Stashbusting Extraordinnaire

It's been a while since my last post, in 2013. Shockingly in that time I have purchased little to no wool. Even more shockingly, perhaps, despite abstaining from buying more wool I STILL have over 50 kilometers of yarn according to Ravelry.

In an attempt to reduce my stash to a more manageable level, I have started crocheting an enormous rug on a 25mm crochet hook. Here's a idea of the amount of wool I'm hoping to use up in this endeavour:

I'm using between 12 - 15 strands at a time to get the required thickness (also maximising the stash-busting). I'm including handpun, mohair, boucle, and even a bit of sparkle. What more could you ask for in a rug? Here's my progress so far:

More updates to be posted as this monster progresses :)

Fluorescent Pineapples

So it turns out my brain can either knit, or talk, but certainly can't do both things at once. I went along to the crafty meeting as intended the other day, but sadly no progress was made on the tea cosy. I did succeed in drinking a cup of tea and eating a lovely piece of homemade cake, but the tea cosy lay abandoned. Instead I erred on the side of caution and decided to make another square for my picnic blanket, something I can just about knit whilst maintaining conversation.

The progress of the tea cosy has not been entirely halted however, as I have been sneaking in a little knitting now and then, making a daffodil petal here, and a trumpet there. The front and back are finished, as are both daffodil trumpets and one of the sets of petals. So near now, I must finish it this weekend. Then I can get back to the dog jumper. Or start knitting the many sets of baby booties required for my many pregnant friends. Or start making a different tea cosy for another friend's birthday. Only issue with that option is despite my enormous stash, I don't have quite the right colour wool. The question is, can pineapples be fluorescent orange?

Pattern Overload

Well the knitting has come on leaps and bounds since the last blog. I have made front, back and both sleeves of my dog jumper, just leaving the collar to go before having to sew it all together (not my favorite part I must say). In the meantime, I have been knitting a cute little tea cosy for a friend's birthday. I'm hoping to finish that tonight at my first ever crafting gathering type meeting. Having spoken to a friend about my desire to join a local knitting group, she informed me that she knew of a general crafty group that met once a month near her, so I am checking it out tonight. Do hope there are other knitters there, otherwise I might have to pretend I know something about sewing (or even worse, art!). Will update on whether I survive the experience, and more crucially, on whether I finish the tea cosy!

Also, have taken a delivery of all of the knitting patterns my mother has ever collected bar the odd few she wants to keep. As she is the sort of knitter I aspire to be, not needing a pattern at all and able to confidently clack something out whilst not taking her eyes off the cricket, there are rather a lot of patterns she no longer needs. I am therefore implementing an advanced filing system in order to keep track of them and ensure I can find the right pattern for my needs. Well, I’ve stuck them in a couple of box files anyway. They will get sorted eventually and perhaps then I can find projects for the hundreds of balls of wool that I have lying around the house (but that’s another story!).

Progress

Without wishing to sound like a Take That album, my knitting has come on leaps and bounds since my last entry. The cardigan is finished, and sadly I did run out of wool. Nothing that buying a ball of a very similar-coloured yarn couldn't fix, although the button border does look a little out of place in the right light...

I've made several other bits and bobs recently, and have started making more things for those around me. There are only so many slightly miss-shapen jumpers which I can fit into my wardrobe :)

At the moment I'm working on a bookmark for a colleague, which I've designed myself. I may be starting small but in the end I'm sure I'll be able to design beautifully intricate lacy cardigans that fit me perfectly.... All in good time.

For now I'm making myself a very cute jumper with a big picture of a sausage dog on it that wraps from the front to the back. I'm just finishing off the front, and then I can crack on with the sleeves. It hasn't actually taken me very long so far, I must have got faster at knitting! There's an exciting thought, I'm sure I'll use up my enormous stash in no time!

Time to Wonky Rib

I have managed to finish the rib on the bottom of the back of the cardy in record time (for me), and I've managed to do a couple of rounds of the pattern (which is a sort of wonky rib/basket weave combo). Actually pretty pleased with the way it's turning out. I wasn't entirely sure about the colour of the wool but it's looking very nice now there's a bit of interest added to it. The pattern itself is nice and simple but does require that I pay attention, shame when most of the time I spend knitting I'm also talking or watching television.

I can't wait until it's fninished, bit of a shame when I've got so far to go! Recently I seem to have come down with an addiction to buying more wool. It got to the stage this weekend where I just didn't have anywhere to put it. This led to me buying a set of cheap plastic drawers which I can store my stash in. Luckily all of the wool fits except that I'm using for this cardy, and my lovely big 500g ball. At least I managed to get rid of some of the random wadding and cushion insides from our living room floor by putting them in the cupboard where the wool once lived. One day I'm going to have a lovely big house which a massive cupboard which all of my wool can call a home...

Back to my point, I can't wait until this project is finished firstly so that I get to wear my wonderful creation, and also so I get to start making another masterpiece!

The Cardigan Begins...

I finally managed to start knitting my first cardigan for myself yesterday. I was awaiting the all-clear from my fiance's mother before using the wool she had given me. I was very happy when she presented me with 350g of new jaeger wool, one slightly used ball and part of a cardigan she had been making with it. I promptly unravelled the cardy and I'm guessing that I've now got 450-500g to work with. I'm hoping so anyway as the cardigan says it needs 5 100g balls. I hope that's the lower end of 500g rather than the higher!

I cast on with the thumb method as the pattern said, but I'm still not keen on it. Bit too messy for my liking. I did a few rows of the rib yesterday and sneakily completed a few more during my lunchbreak today. If I could knit as fast as my mother I would have probably finished the whole thing by now. All in good time I hope.

Back to the wool. I'm using Jaeger Matchmaker DK in Auburn. I really do hope I have enough as I have trawled through the internet and found no more of this stuff available to buy whatsoever. Roll on the stingiest knitting I have ever done!