To Stash Or Not To Stash...

Stashing is a dilemma which many the majority of knitters face. It starts off as a simple skein of yarn. Then it becomes just a basket, then a couple of baskets. One knitter I chat with has an entire room full of yarn. (Lucky girl!)

As intriguing as this is, it got me to thinking while I was hard at work growing rust. Is stashing yarn really all that bad? This led to my list of reasons to stash.

1) One never knows when the next sheep shortage will take place.

2) Helps to pass on a legacy to your children.

3) Yarn is cheaper than cigarettes.

4) Knitting, which requires yarn, helps with the weight loss. If I have some knitting going on, I can't very well be eating can I?

5) Knitting, which requires yarn, is cheaper than therapy.

6) Nothing says "I love you" like a hand knitted sweater.

7) The stash is a great conversation starter.

8) I have always wanted to be the crazy yarn lady.

9) I'd bet Julia Roberts has a great stash.

And last but not least...

10) I consider it saving for retirement. I have absolutely no desire to knit with acrylic.

Socks, Socks, and More Socks

I first started knitting socks shortly after I started knitting. I saw the article in the magazine and all the fun sock yarns on the market and thought "I can figure that out. No problem!"

So I acquired some sock yarn and 4 pointy sticks. Shortly thereafter, I realized it would be much easier to use 5 pointy sticks and adjusted the knitting appropriatly. I should probably mention that this was the first time that I have actually knitted with double pointed needles.


When it was all said and done I ended up with these. My clown socks. I'm extremely proud of my clown socks. There was not a human being on the face of the earth that was able to ridicule them at that moment in time. No mam, I was proud to be able to join in the ranks of hundreds of sock knitting women that came before me.

So why wasn't I wearing them? If truth be told, they really were not all that the magazine article had them cracked up to be. The toes were just to pointy, the heel didn't really fit quite right, and I made the foot section entirely too long.

There just had to be a better way, and decided my next quest in life was to find the perfect sock pattern. Next month another magazine came in the mail with a different way to turn the heel. It was a slight variation on a theme but it created a shaped cradle for my precious heel. (I think that I should mention that I was meticulious about making gauge and it helped the outcome considerably.)


Sweet Success! The slightly different heel made all the difference in the world and I didn't knit the foot length until kingdom come! Nope, I measured my foot and knit until about 2 inches short of the final length just like the instructions said! This seemed to work out great and it produced a sock that was comfortable to wear.

So why wasn't I knitting more of these? Simple. The yarn keeps getting all tangled up, I lose half my stitches cuz the needles keep falling out and I'm tired of dealing with all those stupid pointy sticks.

So I said "Self, there simply must be a better way." And of course that lead to doing more research and I found about the 2-circ method by Cat Bordhi. Now being the cheap thrifty person that I am, I found places on the internet which explained this method in complete detail (later I eventually broke down and got the book). Around this time, another magazine article showed me the Pricilla Gibson-Roberts short-row heel method. Off I went and produced these.


These socks were much easier to make using the 2-circs than dealing with all of those stupid pointy sticks. And did I mention that they are the most comfortable socks to date?

The problem? I keep getting these annoying little holes in the heel. Holy socks. We will not be having any sort thing. Back to the drawing board.

I do like the short row method. I actually like it alot and its quite comfortable especially if you short row the toe as well. But the holes have got to go. SO after quite a bit of thought I remembered that I short-row stuff all the time and don't have the hole problem. Well this means that its the way that the short row is being executed. You see, Pricilla has you wrap the yarn around the needle which adds bulk to the that stitch, and when you have to re-wrap the yarn a second time when you are coming back on the return.

Now all this wraping and re-wraping is just way too much work. And its confusing as well. Just way too much to keep track of. So I'm short-rowing like every one in the sweater knitting community short-rows. I'm doing exactly what Elizabeth tells me to do. Just simply slide the stich you are gonna skip to the right hand needle, wrap the yarn, slip the stitch back to the left hand needle, turn the sock, and purl back. Then just keep slipping stitches, wrapping yarn, and either knitting or purling across the row until you have about 1 inch worth of stitches. Now on the increase part, you still have to wrap and turn but there is a trick or the stitches are mis-directed. On the knit side of the fabric, you have to slip, slip, slip, knit. On the purl side you have to purl the 2 wrapped stitches plus the actual stitch through the back loop.

