Category: stash management

As I am nearing the completion of the rice stitch cardigan, and no, I haven’t sewn it up yet or blocked the sleeves, I am starting to think about the next project. 

I know I had a list, but the list seems to be composed of winter things that don’t interest me right now.  I want spring sweaters. 

There are many possibilities, including some Adrienne Vittadini I bought in an onslaught of "stress buying" last month after I learned about DH’s current health issues.  Don’t worry you will get to see everything in time.  Needless to say, I should not be allowed to carry credit cards in times of emotional distress.

I also want to knit that cotton vest I wrote about last week.   The original sweater is knit in a wool cotton mix that knits at about 4 1/2 stitches to the inch.  I probably don’t have anything like that.  I have Rowan Wool/cotton, but that knits at a finer gauge and I would rather not do the math.  I would also rather use stash yarn than buy something new.  We’ll see. 

Once upon a time I would diligently snip samples of my yarns and wrap them on cards to keep a little sample book of yarns in the stash.  I have not been so diligent about that lately.  I still have the cards, and they give all the relevant information, except where the yarn is stored.  (I store things in boxes in closets)  I have also maintained a spreadsheet which lists yarns, what I intended to make, all the relevant gauge information and storage location.  All the yarns are on the spreadsheet, swatched or not, or at least they were until about a month ago.  New purchases have not been added, and now……

The spreadsheet has gone missing!

Egads! I cannot begin to tell you how long it took me to inventory all my yarn and make that spreadsheet.  I haven’t the foggiest idea about the what’s and where’s of my stash without it, much less the when’s or why’s. 

It all began with my computer troubles last fall.  Those eventually ended with a new computer.  The new computer came with a test version of Microsoft Office 2007.  I decided to use it, and I really like it.  Besides I am planning on a knitting pattern spreadsheet or database and I know I can run Paradox or Excel on my Palm, with pictures,  if I ever get around to creating the databases.  Getting pictures into Quattro Pro and actually being able to see them on the Palm is either impossible or requires far more work than I am willing to invest.

The old spreadsheet was on Quattro Pro because that is what the office used.  The office used Quattro Pro because the secretary we had at the time knew WordPerfect and Quattro Pro, I had both, and it was easier to use what she knew than to teach her something new.

Well, I didn’t put Quattro Pro on the new computer, but I had it on DH’s computer so I just kept it there until I got around to converting it to Excel.  But then, about 2 weeks before we closed the office the main office computer went down.  I needed a new one between 4 PM one day and 8 AM the next, and I didn’t want to buy a new computer because DH was about to retire.  So DH’s computer went to the office, with all my stuff still on it.  Since no one in the office deletes anything or backs anything up, I figured it was pretty safe for a few weeks.

Ha!  Past behavior is no indication of future performance!

It is not there.  None of the data is there.  Everything in the "My Documents" folder has been wiped clean, erased, deleted, disposed of……..you get the picture.  Finis.  I suppose this was the same helpful thought that encouraged someone in the office to tell the post office we were closing and to hold the mail.  We weren’t closing yet, I hoped to pick up mail at the office while I figured out what the new address would be, we still have a few more months on the lease and at least another month before it is likely that anyone will be able to take possession of the office and free us from our leasing obligations.  I was letting the staff go — but close the office, nah, I wanted time, precious time, and a place to go hide, you know, a place that allowed me to say "sorry dear I must go to the office to get mail" and collect my thoughts with a three-shot grande latte and a good book or a little knitting.  Oh well.

Now I don’t know where the office mail has gone.  Hopefully that will turn up eventually at our new address.  And I don’t know where my spreadsheet has gone, but that is probably gone for good.  It may be on one of the zillion CDs and floppy disks that have been carted home from the office, but since those are lost in piles of 40 years worth of medical journals, files, paperwork, and various odd bits, I think it unlikely that I shall resurrect it in this lifetime.  A cataloging I will go.

