I've got sunshine

It's a beautiful day!

I'd almost forgotten what the sun looked like or felt like.
My SP10 hostess, Shelby, asked us to flash our stash. With the sun shining, it seemed a good time to take the stash out to play. I don't have my stash organized in a fancy way. It lives in Rubbermaid containers in a corner of my closet.

Here's the smallest container. It has my most favorite yarns that I plan to use in the immediate future. Sweet Georgia, Apple Laine, Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Cherry Tree Hill, J. Knits, Louet Gems, and Brooklyn Handspun. There's even one lone ball of Rowan to make a Shedir.


This picture shows the bottom layer of the larger container. I don't have any immediate plans for any of this yarn. I should finish the last 5 inches of the Irish Hiking Scarf and I intend to make a red scarf with the Patons. The rest of it just sort of lingers there with no plan or intent. Two lonely skeins, one each of Lorna's Laces Sport and a Handpainted Brown Sheep, look particularly sad. I don't know what to do with these yarns.



The final picture is the top layer of the larger container. These are all lovely yarns with a plan but no timetable. Enough Lorna's Laces for 3 pairs of socks, some Cascade 220 to make a Christmas stocking (pattern still undertermined), yarn to make a There Be Pirates Hat, my felting penguin kit, some beautiful Furryarns, and the second ball of Claudia's to go with my son's toe up socks that are languishing at the bottom of my knitting bag.

A fresh start

I mentioned in my last post that I was bone tired of the icy cold colors of the Project Spectrum color triad of blue, gray and white. I am so excited to move on to the new triad of pink, yellow and green. Truthfully, I don't really care for pink, green or yellow. You won't find much of my home decor includes those colors and very, very little of my clothing. I have olive skin and yellow and green make me look ill. Pink has always been a little too "girlie" for me and I don't wear much of it either.

BUT ... I have been strangely attracted to all three of these colors as I've been stash enhancing this winter. I tried to get a picture of all my triad stash together but it's not fit to share right now. I'll have to gather my yarn and head outside with it. For now, I'm sharing a picture of the yarn I picked up during the Loopy Ewe update a couple of weeks ago. It's by Perchance to Knit and the colorway is Mexicali Peppers. It is SO bright and cheerful it almost hurts my eyes. I have great plans for it and will use one of the Socktopia April themes. The April themes are the best so far.

Stay tuned to see what this snowboarding ball of yarn turns into.

Pass it on

I have this belief that when we let go of things we make room in our lives for new things to enter. When we let go of things we don't love, we make room for things we do love. It's just the way the universe works. I love to get rid of things and I'm happy to pass them along to new owners who will appreciate them.

This week I passed along a nice box of preschool toys which I gathered from various places in my house to a neighbor with preschool aged boys. The next day my middle son and I found a slew of wonderful books at Goodwill. As a homeschool mom, I'm always happy to buy new books but I'm kind of picky about what they read (not very picky but I'd like it to be better than Goosebumps). It thrills me to no end to find good books for low cost at Goodwill. So old preschool toys out, new books in (new used books which is even better to my recycling karmic thinking).

I have become the owner of so much yarny goodness this week that I hardly know where to start. Today I received my second yarn swap. It's wonderful Maine Mousse from Furryarns. I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to trade something I didn't want and knew I'd never use, for something that I love and I know I'll use.

Swap yarn

Look at this beautiful yarn I received in a swap for a book I really didn't want.


Here is a close up of my son's favorite part.


The yarn is Winter Breeze by Brooklyn Handspun. I can't believe that someone parted with it. I don't have specific plans for it right now but I'm keeping it close to me. Last night my husband asked, "Why do you keep smelling that yarn?" "Because it smells good," I said while tossing him the yarn. He took a big sniff and admitted it smells good but he didn't get it. Muggle.

