Archive for the ‘Stash Flash’ Category

So I abandoned the hat as a gift idea for the new baby, and decided to get rid of some of the stash sock yarn I had on hand and make a Monkey from the Itty Bitty Toys book.  I love the patter, but I cannot believe this yarn.  This poor monkey is fairly hideous.

From Baby Stuff

 

Seriously – this is a face that ONLY a baby could love…

From Baby Stuff

 

While I was working on that, I was listening to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off, and found out about a scrap-eating project called the Traveler’s Life Afghan, which is a blanket made with every bit of scrap yarn left over from finished projects.  Each row knit into the blanket is a different scrap of yarn.  It’s a very cool idea!  I spent much of Saturday going through all of my scraps of yarn and updating Ravelry.  Then I went to Fuzzy Wuzzy yarns with some friends and knit, and bought the needles I needed to start it.  When I got home, I started to put the yarn in chronological order (thanks to my Ravelry project list for keeping track of it), and Tux would NOT LEAVE IT ALONE! This is after much subduing and picking up..

From Misc Pics

She decided that she loved the Cashmerino more than anything.

From Misc Pics

 

She was also a fan of the Misti Alpaca.

From Misc Pics

More to come on my other project that I resurrected from the depths.

Once upon a time, someone started knitting.  Not knowing a lot about the knitting sub-culture, and it’s preponderance for ‘stash yarn’, this knitter decided to announce to her spouse that the amount of stored yarn (the word stash was not part of her vocabulary yet) would fit into this newly purchased ottoman (in suede instead of leather).  Both agreed that this was a good plan, and all was well.

Fast forward to about year later.  This same knitter’s stash had increased ever-so-slightly so as to not ‘comfortably’ fit in the ottoman.  Fortunately, this was a clever knitter, who knew exactly where her spouse would never look – inside a cabinet that was purchased to store the glass for his stained glass project (henceforth known as the Never-Ending Window Project).  Since the knitter’s spouse rarely, if ever, looked into his own cabinet, this was the perfect place to store her yarn!

A few months later, the knitter’s plan was still working perfectly, until her spouse’s youngest child stole her hat.  The knitter decided that this little child needed a new hat of his own.  Part of the knitter’s ‘stash’ was picked out specifically by this little boy, so she decided to “flash her stash” so that the little boy could determine which yarn would be used to make his new hat. Fun was had by all when the children decided that they should ‘make yarn’ with the yarn-ball winder.

From Misc Pics

Unfortunately, this ‘stash-flashing’ caused a severe case of Startitis in this knitter, resulting in a full-fledged Knit-Out.  In order to show off exactly how much of her stash she had used, this knitter cleared off the coffee table in order to take a picture of what measly stash she had remaining.

From Misc Pics

This knitter’s spouse, remembering the ‘Ottoman Deal’ commented that the Stash had ‘breached containment’ and complained that he had not been properly compensated with ‘lots of socks’.  Deciding not to argue, and therefore reveal the secret of her hiding place, the knitter crammed the full hanks, cakes, and skeins of yarn into the (&*&%^ ottoman, while considering exactly how many other people would receive socks before her spouse would receive his next pair.

While the yarn stash *did* fit into the ottoman (with the exception of the scraps, but those don’t count anyway…), the knitter decided that it was time to start a project with the skeins of yarn that took up the most space.  Unfortunately, they are among the least-pleasant yarns she owns.  100% acrylic yarn with a scratchiness factor that rivals the worst of wools.  The first thought regarding what to do with this yarn (after burning it) was to donate it to someone that would appreciate it.  Unfortunately, that is not an option, because this yarn was specifically given to the knitter with the request of a scarf.  One cannot turn down a request for a scarf – even if they don’t understand what they are asking for…  This knitter, being a clever knitter, decided that the only way to make working with this yarn bearable was to make a very cool pattern with it.  And so the Train Scarf was born.

Since there are two MASSIVE skeins of yarn, this knitter decided that both would have to be used at once – two birds, one scarf, so to speak.  The knitter looked at striping patterns, stranded patterns (weird for a scarf) and finally settled down on a train pattern.  But there was a problem.  This particular pattern called for ‘double knitting’.  What on earth is ‘double knitting’??

Being a tech-savvy knitter, google was consulted on how exactly double-knitting was done, and three video tutorials later, the Train Scarf was officially being cast-on.

Double knitting is a work of magic.  you cast on enough stitches for the pattern with TWO strands of yarn, and then k1,p1 in the alternating colors (following the chart), and when you flip your work over, you have a negative  image of what you were just doing.  Odd.

From Train Scarf

From Train Scarf

There are three problems with this particular scarf (Acrylic Scratchiness notwithstanding).  One, the knitter cannot watch Dr. Who and knit this pattern at the same time without making mistakes.  Two, mistakes cannot be fixed “the easy way” with a crochet hook and personal fortitude.  Mistakes must be frogged to oblivion, then re-knit properly.  Three, there is no sane way to confirm that you are knitting the pattern properly, because it just looks like alternating colors of yarn on your needles.

From Train Scarf

The only way to see a mistake is to have gone rows and rows past it.  An example can be seen with the wheels of the train.

From Train Scarf

When testing her theory on whether or not anyone would notice said issue with the wheel, the knitter asked her dear husband to look at the scarf and see if there was anything wrong with the wheels.  This knitter’s spouse looked at the scarf, and laughed heartily; commenting on how she ‘done f^^&&*ed that one up’.

Seeing that this knitter was obviously upset about this particular reaction, he ran to the kitchen to get a big bowl of ‘comfort ice cream’ for his knitter, and didn’t even comment that she didn’t share when the whole bowl was gone.

I think he knows that his next pair of socks is on the line….

As I was flashing my stash last weekend, I decided that I needed to put these two yarns together to make something fantastic.

From Misc Pics

I had been eyeing this pattern on Ravelry for a while, trying to figure out the best yarns to make it with.. because  it would be an absolute shame to disrespect such an awesome pattern with less than perfect-for-it-yarn. A little less than a week later, here it is!

From Hats

Obligatory inside-out view of stranded knitting…

From Hats

This was the most difficult thing I’ve finished… Lace is hard (and therefore I rarely finish it unless it’s easy), but stranded, corrugated ribbing is HARD!  The yarn tangles up on itself, and it is difficult to remember which yarn to keep on which finger (because both yarns are used at the same time)  Halfway through this pattern, I decided to call it my TINK hat, because I had to TINK (knit backwards) the thing apart at least a dozen times.  I had decided that it would be a good, long while before I started another project like this again.

But then, look at it!  It’s so pretty, and so cool… and look at how the butterfly wings change color.  I can’t help but look at this hat and think that it needs a sibling hat – with fishies instead of butterflies… wouldn’t that be cool?  Fishies swimming across a blue hat?  The next colors in the skein of yarn are orange, yellow, and a bit of purple – so I think it has seen its destiny.  We’ll see how my strand-ability works out.

In the meantime, I can’t live with myself as a knit-blogger if I mention ‘flashing my stash’ without actually flashing my stash… so here it is!

From Misc Pics

You have been flashed.

Ed thinks that it’s a BIG stash. I think he’s wrong. What do you think?