But what will I knit?  Back to the Vittadini idea?  Buy yarn?  Make something else entirely? The Skacel yarn is available.  I could probably also use Rowan All Seasons Cotton, it might be light enough not to drag terribly.  But both of those require purchase, I know I have some All Seasons Cotton, but I don’t know how much, and I am not certain where it is.  Just thinking about it makes my brain hurt.  But I don’t know that I have anything else either.  Wool will be too warm.  Cotton will be too heavy, and I prefer my cottons, unless they are blended with something else, in smaller gauges.    But there is so much chaos around me right now I am loathe to add to it by buying more yarn — well perhaps yarn that I will use immediately might be spared.  But if I order the yarn I will start something else while I wait so the yarn will end up sitting in the stash anyway.  Yarn Central might have something Thursday night, but wait, no yarn buying. Back to Vittadini.

Or…..

I am getting strangely reobsessed with Twisty Turns  again and the yarn I purchased from Decadent Fibers  last fall at Rhinebeck.  Even though I gave up in disgust, I am once again thinking of that yarn and what I can do with it, perhaps even giving Twisty Turns another try.  But then, I must have been very upset last fall because I can’t find the pattern, which I am sure must be in my copy of Wrap Style which I also cannot find. 

I would probably be best off just giving  up.

Let’s see, the first sleeve took about 3 hours to knit.  I have barely started the second but it is possible that I will finish it tonight at knitting group.  Even if I don’t quite manage, I sometimes tend to get distracted after all, it will be terribly close to being finished and will not be adequate a project to accompany me down to NYC tomorrow night.  I guess the poor languishing blue socks will be called into train duty, which is fine, I do enjoy knitting them, I have just been completely smitten with the pink stuff.

But this brings us back to that looming question of What’s Next?  As I mentioned I did have a plan, and I have managed to pretty much reconstruct it.    Since temptation calls right now I had best commit, as best I can at any rate.

Next up on the schedule is this luscious deep brown Super Cashmere from Karabella.  It was purchased with the intention of knitting the vest pictured from the Autumn 2006 Vogue Knitting, except that the plan is to add sleeves and make it into a jacket.  The
yarn was purchased with that intention in mind, and I thought that the nice people at L’Atelier , from whom I purchased said yarn had also written a modification to the pattern which accommodate the sleeves.  I am not finding that at the moment, but it is probably around somewhere.  I also purchased buttons, but they are not in the bag with the yarn, a most unusual occurrence, so I must assume that the pattern and the buttons have run off together and will be found lurking in some dark and quiet corner.  There is probably not enough time to search tonight before knitting so I will have to look tomorrow before we head in to the city, if only so I can call L’Atelier and see if they can fax me the pattern.    I could, of course, draft my own sleeve, pattern, but in the immortal words of Bartleby the Scrivner, "I would prefer not to".

The second project on my list involves this truly scrumptious teal-green yarn from Colinette.  I do know which pattern I have planned to make with the yarn (it is a Gedifra pattern) but I am having second thoughts about the substitution.  This yarn might be a tad finer than the recommended yarn and it may or may not work out.  Given my current state of uncertainty, I have decided to leave the pattern a surprise, since there are several patterns for which this yarn is a likely candidate,  and will wait and let the yarn tell me what to do.    This is a bit of an adventure for me as I tend to be one who is more inclined to try and force the yarn to my will before I so gracefully yield to its preferences.   Nonetheless, the green mohair is definitely on the horizon.

Finally, the third upcoming project is the VK winter cover sweater:

I have not yet decided on yarn but Aurora 8 is one of the possibilities floating around my head.  At the moment I am also toying with a color decision.  Originally I envisioned it in a light color as it reminds me of snowflakes on the model, but later in discussing it with Liana I also started thinking about making it in a dark color for a more tailored look over a fitted dress or suit.  The current mental images waver between lilac and another deep brown, but this is still very much up to debate and likely to change as soon as I start looking at my stash and available yarns.

Of course there may be socks, scarves, or other simple mindless projects thrown in to the mix as circumstances require.  But at least I  have a plan.

Given the opportunity to run some errands in the more westerly portion of Knoxville, I thought I would also stop in at Knit ‘n Purl, the only yarn store (of which I am aware) in town.   The intention was to pick up a darning needle (perfectly possible at Hobby Lobby of course, but not nearly as interesting) and perhaps some sock yarn or some other small project for the flight home as I was afraid that Mermaid might be growing a little unwieldy for the plane.  This was, of course before I rippd out all of the Knoxville progress on said project, having failed to notice four very important little words.  You know the words of which I speak, the deadly "at the same time".

