Using More Stash

Lately, I've been going through my stash, and rediscovering all those small amounts of yarn I bought when I first discovered small yarn shops.  These yarns are made with natural fibers, and imported from different companies throughout the world.  As a result, they tend to be pricier, and while I can't afford to buy much from them, I would often buy one or two balls of yarn to treat myself.  On one occasion, I came away with two 72 yard hanks of Reynolds Rapture, a bulky weight, incredibly soft 50/50 blend of wool and silk.  Amazing! 

I was so excited to have this beautiful yarn, but I soon discovered that there are very few patterns for such a small amount of yarn.  I put it in my stash, and as embarrassed as I am to admit this, I eventually forgot it.  I became one of the many small purchases that got lost in the shuffle during my beginner buying sprees. I came across it again a few weeks ago, when I cleaned out my yarn stash.  As happy as I was to rediscover this yarn, I was sad to find that it had been discontinued. I toyed with the idea of listing it  on my Ravelry For Sell/Trade page.  You never know if a fellow Raveler has run out of yarn for a project, and can't finish it because the yarn is discontinued.  Maybe I have just the yarn and color they need.  This is going to sound incredibly selfish, but when I took the yarn out of my storage bin, and held its softness to my face, I just couldn't part with it.  Surely there is SOMETHING I can make with it...and two days ago I found it!  The perfect pattern for my Rapture yarn!  

The pattern is called The Simplest Cowl, designed by Jessica Rose, and published in The Fiber Gallery.  All you need is 150 yards of bulky weight yarn.  My two hanks of Rapture equal 144 yards, which is a little short, but close enough.  I just knit until I ran out of yarn.

Here is my new cowl posing with one of my hoya plants. I'm so happy!  I can wear this simple but beautiful cowl anywhere!

I am so pleased to be using so much stash yarn.  It's freeing up some space in my storage bins, and giving me some beautiful knits to wear in return.

Voila!

May I present my completed, and freshly blocked, Noro Puzzle Scarf!  I am so proud of this!  I've knit plenty of things that I love, but there are a few pride-and-joy projects that are special to me.  This is one of those projects!  

Puzzle Scarf

My Puzzle Scarf is on the blocking mats right now, but I just couldn't wait to show you the pictures I've taken so far. I normally don't like to seam, but I loved this pattern so much.  I told myself a little seaming won't kill me, and the results will be well worth it.  Well, I survived the seaming (obviously, since I'm writing this post), and the pay off is even more worth it than I could ever imagine.

The pattern is for 30 of these u-shaped motifs, blocked to measure 4x4 in size. 

Since Noro is a striping yarn, each piece is a colorful surprise.  I used scrap yarn to mark them right side up, because with garter stitch, it's not easy to tell the difference. 

Following the three row diagram, I arranged each piece, and seamed.  This is the finished scarf, pre-blocking.  There is nothing wrong with how it looks, and I could have easily left it, but I decided to give it a final block to smooth out the seams.

Since each motif has already been wet-blocked, I saw no reason to saturate the scarf before pinning. Instead, I pinned the dry scarf onto my blocking mats, and lightly spritzed it with water.   

I just wanted to share a last minute tip for those of you who hate to seam.  Instead of blocking and seaming all 30 motifs at the same time, I decided to block and seam as I went.  The diagram for arranging the pieces is a three row repeat, with two pieces per row.  I knit six pieces and blocked, then knit the next six pieces while the first six dried.  After the first six were dry, I pinned the next six out, seamed the first six, then knit up the third group of six, while the second dried.  I continued in this manner for the entire scarf. This worked so much better for me.  Trying to keep all 30 pieces in order, as I blocked and seamed would have been so overwhelming.
I hope you enjoyed my picture post.  I will show you the final project after it has dried.

Noro Yarn Love

Every year, Dave gives me yarn shopping money for Christmas.  Normally, I try to be as frugal as I can, but my Christmas money is for treating myself.  One of my purchases this time was the book, Knit Noro Accessories.  I love Noro pattern books.  They are full of colorful patterns, set against a beautiful background.  A plus with this particular book, is that accessories don't require as much yarn as sweaters and afghans, so I can treat myself to Noro yarn a little more often without completely breaking the bank.

