Tag: stash

Clean Out Stash, (Re)Start a Sweater

This weekend was a very busy one as we cleaned out things, such as old computers (taken to an e-waste recycling place), sold a bunch of books, and finally hit the stash of yarn and spinning fleece in the garage.  From 45 boxes, I am down to 22 with yarn and fleece.  Some things were thrown out – such as a bag with a big, black spider, most likely a black widow.  Other things were boxed up so my MIL could come and take what she wanted.  The rest is going to be delivered to a local senior center where they use donated yarn for charity work, or they can just take yarn home for fun – not everyone has a big income, and yarn can be a luxury.

Oddly enough, going through everything didn’t take that long.  I think I spent about 6 hours at the most.  It was easy to choose, too.  Nearly anything that was unfinished was cut off the ball of yarn, discarded, and the yarn ball put into the “to be donated” bin(s).  Tacky or sticky or scratchy fleece was discarded as not worthwhile.  All balls of handspun yarn were saved, regardless as to length, unless they didn’t feel good to touch.

And in the middle of this, I have a sweater that has been sitting in the knitting pile for some time.  It is a cardigan, but I decided to try steeking with it.  Well, that fell by the wayside.  I ripped out the entire sweater, re-balled the yarn, and started over.  Much happier, even though purling is not my favorite knitting stitch.

I restarted the sweater, an Icelandic pattern, and have done a few inches.  I think this will be my night knitting, when we are watching TV.  The lower edge, as with most Icelandic sweaters, is a patterned border, but the main body a plain color.  Instead of using Icelandic wool roving, which pills and is too itchy for me, I am using an acrylic yarn with a bit of halo.  Yeah, not the most sophisticated of yarn choices in a “natural” world, but for me, right now, it is perfect.  I need a cardigan – and one with as little sewing as possible!  I hate sewing things together, and never finish anything that requires too much of it.

It feels good to have a knitting project on hand again.

UFOs are Landing!

Yarn Balls Rolling!

What was supposed to be a two-week interim stay by my brother turned into five months.  We moved the guest bed in my husband’s office into my studio so that Josh, who telecommutes, would not be kicking my brother out at 5:30 a.m.  All the stuff in my studio, where the bed landed, migrated to the former bed space in my husband’s office.

Last night I dove into the knitting projects which had begun piling up there.  Some people live out a suitcase quite tidily – I admit, I do not – and using borrowed space is sort of the same.  The result was a treasure trove of lost needles (more than few, and lots more than several), projects, yarn.   In the mix I found two sweaters which need finishing up, like weaving in ends, that I had neatly folded into a bag and promptly lost.  Also, a beret or two or three or four in various stages of design and failure.  The list grows.

Paint Brushes Ready to Escape!

The remaining items include the tansu which stores my suzuri and varied painting supplies, rolls of paper, and a box full of ink-painting supplies (mostly sumi and hake brushes) which I have been hoping to sell here on Ink, Yarn & Beer, to see if anyone might be interested in a few specialty items. My light table is also in there and who knows what else!

Photoscaping is Happening!

And while I am at it, a wonderful, easy-to-use, free program to edit digital images just released an upgrade.  Photoscape is a fantastic product.  I use it for quick editing of jpg files (it does not support raw files, as far as I know), especially those with color issues, such as being too red.  For those red ones, I decolor the image to -3 or -4, depending.

Now it has frames!  I used one of the gradated ones for these.  Check it out – there is a bit of learning curve, but I have found it quite easy.

And?

It takes time to re-organize after such a disruption. Available space is different than it used to be as the bed is staying in the studio.  The best part – hooray – is I can paint with far easier access to supplies.

Ciao!

Life in the Stash Lane

The other day while I was walking through the garage – which is something I seldom do, and generally avoid – I noticed a number of my plastic storage bins, which I had not seen for quite some time.  It’s not that they have been hidden or anything….I just don’t see them.  They are there, but not accounted for, therefore, invisible.

Until the other day.

Now, as Josh chops up bacon and fries it for carbonara, as the pasta boils, as the eggs are prepped, as the parsley is chopped, I have sneaked out to the garage, curious as to what is in there.

Fortunately, no spiders.

There are lots of UFOs – mostly socks – a scarf, balls of yarn without any labels, some beautiful stuff, but only one skein, and then enough for a hat or some other small item.  Some handspun.  Lots of needles, too – any wonder why I have to keep buying more???  And I only looked at two boxes.  I think there may be at least 5 or 6 more.

It’s been crossing my mind that I should go on a yarn diet, and use what I have (with buying only what I really need).  That would take the rest of my life!

So, I pulled out a few things – no matter that I have a hat to finish, a scarf, lots of other socks, some of this and some of that….but I have gotten some things done!  See this?

Alicia in the Clouds

The second beret – now known as “Clouds” – and some photos, too, of it.  The PDF is done – it just needs another picture or two,  and proofing by the test knitters, and then – corrections?  And publication!  I can hardly wait!