Imagine my shock when I arrived at Knit ‘n Purl and found the front windows covered in paper proclaiming "Going out of Business" and "50% off all yarn".  I entered the store in a state of stunned confusion, my purpose temporarily vanished from my mind, a new resolve forming,  a determination that I should help with inventory reduction (purely for altrruistic purposes of course).

I had not purchased any yarn of fabric in San Francisco remember. Perhaps I was just setting mself up for a fall.

And what, pray tell, made it into my bag?

This lovely blue and white cotton yarn caught my attention.  I know nothing about it, but the color and the softness caught my eye.

This beautiful red Softtwist by Berrocco was purchased simply because I fell in love with the color.  There is enough for a sleeveless shell of some sort:

The red is actually a litle more blue than it appears in this photo. I couldn’t get the color to come out quite right in the late afternoon light.

The red theme continues (remember the fall stash) with these lovely skeins of Tiur  by Dale of Norway:

Devoid of actuall creative inspiration, I am planning on making a variation on "Roros" from Dale book 121 which is shown in these same colors (not the cover sweater), also picked up on sale.

For the most part the other solid colored wools and cottons in the store were more picked over and I had trouble finding enough yarn for a sweater in any color that drew my attention.  However several other multi-colored or hand-dyed yarns fell into the basket.

The combination of colors in this cotton caught my eye:

I knew I wanted to come up with some sort of shell pattern and when I saw the new Knit1 I was intrigued by the cover sweater.  It just might work.  Different gauge, but then I like the idea of the sweater more than the way it was actually made.  I think I would knit the front with a little more shaping, to give a bit more of a snug fit while giving the illusion of a wrap.  Who knows what will develop?

I have been eyeing the colors of Schaeffer’s Laurel for some time at various stores but have managed to avoid actual purchase.  The temptation had not quite overcome the practicalities of designing a sweater using multi-colored yarn.  But when I saw these skeins my doubts were cast aside.  I am sure they will return when the time comes to actually knit something, but I am equally convinced the results will be worth whatever effort is involved.

And finally, I did not forget my original purpose.  Presenting some sock yarn:

Thursday night knitting was a source of great temptation as new fall yarns and pattern books were arriving at Yarn Central and it was hard to just sit and knit as all the lovely yarns were piled all around us.    I picked up a couple of patterns from Classic Elite, and I kept interrupting my knitting to flip through them and wander around the store looking at the yarns.

Interrupting the knitting was not hard as I was having relatively rare gauge issues.  There was one section of the body I just could not get even, and I ended up ripping that portion 7 times before I got it straight.  Every time, I would rip past the floppy place, reknit, and look at the work I got the same piece of stretchy, wonky row right in the middle, and it looked like it was at the exact same place every time.  I was beginning to think there must be some kind of strange lack of twist in the yarn at that point or something because I had trouble believing that even I could make the exact same mistake at the exact same place with such precision. 

When I got home that night, I sat down in the darkened house and knit that section yet again, this time with great attention and mindfulness, pulling the yarn so tight through the suspect stretch of yarn that I feared I would cut the circulation off in my fingers.  Success finally.  But by then I was sick of Blue Baby Sweater and it has been  cast aside while I have indulged in a mad passion for closet and pantry cleaning.

But, back to knitting group.  Do not be lulled into thinking that I came home with only the pattern books.  Two bags of yarn came home that night as well.  Yarn I really don’t need, and yarn not intended for any of the plethora of patterns I have shown you so far.

I fell wildly in love with this Manos yarn the instant I saw it.  I came back to it repeatedly during the evening.  There was never any doubt it would come home with me.

I don’t know exactly what it will be yet but I do have several ideas.  In fact every time I think about it I come up with more possibilities.    I will spread out the patterns and have to make some swatches just to see how the variegation lines up when actually knitting.  But I still need to start Mermaid first.

The new yarn and my general restless spirit prompted me to reorganize the yarn cubicles in the sewing/yarn room, switching out the summer yarns which I have decided I am not going to knit this year, and replace them with fall inspirations.  There are still some cottons and summer things mixed in; things either I am still thinking I might knit, or yarns that earned a place just because I loved the combinations of colors in the cubby. 

