Surmount The Stash 2012 Year End Summary

In December of last year I signed up for a challenge issued by Revelations of a Delusional Knitter: Surmount the Stash 2012. I decided to approach my stash-busting goals in several ways:

 • inventory my stash and knit from it
 • limit stash enhancement and limit my spending to $50 per month
 • avoid buying any more needles or patterns; use the ones I have
 • finish projects on time to meet shipping deadlines

Dishcloth Cotton: I started 2012 with 1350 grams or so and ended with 456 grams. The dishcloth cotton stash is about a 1/3rd of what I had this time last year. Not bad when you consider I bought an additional 300 grams more through last year for specific colours.

Assorted DK Cotton: I have 504 grams in three different colours on hand mostly purchased for a summer top which I frogged. Now that I have a loom, I don't expect this will last very long :)

Baby Yarn: If I did a count last year, I can't find it. Suffice it to say I have 370 grams left; less than a third of what I started with. I'll have put my thinking cap on to use this up - it's a mixture of acrylic and superwash wool, with several colours weighing in at less than 20 grams each. Maybe a couple of hats and a striped toy or two?

Sock Yarn: By my count I started last year with 14 new 100 gram skeins and 1200 grams in sock yarn scraps (2600 grams total). This morning I find myself with 7 new 100 gram skeins, 7 new 50 gram skeins and 1130 grams in sock yarn scraps (2180 grams total). That's 20% less than last year. It doesn't sound like much progress, but last year I was given 10 skeins of sock yarn and I bought at least a half dozen more so I'm not disappointed. At least things are going in the right direction. Looks like I need to make some striped socks in the New Year to work through more of those scraps! AND STOP BUYING MORE!

There are assorted other types of yarn in my stash. I have enough worsted weight wool on hand to make a sweater. I have a shoebox full of assorted worsted weight acrylic scraps. I have two skeins of Handmaiden Sea Silk which are earmarked for a shawl for a coworker. And I have some DK acrylic yarn that I plan to make up into Christmas bags and stockings. I'll work through these as the spirit moves me ... but my primary focus is on the four yarn types above. Someday I'd like to just have sock yarn. Someday.

Did I limit my spending to $50/month? Nope, not even close. Just being mindful of what I was spending was a step in the right direction though. I'll try to improve on this next year.

Did I use the patterns and needles I already had? Mostly. I did buy one set of needles for some bulky cowls and neck warmers. As for the patterns, about 85% of what I knit was from patterns I already had and thanks to a Second Year of Projects, I've knit through almost three books :)

Did I finish projects on time for shipping deadlines? Well, there's still some secret Christmas knitting on my needles, so enough said.

That's a wrap! Let's see how I can do to Surmount the Stash in 2013!

Year of Projects 2: Shell Pattern Socks

too cold for lacy socks!

Folk Knitting in Estonia: Aino's Gloves • Anu's Christmas Gloves • Anu's Mittens • Anu's Stockings • Avo's Mittens • Ellen's Stockings • Helgi's Mittens • Hilja's Mittens • Ilmar's Socks • Juta's Stockings • Kalev's Mittens • Kristi's Mittens • Laila's Socks • Landra's Gloves • Liidia's Gloves • Liivi's Stockings • Maarja's Socks • Maimu's Mittens • Marko's Mittens • Meida's Mittens • Merike's Gloves • Rita's Stockings • Sander's Mittens • Tiit's Socks • Ulla's Gloves • Virve's Stockings

Knitting Vintage Socks: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern (1887) • Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch (1889) • Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern (1895) • Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe (1896) • Cycling or Golf Stockings with Fancy Cuff in Trellis Pattern (1897) • Heelless Sleeping Socks (1897) • Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting (1898) • Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Sock for Evening Wear (1900) • Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (1900) • Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 Years (1900) • Gentleman's Fancy Sock (1901) • Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel (1901) • Child's Sock in Miranda Pattern (1904) • Baby's Bootikin (1905)  •  Little Child's Sock (1907)  •  Ladies Useful Stockings (1913)  •  Ladies Silk Stockings with Clocks (1914)

Recalling my plan to deliver a pair of red socks on January 2nd for a coworker's birthday, ahead of Chinese New Year, I've been working on them monogamously for the last several days. The pattern is Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern. As I said last week these are knitting up really quickly - slightly more than a week from casting on the first sock to completing the gusset decreases into the foot of the second sock. I expect I'll finish the second sock by end of day tomorrow.

