Digitaldiina's Blog

The stash-down quest continues and the numbers are back in black. If you missed the first post in this quest series, you can read about how it all started in the January post. 

My current rules and goals are:

• Knit up as much as possible from Deep Stash (2010 or earlier)
• Knit up the 3 sweaters worth of yarn bought in the fall, 2012 (2 of 3 finished)
• Buy no wool yarn from Sandnes Garn or Per Tyrving (I hate working with it!)
• 1:1 ratio for fingering sock yarn – Knit one pair of adult socks or a shawl, may buy 100g of new sock yarn
• 1:5 ratio for all other yarns, based on yardage
• It is OK to buy yarn for specific projects for the kids, especially daycare sweaters, but the project must be started within 2 months of purchase
• Yardage from my pre-2012 sweater UFOs do not count (mostly knit, need finishing), but the two scarves do count
• Vacation yarns do not count (but may only buy yarns not available at local-to-me yarn stores (LYSes))
• Gifts and prizes do not count

So, how did I do for June?

OUT:

• I made one pair of adult socks out of 344 yards of fingering yarn (deep stash).
• I knit three pairs of toddler socks out of 334 yards of fingering weight left-overs.
• I knit 15 pairs of baby socks out of 886 yards of light fingering (10/15 out of deep stash).

IN:

• I bought one 100g skein of sock yarn from GnomeAcres.
• I received one 100g skein of Socks that Rock fingering weight yarn as a prize in Sock Madness 7. Remember, prize yarns do not count 🙂

STATUS:

At the beginning of the month, my unspent allowance was 11.5 balls of sock yarn and -23 yards of any yarn. The only yarn in was the single skein of sock yarn plus the prize.

I used one ball of fingering yarn for adult socks and  1220 yards of yarn for other projects. 11 of the 19 finished objects were knit out of deep stash yarns, and the rest were knit out of yarn that had been 6 months or less in the stash!  This brings my May numbers up to 0 balls of sock yarn and 244  yards of any yarn.

My accumulated unspent allowance is now up to 11.5 balls of sock yarn and 221 yards of any yarn.

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The stash-down quest continues and the numbers are overall on track. If you missed the first post in this quest series, you can read about how it all started in the January post. 

My current rules and goals are:

• Knit up as much as possible from Deep Stash (2010 or earlier)
• Knit up the 3 sweaters worth of yarn bought in the fall, 2012 (2 of 3 finished)
• Buy no wool yarn from Sandnes Garn or Per Tyrving (I hate working with it!)
• 1:1 ratio for fingering sock yarn – Knit one pair of adult socks or a shawl, may buy 100g of new sock yarn
• 1:5 ratio for all other yarns, based on yardage
• It is OK to buy yarn for specific projects for the kids, especially daycare sweaters, but the project must be started within 2 months of purchase
• Yardage from my pre-2012 sweater UFOs do not count (mostly knit, need finishing), but the two scarves do count
• Vacation yarns do not count (but may only buy yarns not available at local-to-me yarn stores (LYSes))
• Gifts and prizes do not count

So, how did I do for May?

OUT:

• I knit a garter toddler cardigan using 890 yards of the blue/purple Opal sock yarn acquired last month.
• I made three pairs of adult socks out of 1183 yards of fingering yarn (of which one was deep stash).
• I knit three pairs of newborn socks out of 107 yards of sport weight left-overs.
• I knit a pair of toddler socks out of 140 yards of fingering weight left-overs (deep stash).
• I knit 5 preemie hats and crocheted a flower out of 224 yards of light fingering (deep stash).
• I knit a blanket square out of 22 yards of left-over baby wool from March mittens.

IN:

• I bought 2 100g skeins of Garnstudio DROPS Lace for a specific project and immediately cast on. This will set me back 1750 yards on the generic allowence.
• I bought a pile of sock yarn on our vacation to Hamburg, Germany. Remember, vacation yarns do not count 🙂 And I have already knit an adult pair of socks from the pile.

STATUS:

At the beginning of the month, my unspent allowance was 8.5 balls of sock yarn and roughly 1450 yards of any yarn. The only yarn in was the lace and vacation yarn.

I used three balls of fingering sock yarn for socks and  1383 yards of yarn for other projects. Seven of the 14 finished objects were knit out of deep stash yarns, and the rest were knit out of yarn that had been 6 months or less in the stash!  This brings my May numbers up to 3 balls of sock yarn and 277 yards of any yarn.

My accumulated unspent allowance is now up to 11.5 balls of sock yarn and -23 yards of any yarn.

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The stash-down quest continues and the numbers are looking fairly OK despite that it has been break month in the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup. If you missed the first post in this quest series, you can read about how it all started in the January post. 

My current rules and goals are:

• Knit up as much as possible from Deep Stash (2010 or earlier)
• Knit up the 3 sweaters worth of yarn bought in the fall, 2012
• Buy no wool yarn from Sandnes Garn or Per Tyrving (I hate working with it!)
• 1:1 ratio for fingering sock yarn – Knit one pair of adult socks or a shawl, may buy 100g of new sock yarn
• 1:5 ratio for all other yarns, based on yardage
• It is OK to buy yarn for specific projects for the kids, especially daycare sweaters, but the project must be started within 2 months of purchase
• Yardage from my pre-2012 sweater UFOs do not count (mostly knit, need finishing), but the two scarves do count
• Vacation yarns do not count (but may only buy yarns not available at local-to-me yarn stores (LYSes)
• Gifts and prizes do not count

So, how did I do for April?

