Monthly Archives: October 2008

Stash woes

Maybe it’s that I spend so much time nursing these days, that it gives me lots of browsing time…

Maybe it’s that I had a few gifts to buy, so I was actually was able to shop and spend a bit, therefore browsing obsessively over the bit of money I could spend…

Maybe it’s because it’s been nearly TWO YEARS since I pretty much quit buying yarn, with the exception of a couple of fiber festivals and some souvenir yarn….

Maybe it’s because my knitting and spinning time has been cut down since Spinner has been born (less time to knit and spin means more time to think about it)….

I don’t know, but I’ve been obsessing about two things: tweed and semi solids.

Specifically?

Silkroad Aran Tweed in Winter Grass, a sweaters worth. Especially this pattern. (Although, does it look like a shorter sweater?)

The Sanguine Gryphon, especially the silk, the worsted, the sock….I love it all. I have so much heavily variagated yarn, and very little handpaints that lean more towards the semi-solid type.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my stash lately, how unpractical it really is. It’s huge, massive, an entire closet worth and I’m quite sure the friends I’ve shown it to think I’m a little bit crackers. It’s beautiful and will keep me in scarves, shawls and socks for a lifetime.

But lately I find I want to knit something and have no yarn for the project. Case in point?  What the Skeptic wants for Christmas (legwarmers and a cowl to keep him warm for winter biking) I have nothing for. If I want to make plain old mittens for the boys, I pretty much come up empty, unless I raid the few bags of yarn I’ve been saving for sweaters, eliminating the possibility of a sweater.

So what is the point of my stash??  A collection? My own personal yarn shop? A bit of both?? Plus I sort of miss the days when I had very little yarn.  I’d see a project, go shopping, come home and cast on! But having so much yarn makes me a bit stifled, as if I must knit from the stash first and save those other projects for another day. Especially when I’ve got to crunch the budget like we do now. But at the same time it is great to grab something and cast on, and never leave the house.

I’m guessing it’s all a bit of a balance and I’m thinking way too hard about this, but…I sure would love a bag of tweed right now!! Or no, the silk… love that silk!

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Ouch!!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me. As I write this post, Knittykid is half asleep in a nest of blankets on the carpet. For the last 5.5 years I have prayed for one of those kids who just falls asleep when tired and it’s happened about twice; once was when Little Man ate a whole bottle of homeopathic teething medicine. They just don’t tucker out easily around here.

The down side of this is that Knittykid stripped himself down to nothing before making his nest, and he still needs a diaper when he sleeps. We also need to be dressed and walking to the bus stop in one hour, which makes this whole possible nap futile and a bit reckless on my part. But it’s so quiet right now, I can’t resist….

The ouch??? I came down with a massive case of mastitis Sunday night. Monday I was so ill I barely had the energy to walk to the bathroom. Thanks to my smart midwives I’m on the mend and about 80% better. But now it’s a gloomy Minnesota day, the kind when I’m not sure what to do with myself, which is then compounded by the fact that I have a baby who only likes to nap in the sling and orders to “take it easy.” So I’ll blog, and maybe knit, and I’ll ignore the mess I keep looking at. And enjoy this quiet while it lasts.

Spinner turned a whopping six weeks yesterday. He also started blessing us with his first real baby smiles. Not the sweet little newborn smiles, but the smiles that say, “Hey, I know you! And I like you! And you’re kind of funny! And you feed me too!” I love those smiles, and I love them even more when he gives them to his big brothers. All three of them were snuggling in bed with us yesterday, smiling and laughing and boy did that make up for the three part screamfest we had the night before.

No new baby pics today, I’m too lazy to download right now. But I do have a WIP to show off. Can’t tell you much as it’s a gift. But if you read Spin Off you may be able to guess!!

scarf

Knittykid’s awake…probably for the best since the school district does not consider “new baby plus toddler” reason enough to give you a bus stop in front of your house.

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You may want to cover your eyes

Remember these soakers???

5.30 random 002

Yeah, the cutest pair I ever knit, that not only were a perfect fit but made use of my many soaker scraps, saving me $30+ for yarn for a new pair? The same soakers that Knittykid actually danced around with happiness for?

Sit down. Here they are now:

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Felted!!!!

The suspects?

The Skeptic
My Mom
My Grandma
Little Man
Knittykid (not that the last two do the laundry, but they do occasionally throw something in the basket)

This is what happens in the first weeks after you have your third baby and you are lucky enough to have people who love you doing all the laundry. My guess is that they got tossed in with the boys laundry by mistake, but ooooh, what an “ouch” this one was. At least Spinner will be able to grow into them!

Mom, if it was you, I still love ya’!!! 🙂

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Maybe I’m just behind…why aren’t knitters talking about this??? I’m in love….what to knit first???

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I have decided…

I will not be knitting any more Baby Surprise Jackets in fingering weight yarn. I don’t care how cute they are, babies grow too darn fast. Luckily however, he’s got lots of room left in his longies!!

Our tiny guy hit four weeks yesterday, which I can hardly believe. As all newborns do, he’s growing and changing so incredibly fast. He’s more solid now, that newborn floppiness is starting to go away and he’s turning into a sturdy little baby.

So four weeks, it’s time for a blog name for our new baby boy. I’ve struggled with this one, as I’m not the most creative in the nickname department. But his birth made me think of one. A couple of hours before he was born, he did this crazy twisty/spinning thing as he moved down the birth canal. (I’m still amazed at how aware I was during his birth!) This made me think of Spinning Babies, a web site run by a wonderful local midwife.  So, hmmmmm….spinning babies, a spinning mama….let’s call him Spinner! So Spinner it will be!!!

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