With SO much YARN?
I've settled on a project. (As if I could only do ONE thing at a time.)
Its going to be making and donating some afghans to the Victory Junction Gang.
Its a great place set up in the Piedmont of NC-- Founded & mostly funded by Kyle Petty, of NASCAR fame. http://www.victoryjunction.org/aa_camp/camp01_mission.html
Here is info if you want to share your skills at sewing, or quilting or knit or crochet. SEWING PROGRAM
Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Little Collections
Little Collections.
I say this in jest, because I've (once again) RE-discovered that I have a serious problem.
I'm a collector. I collect things. LOTS of *things*. (Admitting the problem is the first step to recovery, no scratch that, make it organization.)
I just smushed, wedged, inventoried, and reorganized, hauled, grunted and pushed, SIX heavy-duty 18 gallon plastic totes into my attic.
Now, what might be in those SIX heavy-duty 18 gallon plastic totes, you might ask?
Well, my collections.
All of my collections? You ask.
Nope. I proudly admit. (I am a collector, ya know.)
Those SIX heavy-duty 18 gallon plastic totes contained various collections of yarn that I have collected for various projects. (Please note: These six totes do not contain my entire yarn collection. Oh No. There are THREE of these same massively huge totes of yarn in my living room, where I can easily access & visit with the yarn.)
I made a list & dutifully labeled the contents of each tote. (No digging through the wrong totes for this girl!)
This list is sorted by projects that I have collected & hauled into the attic, not the corresponding tote.
Too much yarn to be all in the living room, during the summer, when it is over 90* every day.
I've allowed myself three totes to be left in the living room. Two of them have my precious Peaches & Creme Cotton, of which I have 2 projects going now & several waiting their turn to be used. The last box houses my collection of yarns being used in "My Purple/Orange/Red Afghan."
This style of creation just can't be planned in advance, as I stated above. It is very much a process of creating. And, since I just sort of design as I go-- Well, I have NO IDEA of how many yards of yarn it takes to make one of these things. However, I AM keeping track for Mom's Rugs that I am working on, but that is partly because She wants another one which needs to be a certain length, so I might need to buy more yarn.
Oh. and just a tiny peek at some of my other collections: BEADS, sterling silver wire, stuffed toy owls, Rubber stampers, polymer stampers, ink pads, random scrapbooking supplies (paper, eyelets, trims...) Cookbooks, birkenstocks, lighthouse items, pastry tools, fruit shaped pitchers, fabric yardage, I could keep going. I an such a candidate for TLC. I just need them to offer me a double header-- What Not To Wear combined with one of the organizing/clean-out shows. So if anyone has "connections" I will throw my self at your feet & beg.
I need help.
(Hey, is that step 2? Asking for help?)
Help? Help. HELP!!!!
I say this in jest, because I've (once again) RE-discovered that I have a serious problem.
I'm a collector. I collect things. LOTS of *things*. (Admitting the problem is the first step to recovery, no scratch that, make it organization.)
I just smushed, wedged, inventoried, and reorganized, hauled, grunted and pushed, SIX heavy-duty 18 gallon plastic totes into my attic.
Now, what might be in those SIX heavy-duty 18 gallon plastic totes, you might ask?
Well, my collections.
All of my collections? You ask.
Nope. I proudly admit. (I am a collector, ya know.)
Those SIX heavy-duty 18 gallon plastic totes contained various collections of yarn that I have collected for various projects. (Please note: These six totes do not contain my entire yarn collection. Oh No. There are THREE of these same massively huge totes of yarn in my living room, where I can easily access & visit with the yarn.)
I made a list & dutifully labeled the contents of each tote. (No digging through the wrong totes for this girl!)
This list is sorted by projects that I have collected & hauled into the attic, not the corresponding tote.
- WIP: Summer is too hot to work under it... My "Yummy Wool Afghan" & yarn required to finish it. Plus enough yarn in the same yummy wool to make one or two more afghan/throws. (When you find a wool this yummy & its less than 1/2 price-- ya just HAVE to add all you can find to your collection.)
- The reclaimed wool sweater yarn & various wools that I've collected for "Mom's Purple Wool Afghan". Still in balls- too hot to be under the wool.
- WIP: "MC's Super-Soft Blanket" and all of the yarns & possible novelty yarns a 5yo would want in a blanket. I've been working & restarting this project since before she was born. I plan to have this one satisfactory completed for her to take to college. --egads the colors, had to put it away for a while.
