princessdeia

So I have been part of the Stashalong for a month now, and although I have been lacking in the knitting department, I haven’t brought any yarn! I have even managed to control my Startitis - however, I still hate those final chores to complete a garment - blocking, seaming, even sewing on a button!

March is going to be a different! I have set up a progress page to watch my Stashalong, I have a few small projects planned so hopefully I can there won’t be much finished off to do and I can finally have some true progress.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heather - Purple Jewel.
Pattern: Fingerless Mitts.
Needles: 4.5mm
Notes: As I always seem to knit scarves as gifts, it was lovely to receive hand-knitted scarf from my sister! A simple garter pattern in chunky wool. I wanted to take it away with my this weekend, and figured I needed some simple gloves to go with it.
The fingerless mitt pattern is amazingly quick (about two hours per glove), simply constructed and I think look fabulous!

Last month, Laura and Emma came up with the fabulous idea of getting all the Socktopus fans to make Alice a blanket for her wedding next month. It started with a group on Ravelry, and then we all secretly knitted our strips, before getting together for a “sewing party.” I have to admit I did no sewing at all; somehow I managed to knit another strip.

The plan was to throw a surprise knitting shower for Alice on Saturday and present her with the blanket all was going well for me until Saturday morning when I cracked my tooth, whilst the lovely ladies drunk, knitted and wore fake moustaches I sat at home in pain watching My So Called Life on DVD.

On Sunday, we were meant to be having a romantic meal to celebrate Valentines Day (Jason had to work late on the 14th), but instead we stayed at home watching the Ultimate Bourne box set and eating soup and ice cream.

After a trip to the dentist on Monday, I am now feeling a lot better and just to make sure everything is going my way my amazing husband has booked a weekend away for us next week to Rome so I can cross another wonder off my list.

I was a little bored this afternoon, and I saw this on Farrah’s blog…

1. Childhood ambition?
To be a Teacher (I think I wanted to teach Maths).

2. Best weather?
Sun, but it has to be near a beach or pool

3. Favorite food?
Pizza Express Pizza.

4. Current book?
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (you can shot me, I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about).

5. Guilty pleasure?
Whilst staying in a hotel, ordering breakfast from room service, watching TV and eating in bed (and not having to worry about changing the sheets).

6. One quirk?
I have to wrap myself up in the duvet even in the height of summer.

7. Something you’ve never done that most people have?
Had a driving lesson.

8. Favorite drink:
Currently I am obsessed with Chocolate Flavoured Soya Milk, but normally White Wine.

9. Oddest job you’ve had:
I had some odd temping jobs, reception jobs when no one ever called that sort of thing.

10. Last song you listened to (on purpose, not on the radio):
Hush - Kula Shaker

11. Cities/towns/villages you’ve lived in, in reverse chronological order:
West London, East London, West London.

12. Teenage ambition?
To be a TV presenter.

13. Movie you’d most like to be a character in:
I should have been a Jedi in Star Wars.

For the last year, I have had limited space to store my knitting gear as a result I am a little obsessed with de-stashing, I have always know my stash isn’t huge but it is too big for me to handle, so over the last few weeks I have been joining several groups on Ravelry and even joined the Stashalong.

I guess for me, my stash has become a little overwhelming, I have all this lovely sock yarn and no idea which one to use first, or I find it hard to select a pattern every though I have loads in my queue. Project Spectrum has made this a little easier, as I am using my firey shades at the moment. As I needed to collect all my pink and orange yarn I decided to take advantage of this time to re-organise my stash.

Normally my stash is in three boxes one for sock yarn, one for wool and one for others (mainly silks at the moment), Now it is colour order (depending on the colours for each theme). Also I am taking advantage of Ravelry, now when I see a pattern I like as well as adding it to my queue, I am going to assign a yarn it. For patterns I like that I don’t have the yarn for, I will send them to the end of my queue, ensuring the next project in my queue is a stash busting one. As for all the yarn in my stash I have no idea what to do with, I have been using the pattern suggestion tab on the yarn page, to look for inspiration.

After the issue of TWIR last week, I tried to calculate how much money I have spend on yarn per year. Looking through my blog entries from last year on yarn I brought for myself (not including yarns for gifts or swaps), I estimate I spent about £250 ($475), I don’t think that is too awful, the yarn kept me amused for a the year and I have some wonderful projects to show for this money. However, seeing it in black and white has made me realise I do spend a lot on this little old hobby of mine and potential I could save some money this year by stash busting!

What am I going to do with this money?
The answer is simple I am going to use it to build a house!

Last week, I also read about Christy’s project to get knitters to donate money to help build a house in Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans (the area worst effected by Hurricane Katrina). I remember taking up Yarn Harlot’s TSF challenge a few years ago and realising how much money I “waste” in a week on things, and it is the same with yarn I could easily spend £30 a month in my LYS and the yarn will still in stash until next year, so I am going to do something positive with it.

For me and my knitting February means the start of Project Spectrum, this year’s theme all about the Elements and linking them to colour and crafting…

The project is starting of with FIRE incorporating oranges, reds, and pinks. I am hoping adding elements to the project will really help me get a little more creative, I am apart from just experimenting with colours now we have a theme, knitting Flickering Flames Socks or Candle Flame Shawl.

I want to experiment more with colour for me, I live in a uniform of jeans and tee during the day and dresses in the evening. All are shades of blue, black or brown. Occasionally, I buy a red or pink t-shirt and only wear it once. I would never dream of wearing something orange or yellow (I barely even wear green). My home is exactly the same, shades of blue and brown, the only colour is on the beds with a pink or lilac duvet cover.

For Christmas, I got the Kate Spade Style book, I love the ways she talks about colour and it’s relation to the world around us, from, people to film, to clothes to everyday objects. She also then gives tips to add colour to our lives. I figure this is the perfect time for me start examining colour and also experimenting with it in my life.

As this is a knitting blog, I guess I should show off the firey yarn in my stash.

1. NDS - Dazzle, for a special project, 2. Cascade 220, for a Hot Bottle Cover,
3. KnitWitches Sock Yarn, 4. Knit Picks Shimmer - I have not idea what to do with these yarns.