This is my result!


Am I pleased? Extremely!

Crazy Pregnant Woman!

Me: "Honey, I'm cold."

DH: "What can I get you dear?"

Me: "Granny's quilt."

Ten minutes later

Me: "Honey, I'm hungry."

DH: "What can I get you dear?"

Me: "Ice cream with chocolate sauce."

At First Glimpse

"Hi mom!"

I'm Humbled Yet Excited!

Curiosity had got the best of me and I started to wonder. I wondered if anyone actually knit the patterns that were published at Elann. So I Googled it and would you believe that I found someone that knit "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? Her shawl turned out great as well!!!

Ramblings and Such!

1) Last week I went and bought some kangaroo pouchers, aka mommy pants. I honestly thought that I would have more time in my normal pants but I guess that it is true about popping out sooner with the second baby. I think that I'm as big as I was after being 4 months pregnant but I'm only 3. Crazy huh? I'm feeling like a beached whale. Now of course cuz I'm a short shit I have to alter all of my pants. These are no exception. I got that all taken care of today! Now I don't have to put the rubber band on the normal pants and worry about the zipper coming down every 5 minutes.


2) There has been no knitting taking place to warrent a conversation about. I have been working on the EZ adult suprise jacket every so often. I'll have to take a pic and show you.

3) The resolution has some issues. OK I have some issues. Did you all see what Ann has coming up? I'm OK with everything but the DB Merino. This is merino we are talking about here. I don't happen to have any merino. However I do happen to have a $50 Elann bonus burning a hole in my account. Does it count against me if its essentialy free yarn? Honestly, I EARNED this yarn. I spent enough money to earn the bonus money and Ann really wants me to use it up right? OK I'm trying to justify my way out of adding to the stash and when I get the yarn I'll add it to the count on the sidebar.

I've Been Tagged

It seems that I have been tagged for a meme and while I thought about rebelling and not playing along, I realized all the fun you would miss out on if I didn't.


“THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

1) I startle extremely easily.

2) I have problems falling asleep when I'm not in my own bed or when my DH is not with me.

3) I still like PB&J for lunch!

4) I truely believe that chocolate is its own food group.

5) Rodents gross me out even though I had hamsters when I was a kid.

6) I can eat just butter. I know it sounds gross but I can just slice off a pat of real butter and eat it. Karolyn does the same thing.

I know that I'm supposed to tag 6 more people but I'm gonna rebel and not do it.

New Year Resolutions

New Year Resolutions. We all have them. Usually they consist of loosing weight, taking a trip or doing some sort of home improvement.

Well I'm getting tired of the usual resolutions that usually loose steam about mid February. So this year I'm gonna try something different.

There has been alot of talk about going on a yarn diet and there are all sorts of rules involved. Rules that dictate which yarns are calorie free, meaning you can get as much of that as you want to. And which yarns are strictly forbidden. And how many yards you should knit in a day. The list is endless and everyone has their own variation.

So here is what I'm going to do. Now the point here is to use up what I have and not add to the stash.



1) Count the yardage on the ball bands from last year. The total was a staggering 4913 yds. Now those are some smoking needles!

Saving ball bands is an easy way to keep track of how much you have knitted. When you are finished with the yarn, take the ball band and put it in the "gift with purchase" bag that you get at the make-up counter.

2) Promise to knit at least 80% of what was knitted last year.

90% = 4422 yds
80% = 3930 yds
70% = 3439 yds
60% = 2947 yds
50% = 2456 yds

I'm going with 80% because I'm gonna have another baby which will most definately cut into knitting time.

3) Yarn purchased counts against me.

So lets say that I knitted 1000 yds and then bought 500 yds of yarn. Then I have to subtract the yarn bought from the yarn knitted to end up with the re-tallied yarn knitted. SO 1000 - 500 = 500 yds knitted. I'm glad that you are following me here!

4) Have a really really good prize. This way I'll want WANT to stay with the program.

I was going to go to a knitting retreat as my reward for being good but I dont know how fesable that will be with a new baby. So I'm gonna have to think of something different. Any suggestions?

Now of course ANY yarn that leaves the stash counts, so if you happen to donate/ get rid of yarn, you can add that yardage.