- "Mom's Purplely-Blue Acrylic Blanket" Surprisingly enough, I've collected most (maybe all) of these yarns from clearance & sale bins. Still in the bag. I am trying to restrain my self--- I'll have a collection of WIPs if I'm not careful.
- WIP: "The Masculine Acrylic Afghan" Maybe for V? Maybe for C? Basically neutrals & a subtle bit of color. Mostly left over from a previous collection, by adding a few new skeins- Wa-LA. A NEW collection! While technically a WIP, there are only 8inches completed, so, it is possible that I've not committed to this project.
- "The Next Red Afghan" in balls, lots of wools & bits that will be or might be leftover from "My Purple/Orange/Red Afghan." It won't have the purples but I might sneak in some orange & pinks into it. It's just SO HARD to know in advance exactly what color/yarn/texture will work until you are in the middle of it! (Hence the huge collections for each afghan.)
- "Baby Yellow" just 6 little balls at this point in time. I think this is my simplest collection right now.
- "Baby Ombre" gifted to me from someone destashing & letting go of their collection. I've made one blanket out of it this far...
- "Other Yarns" my hand-dyed cotton chenille, bolt of undyed cotton chenille, odd novelty yarns that I got great deals on, 6 balls of an orange heathers Shetland tweed wool-(Kinda scratchy but AMAZING color) a beautiful cone of brown/tan chenille, 2 lonely purple yarns that ended up being the totally WRONG color for the intended collection. And a few other random yarns.
Too much yarn to be all in the living room, during the summer, when it is over 90* every day.
I've allowed myself three totes to be left in the living room. Two of them have my precious Peaches & Creme Cotton, of which I have 2 projects going now & several waiting their turn to be used. The last box houses my collection of yarns being used in "My Purple/Orange/Red Afghan."
This style of creation just can't be planned in advance, as I stated above. It is very much a process of creating. And, since I just sort of design as I go-- Well, I have NO IDEA of how many yards of yarn it takes to make one of these things. However, I AM keeping track for Mom's Rugs that I am working on, but that is partly because She wants another one which needs to be a certain length, so I might need to buy more yarn.
Oh. and just a tiny peek at some of my other collections: BEADS, sterling silver wire, stuffed toy owls, Rubber stampers, polymer stampers, ink pads, random scrapbooking supplies (paper, eyelets, trims...) Cookbooks, birkenstocks, lighthouse items, pastry tools, fruit shaped pitchers, fabric yardage, I could keep going. I an such a candidate for TLC. I just need them to offer me a double header-- What Not To Wear combined with one of the organizing/clean-out shows. So if anyone has "connections" I will throw my self at your feet & beg.
I need help.
(Hey, is that step 2? Asking for help?)
Help? Help. HELP!!!!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
P&C COTTON!!!!
So, on July 3 I took the day off & headed up the mountain. I woke Mom & MC up from their nap (being careful NOT to wake up my dad & son) & loaded them into the car for a 1.5 hour drive to Old Fort. We were on a mission & not even 100% sure the outlet was going to be open (holiday & all.) We headed to the outlet store for Peaches & Creme. THE source & supplier for our favorite cotton yarn.
I had googled directions & we were on an adventure. We made it through Marion, where I reminisced about not eating at McDonalds (I never eat at McDs) after a high school softball (or maybe tennis) away game. Then on down the road. We had determined that the road the outlet was on was going to be some sort of major through fair or main street in town. WRONG. We pass through was little bit of town there was & keep going. (Thank goodness for the mileage indicators in google map directions!) We see the road. It looks like we are heading down a driveway, NOT a major road. After giggling quite a bit because we were so wrong about the road & laughing because neither of us has a clue how far 442 ft will be, since the odometer measures in miles! Finally, we see a plant/warehouse type of building. It looks deserted.
Oh No.
We go in & ask about the outlet store. The lady told us to wait just a moment.
Then Flo walks into the lobby & takes us into the outlet!
Well, It's actually a little room that is just off of one of the big warehouse storage rooms (the one for 930 & 980 Worsted weight cones!!) In this room are shelves & shelves of sample cones, shelves with notebooks full of color samples (color cards) and shlves of pre-packs & kits. Also, 3 HUGE carts (like laundry carts the laundry services for hotels use) full of 2nds & mill ends.
I was in heaven!
Oh. And there was a big table down the middle with 4 packs of double worsted weight that were on sale (and big boxes full underneath as well!)
Being that I had JUST spent $100 on yarn at my LYS's annual pre-inventory sale, and filled FIVE 35 gallon totes with yarn, I was trying VERY hard to be good & not buy too much (is that possible?) yarn.
