Decluttering the Stash

Over on the Doubleknit podcast Ravelry forum we have a knitalong going to declutter your stash. We left it open to interpretation how one does this. For me it's all about partial skeins.

Little oddballs and half-used skeins of yarn are my main clutter both physically and psychologically. I can't just toss them. I need to use them. And when I do I am so happy and invigorated. So that's part of the reason you've been seeing so many striped hats. They use up those bits. You can finish one in a day. It's good for the soul.

My last helix hat used up all the worsted scraps I have so I actually broke into a fresh skein and started a Jango hat which also uses a partial skein.

Sadly the main yarn is very stiff and unyielding and the skein of Kureyon is so loosely spun that sections just drift apart as I'm working with it. In other words, this project is a pain.



So I started something that's falling-off-a-log-easy.



This is Blue Bell Hill Scarf, free on Ravelry. It was created for O-Wool Local but I'm using all my partial and oddball skeins of Manos Wool Clasica. I reduced the stitch count since my yarn is bigger and the original scarf is very wide.

I've also been working on the Follow Your Arrow 2 shawl but have only completed the first two clues. The fourth one was released today so I need to get back on that.

New Hat for a New Year

I finished up a new cowl, Millwater (it's blocking right now), on New Year's Eve. I have a few other things on the needles but wanted to start something new. Something new for the new year, I guess. I would really like to make a dent in my sock stash this year, particularly my stash of partial skeins. My yarn stash, office and dining room table appear to be infested with small skeins of sock yarn. I decided on Diana's Hat from the new Green Gables Knits.

Photo from Green Gables Knits

I'm knitting mine in a skein of Dale of Norway Baby Ull that was the most horrible shade of minty-bluey-green. I overdyed it a long time ago and then it just sat, waiting to become something. This year it will become a hat.

Also if you'd like a chance to win a copy of the Green Gables Knits ebook hop over to the Doubleknit Podcast Fans board on Ravelry. Erin and I have a copy to give away.

Uh...What Day Is It?

It only dawned in me last night that I completely missed last Thursday. I hate reading blog posts about, "Sorry I've been a bad blogger" but, damn, I have really fallen off the blog wagon.

We've been seeing a lot of movies in the last few days. We saw Catching Fire, American Hustle, Nebraska and Her. I recommend any and all of them.

Catching Fire was a slightly less dreary vision of Hunger Games than the first film but equally deft in its storytelling without spelling everything out for the audience. I don't know if absolutely all of it will make sense if you haven't read the books. I did overhear one woman on the way out of the theater saying she didn't understand what the ending meant. Maybe she was one of the many, many people in the theater who talked during the whole film or got a phone call. Grrr...

American Hustle was, I felt, an ode to Scorsese and New York in the 70s. It's slick, gleeful film-making with some really amazing performances. Seeing Jennifer Lawrence in this back-to-back with Catching Fire really highlights how talented she is. She is hilarious in this movie. Everyone is great.

Nebraska is a quiet, sweet little movie. Director Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, The Descendants) goes for simple, unembellished visual storytelling. Great performances all around in this one too with a mainly no-name cast. Not one that really needs to be seen on the big screen though.

Her was my favorite of them all. Spike Jonze has written and directed a wildly original story beautifully. The film is quite sublime and surprising. It doesn't have the really off the beam insane vibe of a movie like Adaptation. It takes a wild idea--a man falling love with an operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson--and tells a heartfelt, romantic and eye-opening story. Older Son saw all four films with me and this was his vote for best too.

While watching movies I've been knitting a few hats for charity. Nothing interesting, just plain stockinette.

Here's one.



But I am nearly finished with a cowl I started last week, Millwater knit in Mushishi. This is just what I need right now. Easy but not too dull.

The Blahs

This weekend it hit me. I had The Blahs, also known as Knitters' Ennui. I looked at the projects I was working on (a third Retro Prep sweater, Tideline, baby vest) and just felt so "meh." In fact I felt so blah about them that when I realized I had left my Retro Prep in the my car I didn't have the enthusiasm to stand up and walk outside to get it.

I needed some inspiration. I flicked through my Ravelry queue. Meh. Seriously, I have 228 items queued and already have the yarn for dozens of them and I just couldn't get excited about any of it.

So I decided to work in reverse. I pulled out several containers filled with yarn and spread them out on my dining room table. A ball of handspun that I made in June 2006 caught my eye. I did a pattern search for 30-50 yards of bulky or super bulky yarn and picked the Winchester Hat. Knocked that sucker out in an hour.



Then I was energized. What next? I scanned the table. Wool/Mohair/Silk also spun in 2006 when I was a baby spinner. It's not great yarn. I've tried using it for other projects and it never looked right. I decided to just knit a simple triangle shawl with it but as I was starting I changed my mind. A customer had been knitting from Evelyn Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles at the shop last week. I'm a huge fan of Evelyn's and love that book. It is no longer in print but Evelyn revamped and released it as an e-book last fall. I chose to do the Ripple Lace throughout. I might throw in some Medallion Lace toward the end. But I can barely put it down. I'm back in the game and over The Blahs.

What do you do to overcome The Blahs?

The Benefits of Monogamy

I'm finishing the final edge of my tenth and final mitered cross. There is still a lot of joining, half-squares and edging to do so I'm not close to the finish line yet but I've got the bulk of the project done.

I also spent six hours spinning the filthy alpaca (it's all processed now). I have a few more hours of spinning to go then plying then figuring out if I can ever really get it clean. But having a single focus is really paying off.

Entering a Blue Period

Audrey in Unst


Cabled Beret from Knitting 24/7