Stash Flash

Ok y'all, I'm flashing my stash! Those of you who are a little more on the conservative side and are already covering your eyes, don't worry, I won't tell if you peak just a little through your fingers.

Here you will see my basket-o-yarn as well as a shot of the yarn stash all sprawled out and exposed. I'm not quite at the point of stashing up on great yarns without knowing what I might have planned for it. The whole question of how much to get is beyond me. I'm more comfortable searching for a yarn after I already find a pattern. I'm still a bit of a novice at substituting yarns in a pattern and getting it to work out. And quite frankly I'm horrible at determining the weight of a yarn and determining if yarns are of equal weight and can be substituted successfully. (One of the many reasons why Jasmine is such a great knitting buddy to have - she's much better at this than I am.) And I'm even worse at figuring out how to adjust a pattern to a different yarn. So actually my entire stash at this moment consistes of left overs from projects and a few yarns that I planned on useing but for whatever reason just didn't work out.

Yarns included in my stash range from Loin brand superwash (baby sweaters and booties) and furry things from some beginner scarves to Rowan All Seasons Cotton, and some newer sock yarns. There's also this great yarn that's really hard to see in this photo (top left) that Jaz gave me. (Sorry, but I know know the name of it nor the colorway.) I love it but haven't figured out what I want to do with it yet. And of course there's the Rowan Big Wool that Maddie included in my color swap package. I'm hoping this fall to make a hat with it.

Here are my needles in the nude. I started off with bamboo needles (Clover) and loved that they gave me some grab during my beginner stage and all those foo-foo scarves I cranked out. But now that I'm venturing into more sophisticated knits, I'm really enjoying my KnitPicks Options needles. I really like working on circulars. I didn't bother to open all the pages of bed they snuggle in. There's also a page betweenthe sheets that the DP sock needles use to bond together when they're not cuddling with some comfey yarn. The retro antique needles and case were given to me by a co-worker. And I've undressed my notions bag. The scissors aren't what I would call "on the cutting edge" but they do for now.

The tease of the bookshelf. Most of the patterns I use are found while I'm slinking along on-line or are passed over as not-so-sloppy-seconds from knitting friends. These books have been picked up or given to me (mostly because they were on sale - call 'em cheap and easy). One book that I am looking to add to my collection is Knit2Together. There are a few items in there that I would be interested in knitting. The slippers in there would be great for winters slinking around the house and maybe even a few Christmas gifts.

While we're on the subject of flashing things, I thought I might just flash the works in progress. There's the Lizard Ridge squares that are begging to be sewn together and I just can't bring myself it do it just yet, a pair of socks, a Steeler fashioned scarf, and a baby sweater that needs to be stitched up as well. Oh, and then there's the knit picks shawl that I've had to frog at least 10 times and I'm starting to think I might have to just put it aside for a few years or so.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you all enjoyed the little peep show. The curtain is now closed.