After that, there are a bunch of projects that merit my attention ... second Ringwood sock ... my secret and still incomplete Christmas knitting ... and fingerless gloves for Gavin. He asked me if I would knit them. He picked the pattern (this one). And he picked the yarn (this one with cashmere). He NEVER wants handknits so I'd better do them next. Wouldn't it be nice to get them done so that he can wear them this winter?

Yesterday Gavin and I met my sister and her husband downtown for lunch and a play. And I was happy to see that she was wearing the gloves I knit for her for Christmas. Isn't that nice to see? She says she really likes them and that they fit perfectly. She's definitely knitworthy!

FO: Woven Dishcloths

Pattern: It's just plain weave (aka tabby) where each weft thread crosses the warp alternating over and under to form a simple criss-cross pattern.

Yarn: The warp is a natural colour dishcloth cotton that I bought as millends from the Spinrite Factory Outlet sale - probably a factory second of Bernat Handicrafter cotton. For the weft I used more of the same with stripes of leftover Bernat Handicrafter cotton in White, Country Red, Terra Firma Ombre and Indigo.

Comments: Dressing the loom with the warp threads is time-consuming so I decided to warp up several feet, weave it from start to finish and then cut apart the final woven fabric into a few squarish cloths. Right now I'm using a warping peg as shown in this video, but DH has agreed to make me a warping board as soon as I draw up the plans. That might make things easier :)

Because I'm new to weaving I decided I should aim simply for a balanced weave and work at my tension to achieve neat selvedge edges. Looks to me like the natural cotton is thinner than the coloured cottons because my weave looks balanced when I'm using the same yarn for warp and weft but the balance is off at the stripes. My selvedges still need a lot of work.

Cutting the fabric into smaller squares was nerve-wracking. I did three things to hem each end. I hem-stitched on the loom using the dishcloth cotton according to this video. That would probably be sufficient if I were leaving a fringe. I cut the cloths apart between two weft threads (aka picks), used my sewing machine to zigzag those edges, then rolled to form a hem and straight stitched on the machine to finish them.

My resulting hems are pretty chunky. Well you can imagine, as they are essentially three thicknesses of dishcloth cotton. I googled to gather more ideas about hemming. One suggestion was to run one pick of a bulky thread through where you want your fold and then pull it out to leave a gap which will fold quite readily. Another suggestion was to use a much thinner thread for the weft at the hem area - even as thin as sewing thread - to create a much thinner fabric in this area for less bulky hems. I plan to give both suggestions a try on my next project.

You may have also noticed that red sock in the first photo. The first sock is done, but as the second is still on the needles it doesn't really count as a finished object does it? One more thing in that photo? Our first snow! The neighbourhood kids are thrilled that they finally got some tobogganing weather!  It's Friday, so why not spend some time at Tami's Amis to see what everyone else has finished?!

