How Does This Happen?

So, it's an established fact that I don't need any more yarn. At the rate I knit socks, I think I have sock yarn SABLE (Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy), probably at least twice over. But I'm weak, what can I say? I went to check out a site for an Indie Dyer, and absolutely fell in love with a lot of their colorways. There were a lot more that I wanted -- believe it or not, this was an exercise in restraint for me:



All that yarny goodness came in the mail the week before Christmas. I also received my Hazel Knits sock club shipment that same week, which was these two lovelies:



Sigh! So much for my intention to not buy any more sock yarn! I'd be okay, if I just didn't go look at dyer's websites, or sign up for clubs. I don't think either one's going to happen. I'm just going to have to learn how to knit a whole lot faster!

Thanks for coming by to play. Come back again soon.

What Else Have I Been Doing?

I haven't done any sewing to speak of in several months now. I really miss it, and am planning to do some quilting this weekend.

But what have I been doing instead of sewing these last few months? Well, some of the time I was just spending some time with Miss Puss, while she was ill. And, as you might guess by all the pictures of completed socks that have been in recent posts, I've been knitting. Last weekend I went back to the house in Ohio, and I organized my yarn stash there.

This is what it looked like before -- those totes, in real life, are opaque white and I can't see through them. Apparently the camera can, though.


This is what that mess on the floor in front of the closet looked like:


Here's the closet, after:

And here's the yarn stash, after:


Actually, what you see in that picture is only my sock yarn, except for the lowest most cube on the left, which is shawl yarn. The rest of my yarn stash is in another part of this storage unit, but there's not much of it, and there wasn't room in the picture for it.

I'm delighted to have it all out and organized, so I can see what I have and it makes it so easy to choose something when I want to start a new project!

Thanks for coming by to play. Come back again soon.

A Bit of Stash Enhancement

Okay, I absolutely do not need more sock yarn. However, seeing all the wonderful colors and textures in a yarn store is more temptation than I'm able to resist. It's a good thing I don't visit yarn stores often. But the other day, I went to not one, not two, but three yarn stores.

Here's what came home with me:

and this:


and this, too:



I already had enough yarn to last me at least 12-15 years, at my current rate of sock knitting. So I think I'm now set for close to 20 ;-) But you don't suppose that's going to stop me from buying more, do you? Really, I try to be good. I just need to stay out of yarn stores, because I obviously have no strength to resist temptation.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Fun Mail Yesterday!

Yesterday my friendly postal carrier brought me two fun packages! First was one from Knit Picks, which included a few more circular needles, a couple books, and this yarn:


It's Stroll Tonal in the Pearlescent colorway. I'm planning to make a pair of Awareness Ribbon Socks, which was a pattern that was done as a knit-along (KAL) at Knitters Brewing Company (KBC) last year. I'm still working on my socks from the KAL, but those are for a friend. But "pearl" is the awareness ribbon color for lung cancer, and I'm a 8+ year lung cancer survivor, so I want to make socks to celebrate that. I just love this colorway, and it's fairly new. Before, the closest thing I could find to "pearl" was a pale gray, and that just didn't do it for me. Here's where you can see an image of what the pattern looks like, done in the Breast Cancer pink color.

Then, I also got a package from KBC in yesterday's mail. I got my kit for the latest KAL, a pattern called Bridge of Roses. Here's where you can see an image of that finished sock.

And here's my kit:

Instead of a gray sock with pink roses, I'll have a blue sock with yellow roses. I don't know when I'll get to this one, but I couldn't resist getting the kit for it. It's KBC's fundraiser this year for the Susan G. Komen foundation, so it's pretty yarn, a beautiful pattern, and all in a good cause.

Then, because I have a hard time not buying yarn, these two also jumped into my cart when I was at the KBC website. Wendy tends to name her yarn colorways after cocktails, so the top one is Appletini, and the bottom one is Rusty Nail. I adore them both, though I don't have any particular plans for them at the moment. But I know they'll become wonderful socks at some point.


I still haven't done any sewing since I've been back from retreat. I hope to do a bit today, but the day's shaping up to be busy, so I don't know. I really hope to have some more finishes to show off soon, though. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Best Laid Plans

Well, I've had to change the yarn I'm using for three of this month's sock projects. The originals were either too dark,

or knitted up too busy,



















or I just changed my mind.



















So the new ones, in the same order, are here:








Lighter


















Less busy






I don't have a photo of the replacement for the Wool Ease in Wheat yet, because I haven't quite decided what I'm going to use in its place. ETA: I think I'm just going to skip that pair of socks for the time being, since I really don't have any worsted weight yarn in my stash that's not set aside for sweaters.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again any time.

Yarn Love Delivered

The Annual Cherry Tree Hill January Sale is over. While it was going on, though, I admit that I succumbed to some SEX (Stash Enhancement eXperience, for the uninitiated ;-) Except that if sock yarn doesn't count as stash, then my stash hasn't been enhanced at all. Not even a little.

Yesterday the kindly man in brown (UPS driver) brought me this:

And I had to just leave it like this in the box, because I'm on my way to visit my friend Sue in Florida. But just think of the fun I'll have when I get home! Look at all the amazing colors in there. I can't wait to dive in and play.

I'll check in when I get to Sue's, and maybe introduce you. Thanks for coming by to play. Stop back again soon.