With the Plan in mind, over the holidays I went upstairs, took a deep breath, tied a life line to my belt loop, and went stash diving. I went kind of deep, and was reminded again of the lovely, lovely yarns awaiting inspiration.
What I did find, however, was this: Two partial skeins of CoBaSi from Hikoo. These were purchased to be test knit to see if we want to bring them into the shop. They are half skeins because I already knit some ankle socks for my daughter-in-law back in September when I was meeting my new grandson.
Barb will claim that the problem was the Addi needles. Much as I hate to admit it, she could well be right. There just wasn't enough sock to make turning the heel comfortable, the needles were slippery, and my fingers were clumsy. Anyway, I've turned both heels now so the hard part is finished. I have a wee bit of the rose yarn left and I will make up a little flower to decorate the socks--rose for the yellow, and yellow for the rose. This way they will still be a pair. Folks on Ravelry seem to love this yarn; I don't particularly like it though. I find it splits easily and is a real challenge to pick up and repair dropped stitches. We'll see how Barb likes it, and how it wears before making any final decisions.
I was planning to make this second pair in reverse, but just got frustrated fighting with the yarn, the needles, and my customary winter allergies. So they have become this:
Barb will claim that the problem was the Addi needles. Much as I hate to admit it, she could well be right. There just wasn't enough sock to make turning the heel comfortable, the needles were slippery, and my fingers were clumsy. Anyway, I've turned both heels now so the hard part is finished. I have a wee bit of the rose yarn left and I will make up a little flower to decorate the socks--rose for the yellow, and yellow for the rose. This way they will still be a pair. Folks on Ravelry seem to love this yarn; I don't particularly like it though. I find it splits easily and is a real challenge to pick up and repair dropped stitches. We'll see how Barb likes it, and how it wears before making any final decisions.
What else is in my knitting bag? I'm teaching an afghan class beginning this month, and it seemed like a great idea to have some samples made. So I started the first square from Michelle Hunter's original Building Blocks book.
The yarn is old, old Red Heart -- back in the days when it wasn't half bad. And it had been gifted to me, so it was an excellent choice. There are five more skeins, so that will be plenty for the afghan. Actually, I'm contemplating making two crib size afghans, and donating them to the Durham Crisis Pregnancy Centre.
But wait! There's more!
A long time ago, I scooped up seven skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, with no particular pattern in mind. Turns out that we needed a sample at the store ... And since I had the yarn AND the book, it seemed like a good idea. I really, really, really like this yarn. The design I'm making is Ylva (pg. 28 of Book #9), and so far I am enjoying it immensely.
As if three projects weren't enough, I am also teaching a class in making cables without a cable needle. The project is a set of fingerless mitts and hat called "Spiced Nutmeg" from the newest Love of Knitting. I made a sample ...
I find my students like to have me knit along with them, so I'll be making up another set. Fortunately the young ladies in my life seem to enjoy receiving hand knits from me.
The down side of having completed a stash dive is that now there are lots of yarns screaming at me that they are ready to grow up and become something. I have the next five or six projects lined up, just waiting for me. Does anyone know how to warp the time-space continuum so that I have more than 24 hours in a day?
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