Year of Projects 2: Ringwood and Shell Socks

Folk Knitting in Estonia: Aino's Gloves • Anu's Christmas Gloves • Anu's Mittens • Anu's Stockings • Avo's Mittens • Ellen's Stockings • Helgi's Mittens • Hilja's Mittens • Ilmar's Socks • Juta's Stockings • Kalev's Mittens • Kristi's Mittens • Laila's Socks • Landra's Gloves • Liidia's Gloves • Liivi's Stockings • Maarja's Socks • Maimu's Mittens • Marko's Mittens • Meida's Mittens • Merike's Gloves • Rita's Stockings • Sander's Mittens • Tiit's Socks • Ulla's Gloves • Virve's Stockings

Knitting Vintage Socks: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern (1887) • Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch (1889) • Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern (1895) • Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe (1896) • Cycling or Golf Stockings with Fancy Cuff in Trellis Pattern (1897) • Heelless Sleeping Socks (1897) • Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting (1898) • Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Sock for Evening Wear (1900) • Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (1900) • Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 Years (1900) • Gentleman's Fancy Sock (1901) • Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel (1901) • Child's Sock in Miranda Pattern (1904) • Baby's Bootikin (1905)  •  Little Child's Sock (1907)  •  Ladies Useful Stockings (1913)  •  Ladies Silk Stockings with Clocks (1914)

After finishing my Heelless Sleeping Socks last week I turned my attention to finishing the first of my Ringwood patterned socks. Two things were pushing me to finish that first sock. Firstly, worry about whether I would run out of yarn. And, two, a need for those needles to complete some knits with looming deadlines. I'm happy to report that sock one weighs 48 grams, leaving me with 53 grams for sock two. Phew, that was close.

Rather than cast on the second sock, I thought I'd better get a move on with these red socks. The plan is to deliver them on January 2nd in time for a coworker's birthday and ahead of Chinese New Year. That's not a lot of time to start and finish a pair of socks, but with time off work and hours of holiday travel time (aka knitting time) ahead, I'm confident I can do it. The pattern is Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern and it's knitting up very quickly. The pattern strikes me as very similar to other shell pattern socks like Tidal Wave Socks and Pomatomous Socks. And after a couple of times through the pattern repeat, it's easily memorized and quite intuitive.

Can you believe it's Christmas already? Hardly seems possible that November and December went by so quickly! Whatever you celebrate I hope it's all happy and merry! I'll be back with my next Year of Projects update just ahead of the New Year.

Finished Object Friday

Pattern: Heelless Sleeping Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush

Yarn: unknown self-patterning yarn from the Wabi Sabi sale bin with On Your Toes stripes in cream.

Modifications: My usual wedge toe.

Comments: On Wednesday I thought there might be enough self-patterning yarn to finish the toe of the second sock to match the first. WRONG. I ended up ripping back the toe of the first sock and re-knitting that toe in mostly cream colour. Then using the recovered coloured yarn to add a similar but not matching final stripe to the second sock. I don't think the mismatch is too startling, do you? 

My friend Shirley picked this pattern and has been repeatedly begging me to knit them for her. I can't stand tube socks myself - with my pointy heels and high arches that's just too much fabric bunching up at the ankle. But Shirley insists that tube socks fit her better than anything else. So to each their own.

The leg of the sock was almost entirely purled, the pattern is created by columns of single knit stitches that shift left every four rows. The more I thought about this, the more sensible it seemed to me as it would leave the inside of the sock as mainly knit stitches, which would be comfortable against one's sole no matter how the sock was arranged on the foot. Often with Nancy Bush patterns it's just best to knit as written rather than start second guessing so that's what I did.

That's one more Christmas present done, so I'm pleased about that. And then after reviewing my list I felt badly that there was nothing hand-knit for my brother-in-law. I had tentatively planned to knit Henry for him, but I never decided upon a suitable yarn and it just didn't get done. Instead I decided to knit up a washcloth using the Chinese Waves pattern. I've done this pattern before; the result is a nicely textured thick cloth, perfect to pair up with this handmade Sweetgrass soap. And I know for a fact he'll like that. Seems to me we've discussed how much we both love the smell of sweetgrass.

Happy holidays, merry Christmas or cheers to whatever you celebrate :) And presuming the Mayans got it wrong, see you on the other side! It's not just the end of the world, it's also finished object Friday over at Tami's Amis, so please take a few minutes to have a look at all the great work that's been done! 

