Knitting and Minimalism: Part Two

So, last week I was all fired up with enthusiasm for some selective pruning of my stash and I happily set about reviewing my yarn stash (yes, all of it) and ensuring that it met one of 3 criteria:
a) beautiful
b) useful
c) intended for a purpose

So, how did I do?

Well, I'm pleased to report that my stash has now shrunk in size from 4 large storage crates and an under-bed drawer to 2.5 crates and the aftermentioned drawer. The latter holds my prized sock yarn and whilst none of it will be leaving my possession anytime soon it does need a tidy up and organisation - so that is my job for this week.

Overall I have sent 2 larger carrier bags to the charity shop and the kids play club - mainly acrylic and leftover skeins or part skeins from projects. It really helped to think of yarn in terms of 'Is this something I will enjoy using?' when deciding which category it fell into.

For some reason I had accummulated quite an array of aran weight yarn in shades of brown and grey. Not the most inspiring thing to look at - I must have been having a throwback to my 1970s childhood at some point. So, out it goes - and my stash is a happier, brighter place for it.

The yarn pictured is my 'good' unwanted yarn and so this is waiting to be photographed (if it isn't already) and listed on my Ravelry destash page.

I am undecided but I'm thinking that I might offer it up to anyone willing to make a contribution to my Just Giving fundraising page in aid of Bliss. I would have to make this available to UK people only, regretably, due to postage charges but I'm thinking that it would be a good way to put my unwanted stash to good use and raise some money into the bargain.

Next up, the book collection as my bookcase is officially FULL.

FO Friday: Honey Cowl

You may have already seen photos of my latest FO but I am so pleased with it that I just wanted to share it again. It is too hot to wear it at the moment so I am keeping it as a pet and stroking it instead.

The pattern is the wonderful Honey Cowl - over 16,000 Ravelers can't be wrong - and it is teamed with a delicious yarn from Ginger Twist Studios - Sturdy Splendour. The yarn came from the most recent quarter from the Golden Skein and to say I was thrilled with it would be an understatement.

Even though it is labelled as a 4ply it is a very rounded, plump yarn which knits up more like a sport weight or light DK - making it perfect for this cowl pattern.

I cast on 200st and knit until it was approx 8" deep - giving me a cowl that I can wrap once around for a snug fit or leave loose and drapey. Absolutely perfect and just what I wanted. I won't wish away the hot summer days (we get so few of them) but my little knitterly heart secretly can't wait for autumn when I can proudly whip this little beauty from the drawer and wear it with joy!

WIP: Sock Yarn Blankie

Just a quick update on my Sock Yarn blankie which is rumbling on quietly in the background.

Sometimes I don't pick it up for a few day or even a week, but that's fine.

It's always there and it's quite nice to greet it as an old friend and work on it for some peaceful, quiet knitting when I'm need of something calm.

I love looking at the blocks of colour and seeing how they play against each other - I am easily amused, clearly :)

Knitting and the art of minimalism

I have really enjoyed taking part in the Project 333 challenge and after a month I am starting to see the benefits of simplifying my wardrobe. My morning routine is simpler and calmer with less clutter and fewer choices - and I can pull something out of the wardrobe without releasing an avalanche.

In the interests of decluttering, my mind has turned naturally enough, to my other potential avalanche risk - The Stash.

Like any self respecting knitter I am keeper of a goodly sized stash, but, is it too much, I wonder? Does my stash help my knitting life and imbue me with a sense of calm and satisfaction that I am ready for any knitting challenge or does it threaten to overwhelm me and complicate my knitting life. Hands up that woman (me) who had to buy an extra skein of yarn to finish a project, only to find the missing skein months later in a box of 'deep stash'.

I have no desire to cull the stash severely or to impose any sort of frugal 'cold-sheeping' existance - the idea is just to review it (all of it) and to see what serves a purpose, and what does not.

Employing William Morris' principle of "Keep only what you know to be useful or believe to the beautiful" I will be categorising my yarn into the following groups:

Beautiful Yarns
This doesn't have to have a purpose. It is just beautiful, and lifts my heart when I look at it. It is my source of inspiration, of comfort and of joy. I am lucky enough to have some beautiful sock yarn and laceweight yarn in my stash which is lovingly hand-dyed and a source of pure joy.

