Yarnaholic

Since it hasn’t been till more recent times that I got serious about knitting and crocheting, my stash hasn’t had as much time to grow, but let me tell ya! It’s definitely apparent that I am a yarnaholic. I’m also a slightly ADD yarnaholic in that I like to start projects, flit from one to the other and back again, and leave partially completed projects lying around hiding under piles of yarn.

So, here are the stash stats:

• 21 balls of yarn de-cluttered
• 59 different yarns in my stash (types and colors – does not include multiples of the same yarn and color)
• 92 total balls of yarn (this includes leftover partial balls)
• 6 projects re-discovered (actually more, but I’m not counting the ones I’m ripping out).

Here are the project stats (not all were buried – I’m pulling this off Ravelry)

• 12 hibernating projects (ie: haven’t been touched in months, possibly years)
• 7 current projects (ie: have been knit on within the last month, or being picked up again)

The sad thing is that I’ve got a couple projects that I could easily finish in a day or two with where I’m at, including the very first knit project I started once I re-learned how to knit at my Santa Barbara knit group. It’s just a basic 2×2 rib scarf – I can’t believe I never finished it! I could certainly use it now, that’s for sure.

I rediscovered yarns I forgot I had, so I’m glad that I can put pictures up on Ravelry so I don’t forget in the future. Based on the numbers above, I’ve got about 55 pictures to upload to Ravelry between my stash and old projects. Yikes!

Now to finish getting the yarn all packed up again – whew!

 

Crackyarn, Clapotis, and the Kiss

Evidence of my newfound addiction. I saw the update on K&P’s blog yesterday, stopped by after picking up Nathan from work and bought a hank, once I got home, I cast-on for a skinny Clapotis.

PS: It is actually “Indigo”

I’ve also had some other projects going on lately. This is a puzzle version of The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. We bought it over a year ago (maybe even two years now) and never got started on it. This is what we’ve gotten done in the last week (and we weren’t watching TV or movies all last week). IT IS RIDICULOUSLY HARD. I didn’t think it would be this difficult. I’ve been working on it on my lunch breaks and we’ve both been working on it in the evenings.

It’s 1000 pieces (there are actually some in a box off to the side, so that isn’t even all of them) and 26×17 inches.

This is the Home Resource Binder I recently put together. A reference guide to our family, if you will.

Notice the lovely decorations instead of the Ugly Black Bar. Hee.

 

CRACK!!!!

Yes, that is right folks, I am now the proud owner of my first hank of what is affectionately known as “Crack Yarn” around these parts. I got a pretty purpley-blue kettle-dyed color (I think it’s Marine, but I’ll have to check later) from Knit & Pearl for $12.50.

Julie wound it into a ball for me using the ball winder and swift, and Nathan was positively fascinated. He turns to me and says “Why don’t you get one of those?” [referring to the swift and ball-winder]*faint* I love this man!!

Julie then says “Do you have an anniversary or birthday coming up soon?” Why YES I DO! Ha! Anniversary in three months, birthday in four. Oh yeeeeaaaahh. Maybe I will end up with my own swift and ball-winder (or at least the winder). That would be awesome.

So later after my small group at Starbucks in Goleta, I called Chauntel to get suggestions for what to make with it. After stalking her at Kmart (hee), she suggested the currently popular chevron scarf. Very good idea. But then I got home and realized that I’ve been wanting to make a Clapotis, and what better yarn to use? (I’ll still make a chevron, though. It’s such a fun design)

I think I’m going to try to make a “skinny” Clapotis. We’ll see how well that works. I’ve already cast on for it, so if I need to buy another hank to finish it, well, I suppose I’ll just have to do that then won’t I! hehehehehe….

(I’ll take pictures and post later).

Oh, and speaking of crack, Nathan is teaching me how to play Counter-Crack…I mean…Counter-Strike. I am getting my badass self ON! At the end of our late-night terrorist adventures, I’d been killed about, oh…20 times, after making a measly 2 kills. Hopefully I’ll get better once I start playing before 11:30pm without Aunt Flo pestering me.

I am stealing the DomiKnitrix’s name for my CS alias cause Nathan agreed that it was awesome. We’ll see how long this lasts. If I get frustrated (or Nathan gets frustrated with me commandeering the computer, hehe), then I’ve always got my crack yarn.

 

I have a problem.

I am officially addicted to yarn.

I needed to switch a project to circ’s from DPNs and so I went to Craft Essentials, since they have a wider variety of lower-priced knitting needles. I went in determined to only get the circs.

I walked out with two pairs of circs and three skeins of Red Heart Casual Cot’n yarn in Black Grape. It was 30% off! Cotton blend! And an awesome colorway of purple, black, and a tiny bit of pink! And the last three at that! I could not resist.

So, after confessing that I bought more yarn, Nathan told me to just get good needles from K&P. I can manage to avoid buying yarn there, since the prices are beyond our budget for any large project. Somehow, my brain thinks differently about the yarn there. I can’t justify buying the “good stuff” without a particular project in mind, or, more importantly, without it being “on sale”. The only yarn I’ve bought from K&P was on sale. Why is it that those words can justify so many varieties of purchases? *sigh*

Anyway, I’ll need to figure out a project for those three skeins. It will be beautious, whatever it is. And from now on, I am banning myself from buying any more yarn until I finish some projects or destash (I am SO going to be at K&Ps Stash Swap in April – though I doubt I’m gonna end up getting rid of anything people will actually want, heh).

Projects

So, I am still all over the place with my projects…as is the story of my life at the moment. I am fine with this, though, for the most part. I would like to finish something in the next month, but we’ll see if that happens.

I’m primarily working on a tank top (worked in the round), of my own design, but essentially altered from this free pattern from Joan McGowan-Michaels at White Lies Designs (Bonne Marie Burns from Chicknits.com has a good article about using short-rows for garment shaping on Knitty.com that uses this pattern as a guide). The primary difference is that I’m going to make wide, straight straps, rather than the standard shell, scoop-neck tank design she uses. They’ll be wide enough to hide bra-straps, but I want the back to be just above the bra so I can show off my tattoo when I’m wearing it (the poor tat rarely gets any love since most of my clothes cover it). Plus it makes it nice for summer. I’m using the shortrows so I can have shaping around the bust AND show that I do actually have a waist underneath all the boobage.

I have a general sketch of how I want it to look, but I have weird lines across it for the measurements, so once I re-draw it I’ll take a pic and post it.