Surmount the Stash 2013

Last year at this time I did an inventory of yarns in my stash with a focus on dishcloth cotton, assorted DK cotton, Baby Yarn and Sock Yarn. My goal is to eventually work through all the yarn in my stash and just have a couple of shoeboxes of Sock yarn. I'm not there yet.

Still, I started 2013 with 456 grams of dishcloth cotton and finish with less than 200 grams - that's just a few dishcloths to knit in 2014. I'm sure I can manage that. As for the other assorted DK cottons I've cut that quantity to less than half, ringing in the New Year with about 230 grams. I was very successful with the baby yarn - it's all gone. Same goes for lace yarn - it's gone too. Thanks to a cup cozies, gnomes, stockings and hats knit for craft shows, I've worked through most of my worsted weight and acrylic DK stash. There are two shoeboxes of assorted scraps left; I need to think about how to use up the rest of this. I should also mention that there's a skein of MadelineTosh Pashmina that was a gift - but I'm looking for a very special pattern for selfish knitting for that one!

Now for sock yarn. I started the year with 7 new 100 grams skeins and 7 new 50 gram skeins. This morning, I've counted 10 new 100 gram skeins and 1 new 50 gram skein. Same number of grams! That's okay though, because there are nine sock patterns left in my Year of Projects so those skeins are mostly allocated to patterns. I made a small amount of progress on my sock yarn scraps ... the scraps weigh just over 850 grams now. All in all, the sock yarn fits in two shoeboxes which satisfies a mini-goal for me.

But that's the stash I'd really like to address this year - sock yarn scraps! And in that vein I've decided to knit baby socks over the next several days. Ann Budd created a set of five different pairs of Better than Booties Baby Socks for the Summer 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. Three of those are available for free from Knitting Daily. This is a pattern I've done before, and the parents of the newborn were really pleased with how well they fit and stayed on - so that's a pretty good endorsement. Friend's are expecting in March, so a few pairs will be gifted to them and then the balance will be donated to charity. Each pair takes about 18 grams of sock yarn, so we'll see how far I get. A lot of my sock yarn leftovers are less than 18 grams.

Surmount the Stash June 2013 update

accomplished:

• knit Summer Flies
• knit Cladonia
• crochet 10 Sock Monkey Cup Cozies (mostly finished) for the craft sale in 3 weeks
• crochet 6 Topflappen dishcloths also for the craft sale
• crochet 4 Spiral Scrubbies for the craft sale as well
• knit Linen Stitch Coin Purse (almost done, just a little more sewing that I hope to complete today)

nope:

• finish Shark Week Socks for Robin
• finish Little Child's Socks for my Year of Projects
• knit Totally Vanilla Socks and Caretta Caretta Socks for that Socktopus KAL.
• My weaving project is still sitting on the loom awaiting my attention. 

goals for June:

• find my sock knitting mojo back and finish the two pairs that have been hibernating, not to mention catching up on the Socktopus KAL
• make more and more things for the craft sale

Surmount the Stash: April 2013 update

accomplished: Christmas 2012 knitting, Lace Ribbon Scarf, two acrylic baby yarn hats, three pairs of socks including Lozenge Pattern Socks, scrappy socks and a pair of baby socks.

nope: I still have enough acrylic baby yarn for another hat or two. The loom is warped and there's a weaving project started.

The last month felt very productive - maybe it's just relief from finally finishing last year's Christmas knitting? And it feels like April will be productive as well. I've got some goals in mind that are pretty ambitious. Truth be told I'm a bit afraid of some of those sock patterns. Ensnared is very unusual construction which makes me nervous. And, as for the Shark Week Socks, suffice it to say that the pattern is 55 pages long. We'll just have to see how I do.

• finish Gentleman's (pink) Sock for Evening Wear 
• knit remaining acrylic baby yarn into hats
• finish weaving something from cotton
• crochet an African Flower blanket (already started)
• knit Ensnared socks ... while watching the Tudors
• make a good start Shark Week Socks

Surmount The Stash November Update

Some months it's hard to evaluate my progress to Surmount the Stash. This month I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped, but there is some progress.

Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: In October I scooped up 2 balls of red acrylic DK from the clearance room at Mary Maxim for a whopping $1.99 each. Including tax, my total spending was under $5.

A week ago I came across a post on Ravelry about a KAL to make a Barn Raising Quilt for the Canadian Cancer Society. The pattern is not available online, and I wasn't sure I wanted to splash out for the book but I quickly realized that the book was available from the library. That made me feel very thrifty :)

Manage my WIPs: My Smitten Advent calendar is finally done and I'm busy scouting little surprises to fill each of the 24 little stockings. It's pretty fun. I also knit two pairs of socks, I'm a quarter of the way through my secret Christmas knitting, and I'm hoping to show a finished pair of gloves for my Year of Projects post on Sunday. Two years ago I knit a shelf liner for a friend from dishcloth cotton and had planned to knit two more. This morning I can report that the second is done, and the third is well underway.

Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash: I started the year with 1350 grams of dishcloth cotton and by the end of next week that total should be down to about 350 grams. That's about 75% of that stash knit!  I have some ideas about a new dishcloth design so a portion of the remaining yarn will go to that.

In the next few weeks I also plan to make two squares for the KAL - there are a couple of sock yarns whose variegation have defied all my pattern choices so I think they'll be perfect for this. And once that's done - and once my secret Christmas knitting is done - it's socks and Year of Projects knitting for the rest of the year. Sounds like I can still make inroads into the fingering weight stash!

Surmount the Stash October update

It's that time again; time to evaluate my progress to Surmount the Stash. This month the news is more upbeat!

Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: This month I spent $3 for a single pattern and not one red cent on yarn. Much better than last month. Maybe there's hope for me yet?

Manage my WIPs: My Smitten Advent calendar is STILL not done. I'm will finish it this week; promise, cross my heart. Last month I made six hats, a pair of colourwork mittens, one sock and one glove. This month I need to finish the second sock, the second glove, as well as that advent calendar.

Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash: By focusing on hats I cut my stash of acrylic worsted by more than half. But, even though I didn't buy any yarn last month my sock yarn stash grew. Yesterday a package arrived with three gorgeous skeins of sock yarn from Studio June - a thank you present for designing her Ravelry ads. I know, I'm spoiled. Turns out Dee is right ... it is SOCtoberfest! Now which three patterns to choose?

Surmount the Stash September Update

Hmmm... Surmount the Stash ... about that .... Sometimes these challenges are helpful because they keep me accountable. So it's in that vein that I confess to all my sins over the past month :(

Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: Last month I bought four skeins of Hand Maiden Sea Silk. FOUR. Enough said. Add to that a trip to the Purple Purl to the tune of $40 and an online order at Wandering Cat Yarns for three skeins of sock yarn. Apparently $50 a month is not realistic for me.

if it ever stops raining
I'll get a better photo!

Manage my WIPs: My Smitten Advent calendar has languished unfinished for months now. That's gotta stop. At the moment there's nothing else on the needles so I'm going to give that my undivided attention until it's done. And then I'd better knit a handful of Miranda hats to fulfill my obligations to the two charities I've pledged them to. Probably best I send them before hat weather arrives, right?

Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash: It's not that August wasn't productive. I started and finished a Clapotis for the Ravellenic Games, and then another for a co-worker's Mom. Speaking of which, if you buy yarn and knit it right away, does it even count as stash? I finished two pairs of socks as well as a pair of mittens - all from stash. I've worked through most of my little sock yarn leftovers and have plans for the rest. But before that, it's all about worsted for the next while...

And, congratulations to ALittleBitSheepish who won a copy of the Morning Glory Socks pattern!

Surmount the Stash July Update

It's time again to evaluate my progress towards my goals to Surmount the Stash. And the news is not all good.

Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: You may recall that last month ended with a deficit of $144, and I pledged to do better but I completely blew it this month. I bought yarn and a pattern for the Summer of Socks to the tune of $34. I bought a skein of Candy Skein yarn for my Dragonfly socks to the tune of $20. I bought yarn and yarn gift certificates for gift giving to the tune of $45. And then there's my Loopy Ewe order which includes knitting accessories and yarn for planned Christmas gifts to the tune of $72.50. YIKES. My new deficit is $315.50. It's looking more and more like my $50 budget is terribly unrealistic. I guess we'll see how this shakes out by the end of the year.

Manage my WIPs: For the most part things that have been started are being finished. At this very moment though, I have three projects on the go - Dragonfly Socks, Hilja Mittens and my Smitten Advent Calendar. That's one more project than I should have, so I need to get those Dragonflies finished in the next couple of days. I'd also like to finish up Smitten before the Olympics start to clear the decks for my planned Ravellenic Games project -  a Clapotis scarf from mawata silk hankies.

Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash: Last month I made two pairs
of socks and I'm about three-quarter through a third pair. Add to that eight dishcloths and a handful of mini mittens, all from the stash. That's pretty good. Progress feels slow because so much of the yarn was fingering weight. One more thing? For my second Year of Projects I'm knitting the patterns in the book Folk Knitting in Estonia. I bought that book years ago, flipped through but have never knit a single pattern from it, until now. It's about time I used the patterns I already have.

Surmount the Stash June Update

Double Bump dishcloth in stash-busting stripes!

Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: Last month's running deficit of $160.00 kept me on the straight and narrow for most of May, however, I did buy some dishcloth cotton and I did impulsively buy a skein of sock yarn in the last couple of days. Retail therapy I think with all the stress around here, so I'm not beating myself up over it. All in all I spent $34 this month, so the running deficit now stands at $144.00. Not great, but better than it was.

Manage my WIPs: Last month I started and finished a dishcloth for my Just the Postage swap, and I have several more planned over the next week or so. Mindless dishcloth knitting is definitely my speed right now. I also finished one pair of gift socks and am nearly finished a second pair for charitable donation. Oh yes, and three 10x10 squares for a group blanket project. There's also some secret knitting done for a Canada Day swap that can't be revealed until my swap partner receives here package. And I knit through all the yarn I bought in April as well as most of the yarn I received from my swap partner. So not bad. This morning there is only my second of Hermoine's Everyday Socks on my needles - perfect for hospital bedside knitting.

Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash:  I'd estimate that in May I knit through about 1000 yards of yarn purchased in April, 500 yards of yarn received in an April swap, 300 yards of yarn purchased in May and an additional 500 or so yards of yarn from my stash. All added up like that it sounds quite impressive, doesn't it? Now I feel a bit better about my efforts in May, because until I totalled it, I was pretty much feeling like May was a washout. In June, on the other hand, I predict a great deal of progress. I'll be close to home for the next several weeks, fetching and carrying for the invalid, so expect a parade of dishcloths!

Surmount the Stash April Update

Typically after three months of a year long resolution yarn diet motivation starts to fade, but not so! Things really clicked for me this month.

Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: I ended last month $46.14 over budget and  pledged not to spent one more cent in March. I didn't quite manage that, but I did manage to sell a stack of old craft magazines on Kijiji for $35.00. I spent $12 mailing monsters to Isaida and mailing a SIBOL square to the UK. As well, I spent $6.00 for the Daphne and Delilah pattern, plus $6.50 for the Rib and Braid Pullover pattern. Tallying it all up, I end March with a smaller deficit of $35.64.

It's going to be a challenge to stay in budget this month though - there's always major temptation at the Knitter's Frolic marketplace. There's little chance that I'll leave empty-handed, so I'm planning projects for which I could buy a small amount of yarn to combine with yarn I already have on hand. That feels a bit like stash-busting doesn't it?

Manage my WIPs: Last month I started and finished one charity square, one dishcloth, one Barbie outfit, one pair of fingerless gloves, two pairs of monsters, one pullover and one pair of socks. Here we are on the second of April  - I plan to cast on a pair of socks this morning because there's nothing else on my needles. Unbelievable!

Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash: Lots of projects started and finished but no yarn purchased, so obviously I've done well here. At a guess I'd say I've knit through about 2500-2600 yards. About half of that was worsted weight used in monsters and my pullover so now my stash LOOKS noticeably smaller. How nice is that?

And if you're wondering, it IS vest weather today and I AM wearing a new vest, but more on that tomorrow!

Surmount the Stash March Update

We're now two months into my year long commitment to Surmount the Stash in 2012, so it's time for another report card. Let's see how I did this month!


Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: I spent $20.00 for the grey wool from Dutch Hollow Acres for Susie Rodgers Reading Mitts + $6.00 for the Windscheif pattern + $4.50 for the Koolhaas pattern + $10.02 mailing costs for a SIBOL square and a chemo cap + $31.08 at the Purple Purl for a retracting measuring tape and a skein of sock yarn + $23.56 at Knit-o-matic for highlighter tape and some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino =$95.16. Remembering that I was $0.98 over last month, I'm now $46.14 over budget. That's not very good, is it? To get back on track I'm pledging not to spent one more cent this month.


Manage my WIPs: Once again I've been disciplined about starting and finishing things. Three hats and one charity square were completed and shipped to charities. Another two baby hats have been knit and are awaiting donation. It felt like I was starting and finishing something about every other day through February and now, on the first day of March, there's one last sock on needles that'll be finished before I leave for work this morning.


Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash: This month there were a few yarn purchases and pattern purchases that weren't strictly necessary. As well, for much of the month my projects were in sock and baby yarn - stash busting goes much more slowly when the yarn is so fine! I didn't make any scrap yarn socks last month and just one dishcloth - I can and will do better this month.


My conclusions? The grades on this month's report card have definitely slipped when compared to last month. Time to recommit and see how what I can accomplish in March.

FO: Baby Koolhaas

This morning I looked around for something appropriate to model this baby hat - knit as written in Brooklyn Tweed's Koolhaus pattern but with baby yarn on 3.75 mm needles. My finished hat is 12 inches in circumference unstretched - it'll stretch comfortably to 15 inches - and 5-1/2 inches high from brim edge to center top. There's no newborn baby handy and I haven't come up with any other ideas to check the size and fit except to compare the measurements to this chart. Seems like the size is about right based on that.

The finished hat weighs 21 grams, leaving me with 57 grams of white acrylic baby yarn. I guess I can make a couple more. Maybe for the next one I knit I'll follow an actual baby hat pattern to see how the size compares. And then go back to the Koolhaas pattern if everything looks copacetic.

Before starting the pattern as a baby hat I reflected about whether the pattern was too "ridge-y", whether it would be uncomfortable against a newborn's skin or leave marks in a lattice pattern. The second picture shows the knitted fabric on the inside of the hat; as you can see the pattern is quite muted on the reverse and the fabric is fairly smooth. I think it'll be okay.

At least I have a definite plan about what to do with these hats. My sister-in-law is a labour and delivery nurse at one of our local hospitals. Mom used to donate hats through her, so I'll do the same with these. Maybe she can let me know how well they fit and work?

Surmount the Stash February Update

With one month down in my year long commitment to Surmount the Stash in 2012 it's time for a report card. I set a number of goals for myself, so let's see how I did.

Monthly budget of $50 for all knitting related expenses: In January I spent $11.68 on dyes for a project planned for next month + $9.81 mailing costs for socks, hats and squares + $4.49 for one ball of yarn for my Wool-Eater blanket + $25 Loopy Ewe gift certificate donated to an online contest = $50.98. Although I'm slightly over my target I feel good about how I did, particularly as I did not buy any yarn except for a specific project and I stuck to the hooks and needles I already have and patterns that I already have.

Manage my WIPs: This month I've been disciplined about starting and finishing things. Four pairs of socks, two hats and one square were completed and shipped to charities. And I've already started knitting a July birthday gift from stashed yarn and have plans for another for a September birthday. I'm determined to stay on top of this to avoid last minute shopping or inflated shipping costs for rush delivery.