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

It's the last WIP Wednesday before the big day and Christmas workshop activities are in full gear.

My first priority is to finish the second Heelless Sleeping Sock. I'm planning Christmas drinks with Shirley tomorrow or Friday evening and hope to gift these then. The fact that there's about half a sock plus a toe still to knit, and not much coloured yarn left is somewhat disquieting but I'm trying not to think about it. After all, there's always more yardage in those little balls than you'd think, right? RIGHT? There just HAS to be!

The super secret Christmas knitting project is not done and the shipping deadline for that has passed. No choice but to wrap and send the store-bought portion ahead with a little note of my intentions to follow up with handmade portion in the New Year. With luck I can still finish and mail before the end of December.

At the same time I've been matching up dishcloths with handmade soaps in little Christmas bundles for those on my list who get just a little something and not a full-blown present. They're awfully cute little gifts once tissue and bows are added. Makes me with I'd been a bit more industrious on the dishcloth front through the year :)

And finally, in anticipation of wrapping up all things Christmas in the next few days I've got this skein of red sock yarn ready. Another tradition is a pair of red socks ahead of Chinese New Year for a friend with whom I share an upcoming birthday. The colourway is "Here Comes Trouble" and, wonders never cease, I think my iPhone did a good job capturing the actual colour. It is unabashed, take-no-prisoners, here-comes-trouble RED. Almost a shame to think of putting on shoes!

Got a minute or two? Be sure to check out the links at Tami's Amis to see how industrious all the other elves are being :)

Year of Projects: Heelless Sleeping Socks 02

Folk Knitting in Estonia: Aino's Gloves • Anu's Christmas Gloves • Anu's Mittens • Anu's Stockings • Avo's Mittens • Ellen's Stockings • Helgi's Mittens • Hilja's Mittens • Ilmar's Socks • Juta's Stockings • Kalev's Mittens • Kristi's Mittens • Laila's Socks • Landra's Gloves • Liidia's Gloves • Liivi's Stockings • Maarja's Socks • Maimu's Mittens • Marko's Mittens • Meida's Mittens • Merike's Gloves • Rita's Stockings • Sander's Mittens • Tiit's Socks • Ulla's Gloves • Virve's Stockings

Knitting Vintage Socks: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern (1887) • Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch (1889) • Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern (1895) • Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe (1896) • Cycling or Golf Stockings with Fancy Cuff in Trellis Pattern (1897) • Heelless Sleeping Socks (1897) • Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting (1898) • Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Sock for Evening Wear (1900) • Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (1900) • Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 Years (1900) • Gentleman's Fancy Sock (1901) • Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel (1901) • Child's Sock in Miranda Pattern (1904) • Baby's Bootikin (1905)  •  Little Child's Sock (1907)  •  Ladies Useful Stockings (1913)  •  Ladies Silk Stockings with Clocks (1914)

Seems like switching horses - switching from the book Folk Knitting in Estonia to the book Knitting Vintage Socks - was just the thing I needed to give my Year of Projects a second wind. With things so busy before Christmas, the simpler patterns from the second book are perfectly suited to my time and attention right now.

Last week I cast on Heelless Sleeping Socks for a friend who has been dropping some not-so-subtle hints that she wants these socks. And what this sock proves is that it takes all kinds. With my high arches and pointy heels, this sock doesn't fit me whatsoever. But my friend insists that heeled socks never fit her and tube socks are so much more comfortable. Well okay then. The cuff and the toe are from mystery yarn plucked from the sale bin at Wabi Sabi. Through the leg section I striped in some plain cream coloured yarn as the 50 grams of mystery yarn wasn't going to be nearly enough to complete the pair. I used Russian joins to switch yarns; the colours match so well that the joins are about invisible. It also means no ends to weave in :)

And because I simply had to see how the gorgeous blues and greens of this "Hey Paula" colourway were going to knit up, I cast on another pair of socks. The pattern is Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood pattern. Based on pictures from other Raveler's projects it looked like a pattern that would play nicely with a really busy yarn. So far, so good!  It's dangerous for me to try these sock on though - the more I knit, the more I try, the more I think I'd better just keep these for me! I'm sorry to say, I haven't even got any excuses for why I cast these on... it's not Christmas knitting, there's lots of stuff I should be doing instead, but I just can't seem to help myself. Blame the yarn!

