I am Untrustworthy

So, I had this plan. The plan was that I wouldn't buy any yarn or fibre from when my son was born until Stitches West. In my last post I showed you how I accidentally (and yes, it was an accident, I legitimately forgot I was doing this) ruined this and purchased two skeins of yarn the other week. Fine. That's not so bad. It was a temporary lapse caused by mommy-brain (which is, as it turns out, a real thing).  Of course I would just start over and hold fast to my non-fibre-purchasing goal from now on.

Not so much.

 As it turns out, I am incredibly untrustworthy.

Pictured to the right is my latest and largest fail. You see that? I even had to buy a bag to put it all in. That bag is literally crammed full of yarn. Crammed.

What was I thinking, you ask? I'm kind of laughing over here, since I'm pretty sure that nothing can really justify this amount of purchasing while being on a self-imposed and much needed yarn diet. It's not that I'm being draconian on myself, it's that I have so much I have run out of room in the fiboreum to stash it all. As a result, I have a mini-yarn stash in the living room under the built-in bench seating and have just expanded that to a cupboard in the living room's armoire. I actually do have too much yarn at this point. I am using it, true, but not nearly fast enough to purchase any more at the moment, and certainly not fast enough to warrant this much more.

 Here's the view of the contents of the bag unpacked. We'll get to close-ups and what it's actually for in a moment. Do you see that?

That's 26 skeins of yarn. 26!

The needles are beyond reproach since needles are never counted in my yarn diets. Needles are what makes it so you can use your yarn. They are tools, not stash. Especially when you're buying sizes you don't have yet.

 This picture is a little dark, but is meant to show 18 specific balls of yarn. The red, green, and white (the white has sparkles, by the way, very cool) are for my son's christmas stocking. About now you are probably wondering what type of stocking takes 18 balls of yarn. Funny story....so there I was in the yarn store deciding on stocking yarn and my addled, sleep-deprived, new-mom brain says "but wait, what if you have another child? You'll want to make sure you get enough yarn to make him/her a matching stocking." So I grab another ball of each color. Then my brain says "You never know, it could be twins." So I grab another ball of red. Then the brain says "Shouldn't you consider making your husband one to match?" Another few balls get added onto the pile. "And what about your future grandchildren?" And that's when I emptied the yarn cubby into my basket.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

 The other 8 skiens? Well, what can I say? They were on sale.

The turquoise has already fulfilled its purpose and been given to the coworker I bought it for. That's 1 down already!!

The 4 variegated are  being banked for next year's charity knitting at work. I figured I might as well get a price break on yarn I'd be buying anyway.

And the other 3 are that pull-apart net-like yarn that's so popular for making ruffly scarves. I'll be using it to turn out some quick co-worker gifts.

Not too bad, right??

Right??

Guys?

August 2013 catch-up

Did you miss me? I missed you. Between feeding and caring for a baby and trying to keep my household running, I find that I have much less time for crafting than I previously had. It was expected, of course, but it's still an adjustment. However, it doesn't mean that I could stop knitting. That's like dying, right? 

Anyway, let's take a look at a few things from August. Now, don't judge. I am only human. Just be glad that I've managed a shower in these pics....and remember, this was about a month after having a baby. I'm not going to be svelte for a while. Besides, you're supposed to be looking at the knitwear.

Alright, look at this!

This little shawl-thingy is called Good Vibrations and is by SaBine Vogelpoth. You can get this pattern free on Ravelry (at least that's where I got it).  Hers is done either in a variegated or self-striping or in two yarns to show off the pattern. However, I thought it would look smashing in a yarn with long repeats - like Noro. I found the pattern while I was trying to figure out what to do with 2 skeins of Noro Taiyo Sock that my mother had given me a couple Christmases ago. The pattern is not specifically calling out this yarn, but I thought the long color repeats would help to accentuate the great detail of the triangles on the edges of the shawl.

Here's the closeup. I made the shawl much longer than the pattern goes, but since it's an easy and easily memorable pattern, it was easy to extend. I just kept going until I ran out of yarn.  This is a great pattern for anyone who needs a relatively easy project that doesn't need much attention. It's garter with shortrows every now and then. Simple and yet really nice.

What's this? GORGEOUS is what it is. I had decided to be on a yarn diet after my son was born until Stitches next February....and I completely forgot when I stopped by Purlescence to show off the baby and pick up a couple needed needles.

At least when I fell down, I bought something gorgeous.....oh, and it's Madeline Tosh!!

Did you know that Crown Mountain was ceasing its operations in June? Yes, I mean this passed June. Well, knowing that, I felt the need to make an order. It was not a huge order, like some of my friends did. But I did buy four 8oz bumps of roving.



My thought process was that I wanted to branch out, color-wise, before they closed. I always buy blues, reds, pinks, purples, greens. I decided that I needed to buy somethings that made me explore color - oranges, yellows, browns, and mixes that were more wild than what I would normally choose.

So, here are the 4 that I purchased - they came in the mail after a long wait - but that makes sense. I ordered them at the very last minute and I know, for a fact, that several people ordered large amounts before me. I was surprised these came so relatively soon.




Oh, and also, they are beautiful. This brown and orange one is really a leap of faith for me. I don't really love it now and I'm afraid I won't love it when it's spun. But I needed to branch out and knowing that I couldn't order more later made it a real sh*t or get off the pot situation.



So, 4 lovely colors to spin, nowhere in my Fiboreum to store them, and a new baby who is leaving me no time to spin.....