Picture taken in the car on the way home from Dallas

After I got home from Dallas, I spent a few days just browsing through the patterns in this book.  I decided on the Puzzle Scarf for my first project from the book, and since we now have a yarn shop in our town, I decided to buy my yarn locally.  They are small, and just getting started, so they can't put items on sale yet, but that's ok.  I can't buy from them all the time, but this is my Christmas money for treat yarn, and I want them to stay open, so I went to them.  Knit Noro Accessories must be a newer book, because when I went into the shop, the owners and a customer, who had stopped by to sit and knit a while, had never seen this book.  I think they had as much fun looking through the patterns, as I had shopping for yarn. I probably spent more time in that store than I should have, and knew Dave was waiting for me in the car.  I finally chose my yarn, and bid my new friends good-bye for the day (I have been back lots of times since :)).  I started to work on my puzzle scarf that very day.  I'm pleased to say that I have stuck with it and the scarf is now finished except for blocking.  I am waiting for a Big Lace scarf to dry, so I can use all my blocking mats, and as soon as the Puzzle Scarf is blocked, I promise to create a blog post, with plenty of pictures.

Done!

The side garden has finally been weeded and cut back. I just have the azalea bed in front of the porch to weed, then I can go to work on my potted plants. I also plan to pot up the ivy cuttings that have grown roots. All this may have to wait, as we are expecting another cold snap. That's ok. I have gotten enough done to show progress. That always encourages me to keep working.

A Set Back

I should have known not to publish my goals On my blog. It seems every time I do, I just set myself up to fail publicly. Today, I had planned to weed the azalea bed at the side of the house. It looks just as bad as the rose bed looked. In fact, my whole garden is neglected, including my pots. I had planned to complete one section at a time until my garden was, once again, neat and tidy, but I guess it just isn't to be. The cold snap didn't help at all. I just wanted to stay in where it's warm. I did manage to pin out a finished scarf on the blocking mats. At least that's something.

Reclaiming My Life

Some of you know all too well, the terrible effects of depression.  Whether you suffer from it yourself, or have a loved one who does, you'll identify with me in this post.  For those of you who don't, let me start off with a quick explanation before I go into my post.  People with depression, for the most part, lead normal lives.  We learn to mentally talk ourselves down from unreasonable intrusive thoughts (well, sometimes), and get through each day, accomplishing our tasks, just like anyone else. There are times, however, when no amount of reasoning can snap us out of it.  Everyone reacts to these episodes differently, so I can only speak personally here.  For me, these thoughts take two different forms, depending on the circumstances. Form number one is fear and anxiety, causing me to want to hide from the outside world.  The second, and most often occurring form, is a complete loss of energy.  I lose all interest in the hobbies and crafts that normally bring me so much joy.  I look around at all the unfinished work, knowing what I need to do, but having absolutely no desire to do it, and feeling guilty because I'm not doing it.  Eventually, I have to address the issue and the overwhelming pile of ignored tasks, whether I want to or not.  If I waited until my heart was in it, I'd never do it.  Normally, as I see each goal accomplished, I begin to perk up.  I call this "work mode."  If I ever get in work mode, it's hard for me to stop until everything is done.  If I run out of time, I tend to be disappointed in myself thinking of all I wanted to do that didn't get done.  I have to redirect my thoughts to focus on what I DID get done, because if I didn't, the discouragement and lack of energy would start all over again.
Keep my words in mind as you look at these garden pictures.

This is the new rose bed, Dave dug for me last year.  Because of an intense depressive episode, I failed to do my part in keeping it clean and weeded.  As you can see, I've lost one of my rose bushes.  This was  the beautiful, purpley-pink roses I was so fond of, and posted pictures of every chance I could.  I still want to cry thinking about it.

