Stash overflow

Another great one from the folks at Worsted for Wear!

PS If you’re a computer geek, you’ll understand why the title of this post makes me giggle. 😉

More excellent knitting humor

Hilary B. Price must be a knitter, ’cause she’s sure got our number!

Oooops, where did that come from?

I might have bought some yarn last week. I’m blaming it on 1) my lemming tendencies, and 2) the generous gift certificate to my LYS that my darling husband gave me for Christmas.

My lemming tendencies are well-documented.  I’ve knit a Clapotis, two Baby Surprise Jackets, two February sweaters (in both the Baby and Lady versions), and countless pairs of Fetching mitts. If it’s one of those popular patterns that I encounter time and time again, it’s probably only a matter of time before I am overcome by the urge to make my own.

Last May, the Yarn Harlot blogged about her Everyone Outta the Pool socks. I had some gorgeous variegated sock yarn that wasn’t behaving in the patterns I’d tried, so with barely a moment’s hesitation, I ripped it out and cast on for a pair of Everyone Outta The Pool socks.

Love them. 

Yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select.  The colorway is called “Wool in the Woods Lottery,” which I picked up at my aforementioned LYS several years ago and have never seen anywhere again since. I loved working with it– gorgeous color, good sturdy twist, and very little pilling now that they’ve been worn. The heels and toes are some Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn that’s been languishing in my stash for a few years. The Stroll is much thinner than the CTH Supersock, and although the color (Dusk) is a perfect match, I wish I’d used something a little closer to the CTHSS in texture, as the heels and toes are already looking a bit pilly. 

Anyway, back to my stash acquisition. What caught my eye this time? The Lanesplitter Skirt (yes, another Knitty pattern). I poked around in the pages of projects (1389 projects!) on Ravelry, and it just looks like one of those patterns that is universally flattering. So what’s not to love? I was especially taken with several versions worked in Noro Silk Garden colorway #252, and when I wandered into my LYS with my gift certificate in hand and found that color on their shelves? I was helpless, I tell you!

So now I have six skeins of Noro Silk Garden to work with. I have kind of a love/hate thing with Noro. I love the colors, and it’s really quite soft once it’s all knit up. But the knitting of it is somewhat less pleasant for me… it’s scratchy and filled with vegetable matter (twigs and other odd bits), and the skeins have lots of knots, which often change the color sequence completely. So before I can cast on, I will re-wind each skein, separating it at each knot and (if necessary) re-winding the balls so that the color sequence is consistent and I can easily match up the colors when I have to join a new skein.

But before I start winding, I will take the most obviously mis-matched skein and use it for swatching. The pattern calls for size 10 needles, which would make a fabric that is much too loose and stretchy for my tastes. Ravelry shows this project worked anywhere from a size 0 up to a 11. From my previous experience with NSG, I’ll probably start with a 7 and go down to a 6, maybe even a 5. Stay tuned…