Plan projects to work through my inventory of yarns in my Stash: Here's where I think I've been really successful. I completed three pairs of socks from scraps and two more from full skeins. That's about 350 grams of sock yarns used - about 10-15% of my stash. I completed three dishcloths, using about 10% of my dishcloth cotton stash. The big win is with the wool-eater blanket - by the time I finish it (next week hopefully) I will have used about 60% of the acrylic worsted weight yarns in my stash, leaving just enough to make a few hats and a dozen or so squares.

Definitely a passing grade on this report card! Let's see if I can keep up the hard work for eleven more months!

extended play socks

One more pair of scrappy socks done; all that's left to do is to get them in the mail. Last time I posted a parcel I tried Canada Post's online shipping tools. That worked out pretty well. The rate calculator allowed me to enter different measurements to determine the most cost-effective parcel size and shape. And I could print my own labels and drop them in a mailbox before work rather than lining up at Post Office counter during working hours.

By alternating the red/grey kroy sock yarn with a coordinating solid grey yarn I was able to extend the red all the way through the legs and the feet and use up that yarn entirely. It's been kind of fun to experiment with different strategies to use up oddments of sock yarn. For my next pair of scrappy socks I'm looking at this pattern: Circle Socks. Although the pattern is written for self-striping yarn, I plan to use two colours of yarn instead along the lines of what I did in my Circle Cloth.

This pair is the fourth pair of socks completed this month. Count that as about 300 grams out and 0 grams in - more progress towards my goal to Surmount The Stash in 2012! How are you doing with your goals and resolutions?

a red Chemo cap

cute, eh?

Last year I made a couple of chemo caps for Halos of Hope using some red sport weight bamboo yarn that was in my stash. The yarn was originally purchased for a shawl, but the intended recipient preferred a warm red to this colder candy apple red. After making two or three last year, I put the rest of the yarn aside; that was quite enough 1x1 rib for a while. But this year I'm determined to finish what I started so I've cast on and made one more red chemo cap. My kitchen scale tells me that there's enough red yarn left for one more. And if I make a striped version combining all my leftover bamboo scraps, there may be enough yarn for two hats.

The pattern is adapted from Marnie Maclean's Pismo hat pattern - basically a ribbed watch cap. I've reduced the number of stitches to 132 to compensate for the heavier yarn and sped up the crown decreases. This size fits my head nicely but I'll make the next one slightly smaller - I'd think after losing their hair chemo patients may need smaller hat sizes. Bamboo yarn strikes me as a very good choice as it's so soft and non-irritating. A newly exposed scalp can be very sensitive to the slightest itchiness in fibers, especially after chemotherapy I've read.

Using up scraps of yarn in my stash is part of the challenge with my plan to Surmount the Stash in 2012. Other than sock yarn and dishcloth cotton, scraps make up my stash. The second week of January begins today and I'm off to a good start.

Sunny Circle Cloth

Sunflower soap from
Cottage North Soapworks

It won't be just socks on the needles this year; turns out there's a great deal of dishcloth cotton in my stash! 1350 grams or so: that's the equivalent of two dozen or more dishcloths. Most of this yarn was picked up deeply discounted at the annual tent sale in Listowel a couple of years ago. Admittedly, I went a bit overboard.

To work through this part of my stash I need to knit a dishcloth every two weeks or so. This shouldn't be a problem though, because dishcloths are pretty much instant gratification ... just a couple of hours of knitting for each. If I plan this right, I should have something to show and tell almost every week on Finished Object Fridays!

To kick off the year I decided to knit this Circle Cloth which I queued some time ago. It's the perfect use for small amounts of yellow cotton leftover from my Serengeti Sun dishcloths. Looks like I'll have just enough yellow to complete two of this pattern; guess I'll make another this aft. Paired with a handmade soap, like this sunflower from Cottage North Soapworks, this wash cloth makes a nice little all occasion gift, doesn't it?