I was somewhat boggled last week to download my Ravelry stash spreadsheet and see that I have 255 skeins of yarn in my possession.
EEEEEE.
I've instituted a complete yarn purchase ban until the end of 2009. (Heh. We know how well the last one went.) I've been playing around with the idea of posting a stash reduction goal for 2009, but really have no idea what the basis of my projection would be. Historical yarn consumption? Number of potential knitting hours per week multiplied by probable rate? Number of probable felting projects involving double and triple-stranding?
I'll have to think on this a bit more. And what would the reward be?? More yarn seems, um, counter-productive...
Showing posts with label maundering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maundering. Show all posts
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Oh dear
88 Stitches is having a month-long sale on various Cascade yarns, including the 6 hanks of Pastaza that I have been craving to make the Cozy V-neck Sweater from Fitted Knits. And if I happened to pick up 4 skeins of 220, I could make the Back-to-school U-neck Vest as well...
Monday, March 03, 2008
The sock inventory development plan
After last month's sock yarn extravaganza, I have enough in the stash for at least 15 pairs of matching socks, and probably enough in leftovers to make an additional 2 pairs. I'm itching to knit it all up, but you know what they say: if you fail to plan, then plan to fail.
I've been pondering a sock inventory development plan, which admittedly is not much of a plan. Its initial, sole point was that I should knit plain patterns on the train and lacy patterns at home. I reasoned that my brain is way too small to memorize a stitch pattern, as evidenced by my Monkey sock experience. However, as I was happily knitting away on my Daffodil sock this evening, I noticed something useful about my work bag. There's a slim pocket on the outside of the bag, into which can slip very nicely an index card, onto which I could very easily write out the relevant stitch pattern. Genius!
A few weeks ago, in the early stages of plan development, I realized that I needed more than one size 0 circular needle if I was going to have more than one fingering weight sock project in progress. Yay for mail packages which arrive with fortuitous timing!
That's a second size 0 circular, and a size 1 just for kicks!
I really love the KnitPicks fixed circulars. They have a nice feel to them, and the cables are super flexible for magic looping.
Um, and in the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I must admit to this:
Knit Picks Essential in Meteor Twist. How can you say no to $6 socks??
It's likely that the Daffodil sock will be complete as early as this Friday, depending on how the work week goes. My exam is next Monday, so I'll probably be casting on for Kaylee on Tuesday night. And my next course doesn't ramp up until the end of the month, so I'll have a few weeks of prime knitting time to get some projects onto the needles. Yay!
I've been pondering a sock inventory development plan, which admittedly is not much of a plan. Its initial, sole point was that I should knit plain patterns on the train and lacy patterns at home. I reasoned that my brain is way too small to memorize a stitch pattern, as evidenced by my Monkey sock experience. However, as I was happily knitting away on my Daffodil sock this evening, I noticed something useful about my work bag. There's a slim pocket on the outside of the bag, into which can slip very nicely an index card, onto which I could very easily write out the relevant stitch pattern. Genius!
A few weeks ago, in the early stages of plan development, I realized that I needed more than one size 0 circular needle if I was going to have more than one fingering weight sock project in progress. Yay for mail packages which arrive with fortuitous timing!
That's a second size 0 circular, and a size 1 just for kicks!
I really love the KnitPicks fixed circulars. They have a nice feel to them, and the cables are super flexible for magic looping.
Um, and in the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I must admit to this:
Knit Picks Essential in Meteor Twist. How can you say no to $6 socks??
It's likely that the Daffodil sock will be complete as early as this Friday, depending on how the work week goes. My exam is next Monday, so I'll probably be casting on for Kaylee on Tuesday night. And my next course doesn't ramp up until the end of the month, so I'll have a few weeks of prime knitting time to get some projects onto the needles. Yay!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Rethinking the yarn purchase ban
I didn't set out to rationalize my way out of the ban, but I've been thinking lately about optimal ways to use up my stash, and I've concluded that a complete ban on purchases just isn't a good idea. (Also, obviously, totally unrealistic, as evidenced by the recent whirlwind spree at Three Bags Full.) I want to reduce the stash, yes, but I also have some specific goals that I want to achieve in my crafting life:
1. Explore my fashion forward sensibilities (i.e. make cute clothes for myself).
A girl can only have so many scarves, beanies and fingerless mitts. Sooner or later, one must venture into the wide, exhilarating world of pullovers and cardigans, but when a girl seems to have accumulated a stash that is mostly comprised of felting yarn and one to two-skein project quantities, said girl is just going to have to buckle under and start purchasing sweater quantities of yarn, regardless of the damage it may do to the overall size of the stash.
2. Expand my skill set.
Hm. This may not be as strong an argument as I originally thought. I had been thinking that skill set expansion meant things like lace knitting, which generally calls for fine gauge yarns, of which I have precious few. However, there seems to be a trend lately to knit lace in aran and worsted weights for a sturdier garment, and I do have plenty of stash choices for this type of activity.
3. Build an inventory of giftable items.
Mostly I'm thinking baby clothes, and really I'm thinking about myself again. Remember when young women had hope chests? I'd like to start one for baby items for myself and my friends, as we are just hitting the point in our lives where there is likely to be a mini-explosion of kidlets in the next few years. I don't have that many yarns that would be suitable for infant and toddler wear, although the felting yarns would be awesome for toys.
By no means is the above meant to justify future free roaming of my credit card. I'm thinking of it in terms of a more enlightened, holistic approach to stash reduction: I'll buy yarn when I have specific projects in mind, and not let the stash overtake the queue.
1. Explore my fashion forward sensibilities (i.e. make cute clothes for myself).
A girl can only have so many scarves, beanies and fingerless mitts. Sooner or later, one must venture into the wide, exhilarating world of pullovers and cardigans, but when a girl seems to have accumulated a stash that is mostly comprised of felting yarn and one to two-skein project quantities, said girl is just going to have to buckle under and start purchasing sweater quantities of yarn, regardless of the damage it may do to the overall size of the stash.
2. Expand my skill set.
Hm. This may not be as strong an argument as I originally thought. I had been thinking that skill set expansion meant things like lace knitting, which generally calls for fine gauge yarns, of which I have precious few. However, there seems to be a trend lately to knit lace in aran and worsted weights for a sturdier garment, and I do have plenty of stash choices for this type of activity.
3. Build an inventory of giftable items.
Mostly I'm thinking baby clothes, and really I'm thinking about myself again. Remember when young women had hope chests? I'd like to start one for baby items for myself and my friends, as we are just hitting the point in our lives where there is likely to be a mini-explosion of kidlets in the next few years. I don't have that many yarns that would be suitable for infant and toddler wear, although the felting yarns would be awesome for toys.
By no means is the above meant to justify future free roaming of my credit card. I'm thinking of it in terms of a more enlightened, holistic approach to stash reduction: I'll buy yarn when I have specific projects in mind, and not let the stash overtake the queue.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