Just a day

Please imagine a picture of a beautiful wooden swift at the top of this post. That's the picture that would have been there. The swift I ordered arrived today. I happily opened the box, got the swift set up and gathered the proper hank of yarn. Before I put the yarn on, however, I noticed a problem. The swift wouldn't move. It didn't turn even a teeny bit. After searching online and trying various things I called the company. We talked things through over the phone and determined that the top part of the swift somehow got glued or lacquered to the center post and will not spin. I had to pack up my brand new swift and send it back. *big sigh* It was a sad moment.

It was that kind of day for me today. Frustration abounded. I'm trying not to dwell on it but none of the things have easy fixes and some of them involve big bureaucratic stuff that I avoid like the plague.

Instead of dwelling on the not so great things happening right now, I'll share a few good things.

1. I decluttered some preschool things and delivered them to a neighbor who I knew would appreciate them. I love to get rid of stuff and she was very happy to get some high quality preschool toys for her boys.

2. I decluttered some knitting books that I'll never use. They were gathering dust on my shelves and I decided to take action. I traded good books for even better yarn. I have some very nice Brooklyn Handspun and Furryarns coming my way in exchange for my books. I think everyone is happy all around.

3. The stealth scarf is now 50 inches long and is looking like it will definitely be finished by February 6. Jared's second sock is started - cuff finished. It won't be a fast knit but I'm feeling pretty good about it. Even duty knitting can be enjoyable.

Tell me what to do

I'm bored. I need some inspiration.

I started January off with a bang. I was excited about the Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn I got for Christmas and couldn't wait to finish the socks I started on Christmas Day. Then I discovered the Knitting Vintage Socks KAL and became very excited about the Fancy Silk Socks. Now both those pairs of socks are finished. I love them both but they're done.

Project Spectrum is right around the corner. The boys and I are gearing up. In fact, there is now a nice Flickr group for Project Spectrum Kids. If you're participating in Project Spectrum with your children please come join us. We'll still post the kids' creations to the adult group but this group should have smaller numbers of postings and the pictures will stay around longer.

I've got some great yarn to knit with for this triad. There's the J. Knits Boston yarn I bought right before Christmas. This yarn is yummy and I can't wait to try it. Then there's the amazing Yarn Pirate Malamute yarn I bought from Sheri at The Loopy Ewe. Oh my. It's perfect for this triad of colors - it's white, grays, and blues in a merino/tencel blend. I'm very anxious to try it out.



I even ordered a yarn swift today. I had a great weekend on ebay and my lovely husband agreed that a swift was a great idea if it means he won't have to hold yarn on his arms anymore.

I've got the stealth scarf to knit but it's been hard to find the time or motivation during the day. I also decided to start a pair of simple socks for my middle son who has been begging for wool socks. I'm using some Silja yarn that has been in my stash for years and I'm not enjoying even one minute of knitting with it. Thankfully, they're knitting up quickly. They're perfect for Project Spectrum also with gray cuffs, heels and toes and blue legs and feet. He'll love them when they're done.

I'm really looking for some inspiration. Something to be excited about. The new sock for the Knitting Vintage Socks KAL hasn't been decided yet. I haven't picked out patterns for either of the socks above. I want something that moves me. If you have any ideas for sock patterns for the yarns picture above please leave me a comment. I've got all the usual sock books - all the Nancy Bush books, Sensational Knitted Socks and many more. I just want someone to tell me what do do.

Yarn Pr0n

Isn't that lovely?
Louet Gems in Robin. This is the first time I've ever seen Gems. It feels wonderful and the colors I saw were beautiful. I had a hard time deciding between this color and a more solid orangey color the same hue. I let my 7 year old decide. I'm thinking that it might become a pair of Whitbys.

Back to my stealth knitting. The scarf is now over a foot long. I've also been knitting my second Bearfoot sock - working on the gusset now. This weekend when dh is around I won't be able to knit much on the scarf so I'll finally get the second Fancy Silk Sock on the needles. I am very happy with all three projects I have going right now. They're all a pleasure to knit and I should have a nice little pile of completed projects by the end of January.