I bought (all 1lb cones unless otherwise indicated): 2 DWW in Raspberry Swirl, 1 market bag kit in DWW ecru, 1 morning glory table scape kit (1 cone ww morning glory & 3 co-ordinating balls of solids), ww sour green apple, ww tan, ww olive, ww fiesta, dww dark orange (4 balls), ww shades of blue, 2 cones of DWW in a fab bright aubergine (it was mis-dyed- should have been in ww!).
Now in my stash that mom bought (meaning I have to make things for her) DWW Shades of Rust, DWW Chocolate, DWW Seabreeze.
I think I have more that I can't think of at the minute, because I have over 20 cones of Peaches & Creme in my tote!
I had googled directions & we were on an adventure. We made it through Marion, where I reminisced about not eating at McDonalds (I never eat at McDs) after a high school softball (or maybe tennis) away game. Then on down the road. We had determined that the road the outlet was on was going to be some sort of major through fair or main street in town. WRONG. We pass through was little bit of town there was & keep going. (Thank goodness for the mileage indicators in google map directions!) We see the road. It looks like we are heading down a driveway, NOT a major road. After giggling quite a bit because we were so wrong about the road & laughing because neither of us has a clue how far 442 ft will be, since the odometer measures in miles! Finally, we see a plant/warehouse type of building. It looks deserted.
Oh No.
We go in & ask about the outlet store. The lady told us to wait just a moment.
Then Flo walks into the lobby & takes us into the outlet!
Well, It's actually a little room that is just off of one of the big warehouse storage rooms (the one for 930 & 980 Worsted weight cones!!) In this room are shelves & shelves of sample cones, shelves with notebooks full of color samples (color cards) and shlves of pre-packs & kits. Also, 3 HUGE carts (like laundry carts the laundry services for hotels use) full of 2nds & mill ends.
I was in heaven!
Oh. And there was a big table down the middle with 4 packs of double worsted weight that were on sale (and big boxes full underneath as well!)
Being that I had JUST spent $100 on yarn at my LYS's annual pre-inventory sale, and filled FIVE 35 gallon totes with yarn, I was trying VERY hard to be good & not buy too much (is that possible?) yarn.
I bought (all 1lb cones unless otherwise indicated): 2 DWW in Raspberry Swirl, 1 market bag kit in DWW ecru, 1 morning glory table scape kit (1 cone ww morning glory & 3 co-ordinating balls of solids), ww sour green apple, ww tan, ww olive, ww fiesta, dww dark orange (4 balls), ww shades of blue, 2 cones of DWW in a fab bright aubergine (it was mis-dyed- should have been in ww!).
Now in my stash that mom bought (meaning I have to make things for her) DWW Shades of Rust, DWW Chocolate, DWW Seabreeze.
I think I have more that I can't think of at the minute, because I have over 20 cones of Peaches & Creme in my tote!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Ravelry!
I've Joined Ravelry!
I've heard good & bad things about the site-- but today I got my invitation-- I'm SO excited to have an organized place to log my projects. A Place to store start & finish dates, yarns and finished sizes.
I've not figured it out- as I popped in during a break at work-- I may make my notebook private, but for now, I'm just seeing how it goes.
I know I'm not going to be a big poster in the forums over there, as I keep myself busy just keeping up with the JETs.
But I AM going to do it. I've already read some great ideas-- Tinkertoy or coat hanger swift, anyone? I'm SO trying one of these this next week while the kids are on vacation!
I've heard good & bad things about the site-- but today I got my invitation-- I'm SO excited to have an organized place to log my projects. A Place to store start & finish dates, yarns and finished sizes.
I've not figured it out- as I popped in during a break at work-- I may make my notebook private, but for now, I'm just seeing how it goes.
I know I'm not going to be a big poster in the forums over there, as I keep myself busy just keeping up with the JETs.
But I AM going to do it. I've already read some great ideas-- Tinkertoy or coat hanger swift, anyone? I'm SO trying one of these this next week while the kids are on vacation!
Monday, June 16, 2008
PICTURES!!!!!!
MY- Lap Rug-- see the big ol' tassels!
So far on the Red & Purple Afghan
--- C&P from a previous post-- since most people won't scroll down for the details!---
A full size (not lap size) afghan in REDs & Purples & touches of orange & pink--
This includes the 2 shades of purple reclaimed sweater yarn -
from a Casual Corner sweater and from an Old Navy sweater (but in reality the Old Navy one is darker than those pictures-- which is exactly PERFECT for my blanket! )
I ♥ KNITTINGnetty!