It looks like it is going to be a wine/red/burgundy kind of year:

The large group of 7 wine colored yarns you see in the bottom of the upper left cubby, on the left side, were also purchased Thursday night: Waterlily from Classic Elite.  I intended to make this sweater  but somehow I got all discombobulated with the Classic Elite books and I failed to purchase that particular book.  I must try to remember to pick it up this coming Thursday.  Of course there are untold other sweaters I could knit at that gauge, so no commitments are yet being made.

Here are the other two cubbies of the yarn stash.  The colors are much more muted here and were much harder to photograph:  deep plums, grays,  blues and greens for the most part. 

The big dark mass on the bottom right is some RowanSpun DK half deep inky blue and half deep bottle green.  The camera can’t seem to distinguish.  They had been in bags before, but I realized after I stashed the yarn in the cubbies in the spring that I don’t like looking at the yarn through the plastic bags.  I can’t see the colors and the texture well, so I just ignore.  Banish those bags.

Of course, we all know that I will not get all this yarn knitted up this winter.  But there are many hours of happy dreams wrapped up in this little patch of real estate. 

Autumn Ho!

While knitting progress is being made, I will spare you the endless stream of boring photos showing Otto’s growth, snail’s pace that it is.  There is probably nothing more deadly than a series of photos, each showing one or two more inches progress on an adult sized sweater, and not a particularly small one at that.

Instead I will show you new pretties.

Apparently the Prize Patrol over at Claudia’s Blog  has been very busy and my package arrived yesterday.  Surprised as I was to actually win something, I feel like a double winner here, Claudia works hard for a good cause and I get yarn!  Heather sent me two skeins of handspun singles in a color called "jamberry" from pippikneesocks .

Aren’t they lovely.  I think I am smitten.  We are however still in the very early stages of courtship and no creative decisions have yet been made.  At the moment the yarn and I are content that the yarn should simply sit decoratively while I gaze upon it.

But back to more practical knitting.  Shall I finish the first Otto front on the way up to Lenox this afternoon?  Will I start the second pink sock?  I am inclining toward the sock but there is much to do before now and then.  I will not do the fiddly figure 8 cast on in the car so that will be the deciding factor.  If I have time to get started before we depart, the socks will go for a ride.  If not, Otto.

I played hooky today.  There were actually many tasks awaiting my attention at home, but I was loathe to return to them.  I found myself in Poughkeepsie at the end of my morning appointments with no pressing reason to return to the construction site I call home.  No one was working.  The masons had arrived about the same time as a morning shower and by the time the sky cleared they were long since gone.

I took advantage of the opportunity to run several errands and eventually found myself down in Hopewell Junction, where I stopped at Yarn Central.  It was nice to be there, and yes I did buy yarn, as I had been planning.  I managed to do quite well and still keep within my allotted budget, I am sure partially due to the fact that they are having a sale.  Despite the fact that I am overwhelmed with current projects, the stash is not overwhelming.  Stash and planned sweaters that have not been started don’t bother me as long as they can be accommodated in the bounds of their allotted storage areas.  It is only when things overflow their cupboards, or actually get started and are sitting on the needles that I start to feel a little overwhelmed. Offsetting the fact that I have more than enough to knit at the moment has been my recurring sense of guilt and an urge to support local yarn shops if at all possible.

The Jaggerspun Zephyr is usually used for shawls and therefore they do not stock large quantities of each color but I found these two skeins, roughly 1200 yards which may or may not be enough for a summer shell for me, depending on gauge.  I am guessing 8 stitches to the inch, iffy at best, but really won’t know until I swatch.  I have hope that something can be worked out though.  4 skeins of the cashmerino were ostensibly purchased for a baby sweater, although I am well aware that I have accumulated enough baby yarn for three babies and far more sweaters than I can knit.  These will also make a lovely shawl or scarf.

I was looking for some summer yarns by Elizabeth Lavold, specifically Hempathy, but I found this Cotton Patiné instead.  I haven’t knitted with it before but it looks promising so I picked up enough for a short-sleeved tee.

And last to be shown, but certainly not least as it was the first thing I picked up were these skeins of Rowan’s Summer Tweed:

They had the perfect quantities to make this Kaffe Fassett sweater which has been on my mind ever since I received the newest Rowan Book.  I might not get to this right away but I must knit this sweater, it haunts my dreams.      

