Have you ever gotten hold of a skein of yarn and thought, 'Man, that's ugly?' But since you have a hold of it and it's yours (either by design or accident or someone playing a trick on you) you decide to swatch it up to see what happens and it comes out kinda....pretty.
Those are what I call Ugly Duckling yarns. It doesn't look all that great at first glance but then it takes off the glasses and lets down the hair and you look at it and say, "By Gosh, you're beautiful!"
So it was with the skein on the right and when I pulled it and made the granny square, I thought, boy this is better than it looks. The picture does not do it justice and it feels good to the touch as well. The photo doesn't do justice to the other square at either. The skein was always pretty but it squared up even better than I thought. I was thinking of combining the two into the same afghan but decided they would do better on their own. The one on the left would do well with a black background (I thought the black would absorb it, it doesn't) and the other a deep brown or really dark blue.
One of the truly fun things about granny squares is they are quick to do. This particular afghan requires 80 of these little buggers and this is one of those rare instances where a combination of sewing and crocheting them together makes for a faster assembly so I don't see a reason they won't be ready for the show either - at least one of them should be. I say this with calm and without dread. If it makes it that would be great if it doesn't - oh well.
As we begin the good-bye to this year and the hello to the next, I have not reached my resolution - which Aneha warned me about at the beginning of the year - she said they do not work. It wasn't that this one didn't work - it was a big order to begin with - to eliminate the stash. I can say with great confidence the stash will not be eliminated. Oh, I've made inroads. I've gotten rid of a box or two, but the stash will live on.
But so will the goal. I have not cried defeat. I have not written a concession speech. I have five skeins of the ugly duckling yarn to make the afghan and that's a help. When going stash shopping, I got some ideas from some of the skeins I saw so this is me not giving up. I will eliminate that stash. It's just gonna take a little more time than I thought. I have a new date - May 4, 2011. Our 15th anniversary. We'll see what damage can be done in five months.
In the meantime, I have to decide where I want my birthday dinner and I would like to go someplace new. Do you live in or know the Chicago area? Suggest a place for my birthday dinner this Sunday. Thanks!
(A sample from my yarn stash.) When I was speaking with the fabulous Melissa, I said I was up in my office and working on sorting my stash and I said I found it depressing. She asked if that was because I knew I wouldn't use it all.
That wasn't it even though it's true. I will probably not be able to use it all. But when I was thinking about it, I remembered something one of my professors, Donald Fuller, told me. I related to him I wanted to buy this series of books called The Great Books. He said it wasn't that I wanted the books as much as I wanted to be surrounded by the books.
He was right. I love being surrounded by my books. I loved being surrounded by my fiber but when I was sitting in the office - there was no comfort or joy with being surrounded with the fiber I have. There's just so much there. It should be fun to be surrounded by the colors and the softness but it's not.
I took some of the yarn to the knit out over the weekend and there was a donation box where you could take some fiber out and put some fiber in and I put in a small bag full.
I am still doing the skein count down and I am determined not to purchase any more yarn (with the one caveat being I may need filler skeins) until I have breathing room.
Nineteen days until the craft show and I am still adding new items. Yes, I still have thoughts that I won't have enough but it will be what it will be and hopefully it will be enough!
Susie says she wasn't that fond of granny square afghans until she saw mine. Awwww. But I know what you mean, Sus. I wasn't a great fan of them either until I was surrounded by some made by my mother-in-law and when the fabulous Vickie showed me how to make a granny square I found them addictive. I have a couple more in the works and they have a relaxing quality that's hard to explain. (By the way, you all should read Susie's blog - it's a hoot!!)
The good news is we were confirmed for two craft shows; one
at the end of October and one the first week of December. The bad news, though not so bad, is that we were confirmed for two craft shows.
The practical side of my brain (known in some circles as the Minority) is beginning to pick at the other side of my brain (can't give it a name, maybe, creative, fun, irresponsible - something like that.)