After looking at that weed-filled bed for almost a month, I finally got out there and cleaned it.  No, my heart wasn't in it, but I knew I had to do it, and yesterday was sunny and just cool enough to be comfortable.  I left all the grassy growth, as I was having trouble distinguishing what was weeds, and what was my chives.  I did managed to pull all the leafy weeds, and gently turn the soil a bit.

Here's my Valentine's day gift from Dave, to replace the rose I lost.  He's way too good to me, and I often feel guilty because I don't deserve him.  Of course, that's the depression talking...I hope...

I guess the title of this post is deceptive because I'm, obviously, still in the midst of a depressive episode.  I haven't reclaimed my life at all, but hopefully, taking these first steps will pull me back to life. I'm tired of just going through the motions, but I will continue to do so until I feel human again.

Yarn Stash

I recently reorganized my yarn stash (well, most of it).  I'm so glad I did, because I found yarns I had forgotten I had. I would love so much to tell my readers that I'm going on a yarn diet, and will be buying no more new yarn until the year end sale at Woolie Ewe, but we all know that isn't going to happen. My readers who have been following my blog from the beginning will remember that I tried that.  It lasted about a month.  So, I didn't come here to tell you I've turned over a new leaf, but I DID come here to show some pictures of my newly reorganized (most of it) yarn stash.

This is the closet in the craft room.  The bags hanging  to the left contain various works in progress. To the right is an antique sideboard, which contains most of my cotton yarns and my remnants.

A close-up of the craft room closet.  As you can see, the bins of yarn are three deep instead  of two deep as it appears in the picture above. 

The hall closet contains small bins of yarn, small project bags, and a very helpful Morty cat. :)

The cedar trunk in the TV room is full of various brands of 100% wool yarns.

This bin is in my bedroom closet.  I haven't had a chance to go through it yet, so I'm not sure what's in it.  The bag on top is a needle organizer as well as a project bag.  It contains a project I started years ago, but didn't like it as much as I thought I would.  It will be frogged as soon as I find a pattern better suited for the yarn.

This four-drawer skinny cabinet contains my needle sets, notions, canvas knitting bags, and a few works in progress.   There are a few patterns and magazines in the top drawer, as well as a stray ball of yarn or two.

So there you have it.  Most of my stash presented for all the world to see.  I should be embarrassed, but I just can't be.  I love yarn. The feel of it, the smell of it, the beauty of it...everything about it makes me happy. I think if you're fortunate enough to find something harmless, that makes you happy, and you're sensible enough to only buy as you can afford it, then I say go for it.  

Before I sign off, I would like to say that even though I'm not promising to go on a year long yarn diet, I do plan to knit with stash more this year than I've done in the past.  Even if I just finish my WIP's it will be a big accomplishment. 

Using Some Stash

I don't remember what year it was, but it was shortly after I started knitting.  I had been reading in several online forums about the phenomenon known as the LYS (local yarn shop).  Here is where they sell higher-end yarns made from natural fibers, such as, wool, silk, linen, and cotton.  The Woolie Ewe in Plano, TX, has been my LYS of choice, and it is here, where I discovered baby alpaca in a chunky yarn.  I don't think I've ever felt anything softer.  I picked up a skein of Baby Alpaca Grande, a Plymouth Company yarn, and a one skein scarf pattern (I could only afford one skein per visit).  Through the years, I've picked up single hanks of chunky baby alpaca from different yarn stores, but having grown tired of that pattern, I had them stashed away.  

Last week, I discovered another scarf pattern, perfect for those single hanks of yarn.  It's called Big Lace Scarf, and can be found in the book "More Last-Minute Knitted gifts" by Joelle Hoverson.  I love this book, and I love this pattern.  

This scarf was made with a single hank of Misty Alpaca Chunky.  When it first came off the needles I was a little worried it would be too short, but after blocking, the scarf is plenty long enough to tie once around the neck, with the tails draping down.  

I have three more single skeins of chunky alpaca yarn.  They finally will be getting the attention they deserve. :)

Just to clarify: I hope I didn't give the impression that I'm a yarn snob. I still love to visit Hobby Lobby and Joann's, and will not hesitate to buy a good, sturdy acrylic.  For afghans, machine washable is the only way to go.