I've been keeping a list of my yarn purchases in my ever-present Franklin planner. I buy yarn once a month, whether I need it or not. Maybe it's hormonal, maybe it's related to a phase of the moon. But every 30-ish days I start twitching. I start craving, and fantasizing, and dammit, I want to BUY YARN.
And it has to be yarn. I did spend some of my "allocated to pissing away" portion of my profit sharing on knitting-related goodies. I ordered those Options needles from KnitPicks, and a book that sounded really cool. I'm developing an addiction to lace, on my own terms (must be able to memorize the pattern or at least follow it while watching a movie) and the pointy tips sold me. The fan lace pattern has K4togs, and they are a bitch with the pointiest needles in my arsenal. So I did buy some knitting related stuff, but that didn't kill the 30 day craving.
But I'm being strong. I'm going to get this fiber monkey off my back. I really want to cut the stash down to size - I know it's a modest stash compared to some of you world-class hoarders, but it's more yarn than I can use in a year at my current rate of consumption, so that's too much stash for me.
I'm working away at the pink Softball Cotton feather and fan baby blanket, and it's going to be much bigger than a standard newborn-wrapping, so it'll be a great crib to toddler bed blankie for a grandchild to be identified much later. If they don't breed or just make boys, it will go to charity. I'm loving making it, and I want to make one for myself, in adult-bed-throw-size, but that would require buying yarn, and I'm not going to do that right now. I plan to make a bright red crib-to-toddler blankie from my stash of the late great Cotton-ease. It will be basketweave, and red, and gender neutral. That'll be two bags of stash down.
It's not that I don't have great projects in mind using the yarn I already have. I have cool things in mind for my stash. I have more things planned than I have waking hours to knit, to the point where I could spend the next five years just working through the existing plans.
I'm still on a flat things kick. It's crazy, but I have no desire to do anything that isn't flat. My brain is awash in baby blankets and grownup throws and scarves and washcloths and the like. I don't know why, other than that right now knitting brings me down from the work day crazy, and the best way to do this is to work on something repetitive and soothing. I don't want to think when I come home. I think really hard all day and I work long days and I come home ready to stop thinking. I don't even want to whip out a tape measure and decide if I'm ready to start the underarm shaping. I don't want to use a tape measure at all. It feels too much like work right now.
I started this baby blanket by casting on 18s - every pattern repeat is 18 stitches, and I just kept on casting on 18s until I felt I had enough. Then I made an 18 row garter stitch border, and split one of the 18s into a 9 stitch edge on each side, and started feather-and-fanning my burned out, brain dead butt off. When I hold it up and it looks long enough to cover a toddler, or I get close to running out of yarn, whichever comes first, I will finish a repeat and knit 18 rows of garter stitch and call it a day. It's a very satisfying way to knit. I'll make a big throw for myself when I allow myself to buy yarn again.
Pictures, you say? Where are the dogs, you ask? I swear, tomorrow there will be pictures of dogs, and dog stories.
3 comments:
I fell off the yarn wagon big time today. Colinette Parisienne mohair. Migod it is lovely. And many knitting mags. all good, but what am I thinking. le sigh. I think rain makes me twitchy. Are you growing mildew on your needles yet up there?
I totally understand about your need to work on no-brainer knitting projects. That's exactly how I'm feeling right now. Just soothe me, that's all.
Catherine, I made a feather and fan for my first grandchild, and I still have it, after 15 years. I think it' mine. I'll wear it as a shawl; it's white.
Buying yarn once a month is a very good idea. *nods*. Who cares if you can knit it up in a year?
Post a Comment