Thursday, January 17, 2008

promises promises

Last year about a gazillion knitters joined Knit From Your Stash 07. Some succeeded, some not so much.
Personally I stuck to the rules almost completely - but - the damn stash still grew ... a lot ...because The Rules had a little too much leeway in them.
Sock Yarn didn't count
Dyeing supplies didn't count [ this one could be used to justify purchase of any amount of white or natural cream wool, cotton or bamboo ]
yarn needed for a specific present that you didn't already have ... did not count
spinning supplies ... repeat after me ... did not count
gifted yarn did not count

Can you see where I'm heading with this?
Yes. I thought that you might...
and the biggy ? my number one Achille's heel ? the major flaw in the plan ?

anything on sale in the magic playroom of special discounts at Bendigo Woollen Mills
DID NOT COUNT

sad isn't it?

Of all of the stuff that I knit last year, only the Louisa Harding Kimono Pure Angora for Auntie Fay's scarf - and okay, yeah, the second one that I made for myself - was non stash, but I pretty much took The Rules and used them to justify some fairly massive spends at Bendy.
So I've decided not to set any arbitrary rules for myself but to try and practice 'mindful' yarn acquisition.
No promises. No resolutions. We'll just see how the stash goes... and all bets are off for the Sheep and Wool Show in July.
anyway

With that in mind, I've joined the 'Stash Knit Down 2008' Forum [ fairly self explanatory ] over on Ravelry.
The first challenge was to knit or crochet 1 mile or 1609 metres between January 5 and the 20th of Feb from stashed yarn.
Thanks to having to redo 670 metres of my Sweetie Pie Cami, plus crochet's propensity for eating up about a third more yarn than the equivalent amount of knitting, plus the fact that I'm a rather umm 'generous' size and that I made it longer and added the afterthought sleeves, my finished cami took a whopping 1620 odd metres.
So herewith my first official finished object of '08Started jan 5
finished today jan 17
one whole mile of thin thread [ BWM 4 ply/ fingering cotton on a 3.5mm hook ]
can I get a w00t ?

oh and this? this is what it looks like when the ball of cotton runs out with about 4" of thread needed to finish.
Just as well I had more of the yarn but still ... damn damn and double damn
and I'll tell you about the snake tomorrow okay?

11 comments:

Taphophile said...

You did your mile already? Way to go! I've still got about 500m to go.

crazyhaberdasher said...

I see the word snake and I get very nervous!
If Chris and I are visiting next week I don't want anything of the type to visit as well.
So, I do hope you are referring to a snake of the yarn variety and not the real variety!
Very nice cami too!

Alwen said...

I think a lot of people fell off the "Knit From Your Stash" wagon. I had already done a year of using some of those gorgeous yarns and threads I already had in 2006, so I didn't join.

It was easier when I thought of it as realizing some of those rosy ideas that came to me as I felt the stash yarn in the first place. Getting some of those yarndreams out into the real world. It wasn't depriving myself of new yarn, it was enriching myself with real objects from stash yarn.

Sara said...

Oh, that is a really adorable top! I don't crochet!

Yea, I didn't do all that great either with the Knit from your stash thing last year...this year I too am going to be mindful of what I buy!!!

Snake, what snake???

TinkingBell said...

Gorgeous top - my Bella blouse gor=es on and on - but I have finished a pair of socks this year!
You forgot the bit about overseas yarn not counting either....

Rose Red said...

I'm with you on the mindful yarn purchases, that's a great way of looking at it!

And the cami looks great - I love how crochet is so much quicker than knitting!!

Tanya Brown said...

Woot!

MadMad said...

Whoa! That is beautiful! Shots of it on, please!

Anonymous said...

I think it looks wonderful! Great job! Angela 'La Vonne' Best

catsmum said...

WOW - a compliment from the designer - kewl!!
[ Angela/LaVonne/Crohooker designed the Cami and also the Short and Sweet Bolero that I made for nadie to wear to her cousin's wedding }

Taueret said...

I love the cami Susan!