Two of the red yarns are from mysmalldestash.etsy.com (and if you look- that is one of my yarns in her banner!) These two reds: California Yarns, Carmel and Facination Fanta
Yarn included from my local yarn store -- some Rowan red wool, orange and purple (different balls) wool from Italy, some novelty ribbon yarns & a crazy bulky pink/purple/orange wool from the sale bin. Oh- and last night I used some cotton embroidery floss in the mix as well.
I've gotten LOADS of amazing complements on this one-- during the Sit & Stitch at my local yarn shop, from the worker guys having lunch at the local hot dog grill (outdoors dining- in the shade with fans- amazingly cool in this 100* weather) at the library-- HEY-- EVERYDAY is Knit-In-Public-Day for me-- except- I've not been knitting, exactly.
A closer view-- ( I wish I could photoshop this-to point out which yarns came from where!)
I have some pictures of the yummy wool-- but can't get them to upload right now....
Sunday, June 15, 2008
WIP update 6 15 08
PROGRESS!!
!!!!!COMPLETED!!!!!!
♥ Amanda's bebe's-- DONE!!!! (mom sewed the ends in for me!) I packaged it up -- and as I was wrapping in tissue & ribbon- OH MY the card- and also the tissue- are in her wedding accent colors-- WOW- I'm all over that one!
♥ My Chenille lap rug-- DONE!!! There were only a few treads to tuck in-- I managed to do that AND I finished it off with over-sized tassels on the corners. LOVE IT (said in a Wheezie voice --from the Dragon Tails, of course!)
Still in progress:
♥ pastel baby blanket-- I think-- mom was working on the ends-- not sure if she got them done--
♥ my full length afghan in the Queensland Collection BigWave yummy wool & Pebbly tan wool & chenille-- I've done a few more rows--
♥ the candy color sampler-- I've moved that to the pc- waiting for pages to load project(the joy of dial-up) -- I did 2 rows today.
♥MC's blanket-- haven't gotten back to that one.
NEW & in Progress:
♥ Another beige & cream afghan-- not sure what else will end up in this one-- but I'm using a few different stitches so the texture will be different. But right now- I've only done 3 rows...
♥A full size (not lap size) afghan in REDs & Purples & touches of orange & pink--
This includes the 2 shades of purple reclaimed sweater yarn -
from a Casual Corner sweater and from an Old Navy sweater (but in reality the Old Navy one is darker than those pictures-- which is exactly PERFECT for my blanket! ) I ♥ KNITTINGnetty!
Two of the red yarns are from mysmalldestash.etsy.com (and if you look- that is one of my yarns in her banner!) These two reds: California Yarns, Carmel and Facination Fanta
Yarn included from my local yarn store -- some Rowan red wool, orange and purple (different balls) wool from Italy, some novelty ribbon yarns & a crazy bulky pink/purple/orange wool from the sale bin. Oh- and last night I used some cotton embroidery floss in the mix as well.
I've gotten LOADS of amazing complements on this one-- during the Sit & Stitch at my local yarn shop, from the worker guys having lunch at the local hot dog grill (outdoors dining- in the shade with fans- amazingly cool in this 100* weather) at the library-- HEY-- EVERYDAY is Knit-In-Public-Day for me-- except- I've not been knitting, exactly.
Anyway-- I've used up all of my yarn time for tonight by writing all of this up-- and getting sidetracked by more yarn listings on Etsy-- so I'm off to bed.
!!!!!COMPLETED!!!!!!
♥ Amanda's bebe's-- DONE!!!! (mom sewed the ends in for me!) I packaged it up -- and as I was wrapping in tissue & ribbon- OH MY the card- and also the tissue- are in her wedding accent colors-- WOW- I'm all over that one!
♥ My Chenille lap rug-- DONE!!! There were only a few treads to tuck in-- I managed to do that AND I finished it off with over-sized tassels on the corners. LOVE IT (said in a Wheezie voice --from the Dragon Tails, of course!)
Still in progress:
♥ pastel baby blanket-- I think-- mom was working on the ends-- not sure if she got them done--
♥ my full length afghan in the Queensland Collection BigWave yummy wool & Pebbly tan wool & chenille-- I've done a few more rows--
♥ the candy color sampler-- I've moved that to the pc- waiting for pages to load project(the joy of dial-up) -- I did 2 rows today.
♥MC's blanket-- haven't gotten back to that one.
NEW & in Progress:
♥ Another beige & cream afghan-- not sure what else will end up in this one-- but I'm using a few different stitches so the texture will be different. But right now- I've only done 3 rows...
