Hey look, a blog post! So after the Great Apartment Flooding of 2006 (hopefully the only one!) I started going through my things and dispairing of just how much CRAP I have. I had an excuse to throw a lot of it away due to flood damage, but some of the things that are left, that I don't really want but can't really bear to get rid of, are still hanging around. Which brings me to the yarn stash. It's not really a ton of yarn compared to some stashes, but it's stressing me out. I love all my yarn, really I do, but there's a lot of stuff that I know I'll never knit. I keep telling myself that I'll put it up on eBay someday, but I just never get around to it. Which brings me to the Mission Falls Cotton. I bought a bunch of it when I first found out it was being discontinued, because it looked so fun to work with and came in such delightful colours. I didn't know just what I was going to make, just something. Then I found out that hey, Mission Falls is back!, and I felt like a bit of a jerk for jumping the gun that way (BTW, have you seen the "new" Mission Falls cotton? Does it feel....harder and twinier to you?). So I had to knit up what I had, ASAP. And hence the birth of the Mindless Mission Falls Log Cabin Blanket (log cabin tutorial courtesy of the fun new book from Mason-Dixon Knitting). It is VERY mindless knitting (great for long car trips and watching tv!), yet very fun at the same time. And the yarn did indeed live up to its promise. 
I have a couple more edges to do before I run out of yarn, and I'll probably do a border using the red yarn in the central square. Who/what is the blanket for? I have no idea. I just like looking at it and petting it. Maybe just a lap blanket. Or maybe I'll have a nice surface to decorate with it someday when I have actual furniture. =)Here is a gratuitous sock shot. Remember those socks I was knitting at Christmas, out of the Lorna's Laces? 
....your apartment starts flooding and the first thing you throw on the bed, after your tote bag and laptop, is your yarn stash.
Yes, that's right, my apartment got flooded on Friday night! Something on the toilet in the apartment upstairs flew off, and water started gushing everywhere, and ended up flooding our entire apartment with at least an inch of gross brownish water. I'm happy to report that nothing too valuable was harmed, some shoes, books and papers, in addition to all the area rugs, and that all the yarn was saved. Our ceiling is quite a piece of work right now though, and I'm not sure how the living situation is going to turn out, but at least the important things are safe and sound. =)
I've been having some issues with my computer at home, where all my knitting photos live and from which I make blog posts. As in, the computer is infected with something horrible and I don't know what to do about it, and I am very tempted to just wipe the whole thing and never use it again, because it is 4.5 years old and a piece of crap anyway. Though I've been rather busy running about lately, and haven't quite gotten around to figuring things out yet. Perhaps I will just survive with a laptop for a while? Anyway, until I decide what to do, blog posts with pictures will be a little sparse. Here is a picture-less update: 1) I finished the Lorna's Laces Rainbow socks I was working on over Christmas (finally!)2) I have one more sleeve to knit on sweater class sweater #23) Sweater class sweater #1 is just waiting for buttons4) I am knitting a little Hufflepuff scarf for Snoot (Jason's dog), it's going to be so cute!5) In order to knit the scarf as a tiny tube without using dpns, I managed to learn Magic Loop. It is indeed very magical and loopy, though I don't think I could knit socks using that technique since I don't think they make Addi Natura circulars that small, and the cords on other circulars aren't flexible enough. 6) I have seriously broken all my no-yarn-acquisition resolutions. 7) I think it's pretty much settled that we are coming back to Toronto over Easter! Which means I can bring the Alchemy with me, and mail it from home.
Right....so, you know how were were saying that we were gonna try a work on clearing our stash? Well, I took a trip to Lettuce Knit with my friend Elaine...and bought more stuff. I suck *hangs head in shame*.
I wound up buying one more skein of the Silk Garden for my multidirectional scarf. But I'm still going to frog the old one and start over. I'm going to knit it on size 11 needles to get a lacier look, and make it a touch narrower. Then make it really, really long because I'm discovering that that's how I like my scarves.
Here's the other stuff I got:
I got this Koigu Kersti so I could make some wrist warmers. The yarn looked like too much fun to pass up.
Then I got this merino/silk blend. It was 50% off, so all 5 skeins were only $25. How could I say no?
I'm thinking about making a cute little tank top with it.
So, instead of shrinking my stash, I just made it bigger. I lose, for sure!
Anyway...I'm off to start frogging! Ribbit!!
