what's in my stash?!: part five

Aaaaand, hopefully we're back to the regularly scheduled programming! I just have to keep repeating to myself, "I can write blog posts, I can write blog posts, I can write blog posts!"

This will be yet another yarns for baby things post.  I can't help it!  Knitting baby things is so satisfying, and did you see how darn cute my nephew is???

These two balls of Cascade 220 Superwash were actually the first yarns I bought to knit cute things for Baby J, way back in April when I found out my sister was pregnant.  My plan for this yarn was, and still is, to knit a baby bear sweater from the Baby Sweater Buffet.  Even though Baby J is so teeny tiny right now, I think I'll knit a 1 year size for him over the summer so he can wear it all next fall!

"Another two balls of superwash yarn?!" you say?  Well, yes.  Because babies.  These two balls of Valley Superwash have a much more immediate purpose, a Baby Vertebrae for the holidays for Baby J!  Hopefully this stash yarn, in there since early July, will be out in the next couple weeks.

My poor little camera just couldn't handle this light yarn + my dark desk.  I tried to take pictures on two different occasions, but this is as good as it got!

Last of this set of stash yarns is some thrift store yarn with no plan other than "for future babies."  Would you believe me if I told you I know a number of people who are expecting babies, but none of them are girls?!  I couldn't pass up this one-dollar-each batch of Valley Yarns Longmeadow at the thrift store back in June though.  Into the stash it went, and in the stash it stays for now!

I have one more post to finish off the "What's in my Stash?!" series.  That's a lot of yarn!  I haven't used any of it yet since I'm knitting gifts right now, but after the holidays it will be stash knitting only for me!  If any of my wonderful readers (all three of you!) would like some of their favorite stash yarns featured here, just comment and your wish will be my command!

baby j

I'm so sorry that I've been very absent from this blog, I just haven't felt up to taking pictures of finished objects recently!  However, I wanted to commemorate one of my sister's greatest finished objects to date, her son Baby J!

My nephew was born at 10:03PM November 27, at a whopping 8 lbs 14 oz and 21.25"!  My sister had a very difficult delivery, but was so strong through the whole thing.  Her husband stayed with her in the hospital for days before the actual delivery, and they have another couple days still before they'll all be allowed to go home, but Baby J is the sweetest, most perfect little man I've ever seen!  Am I biased?  Of course!

My sister snapped this phone pic of me holding Baby J in the very wee hours of the morning.  I've got the staring in wonder/terrified of breaking the baby look down already!  I'm so, so excited to have many years ahead of me to get to know this wonderful little guy.  This year I am thankful for family, and having a healthy sister and tiny nephew!

what's in my stash?! part two

I want to explore a little more into my stash of leftovers today, but I thought I'd also let you know about some exceptions to my "no new yarn" rule.  Especially since I already know I'm going to buy more yarn this week (oops!).  On to how I'm allowed to break the rule!

1. If I need more yardage to finish a project I'm working on, I can buy more yarn.  I already know that I don't have enough of the Sheffield I'm using to line my Very Warmest Mittens.  I'll avoid making myself feel guilty by making an exception.

2. If I'm making a gift for someone and I don't have a yarn they'll like.  I have no idea what I'm making for my brother for a holiday gift, and while he's not super picky, I'd rather make him something he'll like than something I cobbled together because I made an arbitrary "no new yarn" rule for myself.

3. If I find a nice yarn at the thrift store.  Because, come on, dealzzzz!  I've gotten very good at taking home only what I think I'll use, so I'm not worried about going wild on thrift store yarns.

And

4. After seeing some of the yarns from Camellia Fiber Company, I would like to try hand dyeing yarn with natural dyes.  So I I'll allow myself to buy some yarn for dyeing, since there is nothing in my stash that I can work with.

Now that I've re-opened the doors to buying new yarn, let me show you more of my leftovers!

