"A stash that grows out of control can have the opposite effect, eventually burdening the knitter with the weight of unrealised hopes and dreams. A stash full of opportunity and hope is one thing, it's another when a collection is so large that the beautiful things you once had fond hopes for are now hopelessly buried"
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
(Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting)
(Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting)
I was listening to my audiobook copy of the above knitting tome on Wednesday this week, as I was doing the ironing (some things just wait around for you, even though you've only recently evacuated a small human being from your body); and I found myself dwelling on these words. A phone call to my sister had me talking about it to her, even though she's not (and, dare I say it, has little to no intention of ever being) a knitter.
I told her about how I had last week, in a fit of post-natal-baby-blues, I had blown all my Christmas money on yarn and knitting accoutrement. I told her about all the lovely little baby things I had queued up on Ravelry. In my mind, I could already see Little One (and WonderBoy, incidentally... Oh, and me too) all dressed up in various beautifully knitted garments and accessories.
And then, I realised and told my sister: "Actually, you've really gotta be careful - It's so easy to see, plan for and buy the yarn and patterns for all these projects that you can already see in your mind's eye... but then you realise that you've actually got to knit all these things - before your children grow out of them!"
Following is a pictorial account of the most recent stash acquisition. Looking at it all now, makes me feel only slightly nauseous (but more excited than nauseous, truth be told) when I think of how much I need to get done before I'll 'need' to buy more yarn. And that's a bit sad, to think that I won't be able to do any serious shopping till I get a reasonable amount of work done on these projects.
Here's six hundred grams of Bendigo Woollen Mills "Rustic" 12ply (colourway 'Delta') that I have earmarked for a 'Weasley Sweater' for WonderBoy;
...Six hundred grams of Bendigo Woollen Mills "Aran", colourway 'Dusty Blue', ready to be knit into brooklyntweed's "Hemlock Ring Blanket". By the way, I LOVE two hundred gram balls of beautiful soft Australian wool - Bendigo Woollen Mills are such good value!
Noro Silk Garden, all ready to knit my own "Noro Striped Scarf", another brooklyntweed pattern;
More Silk Garden (!), and I thought I'd knit up a striped hat to complement the Noro Striped Scarf. The pattern is 'Vortex', by Lee Meredith and is featured in Winter 2009 Knitty...
... and more WOOLganics 8ply Organic Merino, to continue with blanket squares for my 2009 in a Blanket KAL (I'm loving it, by the way!).
Boo. No more shopping for awhile. Can you hear my darling husband cheering?
I've taken to storing stash creatively around the house, but not so intrusively that it bothers others. Some is stashed stealthily, in the guise of "interesting calico bags hug on doorknobs for the sake of aesthetics" (although I'm not entirely sure I'm fooling anyone here)...
... and other yarn is stashed in baskets, for the "Fibre as Creative and Unique Decoration" angle. I'm sure Better Homes and Gardens will be getting in touch any day now.
Note the big bag of Merino Cross I still haven't got through and my poor old spinning wheel hasn't seen the light of day in some time. *sigh* I need to have the wheel looked at and reconditioned, buy more bobbins, and find somewhere to have the fleece cleaned and prepared for me - I just don't have time to do the whole lot from go to whoa. But that's another story, and shall be told another time...
... right now, I need to pull my Clapotis out and keep moving along!
I told her about how I had last week, in a fit of post-natal-baby-blues, I had blown all my Christmas money on yarn and knitting accoutrement. I told her about all the lovely little baby things I had queued up on Ravelry. In my mind, I could already see Little One (and WonderBoy, incidentally... Oh, and me too) all dressed up in various beautifully knitted garments and accessories.
And then, I realised and told my sister: "Actually, you've really gotta be careful - It's so easy to see, plan for and buy the yarn and patterns for all these projects that you can already see in your mind's eye... but then you realise that you've actually got to knit all these things - before your children grow out of them!"
Following is a pictorial account of the most recent stash acquisition. Looking at it all now, makes me feel only slightly nauseous (but more excited than nauseous, truth be told) when I think of how much I need to get done before I'll 'need' to buy more yarn. And that's a bit sad, to think that I won't be able to do any serious shopping till I get a reasonable amount of work done on these projects.
Here's six hundred grams of Bendigo Woollen Mills "Rustic" 12ply (colourway 'Delta') that I have earmarked for a 'Weasley Sweater' for WonderBoy;
...Six hundred grams of Bendigo Woollen Mills "Aran", colourway 'Dusty Blue', ready to be knit into brooklyntweed's "Hemlock Ring Blanket". By the way, I LOVE two hundred gram balls of beautiful soft Australian wool - Bendigo Woollen Mills are such good value!
Noro Silk Garden, all ready to knit my own "Noro Striped Scarf", another brooklyntweed pattern;
More Silk Garden (!), and I thought I'd knit up a striped hat to complement the Noro Striped Scarf. The pattern is 'Vortex', by Lee Meredith and is featured in Winter 2009 Knitty...
... and more WOOLganics 8ply Organic Merino, to continue with blanket squares for my 2009 in a Blanket KAL (I'm loving it, by the way!).
Boo. No more shopping for awhile. Can you hear my darling husband cheering?I've taken to storing stash creatively around the house, but not so intrusively that it bothers others. Some is stashed stealthily, in the guise of "interesting calico bags hug on doorknobs for the sake of aesthetics" (although I'm not entirely sure I'm fooling anyone here)...
... and other yarn is stashed in baskets, for the "Fibre as Creative and Unique Decoration" angle. I'm sure Better Homes and Gardens will be getting in touch any day now.
Note the big bag of Merino Cross I still haven't got through and my poor old spinning wheel hasn't seen the light of day in some time. *sigh* I need to have the wheel looked at and reconditioned, buy more bobbins, and find somewhere to have the fleece cleaned and prepared for me - I just don't have time to do the whole lot from go to whoa. But that's another story, and shall be told another time...... right now, I need to pull my Clapotis out and keep moving along!
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