It is saying perhaps I should leave afghan mode and get into hat and scarf mode and that will accomplish a few things:
One - hats and scarves are faster to produce than afghans so the inventory will increase to cover two shows that are six weeks apart.
Two - it will clear away the stash and after being in the office and trying to sort through the yarn and having come up with even more yarn that was hiding behind other yarn and finding completed items we forgot we had clearing the stash wouldn't be a bad idea.
Three - can't believe you're still in the afghan making mood. You don't usually focus for this long so I'm just trying to maintain the status quo.
Well, hats and scarves would be easier to produce but the thought of having to do something as opposed to wanting to do something has always been problematic for me - maturity issues aside. But it does make sense to start making things people may actually buy. Scarves and hats are decidedly less expensive than afghans and in the search of inventory, a lot of my hats sold last year so I don't have that many. I probably need to make some as a good business decision.
As far as the office is concerned, every once in a while I go in there to do some work. My blocking boards are in there and I got it in my head to do another homespun afghan and that's when I found all the yarn and items I forgot about. I told Joe I thought I would have to give away some yarn and he actually stop his fork half way to his mouth and looked at me as if in that very instance some alien force had come down and taken away his wife and replaced her with a sensible being.
I started separating the stash into whole skeins and partial skeins so I would know what I have. If I thought that would do something other than tell me I had a lot of both then the experiment has failed. I do have a lot of both. Hats and scarves are a more practical solution as it doesn't require as much of one kind of yarn to do a hat or scarf while an afghan takes up a lot more.
So, of course, I am working on an afghan and it is clear I do not have enough of this color to complete it. But I will only need one more skein to finish it off so I will get it and finish it off. I'm just not in the mood to do hats and scarves right now. I like doing what I'm doing and that's going to win the day because I know I will lose interest and want to start on something else so I will ride whatever project waves rolls in. It's one of the perks of being able to make decisions for oneself. I am certain between the 38 days to the first craft show and the 50 some days to the next one that I will hit a hat cycle such as I did last year and create hats out the wazoo but until then, I'm going to stick with the afghan run.
The only downside is that I was surrounded by so much fiber (just in my office not what's in the basement) that it was a little depressing but all that means is more granny and square afghans which are also popular and sell every year. I've already told Joe that in the event of my untimely demise he should call the wonderful April and the marvelous Melissa to organize the massive yarn sale that should take place. Someone is gonna get a really good haul.
He agreed a little too fast but can't really blame him. The garage is the only place where yarn isn't - and I can't say that for certain. I should throw a ball in there just to make the invasion complete.
This is probably the first book of patterns I bought and believe it or not, I bought it because of the crochet patterns. There was a time when crochet was over knitting. So, I got this book and there are notes of when I tried to do some of the afghans and how many rows i did before I gave up - probably because I couldn't keep the side edges from going wonky. That would have been enough go me to stop trying it.
But now that I've matured some and I've taken up crochet once more, I have again turned to this book for inspiration. It has a lot of granny square afghans. And it also has lots of rippled afghans. Thankfully, they don't have many pictures of the hairstyles and clothes that were worn back then in the mid 80's. The few I have seen have reminded me they weren't all that fashionable when they were in fashion. Best they stick with the patterns and they do. There's a very adorable pattern that if you make the squares the way they tell you to and you lay them out following their instructions, you will have crocheted an afghan with toy train motifs all over it. One day I will have to give that a go.
There are over 40 patterns given by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss and with the exception of just one or two (OK no more than 4) they are all something I would at least attempt to make. I can't attempt any of them right now because I have two special order afghans I have to kick out and less than a month to get them both done. But right after that might not be a bad time to start on the first afghan in the book - a classic granny square afghan. Why not, it will go quickly and I can use stash yarn.
