i'm excited to dig into this stash.  i'm ready to create.




this is sirdar domino dk that i've picked up at swisher's and glory-ous knits.  i tried to make a sampler square blanket a few years ago and this is what got frogged.  i'm thinking of combining it with knitting fever marshmallows



to make a poppin blanket.  i also have this bernat ping pong to add some sparkle:



so much to decide!





then there's this sirdar snuggly tiny tots.  i bought it in burgundy/pink when we were TTC, then bought this colorwave when it was on clearance at swisher's.  i tried to knit a BSJ with it, but lost track of the increases and gave up.

i'm noticing a pattern here.

perhaps that's why my own kiddos don't have a large homemade knit stash.  oh well.


on a positive note, on saturday i finally got the kiddos' outgrown clothes sorted, boxed and ready to either store, sell or share:





it's far from perfect.  i'm quickly learning that twice/thrice the number of kids = twice/thrice the number of outgrown clothes/toys/gear.  at least i have an outlet for the boys' outgrown things now.  :)

switching it up

made some changes to the blog - new banner, darker background, different fonts.  you likey?

the neighborhood is going to pot:



this pot showed up on our porch railing.  i think it used to belong to our neighbors next door (the ones who foreclosed).  i have no idear why it's here or why someone gave it to us, but i have this fear that someone is using it for a drug drop, and that perhaps knotty knitter is a drop off location.  :(






jj 2.0 is going very well.  sock 1 is completed, and i have sock 2 about a quarter completed.  jaywalkers fly off my needles, it seems.

     i promised i wouldn't get new stash, but i ordered these while i was padding an order ordering size 7 nickel tips from KP.

and a yuck:






i had a chocolate jones and picked these up at weis market friday night.  so much for satiating it.  i wonder if i can get a free candy bar if i kvetch enough?

selling off stash

one thing i love about ravelry is the sell/trade system of the stash.  i catalog my stash and occasionally get offers to buy a skein or two.  sometimes i say no, but i have sold off stash that has lingered too long and i'm at a loss as to what to do with it.  over the past 2 weeks, i've gotten four requests from people offering to buy stash off of me.  guess the race is on to complete holiday knitting.

the first offer was for this forgotten gem.  i think i bought it 2 years ago during my ani fog.  i liked the tweedy look and bought 2 skeins, probably thinking i would make a hat/scarf set with it.  i took my time returning the PM, becos i wasn't sure if i wanted to sell it or not.  i scrutinized it, held it, tried to imagine what i would do with it.  i had no clue, but after some thinking, i decided not to part with it.  part of me feels like i should have sold it, but then a tiny part of me said no, it was part of "ani stash".

the second request came from a lady up river who wanted as many skeins of this that i could part with.  this yarn had been hanging out for years - every time i went to ben franklin, i'd buy a skein or two, thinking i'd use it for holiday knitting.  well, it's been at least three or four years, and i don't think i'll be knitting with it anytime soon.  i had other skeins of holiday cotton, so if i really wanted to make dozens of christmas dishrags, i can use that.  so i sold her two skeins, one nicely wound.  that package mailed out this morning.

the third request came on the heels of the bernat request, someone wanted to buy my queensland leche that i just bought a couple months ago at KDO and am presently imagining the red yarn as a pair of kick ass red mittens (not to be confused with the kick ass red mittens currently OTN, which may be gifted to the boy's teacher).  this one was a no brainer - the yarn barely had time to sit and it was already requested already!  sorry, no sale.

today i got my fourth offer, for this skein of loverly trekkingXXL.  this was a hard one to think about.  this was souvenir stash from rosies yarn cellar from one of our philly trips, and i hated to part with it becos i loved the colors.  i took a deep breath, then emailed the knitter with my no.

i always feel awful when i turn down a request.  i imagine that the person must be desperate if they want the yarn so badly.  i imagine their half completed project, maybe only needing a half skein to complete, and becos i am selfish, the project will sit unfinished.  i always pray that they get what they need.  knitters and crocheters are a kind, generous lot (well, most of us, anyway).  that's why, i try to not turn down a request.  i think of it as a way to rack up a few karma points, becos i imagine my time to offer to buy yarn will come someday, too.

stash

i tidied up the crafting room/boy cave this morning.  thought it was probably time to flash some stash.




i don't believe i got a shot of the shelves hubby got (originally for the boy) but i liked the cubbies for my yarn.  the packages are pretty much recent acquisitions.




would you believe i have a small fabric stash?  the pile of fleece are for no sew blankeys for the kiddos.  those are 2 cloth napkins i bought at fly creek last spring when we vacay'd in cooperstown.  i thought the patterns might be pretty if used for a lining for a bag or something.  i also found a package of peanuts material (are these fat quarters?) that i got at ben franklin.  they were in the step basket, so i got them 2 years ago or more.  i don't sew.  it's my fervent wish at this point.




oh geez.  this is the bad juju yarn.  i have tried to knit a pair of socks for my grandmother with this yarn.  magic loop, toe up, cuff down, dpns, no matter what i tried, i just couldn't knit them.  i love the yarn.  it's a beautiful teal blue colorwave.  but for some insane reason, i find myself repelled by them.  i haven't given up on them.  maybe someday the spell will be broken and i can finally knit something with it.





patons sock yarn from michaels.  recent buy during the summer.




i planned to knit socks for the kiddos with this yarn.  i got it at Glenda's over the summer.




i have no clue what this yarn is.  guess i'll have to do some sleuthing on this one.




i can't remember if i got this at kutztown (more likely) or christkindl market last december.

boy, i'm behind on posting my yarns, aren't i?






this is all my sock stash.  i have a couple odd balls in the living room, but most of it lives here.





i store the better yarn in the folding bag.  i pray the lavender rice pillow keeps the buggies away.




this is my older stash that i keep in the hamper.  i need to start stash diving.  i have way too much.



the cream/yellows and brown/blacks plus odd balls.  these hover on top since i don't have much in these colors.



my greens and light blues



pink/reds and oranges/salmons



the purples and blues.  can you guess what my favorite color is?


the tweeds and varigateds are in the living room in picnic baskets.  my luxury yarns (the quiviut and 2 skeins of jaggerspun zephyr) also live there as well.  maybe someday i'll take their pictures too.

yeah.  i don't need any more yarn.  i have SABLE and then some.