off the bandwagon, or, what's in my stash?!: the madtosh edition

How about I come back with a bang, and tell you I bought yarn?  Lots, and lots, and lots of yarn.  Enough yarn to negate any stash knitting I've done in the last year.  And I've only been doing stash knitting.

You see, Webs had MadTosh grab bags.  MadTosh!  So much MadTosh, for not very much money!  What person, especially one who hadn't bought yarn in about a year, could resist that?  Not this person, obviously.

I bought two grab bags: one with five skeins of Lace, and the other with five skeins of Vintage.  I wasn't able to request specific colorways, but could request color families.  I asked for blues, greens, greys and purples, and oh boy did I receive!  Honestly, the Lace I got is a bit boring, but it's fabulous stash yarn.  The colorways I received, from left to right, are Moonstone, Logwood, Aura, Celadon, and Cousteau.  The Celadon and Cousteau are my favorites from this bunch.

Cousteau is an easy favorite: those greens and blues!  Most likely it will become a Fairy Mist so that the yarn itself can really be the star.

Celadon is a much more subtle yarn, but it has beautiful sea foam green and grey variations.  Again, I'd like to use a simple pattern for this yarn, maybe Purl Soho's Simple Pleasures hat, but modded so the yarn isn't held double.

I don't have a group shot of the Vintage yarns, but from left to right in the very first photo of this post the colorways are Tannehill, Jade, Margeaux, Ink and Whitewash.  Margeaux has a close-up just above.  She'll become a Magnolia hat.  I believe the Jade will also become a hat, but most likely a Crooked Paths tam.

These next two yarns I feel so unsure about what to do with them, but I also love them.  This is Tannehill.  It's totally not my thing, but so pretty.  I felt so unsure about this yarn that I started knitting with it right away, so it wouldn't just sit.  I've knit a single loop Stockholm Scarf with it.

Whitewash is the other yarn I feel conflicted about.  It's so pretty (just like all MadTosh yarns) but I'm well aware of my own dislike of variegated yarns.  Most likely I'll knit a pair of mittens out of it, because I need mittens more than any other knitted object right now.  Not that I'm really lacking in the knitwear department...

what's in my stash?!: holiday acquisitions

I thought I was done with new fiber acquisition!  I was going to be so good, diligently working through my stash over the coming year!  And then my wonderful siblings both gave me new yarn over the holidays!  So much for making more space!

Along with a couple other little goodies, my sister gave me two big ol' hanks of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool!  I'm already in the middle of a brown sweater, but I think nothing short of a little cabled sweater will do this yarn justice.  I'm not quite sure how the rustic wool-y-ness of this yarn will play with Andi Satterlund's Chuck, but I think I'd be willing to give it a try when I get to this yarn!

My brother (of hat shrinking fame) gave me two hanks of SMC Northern Worsted.  I'm working on another "design," so I see even more stripes in my future!  I'm pretty sure these yarns will be gifted back to my brother in scarf form, though maybe not until the end of this year.

That brother of mine really went all out: he gave me not one, not two, but three yarns!  The third yarn my brother gave me is a silky soft little skein of Jojoland Crown.  This yarn absolutely DID NOT want to have its picture taken!  It's a very springy green in person.  I'll probably do something very simple with it; maybe this Heavenly Cowl or Haze?

Then, to top off these fibery delights, Don's mom also gave me a gift card to the little yarn shop in the town she lives in!  I am so, so lucky to be surrounded by people who care so much about me.  And who encourage me in my bad habit of hoarding yarn.

what's in my stash?!: fin

Are you ready for the final installment of "What's in My Stash?!" I sure am!  I know my little collection of yarns is nothing when compared to some, but you have to take into account that I only live in a two bedroom apartment and Don works from home.  His needs for space definitely trump my tendency to squirrel away yarns!

This batch of yarns I have zero plans for, but bought anyway.  That's consumerism for you!  They sure are pretty, so I don't mind having them around.

This first hank is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport.  I bought it back in the beginning of July, when I went on a baby yarns buying rampage.  I initially thought that I would knit a new born sized sweater out of it for Baby J, but it's such a special yarn that I wanted it to be made into something that would be used for more than a few weeks.  Now I'm not sure what to do with it, especially since I already know that I'm just not that into variegated yarns, even it they are beautiful.

This Madeline Tosh Merino Light made me the "victim" of a sale at Webs!  I have absolutely no idea when I bought it, because I seem to have ripped the date off the receipt!  The colors are washed out in this picture, but this yarn is very pretty.  It varies from a natural color to light grey to a milky chocolate brown, and I have no idea what to knit with it.  Me and variegated yarns don't mix well as stated, but I want to love this in a knit form as well as in hank form!

Last, and definitely least in this set of yarns (though possibly most easily used as far as my tastes go), are two hanks of Cascade 220.  It was a closeout in a nice coral-y red, I couldn't resist!  I have no set plans for this yarn either, but it's not hard to use like the other two are.  It can easily become a warm scarf or mittens or hat.  It's also not as interesting as my other yarns, which is probably why I have no plans for it.  A very tame stash yarn.

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!

what's in my stash?!: part four

Ready for another round of What's In My Stash?!  I sure am after yet another unintentional blogging break.  It's just so hard to get myself to do things as the days get shorter and colder.  Curling up with a book and the dog feels like a great accomplishment these days!

