Have Pity

I'm sick. It's just a cold but I suffer it terribly and very great misery. After all, drugs can only do so much. My nose won't stop running and I swear I get a mini-concussion with each sneeze. Even the cats won't cuddle with me. So after a trip into town do run a few errands early this afternoon (I usually don't go out and share my germs when I'm sick, honest!), I've been spending my day on the couch under a big blanket, working on my granny square and watching some rather bad TV.

This too shall pass.

On the Needle and Hook

Having finished the 5 Day sweater, I was as a loss for a mindless knitting project. A stash busting one. Far be it for me to get back to all the UFOs I promised to give my attention to this year. Ah, you know how it goes...lots of time for all that. And it seemed like to much work that actually had to be done. I was not in the mood to be dictated to by my knitting. No way. So what did I do? Got inspired by Smoking Hot Needles. I've done all kinds of large granny square projects before, from squares for my couch cushions to my son's birthday blanket. The former in acrylic, the latter in pure wool. So I got to thinking. I have LOTS of Aussie wool in my stash, mill ends of varying quantities and in a multitude of colours. Granny squares are as mindless as it gets. Yes, it did occur to me that it's not knitting, but crocheting is fast. There was an excellent possibility that I would have a very large finished project before I got bored of it. I saw it as a no-lose opportunity. Heh.

This is what I have so far. A 22" square.

Now, I'm also knitting, although admittedly the crochet is getting a more significant chunk of my time. I started this slip-stitch thing before Christmas. Same Aussie wool as the crochet project. Because like I already mentioned, I have LOTS of it. Do not judge me. It was dirt cheap.

I forget how many stitches I casted on. Many. I eventually plan on felting it. I'm thinking that it may serve it's life as a throw rug one day.

So, there's nothing special or exotic on the needle and hook, but these too projects are certainly making me feel productive. Have I mentioned how I love stash busting?

Obscene

My stash is obscenely out of control. The numbers do not lie. I'm still not finished counting.

On the other hand, said stash has been brought to its knees by my ripping from its clutches enough Fleece Artist to whip up this sweater:

The Five Day sweater. I've lost the tags for the two yarns long ago, but one was a boucle and one was worsted weight. I designed it on the needles as I knit along during a Gilmore Girls marathon (season one). I was worried as I got to the half way mark on the second sleeve. There wasn't much yarn left. This is all that remains:
I am thrilled with the finished sweater and even more so with the amount of stash busted.

Inventory Tally-Ho

Inventory and sorting of yarn and fabric has begun. I'm counting and weighing and recording the yarn (oh my!) and just sorting the fabric into Rubbermaid totes by type: flannel, fleece, cotton, pant-weight, Christmas, etc... Two days in, and I feel like I've just begun.

So what's the state of your stash? Minor, manageable or obscene? Curious mind wants to know.

Finished objects this year so far include a hat and a pair of socks that were actually begun last year. I've got a work sock on the needles and a glove, aside from the numerous sweaters at various stages of completion.

Knitting Resolutions

I intend on making knitting resolutions. Sewing resolutions too, since I've been slack in that department as well. They haven't been spelled out yet, but I've been giving them a lot of thought. Inventory will be a given, of yarn and fabric. Also inventory of works in progress. There are a few of those. Call me Queen of Understatement.

Yesterday I declared another yarn diet, effective immediately, until Sept 30, which is the start of KnitEast Fibre Fest in New Brunswick. Very exciting. I hope to have put a decent dent in my stash by then to justify a replenishment. It will also give me time to save up for said replenishment. I'm just giddy with the possibilities. I don't want to think of a fabric diet at the moment. No point depriving myself completely.

Long live knitting.

Happy New Year!!

This year we spent Christmas at Mathew's home in Saint John. We stayed for a week and that was plenty. Long enough to enjoy each other's company and get to know the grandson better, not long enough (I hope) to get on each other's nerves and wish to never do it again. Just right.

Here's Brianna snuggling with Rylie. They got along famously.

I knit, I visited with old and new friends, I shopped, I played with Rylie, I learned a new card game, I ate lots of turkey, and then I knit some more. Socks and fingerless mitts. Everyone got new hand-knit socks for Christmas except Rylie and yours truly. I plan to rectify that in this new year. Rylie got to learn a new word "YARN" since he took a fancy to the wool out of which I was knitting his mommy's socks. Oh, and I did some sock warranty work. I started before we left Saint John, had the first sock re-knit by Moncton (I was re-knitting from the heel flap down), and had only the toe remaining to knit by the time we got home, but that's only because I took over driving somewhere in NS. I don't even remember now when I started to drive (Sackville maybe?). I do remember that once we got outside Windsor the weather turned nasty. By Kentville I was only able to drive about 70km/h and past Kingston no more than 40 or 50km/h. On the highway. It's always so good to get home. It was even better once we saw that there was no damage to the house or when we found out that we still had power. We weren't sure what we'd be getting home to when we saw all the power trucks on the road. We had expected the worst so it was quite a relief to get home to everything intact.

Oh yes. See that picture? We had the privilege of babysitting Brianna's class guinea pigs over the holiday and naturally had to take them with us to NB. Rylie fell in love. He couldn't stop kissing Snowball every time she was out of the cage. But we weren't allowed to put the guinea pigs in his lap or he started screaming. Oh, the trauma the first time we tried it.

See that look on Zeus's face? Not impressed. He's pretty good at holding a grudge. It's not like I abandoned him, and certainly not on purpose. A few days away and he didn't want to have anything to do with me. Talk about getting the cold shoulder from a cat. Eventually he came around and then I couldn't get away from him, he was sticking to me like glue. Mr. Lovey-Dovey.

It's good to be home.

Happy New Year to one and all.