Yarns with a purpose
Yarns for which I have a definite project in mind. It doesn't matter when I intend to actually make it, but I must have a defined use for it (and linking it to my Ravelry queue wouldn't hurt either)

Useful Yarns
This includes baby yarns (although I must have enough to make an actual garment) and superwash dk/aran suitable for hats and gift giving (ditto regarding the amounts though). I know for a fact that I have many part-skeins in this category which I have saved for some unspecified time in the future.

Everything else
If a yarn doesn't fall into either of these 3 categories then it will end up here and will be destined to leave my house in some form or another (charity shop, gifting, de-stashing etc)

I don't have a huge amount of free time this week so every day I'll take one of my storage crates - I have 4 and work through it, applying these principles.

Next week, I'll let you know how I got on. And if you don't hear from me, I'll be buried under a yarn avalanche somewhere :) 

The wheel came off

In cycling terms, my Tour came to a grinding halt when my almost finished Kam Chu sock met two very enthusiastic kittens.

Yes, it was entirely my own fault

Yes, I had left it lying in plain view of two playful, inquistive balls of fluff, but still, it didn't stop me being a little less than pleased to come home and find this:

 

 Attempts at painful sock reconstruction were unsuccesful and despite some marathon knitting I didn't complete the project in time. I can still continue with the Tour in other stages but to be honest this one rather knocked the stuffing out of me and although I have attempted the 3rd Stage - with Roll the Bones - my heart wasn't in it. And my tension was way too tight - I wonder why!

They are lovely socks though and I will definitely return to them at a later date.

For now, I did the only sensible thing and cast on for some plain vanilla socks in delicious, good-enough-to-eat yarn from Desert Vista Dyeworks - the latest offering from the Golden Skein. The colours remind me of blackberry crumble and custard - just as soothing as a vanilla sock when one is in need of comfort.

Tour de Sock FO

Apologies for showing the same project twice in a row but I have been a little monogamous this week. Working on the Tour de Sock project left little time for anything else, but I am pleased to say that having cast on, on 1st June I finished at 10pm (GMT) on 4th June.

And very pleased I was too.

The legs were far longer than I normally knit (approx 8.5") and I begrudged every last row of the ribbing. The Y-heel turn I'm not crazy about and I don't think I would do again but overall they are a very handsome sock and I will wear them with pride.

At the time of writing there are 358 Wye projects in Ravelry with 87 finished. There are many others nearing completion though so it will be fun to cheer them on as they race to the finish.

The next stage starts on June 10th so I have time for a bit of non-sock knitting to give my hands a rest.

To use up some aran weight from stash - StashDash2014 - I am working on another Garter Ripple Squish blanket. We are going to be getting two new kittens tomorrow so in preparation (as well as storing all my yarn in sealable plastic bins) I am making a kitty blanket. Of course they will probably ignore it and make a beeline for my sock yarn blankie in progress, but it's worth a try and it helps me get towards my 5K Stash Dash target.

Tour de Sock

I must be mad, I have no idea why on earth I get myself into these things.

I signed up to this years Tour de Sock 2014 challenge. A sort of speed-knitting event which raises money for Doctors without Borders.

You pay your entrance fee, find a few like-minded sould to join you in a team (or go solo) and you're off.

There are 6 stages and each pair of socks must be completed by the time the next stage starts in order for you to progress. If you don't manage to complete, you still get access to the patterns - you are just out of the race.

I love events like this as it allows people to take part at whatever level they are comfortable with. Some just like the fun of a good old-fashioned KAL. Some like to sharpen their competitive edge a little or to challenge themselves to achieve a target. And some like to go all out, in a no holds barred race to the finish.

For the record I probably fall into the middle category - if only because I know I am in no way speedy enough to race to the finish.

The first pattern is the Wye Socks. Now these are relatively complex socks with twisty cables and (what seems to me) an unfeasibly long leg, but some amazing knitters were posting finished pairs within 24hrs of the pattern being published: here and here.

I have no idea how our speedy Finnish cousins knit so quickly but I am in awe of such speed and accomplishment.

As for me, after some determined hard-core knitting time and extensive use of saved freezer meals I have completed 1 sock and have just turned the heel of the next.

Allez....as the French would say!