I have now been to three yarn stores in Dutchess County.  There are three more, that I know about at least.  I hope to visit all of them in the next couple of months, but I think I have done enough yarn shopping for now.

Of the remaining stores, I have only been to one, Morehouse Farm in Rhinebeck, which is a store and a producer.  I have used their yarns before and used to go to the knitting/spinning wool oriented weekends they would have each spring.  I have not been for several years and don’t even know if they still hold them, my attendance dates back to before they opened the “new” store in Rock City.

I was recently informed by Alexine, of my Tuesday knitting group, that there is a new store in Red Hook, off Route 199 on Hapeman Hill Road, but she doesn’t remember the name.  Now, ToRunAmok yarns used to be on Hapeman Hill Road, I wonder if it has opened again, of if this is something else.  I used to shop there years ago, before the owner had to cut back, only taking special orders, because it got to be too much work to maintain a store and a full time IBM career.  I always liked the nice handspun yarns and thought the owner had a good eye for color.  I must get up there and check it out, but it may be a catch-as-catch can situation.

The last store is in Pawling, The Yarn and Craft Box.  I have never been there.  Two members of my knitting group like to go there for baby yarn.  It certainly seems worth checking out, at least once.  It is a bit out of the way, so it might end up waiting until my next pilgrimage down to White Plains for a day of perusing the dual Ns (Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus).  Given that my shopping budget has been pretty much waylaid by construction costs that may wait awhile though, at least until my annual birthday pilgrimage on July 5th.

But back to Yarn Central.  I was told that there are still some openings in the Thursday knitting group/class if I wanted to join, the other days are full.  I am interested.  In fact I seriously considered working frantically once I got home and barreling back down there this evening.  Thursday is usually a good night for me. The possibility of meeting Gina, whose blog I love is an addeded incentive, but generally I have been itching to meet knitters for some time now, and it is about time I get out and make an effort.

However, today my DH called around 4 to say that he was done with work and would be home early for a change.  Normally I might not care and would go out anyway.  However, the construction has driven him to load on extra work and he has been coming home about 10 to 11 every night for the last three weeks.  Frankly, I have missed him.  In true Cancerian style, I decided to stay home.

She knits on trains:

I finished the first sleeve, binding off on the drive home from the train station in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  No knitting since.

Despite my lack of productive creativity this week, I have been thinking about yarn, knitting projects, and yarn stores.

A yarn store in Poughkeepsie closed its doors.  Yarn Swift was a nice store and the owner was very nice.  I never really spoke with her enough, although I did shop in the store periodically.  I have been plagued with guilt.  I have a highly developed guilt reflex you know.  Still, I shopped regularly and dropped a good bit of cash but never really stayed long enough to form a relationship with the owner.  I am not immensly outgoing and it takes me a while to overcome my hesitancy. Now I feel I should have made more of an effort.

I went to Yarn Swift on Wednesday and came out with two rather large shopping bags full of yarn.  Here is a good sampling:

Some Kureyon in the back; some Euroflax linen, which I love even though it is rough to knit;  another Noro yarn called Tidiori, some Debbie Bliss Cathay, and some LaLuz.  There is enough of each to knit a sweater so you know I will be busy.  It’s not like I don’t already have enough yarn to keep me knitting for some time, but even too little too late is better than nothing at all.

At least I am not one of those people who bought patterns and yarn at Michaels and then came to Yarn Swift looking for help and direction. 

In my general sense of "support your local yarn store" ennui, I also went back up to Bead & Purl, the new yarn store in Rhinebeck, actually a trifle closer to my house.  I am determined to make an effort to buy local, not to fall back on the tried and true internet sources — you know, the ones where you can shop late at night when you are feeling tired and have packages miraculously appear at your door a few days later.

Here is what I bought at Bead and Purl:

The merlot Cotton STria is for another baby sweater.  The lovely Kidsilk night will be a cardigan.  This was a total impulse purchase, inspired by some soft gray 4 ply silk with which I just made a pair of evening pants.  The combination was obviously meant to be.

I am determined to get to the other local yarn store that I have supported, but not enough lately, Yarn Central, during the upcoming week.  I had hoped there would be a yarn party, but I might have missed that.  Still, I must go.  I have been remiss.

