Tuesday 3 January 2017

Welcome to 2017!

Welcome to a brand new year with brand new ideas, brand new inspiration and brand new yarn! Only joking about the yarn part - despite my valiant efforts at cold sheeping last year the stash grew. A lot.

Cold Sheeping


Last year I cold sheeped - as in, I didn't buy yarn. It was my goal to not buy yarn until the annual trip to Dublin in October/November. The only exception was if I needed an extra ball or two to finish a project.

I was doing well, I managed a few weeks then slipped off the sheep,hopped back on for a few weeks and then fell off again. Mainly because Fine Fish Yarns had yarn clubs. But mostly the yarn stash was decreasing, slowly but it was still going the right direction -  downwards.

Then August happened and the floodgates were opened. The yarn flooded in for months! I'm still waiting on one more skein arriving from the Fine Fish yarn club,.  Basically, all the manic knitting and destashing had been undone (166 balls), and now the stash is in the region of 53 miles (and 385 balls)

So no more yarn! It doesn't fit in its designated space and it threatening to take over the living room. So thats the stash I'm knitting up first. 



There's all sorts in this pile - hand dyed, sock yarn, chunky, cotton - a real general mix. 

The good thing is that I've plans for most of it (socks, a scarf, mitts, slippers etc) so hopefully I'll get stuck in and get it all worked up!


Whats on the needles?

I'm trying to get the wips from the living room stash sorted out first - I've finished 2 scarves and 2 hats so hats this year (and its only the 3rd!) 

This is a hat that I actually dreamt of one night in April, then decided it would be a good idea to try and knit it up.....the dream hat was much nicer but it was my first go at designing something so I can only get better. 

See, I don't appear to like it at all cuz I can't even take a decent photo of it, lol. Maybe at the weekend I'll get a good shot of it and maybe even learn to like it a bit more.











Now that the hat is done, I'm onto Hulk and Spiderman number 2:



I made these two for Christmas presents and others have seen them and requested their own,,,,the things you do for love, eh? 

As well as these two, I've got a pair of socks on the go and another hat. Seems I'm in one of those hat moods which is quite strange since I don't wear them myself! Of course these hat are anything but plain, I'm sticking beads in left, right and centre! Why I do this to myself I'll never know, but I'm enjoying myself and thats all that matters.

Resolutions?


Other than cold sheeping, I'm trying to get the wips sorted out. I've a blanket thats as old as the hills that I need to decide what to do with and a cardigan thats 3/4 finished. 

Enjoying what I'm knitting might be another one, no point knitting a project you hate after all. If I don't like the yarn then donate it. If I don't like the pattern then delete it. Its a hobby after all.

So what resolutions are you making?