OUT:

• I finished the Daybreak shawl started in March and used 693 yards of fingering weight yarn for this (two skeins of Malabrigo Sock).
• I made one pair of adult socks out of 326 yards of fingering yarn (a ball of Opal Sock).
• I knit four pairs of toddler socks, three preemie hats and ten hexiflats out of 733 yards of fingering scraps.

IN:

• I traded in two 130 gram / 572 yard balls of sport weight Kauni  left-over from my Marius circular yoke sweater. In return, I got four 100 gram / 465 yard balls of fingering Opal sock yarn. I will count this trade as “costing” me 1.5 100g balls of fingering weight sock yarn allowance.
• I won a prize in Sock Madness 7 round 2 – a 100g ball of Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks fingering weight yarn.

STATUS:

At the beginning of the month, my unspent allowance was seven balls of sock yarn and roughly 1300 yards of any yarn. The only yarn in was the prize and from the trade.

I used three balls of fingering sock yarn for socks and shawl and  733 yards of yarn for other projects. All finished objects except for the adult socks were knit out of deep stash yarns! The socks were from a recent purchase. This brings my April numbers up to 1.5 balls of sock yarn and 150 yards of any yarn.

My accumulated unspent allowance is now up to 8.5 balls of sock yarn and roughly 1450 yards of any yarn.

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The stash-down quest continues and the numbers are looking OK! If you missed the first post in this quest series, you can read about how it all started in the January post. 

My current rules and goals are:

• Knit up as much as possible from Deep Stash (2010 or earlier)
• Knit up the 3 sweaters worth of yarn bought in the fall, 2012
• Buy no wool yarn from Sandnes Garn or Per Tyrving (I hate working with it!)
• 1:1 ratio for fingering sock yarn – Knit one pair of adult socks or a shawl, may buy 100g of new sock yarn
• 1:5 ratio for all other yarns, based on yardage
• It is OK to buy yarn for specific projects for the kids, especially daycare sweaters, but the project must be started within 2 months of purchase
• Yardage from my pre-2012 sweater UFOs do not count (mostly knit, need finishing), but the two scarves do count
• Vacation yarns do not count (but may only buy yarns not available at local-to-me yarn stores (LYSes)
• Gifts and prizes do not count

So, how did I do for March? (If you do not want to read all the details, scroll down to the status at the end.)

OUT:

• I finished the Marius sweater for me out of  the second of the three sweater quantities of yarn bought in the fall. I used a whooping 1716 yards of sport weight yarn for this!
• I knit the Carotene collection (hat, cowl, mitts) out of most of the remaining Malbrigo Rios from my Dark and Stormy cardigan, consuming 400 yards of worsted weight yarn.
• I made three pairs of adult socks out of 1155 yards of fingering yarn.
• I knit a pair of colorwork mittens out of 395 yards of light fingering yarn bought for this project.
• I knit eight felted Easter ornaments out of 144 yards of super bulky yarn bought for this project.
• I knit seven hexiflats out of 72 yards of fingering scraps.

IN:

• I have not bought any of the forbidden yarn brands.
• I bought yarn for two projects, both started and finished this month. 540 yards of light fingering and 144 yards of super bulky

STATUS:

At the beginning of the month, my unspent allowance was four balls of sock yarn and roughly 884 yards of any yarn. The only purchases were 684 yards for projects already completed.

I used three balls of fingering sock yarn for socks and close to 2700 yards of yarn for other projects. Non of the ten finished objects were knit out of deep stash yarns, but four out of recent purchases! This brings my March numbers up to three balls of sock yarn and 408 yards of any yarn.

My accumulated unspent allowance is now up to seven balls of sock yarn and roughly 1300 yards of any yarn.

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The stash-down quest continues and the numbers are looking … wait! I will not spoil you – read along and you will find out 😉 If you missed the first post in this quest series, you can read about how it all started in the January post. 

My current rules and goals are:

• Knit up as much as possible from Deep Stash (2010 or earlier)
• Knit up the 3 sweaters worth of yarn bought in the fall, 2012
• Buy no wool yarn from Sandnes Garn or Per Tyrving (I hate working with it. When it is gone, it´s gone!)
• 1:1 ratio for fingering sock yarn – Knit one pair of adult socks or a shawl, may buy 100g of new sock yarn
• 1:5 ratio for all other yarns, based on yardage
• It is OK to buy yarn for specific projects for the kids, especially daycare sweaters, but the project must be started within 2 months of purchase
• Yardage from my pre-2012 sweater UFOs do not count (mostly knit, need finishing), but the two scarves do count
• Vacation yarns do not count (but may only buy yarns not available at local-to-me yarn stores (LYSes)
• Gifts and prizes do not count

So, how did I do for February? (If you do not want to read all the details, scroll down to the status at the end.)