♥A full size (not lap size) afghan in REDs & Purples & touches of orange & pink--
This includes the 2 shades of purple reclaimed sweater yarn -
from a Casual Corner sweater and from an Old Navy sweater (but in reality the Old Navy one is darker than those pictures-- which is exactly PERFECT for my blanket! ) I ♥ KNITTINGnetty!
Two of the red yarns are from mysmalldestash.etsy.com (and if you look- that is one of my yarns in her banner!) These two reds: California Yarns, Carmel and Facination Fanta
Yarn included from my local yarn store -- some Rowan red wool, orange and purple (different balls) wool from Italy, some novelty ribbon yarns & a crazy bulky pink/purple/orange wool from the sale bin. Oh- and last night I used some cotton embroidery floss in the mix as well.
I've gotten LOADS of amazing complements on this one-- during the Sit & Stitch at my local yarn shop, from the worker guys having lunch at the local hot dog grill (outdoors dining- in the shade with fans- amazingly cool in this 100* weather) at the library-- HEY-- EVERYDAY is Knit-In-Public-Day for me-- except- I've not been knitting, exactly.
Anyway-- I've used up all of my yarn time for tonight by writing all of this up-- and getting sidetracked by more yarn listings on Etsy-- so I'm off to bed.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
WIP update
My WIPs are well- still there.
I've just about finished the chenille and green lap rug. It's mine, and I sit cross legged on the couch to watch TV. So I've decided that it doesn't need to be long. It's a weighty thing, so I'm now calling it a lap rug rather than a blanket of afghan....Also, It's so heavy that I think I'd feel crushed if it were to be wrapped around my shoulders....
♥ Amanda's bebe's-- need to tuck in the ends.
♥the pink and blue bebe's-- ditto
♥my lap rug-- need to bind off chenille & then-- tuck in ends.
not shown in last month's post
♥Yummy neutral in super-soft wool- about 1/2 done-- I'm switching colors so much in this one that-- GUESS WHAT- I'm doing a fringe- so no ends to worry about!!!!
♥bright candy color stitch sampler hotpad- 1 is DONE! and 2 is 1/3 done.
♥ MC's crazy blue/aqua/teal blanket-- about 1/3 done-- it has become a fun project- because at the end of each row, she gets to pick the yarn that comes next (from the yarns purchased for her-- not a total free-for-all in my yarn stash!)
Projects I REALLY want to start- but I'm determined to finish some up first:
○ My red and purple afghan for MY bedroom-- so I can get out my fancy pillows & look posh
○ An afghan made from reclaimed sweater yarn
○ the sweater jacket- (OH NO A PATTERN)in my yummy wools! but I need a smaller hook or pattern conversion
○ another afghan for Windalay-- My yummy wool is going to be perfect-- my vintage sofa has been reupholstered several years back- and is the best shade of tan.... So more for the mountains!
No pictures this time- but yea me for posting this much!
I've just about finished the chenille and green lap rug. It's mine, and I sit cross legged on the couch to watch TV. So I've decided that it doesn't need to be long. It's a weighty thing, so I'm now calling it a lap rug rather than a blanket of afghan....Also, It's so heavy that I think I'd feel crushed if it were to be wrapped around my shoulders....
♥ Amanda's bebe's-- need to tuck in the ends.
♥the pink and blue bebe's-- ditto
♥my lap rug-- need to bind off chenille & then-- tuck in ends.
not shown in last month's post
♥Yummy neutral in super-soft wool- about 1/2 done-- I'm switching colors so much in this one that-- GUESS WHAT- I'm doing a fringe- so no ends to worry about!!!!
♥bright candy color stitch sampler hotpad- 1 is DONE! and 2 is 1/3 done.
♥ MC's crazy blue/aqua/teal blanket-- about 1/3 done-- it has become a fun project- because at the end of each row, she gets to pick the yarn that comes next (from the yarns purchased for her-- not a total free-for-all in my yarn stash!)
Projects I REALLY want to start- but I'm determined to finish some up first:
○ My red and purple afghan for MY bedroom-- so I can get out my fancy pillows & look posh
○ An afghan made from reclaimed sweater yarn
○ the sweater jacket- (OH NO A PATTERN)in my yummy wools! but I need a smaller hook or pattern conversion
○ another afghan for Windalay-- My yummy wool is going to be perfect-- my vintage sofa has been reupholstered several years back- and is the best shade of tan.... So more for the mountains!
No pictures this time- but yea me for posting this much!
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