Year of Projects: Heelless Sleeping Socks 01

Folk Knitting in Estonia: Aino's Gloves • Anu's Christmas Gloves • Anu's Mittens • Anu's Stockings • Avo's Mittens • Ellen's Stockings • Helgi's Mittens • Hilja's Mittens • Ilmar's Socks • Juta's Stockings • Kalev's Mittens • Kristi's Mittens • Laila's Socks • Landra's Gloves • Liidia's Gloves • Liivi's Stockings • Maarja's Socks • Maimu's Mittens • Marko's Mittens • Meida's Mittens • Merike's Gloves • Rita's Stockings • Sander's Mittens • Tiit's Socks • Ulla's Gloves • Virve's Stockings

Knitting Vintage Socks: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern (1887) • Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch (1889) • Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern (1895) • Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe (1896) • Cycling or Golf Stockings with Fancy Cuff in Trellis Pattern (1897) • Heelless Sleeping Socks (1897) • Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting (1898) • Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Sock for Evening Wear (1900) • Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (1900) • Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 Years (1900) • Gentleman's Fancy Sock (1901) • Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel (1901) • Child's Sock in Miranda Pattern (1904) • Baby's Bootikin (1905)  •  Little Child's Sock (1907)  •  Ladies Useful Stockings (1913)  •  Ladies Silk Stockings with Clocks (1914)

I've come to the conclusion that I'm mittened-out. I just can't bring myself to cast on another pair. It's possible I'm also sick of Estonian Knitting - no offence meant to the Estonian people. Instead I find myself knitting socks. So to that end, I've added the book Knitting Vintage Socks to my Year of Projects with the idea that I can pick and choose between the two books for the next six months.

There are three patterns from Knitting Vintage Socks that I've already knit; I likely won't duplicate them. Last week I finished Gentleman's Fancy Socks. My Railway Stitch socks were knit in November 2010. And we have go all the way back to May 2010 to find the Fancy Silk Socks.

Yesterday I cast on Heelless Sleeping Socks for a friend who has been hankering over tube socks for a while now. I've made a good start, in fact, I'm far enough now to see that I definitely haven't enough yarn to finish them. The yarn is mystery yarn that I picked up from the sale bin at Wabi Sabi in Ottawa. There's just 50 grams so it's not really a surprise that there's not enough. No problem though, I have a complementary yarn that I can stripe in to make this work. Tonight I'll be ripping back to the cuff and putting plan B into action.

Finished Object Friday

Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Sock

Yarn: Wandering Cat Alley Cat BFL in their Badlands colourway

Modifications: I shortened each leg by one repeat; it's long enough as is. And I switched to my usual wedge toe.

Comments: All that ribbing makes for a very stretchy and comfy sock. I'll definitely knit this pattern again. I knit the French heel as written - plain stockinette with a single purl column up the centre back of the heel - however I think I'll switch to a reinforced heel when I do them again. Hopefully the recipient doesn't go through the heel!

The colour pooled a bit on the feet but in real life it's more muted than in the picture. For whatever reason, the photo seems to have intensified the colours and emphasized the pooling. The BFL yarn is lovely soft. It certainly is going to compete with MCN for my yarn buying dollars.

It's Friday so check the links at Tami's Amis see what everyone else has finished. I've been very absent around the blogs for the last couple of weeks, but now that my brother's book is launched I'm hoping to get back on schedule. More about his book here and here.