OUT:

• I have a Marius on the needles for me out of fall 2012 yarn.
• I finished the Baby´s first fairisle yoke cardigan: a long-time almost-done hibernating UFO. This was one of the pre-2012 sweater UFOs and thus the yardage does not count.
• I used two balls of fingering vacation yarn from Hamburg, Germany (2010) to make socks for me.
• I knit up almost all of the Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Lerke swapped at LYS in January, with only 6 grams to spare. That is 485 yards of DK weight yarn.
• I knit a baby cardi out of some of the Rowan Creative Focus Worsted purchased this month, consuming 356 yards of worsted  weight yarn.
• I knit up the mitten kit purchased in December, 2012, consuming 252 yards of light fingering yarn.
• I knit a colorwork hat out of fingering deep stash, consuming 242 yards.
• I knit a pair of toddler mittens and two preemie hats out of various 2011 left-overs, 167 yards total.

IN:

• I have not bought any of the forbidden yarn brands.
• The four 100g balls of Rowan Creative Focus Worsted that a friend picked up on sale for me to knit a sweater and a vest for the baby entered the house. (I mentioned them being 50g balls in January, but because they did not count for yardage at that time, the size of the balls did not affect the January numbers.)

STATUS:

At the beginning of the month, my unspent allowance was two balls of sock yarn and roughly 760 yards of any yarn. The only purchase was the 200 grams (880 yards) of  worsted yarn for baby garments, and I have knit one of those garments already.

I used two balls of fingering sock yarn for socks and close to 1500 yards of yarn for other projects. Four of the ten finished objects were knit out of deep stash yarns, and three out of recent purchases! This brings my February numbers up to two balls of sock yarn and 124 yards of any yarn.

My accumulated unspent allowance is now up to four balls of sock yarn and roughly 884 yards of any yarn.

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My stash is currently contained in the Stash Cabinet, with room to spare. However, DH thinks it is too big and encourages cold sheep. I did 7 months of cold sheep in 2011/2012, but I cannot continue strictly on that path because of obvious voids in my stash (such as sock yarn for SockMadness and Sock Knitters Anonymous  (SKA) challenges and yarn to make sweaters for the kids). That said, the Stash Cabinet is in the spare guest bedroom that will be turned into toddler´s room in a year or so. When that happens, the stash will need to fit into a smaller space somewhere. I will not reveal the overall size of the stash in terms of skeins/balls or yardage, but I will report on yarn going in and out 🙂

My current rules and goals are:

• Knit up as much as possible from Deep Stash (2010 or earlier)
• Knit up the 3 sweaters worth of yarn bought in the fall, 2012
• Buy no wool yarn from Sandnes Garn or Per Tyrving (I hate working with it. When it is gone, it´s gone!)
• 1:1 ratio for fingering sock yarn – Knit one pair of adult socks or a shawl, may buy 100g of new sock yarn
• 1:5 ratio for all other yarns, based on yardage
• It is OK to buy yarn for specific projects for the kids, especially daycare sweaters, but the project must be started within 2 months of purchase
• Yardage from my pre-2012 sweater UFOs do not count (mostly knit, need finishing), but the two scarves do count
• Vacation yarns do not count (but may only buy yarns not available at local-to-me yarn stores (LYSes)
• Gifts and prizes do not count

So, how did I do for January? (If you do not want to read all the details, scroll down to the status at the end.)

OUT:

• I finished the Marius sweater for DH out of  one of the three sweater quantities of yarn bought in the fall. I used a whooping 1763 yards of sport weight yarn for this! I have another Marius on the needles for me, also out of fall 2012 yarn.
• I finished the 2009 Henry scarf: a deep stash hibernating UFO. This ate up 764 yards of fingering baby merino.
• I used two balls of fingering vacation yarn from Hamburg, Germany (2010) to make a shawl and some vanilla socks for me.
• I knit  a sock yarn blanket with various left-overs of Garnstudio DROPS Fabel, 676 yards total.
• I knit up a toddler hat, a preemie hat, and a pair of women´s gauntlets out of deep stash, consuming 379 yards
• And I used up 14 yards of worsted weight scraps to make an owl puff
• I returned five 50g balls of Dalegarn Falk (sport weight) and three 50g balls of Dalegarn Baby Ull (light fingering weight) to LYS after finishing the intended projects and having these left over.

IN:

• I have not bought any of the forbidden yarn brands.
• I got one 100g ball of Opal sock yarn and four 50g balls of Dalegarn Lerke (DK weight) free for the yarn I returned  – with change to spare for some knitting notions as well.
• A friend picked up four 50g balls of Rowan Creative Focus Worsted on sale for me to knit a sweater and a vest for the baby. The yarn is yet not here, so it will count towards February totals.

STATUS:

The yarn trade at LYS ended with 100g more out than in, so a negative stash balance and also technically not a purchase. I used two balls of fingering sock yarn for shawls/socks and close to 3600 yards of yarn for other projects. Six of the nine finished objects were knit out of deep stash yarns! This brings my unspent allowance to two balls of sock yarn and roughly 760 yards of any yarn.

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