These three rascals I decided to photograph together because they will all become hats for my nephew.  Starting on the left we have the last skein from the Gala Festival that first made Saroyan, then the Baby Sophisticate for my nephew.  My note on when I bought the yarn only says "2012," so all I can say is that I'm pretty sure I've had this yarn for just over a year.  I'll probably make another Basic Baby Hat with it, but extend the decreases at the crown to tie a knot in it.  The yarn in the middle I've only had since June and is leftover from my Fifty-Four cowl.  I'll probably try to wing something like a tiny Boy Hat out of it with less ribs.  Then on the right we have the rest of the Patons Pearl DK (picked up at the thrift store in April) I used for the Tiny Fisherman sweater.  The Otis Baby Hat should complement the sweater nicely!

I should have knit an entire sweater out of this Mirasol Cotanani I got from the thrift store in March instead of just my Girly Grandfather Vest!  I'm not quite sure what I'll do with these leftovers.  I've wanted to knit Ysolda's Elijah for a while so maybe that.  Maybe a tiny sweater when someone I know decides to have a girl baby instead of a boy baby.  We'll see, but I think this yarn will be in my stash for a while until then!

These three partial skeins you might recognize from my recently completed Jayne Hat.  I've only had the yarn since the beginning of July, and I hope to use it up before the end of the year!  It will become an Amish Puzzle Ball for my nephew for a holiday gift.  I guess an alternate title for this post would be "How Much Will I Spoil My Nephew?"

Aaaaaand in the interest of full disclosure, here is the drawer where I keep the odds and ends!  There are a bunch of partial skeins of my beloved Valley Yarns Charlemont in there that will someday become a stripey Sockhead Hat.  Otherwise the rest seem like they should be useful someday, but I have no idea what they may become!

baby sophisticate

My sister absolutely loved this Baby Sophisticate when I gave it to her at her baby shower!  And I'll admit I'm pretty impressed with how cute it is as well!  He'll look like such a tiny grandfather!

My camera decided the present in front was more important than the parents-to-be, but you can still tell how disappointed J is that the sweater won't fit him!

I made quite a few mods to the pattern for gauge and sizing in general since I'd read around the internet that the pattern as written didn't quite fit right.  Hopefully I've made it fit better but I won't know until there's a baby to put in it!

Pattern: Baby Sophisticate from Stockinette (free), my mods on Ravelry

Yarn: Gala Festival, of the non-eyelash variety

wip wednesday: tiny fisherman

Tiny Fisherman on Ravelry

Crazy about knitting sweaters for my nephew?  Me?  Never.

This one I designed myself, and while I'm definitely only calling it a prototype I still think it will come out decent.  As long as it's comfortable I don't think he'll mind!

wip wednesday: baby sophisticate

Baby Sophisticate on Ravelry

I wanted to post the finished sweater for my nephew earlier this week so it wouldn't be quite so weird when I started posting all of my other obsessive baby knitting.  This little boy is going to have a better collection of knitwear than I do!  I've heavily modified the (free) Baby Sophisticate pattern but haven't documented all my mods on Ravelry yet.

little blue baby outfit

Little Blue Wraplan on Ravelry

Mittens are not the only things I've been knitting for my sister!  My first nephew is due in November and I have been having so much fun knitting tiny things for him.

The Offset Wraplan is the first baby sweater I've knit, and I was a bit worried about it at first.  I changed the gauge to work with some Reynolds Sunrise I got from a thrift store, then the yarn felt a little crunchy all knit up.  Happily, after throwing the whole thing through the washing machine (I wanted to make sure it could be washed easily, babies are messy little people!) it softened right up.

Little Blue Hat on Ravelry

After finishing the sweater I still had so much of this blue yarn that I would never have used for anything else, so I whipped up a matching Basic Baby Hat.  They're both in a 6 month-ish size, as is the most recent sweater I've been knitting, so I really need to stop that and make him something he can wear after he's born!

Patterns: Offset Wraplan (free Ravelry download) and Basic Baby Hat (from Mama's Stitchery Projects)

Yarn: Discontinued Reynolds Sunrise