Stash dash: Or the quiet revaluation of goals

Windswept sweater in progress. Yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed, colourway Scree

As you may remember from the blog last week I have been quietly contemplating my rather rash 10K goal for stash dash, after the somewhat depressing discovery that my crocheted, stripe blanket was rather smaller than I remembered it being.

As a result I took to rootling under the bed for some (very) long-neglected WIPs and came up trumps with this one. It is a Windswept sweater - pattern by Tin Can Knits which I started well over a year ago. All was going swimmingly with it as I recall. I had done the yoke, which is worked flat, separated for the sleeves and even sorted out the tricky overlap section to start working the body in the round.

Then, for reasons best known to my past self I had set the project aside without noting where I was on the lace panel chart (because of course I'm normally so good at doing that - not). When the time came for me to pick it up again, of course I couldn't remember what line was I up to so I did what I normally do and hope for the best. That didn't work, obviously and after another round I realised that I had totally messed it up.

I did what every normal, sane knitter would do with such a project. I stuffed it under the bed and went to cast on a shawl instead.

I'm pleased to report that this has a happy ending anyway. To my shame it really only took about 10 minutes to tink back, fix the lace panel and work out where I was - once I had a strong cup of coffee under my belt.

So, now I'm firmly back on track, steaming my way down the body and contemplating devious means of knitting the sleeves two at a time (to avoid my usual bout of sleeve paralysis). It may not get me to my 10K goal but it might help me to a respectable 7K with a bit of luck and a following wind.

Miracles take a little longer...

There used to be a sign over an office desk where I worked a temporary job. "The impossible we can do right away, miracles take a little longer".

I was reminded of this yesterday as I surveyed my Attic24 Granny Stripe blanket which has been in hibernation (aka under the bed) for an embarrassingly long time. In my head I was merrily thinking that this blanket could be finished this summer and would happily boost my stash dash total and help me on my way to my 10k goal.

The only problem seems to be that my blanket has shrunk while it was in storage. I was quite sure that I had done more than this. But the cold hard reality is that I have maybe done 8 or 9 inches on what is a double bed sized Afghan. Never one to give in without a fight I entertained the thought of doing a stripe per day and getting it done that way. Conveniently ignoring the fact that stash dash ends in mid August and we have a foreign holiday booked between then and now.

Out of interest I timed myself - and found one colour stripe (2 rows) takes an hour. 

At this point it is pretty obvious that this blanket might be fine in time for stash dash - but it will be in 2018!

If anyone wants me I will be drinking coffee and quietly evaluating whether to scale back my 10k goal to something slightly more achievable.

Sock knitting and stash diving

This month, the Everyday Knitter Facebook group is all about stash diving. Even those of us with slightly more modest stashes than my own yarn mountain have a few precious skeins. You know the ones. The ones we keep squirreled away in case of dire knitting emergencies. The ones that we bring out to pet every now and again, to sniff, to ruminate over it's endless possibilities -  and then we tuck it back neatly away out of sight.

So, this month we are celebrating the joy of untapped potential hidden in our stash. Pick a glorious skein of yarn and show it off. Pair it with a beautiful pattern and you're all set. For extra brownie points this should be an item for yourself. I refuse to use the term selfish knitting when discussing knitting for oneself. Instead I prefer to use the word indulgent. Our crafting time is precious and it's only right that we should enjoy it. What could be better than working on something you love, in yarn you love and knowing that you'll get great pleasure in wearing or using the finished object as well.

Sounds like a win, win to me.

Whoosh

There are times when the fates align as if by magic. You have the time and space to work on a project. You have a simple project lined up and you have perfect yarn that is fun to work with. And I'm pleased to report that this is one such project. Churning out a shawl in 4 days isn't my usual modus operandi but everything about this project was perfect and exactly summed up the name of the pattern - Knit Me.

Now the eagle eyed among you will note that the Knit Me shawl is knit in stocking stitch with a garter border. Me being me I can't leave things alone so I opted to knit the whole thing in garter stitch. Which of course makes it into the sister version of this shawl - Knit Night. Still that's how I set it up in Ravelry and that's how I'll leave it.

My stash dash goal of 10K has been looking a little bit distant given my recent lack of progress on the WIP front but churning out almost 400m in 4 days has given me renewed optimism. Obviously the secret is to knit nothing else but garter stitch shawls from now until August! Three guesses what folks in my family will be getting for Christmas this year?

Thanking your past self

Some times you just have to stop and give your past self a pat on the back for a job well done. A few days ago I had finished up a bunch of projects and had collected a surprising amount of empty needles. Casting around for something else to work on, none of my long term WIPs was calling to me. I felt restless and in dire need of a fresh new project to work on.

Then by chance, in my WIP basket I came across a brand new project - all shiny and ready to go. I had picked out some beautiful yarn a few weeks ago (from West Green Loft Yarns) and decided to make a Knit Me shawl. I thought it would be the perfect project to take with me to Blogtacular but then I totally forgot to take it with me.

So there it was, the first couple of set up rows already done, and I even had a little marker attached to mark the right side. I could just grab the bag, grab my coffee and go.

It may be a simple thing but it totally made my day.

The power of 3

The power of 3 is a strange and mystical thing - beloved of marketers and writers alike. It is a well known fact that the human brain is wired to group things naturally into 3's. We talk about levels of achievement being gold, silver and bronze (or 1st, 2nd and 3rd places). The Golden Ratio which forms the basis of so many elements of design and composition essentially breaks an image down into thirds to create something which the human eye is naturally drawn to.

As a knitter I'm pleased to see that this theory also holds true when it comes to yarn. A quick glance at the Ravelry 'Hot Right Now' page will usually yield a fair number of wildly popular 3 colour shawls. When browsing in a yarn store it feels entirely natural to pick up a skein of yarn, admire it and then start browsing for complimentary colours and shades. Sometimes you have a specific project in mind but other times you find yourself doing it for the sheer joy of playing with colour. Holding colours against each other and marvelling as each new pairing somehow manages to bring something else to the party.

Sure, one skein by itself is pretty but look how a complimentary skein next to it makes those little pops of blue really stand out. Doesn't it really make the whole thing sing?

And so it was on a recent trip to Loop, London. A skein of very pretty Madelaine Tosh jumped out at me from the shelves and before I knew it I was merrily selecting a few more to keep it company on the way home.

As to what they will become I have no idea yet. Knowing my track record I think it's a safe bet that stripes and garter stitch might feature heavily but other than that I have no idea. For now I'm quite happy to welcome them onto my 'yarn pet' shelf and let them rest for a while.