Yarny Treasures

I know I've said over and over that I'm on a yarn diet.

Really, I am.

I bought just one skein of yarn last year, and have been limiting my stash expansion since late 2009.

But who can say no to a yarn crawl with a 10 percent discount? Especially if it's for the good stuff! So, I started the year with a yarn glut.

The Indiana Roving Yarn Crawl at the end of February was excellent. I'd love to go again next year. And hey, two of the skeins I bought during the adventure are already getting used up.

I made a cute little bobble clutch with Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere. This stuff is the softest, smoothest and most vibrant yarn I've ever worked with. It was worth every penny. Plus, it should make at least one more clutch. Here's how it turned out:

Meanwhile, I am turning the skein of Araucania Tepa into a snuggly cabled hat for next winter. I love this chunky yarn. It's squishy and soft. And it's blue-green. I love blue-green.

In Which I Rub in My Progress

This is probably the least stressful holiday I will ever have.

I was at the mall the other day, and I watched as shoppers scurried past me. I meandered through packed stores, mostly emerging empty-handed.

It felt so good!

There was no rush to buy anything, no rush to get back home to finish any knitting projects. I lounged on the couch on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Good deals, eh? Ha! I like the deal where I stay on my couch and don't shell out any money.

Last year, I was frantically finishing projects as I made my way through Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. I knitted in rest stops and tollway oases. I knitted my boyfriend's birthday/Hannukah socks while he wasn't looking. But not this year.

Everything is blocked, wrapped, tagged, and in some cases, delivered.

Now, it's back to business. Time to plan what will be on my needles and hooks for 2014. I've got a stash to use up!

From the Finish Line

Well, I did it! I completed the Anisette Cardi in just 42 days.

I finished the buttonhole band just before work yesterday, quickly wove in the ends and wore the thing to work. It was glorious. And I can't tell you how wonderful a short-sleeve cardigan sweater is.

For one, you can wear it over a light long-sleeved shirt. It adds just enough warmth so that you're cozy in your fall jacket but not steaming hot, even in the car.

Now, I'm surveying my stash and looking for my next victim. I even ventured into the under-the-bed storage unit to see what I could dig up.

Well, I could be industrious and start on next year's Christmas presents ... but I decided first thing's first.

I need a new hat. I lost my beloved teal slouchy at the county courthouse a little while ago. Time to whip up something for myself! The boyfriend said I should try something red. I have a little over a hundred yards of bright red yarn leftover from a tie I knitted for my dad years and years ago. So, that's first on the list for sure.

Also, I have to finish a pair of socks I started around this time last year. I hate socks. I vow that this will be my last pair of socks I knit in the round the traditional way. My Second Sock Syndrome is killing me. I better learn how to double knit or else the sock yarn in my stash will turn into many, many scarves.

I'm kind of looking forward to the yearly State of the Stash post in January! I think my stash has shrunk since New Year. By my count, I've at least used up around 22 balls of yarn for my holiday and birthday knitting.

Well, toodles for now. I'm off to finish up those pesky bunny slippers and that errant single sock.

Taking the Challenge

I've made two sweaters in my eight-year adventure in knitting. My first one took almost three years. It took me a year just to block the darned thing. The other went a little faster: I whipped up that baby up in around 4 months.

It was almost worse than knitting a pair of socks (I get turned off at having to create that second, yet crucial sock).

I vowed two things after gifting the wooly wonders to my parents: 1) I would always, always do a gauge swatch no matter how painful it would be to make multiple swatches, wash them, and wait for them to dry; and 2) I would likely never venture into Sweater Land again.

But thanks to the 30 Day Sweater Challenge, I'm well on my way to eating my words. I'm not using their framework, but I am using the challenge to motivate myself. 

So far, it's been great! I've even ventured back into social media; I revived my Instagram and Twitter accounts.

The sweater I've chosen to knit is the Anisette Cardi. I found the pattern a couple years back and bought four skeins of Bamboo Ewe a year and a half ago. I love the idea of a short-sleeve cardigan! It's cute, functional and has a little bit of cabling and lacework, but not so much that I'd lose my mind. I finished the back (in just four days!) and started the front right panel. I can't wait to see how the rest of the sweater goes!

Fruits of I Love Yarn Day

I celebrated I Love Yarn Day by working on some crocheted bunny slippers with the help of some fine coffee at a local shop. I officially started on July 30 of this year, but I bought the yarn while I was in college. It hasn't been an easy road. I frogged plenty of pieces multiples times. At one point, I was convinced the pattern was for banana, not bunny, slippers.

The pattern I'm using is Fluffy Bunny Slippers, from Debbie Stoller's "The Happy Hooker." It uses two balls each of Classic Elite LaGran Mohair and Lambs Pride Worsted. There was errata, and lucky for me someone on Ravelry caught another error, so they are starting to look like actual slippers!

As you can see, I haven't added the bunny parts, but those are next!

Looking Back on September

Another month has gone by! Can't believe it. This month brought cooler weather for baking. I discovered European buttercream frosting, which I used to make two cakes last month. One was a chocolate cake covered in dark chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and glazed in chocolate ganache. The other was a simple vanilla butter cake swathed in vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. I will likely never, ever make American buttercream again!

Between cakes there were cinnamon rolls and chocolate crinkle cookies.

I also made challah, vanilla ice cream and the last smoothie of the summer.

And I finally perfected a recipe for a delicious, refreshing and filling smoothie:

• 1 cup ice
• 1 avocado
• 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk or honey
• 3/4 cup milk (I used 2 percent, but you can use any kind you want)
• 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice (to keep the avocado from discoloring.

Blend and enjoy! Depending on how much you love smoothies, this recipe serves between 1-2 people.

But there was more! I attended my first-ever yarn tasting!

I got to sample a dazzling array of luscious yarns at Sophie's Fine Yarn Shoppe. I even broke my diet to purchase a lovely ball of Berroco Boboli Lace.

Speaking of yarn, September also brought a flurry of finished knitting projects. So I guess it was a win -- one new skein of yarn for every four from my stash! I finished a sparkly shawl made from Lion Brand Trellis and a fluffy warm cowl knitted out of Patons Divine. That brings my total finished project count to 10 so far this year. I am making great progress on Christmas gifts! Just a couple more to go and I'll be done.

Eight months clean

My ball of Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks spent plenty of time in my office yarn/popcorn/soup bowl. Below is the actual project.

The other day, I was reminded how long it's been since I bought a skein of yarn.

I'm 232 days clean!

It's also been months since I've set foot in a craft store. I know, it sounds depressing. But I've been making so much progress with my stash-busting efforts.

I'm well ahead on Christmas presents. I actually crocheted and knitted presents for Father's and Mother's Day. I've spent time with yarn I bought years ago and fell in love with it all over again.

Case in point: the cabled scarf I just finished. I bought the yarn when I was still in college. It was soft and I intended to make my mom some socks out of it. I cast on knit for a bit, then ripped it all out and stuffed what I could inside of the ball. Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks is a pretty yarn --- smooth, silky and easy to knit with despite its sock yarn weight. The colorway I bought, Pansy, knit up in nice patches of shades of purple and green. You can find the pattern here. This project was well-traveled! I took it to L.A. with me and it made multiple trips to Milwaukee! The pattern is perfect for trips.

Next, I'm tackling a pair of bunny slippers. I was fascinated by this pattern from The Happy Hooker when the book first came out. I gathered the yarn, but never quite got to starting the foundation chain.