Knitting, and other things

I am fully engorged in Christmas gift knitting! It's getting a little intense, but at least I'm starting it before November (unlike two years ago, when I had the ridiculous idea that it would only take me only two weeks to knit matching scarf, hat, and mittens sets for my ENTIRE family!) Thank goodness last year us "kids" drew names for our Christmas gifts... hopefully we will do that again this year!

Yesterday was my step-mom's 60th birthday! I don't know if she and my dad did anything special, but there are rumors of a big birthday party sometime soon (have to keep the cards pretty close to the vest, never know who is reading this thing!)

Chances are, if you're reading this, I have a plan for a knitted gift for you this Christmas, though! Unless you're a boy. It's pretty much impossible to knit for males that are older than 12 years old, unless it's a scarf or a hat. And I HATE knitting scarves. Maybe I'll make a bajillion afghans. Or I'll put Ryan in charge of boy gifts!

I am getting super excited to make some of these gifts, though. If they are anything like what I imagine they will be, they are going to look awesome!

And if you all out there who read this end up NOT liking something I've made for you, you should lie and say that you love it! ;)

unemployed life, in one picture

Clockwise from top:
Bowl and cup from bran cereal and grapefruit juice, 9 am.
Arrested Development, Season 2.
Fat Tire Amber Ale.
Purple wool scarf, in progress.
Cell phone that desperately needs replacing.
Purple wool hat, in progress.
Economist magazine.
DVD and TV remotes.
Monster.com.

In which I am a huge geek about knitting

I love knitting. I love knitting so much that I've been known to knit while playing drinking games, knit while on the bus, knit at baseball games. I've tried (mostly unsuccesfully) to knit in the movie theatre. I knit all the friggin' time.

Fellow knitters will be familiar with what is known as "stash". Stash is the yarn that you collect over the years, which you buy not because you have a cool project in mind but because you think it's pretty, think it's really soft, it's on sale, you got a bonus, or because you walked into a yarn store without promising yourself: "I will NOT buy yarn." Stash accumulates. I think I've done a fairly good job of keeping mine small enough to fit into a little Rubbermaid container... well, it ALMOST fits. I think the goal of every person who has stash is to one day knit all of it up, mostly so that you can then accumulate more stash.

Anyway, what am I writing about this here for, anyway? I want to knit up as much of my stash as possible. So, I will codify my rules for "stash busting", as it's called, and then itemize my stash, and what I plan on making with it.

Rules:
- No buying new yarn, unless it's to complete a project (only even relevant with one or two kinds of yarn).
- No more than two projects going concurrently.

Stash as of Friday, April 4th:


Stash as of Monday, June 30th:


Stash:
1. Baby pink wool. I bought this about a year ago when I spied it 60% off at Joann. It's beautiful and soft as a cloud. When I found out that Baby A will be a girl, I was so glad that I bought it! I made most of it into a darling little sweater for her. I'm trying to find a pattern for booties that I like, and I'll make those to go with. Completed!
5/13/08 Update But ... I have a whole ball left of this, so I need to figure out what else I'll make with it. I'm making a "soaker" (which I think is just a term for a diaper cover) in a newborn size. I think I'll have enough left to make one in a >6 month size too! The shower is Saturday, 5/17... wonder if I can get BOTH of those done? Got everything done just in time for Abby's birth!

2. Rose pink acrylic. This is leftover from making a hat and mittens set for Jaime as a wedding present. I bought lots because I was thinking about making a scarf as well, except for the fact that I hate making scarves. I'm making a baby sweater in size 3-6mos for Baby A. The shower is on May 17th and I need to finish it by then! I'm making it in the same style/pattern as this, using pink/white/grey instead of blue/turquoise/grey. This might be a bit of a stretch to get done, but I think I can do it! Completed on 5/12! I'd like to make matching booties but that definitely isn't going to happen in time for the shower. I've already told Baby A's parents that they're going to be getting lots of knitted clothes from me. Thankfully, they seemed excited about that! I finished the soaker (with a cute grey and white striping pattern) but I still have lots of the pink left. I'll have to think of something else to make.