Worst picture first so maybe we'll all forget about it by the end of the post!  I took all these pictures at the same time before I really started fiddling with the settings on my dinky little camera (I had a camera settings epiphany while taking these pictures).

These two skeins of Valley Yarns Huntington are destined to become a pair of stripey socks.  The sea-foam colored skein I've has since August, and the natural skein I've had far longer, though I can't remember exactly when it became mine.  Initially I meant to make a candy-striped set of socks with the natural Huntington and pink Spud & Chloe Fine, but the Huntington wasn't a good match.

These three balls of scrumptious merino are Filatura Di Crosa Zara, bought for four dollars a pop at Webs in the beginning of August.  They will be knit up into a stripey cowl, with a natural-tan, tan-navy, navy-natural kind of pattern.  I'm very excited about this project, but alas, won't be getting to it until all the holiday knitting is done.

The last batch of yarns in this group are my special, I'm-afraid-to-use-this yarns.  I have three skeins of Anzula Squishy that were my holiday present last year.  I'm petrified even thinking about what to make out of this yarn, it is by far the nicest yarn I own.  Do I make a matching set of accessories?  Do I make a cropped sweater??  Do I display it on a shelf and touch it lovingly from time to time???  For now it's staying in my stash until I feel confident enough to use it!

what's in my stash?!: part three

The alternate title for today's foray into What's in My Stash?! is "A Girl Can Never Have Enough Hats."  Over the weekend I visited my beloved Webs with my favorite new(ish) knitter and found myself saying "a girl can never have too many..." about quite a few things.  Hats of course, but also cowls and mittens.  I will have you know that I resisted the urge to buy all the yarn, even though a pink-purple-turquoise striped cowl was calling out to me from the skeins on the shelf!

Back in the realm of never having enough hats, we have a skein of Valley Yarns Charlemont, one of my favorite yarns.  The real color of this yarn is a smidge more green than it looks here.  I bought this at the beginning of May, the same day I bought the yarn for my Sea Green Bias (it's actually the same color in a non-kettle dye variety).  I've had it in my head to finally try Melissa LaBarre's Crooked Paths with this yarn, so that's what it's tagged for at the moment.

This Marine Silk you've seen before in my happy birthday to me post in June.  Since then I have knit with a Blue Moon yarn, just not this one (the shell of my super warm mittens are in Blue Moon Gaea).  I don't have a specific plan for this yarn yet, other than maybe-a-hat.  All I know is that I want it next to my face to snuggle with!

Last but definitely not least is another yarn you've recently seen, the kettle dyed Spun Monkey yarn I got in Vermont!  This is such a pretty skein, I just can't get it to photograph well!  I think I did a better job this time though.  Red in any form is out of my comfort zone, so this is a pushing myself yarn.  Right now my plan is to knit a Hinagiku Hat out of it.  Mmm, daisy stitch!  Before I started seriously keeping track of my knitting here on the blog I created some seamless daisy stitch mittens and a matching cowl for a friend, but didn't write out a pattern.  Silly silly!

Even with all these plans for all these nice yarns I don't think you'll see the hats until after the holidays, because right about now I'm starting to get worried about having time to finish gifts!  It seems early but I have a couple time consuming ones to get out of the way!

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!

what's in my stash?!

Hello ladies & bots, and welcome to my new series: What's In My Stash?!  I can say this at least, there is so much.  So, so much.  In fact, I've put myself on a yarn diet until I get things a little more under control.  In the mean time I've decided to document the yarns I have tucked away and what I intend to do with them.  So without further ado:

We have MORE left over Cashmerino Aran from my Miette sweater (you'll see it soon, I promise!).  I've already started using the leftovers from the sweater in my Zig Zag prototype.  I've had this yarn since February (the 14th, to be exact.  A Valentines Day gift to myself?)  The reason I have so so much of this yarn is because I bought a bag at Webs during a take-this-percent-off-an-entire-bag sale.  Very dangerous, but I knew I wanted to knit a sweater out of it.

I do have a plan for these extra extras though!  I have another cowl design in mind that should be beautiful in the Cashmerino Aran, and if that doesn't pan out I'll knit an Avery cowl for myself.

Remember my failed attempt to try to stretch a skein of Spud & Chloe Fine into a pair of socks?  I still have almost an entire skein of Fine after that, though it is from two almost indistinguishable dye lots.  I bought the first skein a few days before Christmas last year (I love buying myself presents, this is well documented!), so the yarn has been in my stash for a while.  These will become a pair of fingerless mittens a la the Spring Buds Mitts.  You'll probably see them very soon because a) I don't have any mittens right now, and b) I couldn't stop thinking about this as I was falling asleep last night!

I loved this Sweet Caroline hand spun yarn (picked up at the end of April at a sustainability fair) in the skein, but just couldn't get into the hat I made out of it!  I still have a decent little ball of it left since I was worried about yardage and was stingy in knitting the first hat.  My plan so far is to find a soft matchy solid yarn to go with the hand spun and knit something like my Not Where's Waldo hat out of the two.  I'd knit the brim in the solid and the crown in the hand spun, then I might not be so overwhelmed by it.  But don't expect to see this plan come to fruition any time soon because yarn diet = no new yarn, and I'm not feeling enthusiastic about this at all!

Next week I'll show you some more leftover yarns, then we can get into the exciting yarns that you've never seen before!