And speaking of stash yarn. The other day, Mr. Honey remarked he didn't know how I managed to knit and crochet so much. I told him it part of the job and besides, I had to bust the yarn stash and then he said the magic words:
"Where did all that yarn go?"
"It's all over."
"Well, it seems to be disappearing."
I swear I in no way induced this statement. He wasn't plied with booze, good food or hanky panky. He said it all on his own. This is the best reinforcement there can be. The man who once said the yarn put us over the top can apparently see the top and the middle as well.
Now I know there's a lot left to get through but the fact that Mr. Honey has noticed we are not being overrun and because I know it's not like I have it hiding somewhere means progress is being made.
Another cool thing: I didn't have to restock the fiber to make the special order afghan. I have enough left over from the last one I made. Now, I was also making another afghan with that yarn and I may not have enough to finish that one off so on my shopping day (I will tell you about the designated shopping day) I will pick up a ball of each other colors. That should be enough to do because the block afghan is 1/3 done. Don't even suggest I frog in case I need some more. I worked hard on that afghan and I won't have it undone when there's nice new balls at the store. (Yes, i said and I won't even rewrite it!)
I'm really thrilled to be hitting the stash so hard that Mr. Honey notices it getting smaller. Love being on that right track.
I need to eat some protein.
Lest you think that I have been out joy riding in Mr. Honey's new car this past week - which I have not been - I have driven it twice at his request and once at mine - I want you to see what I have been up to.
I have finished the white granny afghan. 
Complete with a single crochet edging, I might add. Finished it up last week and even I have to admit it's a little on the cute side. The colors are much more spring like than they appear in the photo but even the photo shows a nice afghan.
But that wasn't the thing that kept me away from you. Recall me saying I wanted to make pillows and afghans to match or coordinate?
Behold some cushion pillows! It goes with the fur trimmed one I showed you before. Do you see what has kept me so 
busy? I love these pillows. I had to go out and get the 16 inch form because I made the one in the middle too big for the 14 inches I had in stash. But it turned out. My first crocheted pillow - yes, let us take a moment.
My library now includes at least three crochet books and I gave away a crochet stitch dictionary last year some time. I do not regret it but little did I know I would add it to my repertoire. (That's French for skilz.)
I have an afghan on the needles and it appears as if it will be a quick knit so I should have that to show you shortly. I started it late last night and it's twenty squares and I am already on square three. It's a stash buster.
And speaking of 4953 - the afghan took 10 skeins, the big pillow took 3, the pom-pom pillow took 2 and the sequin pillow took 1. So now we are down to 4937 and I went to Joann to pick up the pillow form and not one skein of yarn even made it to my hand let along the basket.
I know this is enough for the stash enhanced to talk about kicking me out of the club, but I do this for the greater good. One it is embarrassing how much yarn is all over my living room. One cannot have a stash this big if one is not going to be organized and I cannot seem to manage that for any length of time.
Two, really do we really need a huge stash? No, we don't. I love having it around, too, but really, it's a cute form of OCD and at my age, cute ain't that cute anymore.
I am knitting myself out of the stash and hopefully will give Mr. Honey his clean house back for his birthday - six months from now.
In the meantime, I have one more 14 inch and one more 16 inch pillow form. I need to make pillows and afghans to go with them and I will get started on that as soon as the other afghan is completed. The stash bust continues..
It's a good thing!
I have once again decided to get on track and make a sincere effort at busting the stash. Despite the recent purchases that add to the stash, I have now decided to be mature and stick to what I said I wanted to do. So, I had this great idea. (Can you tell this is already in trouble?) Since I am working on this ribbed afghan that has a 32 row and 12 row pattern that I would take a skein of yarn and work a 32 or 12 row pattern with the skein (keeping in the pattern, of course.) and then I would take the remaining yarn and start making this crochet wagon wheel granny square that I saw on Knit and Crochet Today. It looked like a pretty big square on the t and v and that would certainly take up some yarn. Besides, it looked really pretty and it would add to my crochet square library (which until now I didn't even know I was building) and it seemed like fun.