3. Navy blue acrylic, white acrylic. This is a project that I think could turn out really cool. Abby's dad is a huge Maple Leafs fan, so I got the idea to make a little faux Leafs jersey. It would be basically a sweater, with a big white maple leaf on the front, and (if I have enough white yarn) the number 13 on the back (Leafs Captain Mats Sundin's number). Done and done--I love it! See it here!

4. Camel acrylic bouclé. I bought this several years ago and made it into a shawl. Six months ago I realized that I hated the shawl that I made, so I pulled it apart. I think I will make a scarf with fringe (since the shawl had fringe) and give it as a gift. Maybe I can find more of the same color and make a hat and mittens set out of it.

5. Light green cotton. Bought this to make another hand towel for my kitchen, just haven't gotten around to it yet. This is pretty far down on my list of projects. Done and done! Here it is!

6. White acrylic. Nasty stuff. I bought it to edge a flannel blanket that I was making and when I'm done doing that, I'll probably throw the rest away.

7. Black acrylic. This was at one time a loosely-woven shrug that I bought at Macy's, but it started to unravel in the wash. I think I might make a hat and mittens set for myself out of it. I made a shrug out of it! Still have a little bit o' the yarn left.

8. Grey wool-angora blend. It's heavenly! This was actually a J Crew sweater that I pulled apart. It's buttery soft and I'm definitely going to make something for myself out of it! Just not sure what, yet.

9. Red cotton. BIG leftover from making potholders for Jaime's bridal shower gift. Everything in their kitchen is red. Maybe I could make something else for them? I'm not sure that there's enough to make a hand towel.! I did have enough to make a hand towel! And I finished off the red cotton yarn! YES!

10. Light blue acrylic bouclé, grey acrylic bouclé. Not much of this left--I made most of it into a scarf and hat set for my sister. I might make a charity project out of it, preemie hats or something. It's been a while since I knitted a charity project.

11. Forest green acrylic. Bought a ton of this in Toronto, and some of it became the first scarf I ever gave as a gift. I've devised a great pattern for a seed stitch handbag with a Celtic knot running up the middle. It's gonna be really nice!

12. Lavender cotton. This is another yarn that at one point, was a store-bought piece of clothing. I hated it as a sweater, but the cotton itself is very nice. I made a hand towel and a couple potholders as a gift for a friend's wedding/bridal shower. I think I might as well make some more potholders, since I have enough yarn. Done! I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

13. Navy blue acrylic, light grey acrylic, turquoise acrylic. Another leftover from Jaime and Christian's wedding present. I'm going to use this, as well as the bits of light grey and turquoise, to make a little sweater for Ryan's nephew, Hudson. I think I'm going to try to do an argyle pattern, with blue as the base, turquoise diamonds with grey running through. I'll have lots of grey left over, so I'll probably do grey edging too. Completed! Still lots of blue left over (this is becoming a pattern) so I will make little booties too. I have until the end of May to complete this gift, and I think I can get booties and perhaps a soaker bottom done in time! This is the completed project. I'm really happy with how it turned out! And best of all? I finished off ALL of the turquoise, grey and navy blue!!!

14. Variegated white-pastel acrylic. This screams "baby" to me, so I'd like to make something for Abby out of it. I'm liking this pattern: Side-Wrap Kimono Sweater.

15. Black acrylic. I bought this a year or two ago, intending to make fingerless gloves. I bought fingerless gloves instead. I have no idea what to make out of this.

16. White acrylic bouclé. I bought this years ago in Toronto. I am going to make a double-knit baby blanket from this pattern: The Hoover Blanket.

17. Purple wool. On Sunday, June 1st, I knowingly broke my promise to myself. I bought four skeins of purple wool from the Knit Nook in Watertown, SD. It's really pretty and soft, and in my defence, it was $5 per skein marked down from $12! I'm making a scarf, hat and mittens set out of it, and it's thick enough that it knits up really quickly! I haven't decided if I'll give it as a gift or try to sell it on Etsy.

New promises to myself: After I finish this stash-busting exercise, I will only buy yarn when I have a project in mind. I will also challenge myself to make something that I can wear!