Well, I finally got around to pawing through the stash. I gotta say, looking at the stash on an Excel spreadsheet and looking at it in person is completely different. There was a lot of yarn that I thought I wanted out of my life, but then I dug them out of storage and fell in love with them again. Someday I'm going to have a yarn cabinet, with glass doors, so I can keep my stash in a contained location but still be able to admire its beauty. This hiding yarn away in dark closets where I forget they exist thing has got to stop. So, here is some yarn that I would be willing to send to a better home. Not because it's unloved or unworthy, but because I can't see what I would make with them. I had some ideas that didn't quite pan out though, and I'll share those with you: Firstly, 2 skeins of Artyarns Supermerino in colour 110. This is lovely sproingy yarn, I had originally thought ankle socks! (I think you probably need 3 skeins for a full pair of socks), but then I realized duh, I won't wear merino ankle socks ever, will I? One example of making-up-projects-to-justify-the-yarn-purchase. Other possibilities include a hat, or mittens, or a short scarf. 
Secondly, a single skein of Alchemy Reservoir (wool and mohair), in the colourway Scarlett's Dark Secret (sorry for the fuzzy pic). I came across this lonely skein in my LYS and felt sorry for it, so I brought it home. Originally to be a headscarf. It would make a lovely hat with its subtle colour changes. 
Next we have a skein of Rowan Plaid, colour Sea Thistle (#164). I bought this because the pink and purple exactly matched a scarf that I have, but 1)I haven't worn that scarf this year yet, and 2)I question how a chunky hat made out of that would actually look on my head. I'm still willing to find out, but there are about a million other things that come before this yarn on the to-knit-next list. 
Next, 2 skeins of Lamb's Pride worsted in a white/off white colour. Originally purchased because I wanted to play with KoolAid dying. I also have the unused packets of KoolAid. =) 
Finally, Jaeger Matchmaker 4-ply, in shade Bloom (#547). I bought this to knit a short-sleeved sweater, but I've pretty much admitted that that's never going to happen. I have 5 skeins of this, there are about 200 yards per skein. 2 skeins would make fun pink socks. Or probably some adorable baby garment. There is also enough for a lace shawl of some sort, but I don't think I'd ever knit a shawl in this particular shade of pink. 
OK, that's it. Sorry for the rambling! But as you can see, each of these yarn purchases was carefully (or not-so carefully) thought out, and at least I avoided the sale bin and novelty yarns. =) Anything you might be interested in, just let me know!
Okay....I've pretty much finished the multi-directional scarf that I was making. BUT, what that really means is that I've used up the 3 skeins of Silk Garden that I had bought. The scarf that I have so far is wide enough to cover my entire neck easily, and is long enough that when I wrap it so both tails are in the front (does that make sense?), the tails hit just under my boobs (such as they are). And when I finish up the last triangle, that's pretty much where it would end.
So, the thing is, I'm kinda thinking that I want the scarf to be longer, which leaves me two choices. Go out to buy more of that yarn, if I can find it. Or frog everythingt and start over and make it thinner. How much do you think I could gain by dropping 12 to 15 stitches off the width? The only reason I'm even considering the re-start option is the fact that the scarf is meant to go with my early spring (or late winter, however you wanna look at it) coat, so having it be really wide isn't as important. And I've got a great scarf for the winter that I love already.
What to do?!!!
And I'll post an update on the Peacock Feather's Shawl soon! I wanna finish a bit more before I take the photo because you can't really see the pattern all that well when it's not blocked.
Well, I took a look at my stash for things that I haven't got already pegged for projects, or don't really feel inspired to use at the moment. You are welcome to anything there (except for the nosey kitty ^__^ )
I should probably have taken a picture of stuff individually, but maybe providing a description for them might help.
The yellow and blue in the top row are Elisbeth Lavold (or however that's spelled) Cotton Patine. I only have two balls of each colour. The pink stuff is the mohair-y stuff that I used to make my kitty hat that I cut the hole into when moving the ear (remember that disaster?). I have a total of two balls of that too. The Noro there is Kureyon that I got to make those armwarmers for Miranda. I had to use a bit of it to finish the armwarmers, but the skein is mostly untouched. I like the bright colours, but I just can't think of a project to use it for. The ball of black is this novelty yarn that I got. What doesn't show well in the photo is the fact that it's got metallic silver glints woven into it. It's really thin stuff that I got on a whim, but never figured out what to do with it. I wound it, but now I can't remember how many yards there are in it. It's pretty thin stuff so the size of the ball is a bit deceiving. And lastly, that turquoise-y yarn is something that a nice lady from dance class gave to me. I originally thought to make a Clapotis out of it, but changed my mind. It was also a bit too thin a well (I think it's sport weight). I've got about 8-9 balls of that stuff. Any suggestions as to what I could do with it? It's not bad looking, and has these neat hints of pink in them, but I just don't know what to do with so many balls of it.
And there you go. If you would like clearer pictures of any of the stuff shown there, let me know. Or, if you have any ideas of what I could do with any of it, please feel free to voice them!
