This is a fun time of year to be in
the chat rooms of Ravelry, which are all buzzing with
excitement about new projects and new resolutions for creativity in the New
Year! How can I help being more excited about my knitting goals than my
resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, and keep the house clean?
Resolution One: Knit 100 balls of yarn in 2010
One of the most intriguing New Year challenges I saw on Ravelry this week was the 100 ball knit down in 2010 initiated by the Stash Down Group. After I saw this challenge, I was so excited that I went back over all the projects I completed in 2009 to evaluate how I measured up. Since yarn changes so much according to cone, skein, weight and so on, I adopted a suggested standard of 50grams, or 100 yards. Applying this metric to my knitting last year, I was excited to discover that I had knitted over 10,500 yards of yarn, or 105 balls. The result was 15 completed sweaters and two scarves. Wow! No wonder a spider has been allowed to take up residence in the kitchen cupboard, and the windows haven’t been washed in months! It seems that when I should have been picking up the vacuum, I was cleaning out my stash instead. Note to self: Add “clean more, knit less” to list of New Year’s resolutions.
It is interesting to note that I average about 1,000 yards of yarn per sweater in 2009. Perhaps this knowledge will help me plan better when I buy yarn on sale for future projects, and it becomes a permanent addition to my stash. Which brings me to my other New Year's resolution...
3 to 1 Rule for Yarn Purchases in 2010
I am committing to finishing three
projects from stash before I buy new yarn to start a new project. My hope is that
this way, I can do 2/3rds of my knitting from stash next year without limiting
my ability to go out and fall in love with new designs and new projects. Going
“Cold Sheep” is not for me—I find it too limiting to my imagination and
my creativity—but I am eager to get my hands on some of the lovely silk
and wool yarns that I bought on sale that are lingering in my stash.
More specifically:
Calmer + Kidsilk Haze
1.
The Calmer/Kidsilk Haze combination will become a top-down
“Unpattern” sweater that will be trimmed with beaded lace.
Top-down Unpattern by Karen Alfke
As soon as that pattern comes out, I will be knitting up a
storm!
Handmaiden Seasilk: Periwinkle
2.
Handmaiden Seasilk. Once a year or so, handmaiden releases 150 gram
balls of seasilk that are equivalent to 660 yards, as
opposed to their usual 440 yard skeins, yet they sell for almost the same
price! I took advantage of this to buy about 1800 yards of periwinkle seasilk that I am dying to work with once I
recover from the four-month ordeal of having knitted the Sea Sweater on
size two needles! Here is an example of a shawl that was knitted, using this yarn on a vendor's website:
This kind of fine knitting is not for the fainthearted, but look at the results! I am thinking of making an elegant, long-sleeved V-neck sweater or jacket with this yarn, but I haven't yet found a pattern that is beautifully tailored enough to be worthy of the seasilk!
Phildar Soie
Phildar Soie.
Phildar discontinued their 100% silk yarn last year, so I was
able to buy enough to knit a short-sleeved sweater at almost 50% off. It is a
scrumptious raspberry color, and the sheen and drape of the silk are so
beautiful that I plan to do an extremely simple project to show off the yarn,
such as, perhaps, a version of Wendy Bernard’s Pink with short-sleeves.
But first, I must knit Paisley!
The yarn shipped off today, so I should receive it by Friday. I plan to spend a lovely weekend on the coast swatching for Paisley with the ultra delicious kidsilk haze, when I'm not cleaning (darn it--there's that resolution again!)