So I attempted and finally succeeded at making the wagon wheel granny square. The directions on the show 
are different than the directions written on the site. One because they never give you row by row on the show - they are always running out of time. I never understood why don't just stick with one thing for the whole time to make sure we really get it. Do they think we are going to have that short of an attention span? It is far more irritating when they rush their guest through something or half explain it and say the rest of the pattern can be found on the website. If I wanted to go the website, that's where I'd be. Oh well. That's another post.
What I ended up doing was printing out the pattern and watching the show at the same time and then really taking a close look at the photograph in order to figure out what they were saying. In the end, the first attempt is a little skewed but I like it and I've already made another one in another color because I am trying to bust a second skein.
I may be on to something. The skein is considerably smaller but there is enough there to taunt me into thinking I've really gained nothing. Of course, I didn't start off with a new skein or I would have a great deal of it left. The natural fiber yarn has something to say. It is housed in it's own place and I can hear it snicker at me that the acrylic yarn has many, many yards to it, making it rather common and because it is common, it will take a great deal of work to get rid of it. While the natural fiber skeins are smaller but oh so much more intense. If I used the natural fiber, I would be done with it by now. I am not sure the natural fiber understands that the case for itself is also the case against itself.
The solution could be to knit one more thing. I am thinking this might be a good time to make baby hats and booties. A simple baby hat with a simple pair of booties. I'm thinking baby stuff because baby stuff is always needed and they would be easy to knit up and make and have ready for the next sale in a couple of weeks.
I need to know when I have officially busted a skein. Is it when there is not enough there to make anything else? Or does it all have to disappear? I tend to think it's when there's not enough to do except use it to seam something or make a pom-pom. Which means I'm down one skein of buttercup or whatever color it is.
One down. 4957 to go - including the naturals.
Victory is imminent.
Another chance. Everyday is another chance to get it right. To try and get it right. So it is today that I have another chance to do the things I know I need to do and to do them the way I know I need to do them.
My resolution was to bust the stash and I am glad to say there are two skeins that are gone and another that is about to disappear. But as I have previously stated, I am really surprised at how little yarn has disappeared in the making of a granny square afghan.
After all, they say crochet takes up more yarn than knitting so I expected the yarn to vanish 
into thin air, or at least into thin squares. When that wasn't happening, at least to my expectations, I decided to use just a few colors over and over. That didn't work either, so I narrowed it down to just one skein. I would do this one skein at a time. I choose a white skein of Red Heart (I have a very limited supply of Red Heart from the beginning of my knitting resurgence.) I used this skein in every square until it ran out. That one little skein, not even a complete skein had to make it into at least a dozen squares. That's a lot. This stash busting thing is going to take a bit of work.
In the meantime, I started another stash 
busting afghan, this one a ribbed afghan and I used the white yarn in that one, too. 2 x4 rib for more than 40 rows and I still have gotten rid of it completely. There is still a small bit of that white yarn left. Today I am back to working on the afghan so I should be able to finish it off and select another color to kill.
Let me say this - the afghan is only half done. What you see in the photo is 9x5. It looks full but it isn't. There are 4 more strips to go. I want to make it a square 9x9. Only fitting to make squares square - I mean, come on.
Let me say this, too. Taking a photo of an item you're working on, gives you a different perspective. There are things I like about the eclectic look of the afghan and things I'd rather not repeat and won't repeat for the next one I have in mind but each square is a jewel; a little splash of color and I like them. I like making the squares, too. They are fast, can be modified in subtle and bold ways and look like an instant classic. No wonder they are back in fashion.
They're retro cool!
Have you ever gotten hold of a skein of yarn and thought, 'Man, that's ugly?' But since you have a hold of it and it's yours (either by design or accident or someone playing a trick on you) you decide to swatch it up to see what happens and it comes out kinda....pretty.