There is no visible progress on Rogue.  I have been knitting late at night when I am mentally and physically exhausted.  One knows one should not be knitting when says to one self "these instructions are strange, there should be more decreases for the hood to curve over the top of the head", but instead of doing the intelligent thing and looking at the directions, one knits on, oblivious to the fact that  reality is about to come crashing down.

Rip I did.  I am near the end of the hood.  Hood completion and grafting tomorrow or Monday.  Then sleeves.  Since the weather can’t seem to decide if it is spring or winter, there may be hope that I will wear this yet; if not it will greet me next fall.

In the meantime I will show you a sampling of the new storage area:

We have had a busy, busy couple of days since mom arrived, what with running around having a good time with mom, keeping the house in tip-top-shape for the soon to be here holiday, and working my way through an inordinately large pile of work, very unusual for Christmas as most of our clients seem to have holiday brains and work in late December is frequently slow.  I take that back, at least partially, if there is going to be a crisis with the US government or NY state concerning any tax issues it usually seems to occur the week before Christmas or days before.  And so true to form, this year it is NY State plaguing my week.  The issue is resolved, if there was a problem to begin with because it looks like a typing error to me (and not mine) but the whole issue added a bit of bitch and grumble to my otherwise perfectly happy pre-holiday days.

Here is a corner of the tree, with far too many presents, as usual.  It is hard to believe we are only 5 this year, and all of us adults.  None of us are usually that commerce-driven but somehow Christmas ideas get the better of us.

Yesterday looked like a pretty free day so Mom and I headed off to Great Barrington, MA to check it out and spend the day.  We had a nice drive up the Taconic Parkway.  It was gray and cloudy, very definitely a winter scene with a winter sky, and in about an hour and fifteen minutes we were there.

Although the plan was mostly for antiquing, we passed a yarn shop and inevitably went in for a look-see.  We ended up staying some time and coming home with purchases: The store is named Wonderful Things and it was a warren of rooms filled with wonderful yarns.  It would be hard not to just spend the day there.

I got this wonderful Manos for a hat:

and this great cotton yarn in the sale closet: It is Millefili Fine by Filatura Di Crosa, one of my favorite cotton yarns:

While I am on the subject of my mom and knitting GRUMPERINA posed a question:

How about you? Who knows about your knitting and your knitting blog, and what are your reasons for revealing (or not) its existence to these folks? Don’t just leave me a comment – rather consider this a meme and answer on your own blog ;). addressing who we as bloggers inform of our blogs and this has lead me to think.

My mom does know about my blog because I initially started it with the idea of keeping her up to date about my fiberly activities.  At that time I really didn’t know much about blogs or anything about the world of knitting blogs, so I was kind of jumping in blind.  I know my mom told some family members about the blog and I told some friends, most of whom weren’t interested.  I don’t think my family reads the blog, or if so they don’t comment, which would probably be like most of them.  Initially I told a couple of friends, who could care less and think it is something kind of silly, as does my DH, so I stopped bothering.

Once I got started blogging I also discovered all the other blogs out there, so many wonderful ones with great information and inspiring projects, and I felt I could never live up to that kind of precedent.  I was a little intimidated but I was also very definitely encouraged to try new things.  Blogging has helped my knitting, and it has also helped with my own feelings about my fiber-related crafts and my skills and interest.  I know very few people who actually knit or sew or do any needlework type of crafty activity so having a place to write about knitting has been very cathartic for me.

So I keep blogging and I love having to write and also keeping a record of what I am working on, something that I have not excelled at in the past.  It thrills me when I do get a comment, or I see I have a new subscriber (I can still count them on one hand) and that aspect of blogging really surprised me.  I knew that what I wrote would be accessible to others and that didn’t bother me.  I am not sure that anything ever said, or written down, is completely private and I just don’t write anything I don’t want the world to know.  I learned that lesson when I went away to college and left my old journal buried somewhere at home.  When I came home at Christmas my parents had moved (big surprise there – I didn’t even know where home was when I landed at the airport) and my youngest brother told me that they had found my journal and my mom had read it to him.  He thought it was quite funny.  In typical 18-year-old fashion I was mortified.  But I learned my lesson.

Oddly enough I am far more comfortable with the idea of people I don’t know finding things I write than I am with actually telling people I know about my blog-related activities.  If they happen to find it so be it; that doesn’t bother me.  Self-promotion; well that is a problem for me.