First, My Christmas IOU

Before I embark on my stash year, I really do need to wrap up my Christmas IOU. It's a shrug for my sister Barbara and I was oh, so close to having it finished on time. However ... when it became clear that I wouldn't have it finished, wrapped and shipped in time, I wrote an IOU card, put my gauge swatch in the envelope and mailed it off.

I finished the knitting up a couple days ago, wove in the last couple ends today and now it's blocked and drying.

The pattern is from "Quick Knits from Classic Elite Yarns".

Jeanne, my stash year partner, gave me this pattern collection for Christmas a couple years ago. Very convenient for all my sister's to pass it around and write their name on the patterns they liked ... along with notes.

So, I made this for Barbara, extending the sleeves to 3/4 length. (Yarn: Classic Elite Chateau, 70% baby alpaca / 30% bamboo viscose, color: 1431 (periwinkle), 50 gm = 98 yds.)

Once it's dry, I'll ship it this and look forward to getting a photo back with her wearing it.

Then, it'll be time to get working on stash year project 1!

Stash Year!!

I've decided to join my sister Jeanne and make 2016 a stash year.

It all started this fall when I spent a couple weeks visiting my Dad and decided to take on cleaning out my Mom's old "sewing room". Mom was quite the craft/needlework gal - sewing, quilting, knitting, counted cross stitch, etc., etc., etc. By the time I left, the sewing room was cleaned up and everything was sorted, organized and labeled.

Jeanne lives near by and she really helped me a LOT!!

A few weeks after we finished this project, Jeanne emailed to say that cleaning up Mom's stuff had inspired her to work on cleaning up her own stuff. She decided that in 2016 she would not buy any new fabric, but would sew from her stash only. (Exception for things needed to complete a project using fabric from her stash ... lining, interfacing, etc.)

When I read her email, I thought about my yarn stash ... and, with enthusiastic encouragement from my DH, decided to join Jeanne in making 2016 a stash year. Since the goal is cleaning up our stashes, I added one more exception/incentive, so ...

The Stash Year rules are:

• Make projects using stash yarn/fabric
• No acquiring of new yarn/fabric except ...
• OK to purchase new materials if needed to complete a project using stash yarn/fabric
• 2-for-1 out/in incentive: For every 2 stash items that go out (sell, donate, give away, etc.), you can bring in 1 new stash item.

Oooh, I already have a couple ideas in mind and am really looking forward to a year of exchanging stash work/clean-up photos and encouragement with Jeanne!

Year-End Trash

I was doing a little clean-up today and ran across a bag of "mending" items. After looking them over, I decided to take a few photos and ... throw them out!

This was my first attempt at sock knitting.

I used Mistake Rib - one of my favorite rib patterns. I like how it gives depth to the rib pattern.

But didn't use sock yarn ...

(I think this is the second set of holes in these socks.)

Here's another early sock-knitting effort.

I used a triangle rib pattern and a little cuff decoration

And the same yarn as the first pair ...

This sock was one of a pair I knit for my brother-in-law ...

I used Mistake Rib again and learned how to get a clean color-change in ribbing (knit all stitches in the first round with the new color).

These were sleep socks, so I knew I didn't have to worry about wear-and-tear. But their wool-loving puppy got hold of this one ...

Next were a pair of felted slippers ...

They were nice and think and were well worn. Eventually, all the way through the sole of one slipper.

My final trash items was these socks.

These were fun. I worked them toe-up and started by knitting and felting the toe sections ...

worked to the heel and inserted felted heels ...

I thought I was on to something - felted toes and heels would add durability to the 2 most common failure points. However, the failure point on these was the sole/heel join ...

All of these have been in my mending bag for more than a year and I figured the likelihood that I would ever mend them was pretty slim. So with that bit of honest assessment, I put them in the trash (before I could change my mind).

Pesto 2015

Today was the first round of 2015 pesto making. On Thursday, I picked up 2 lbs of basil at Horse Drawn Farms. Yesterday afternoon, I toasted sunflower seeds before cranking up the oven for Fridat night pizza. This morning, I stopped at Blossom for garlic (and a few other things) and this afternoon I got started making pesto.

I've been using toasted sunflower seeds for a couple years now. When the price of pine nuts skyrocketed, I experimented with a few different nut options. At this point, my favorite is sunflower seeds. Toasting them yesterday really gave me a leg up on today's pesto processing. Here I am ready to go with the first batch.

I've learned to start with the sunflower seeds (or other nut). Pine nuts are soft enough that you can add them later and still puree them into the pesto. Not so with any of the other nuts/seeds that I've tried. It works better to grind them up first.

(Note for next time. Grind up all the sunflower seeds first. After the first batch, there's too much wet residue to get this nice dry grind.)

Other than substituting sunflower seeds for nuts, my recipe is the same as before. Here's the first batch ...

Yum! Summer in a jar.

Four hours and 2 lbs of basil, 2 quarts of olive oil, 20 ounces of sunflower seeds, 10 ounces of parmesan cheese and 6 ounces of garlic later, I had 9 pints of pesto.

All set to place in the freezer ...

Well, except for one jar. We've been out of pesto for over a month now, so I put one jar in the fridge ... where it stayed for, oh, I'd say, less than 30 minutes.

Faux Latte (without a milk frother)

This process is quick and easy and uses standard kitchen equipment ... plus a little muscle power. That's it!

I've been making these for about 6 months now and while they are most definitely not the real thing, I think they're a pretty good substitute.

All you need are your preferred coffee-making implements

... and a "milk" container with a good seal.

Bernat Panama - Traveling Vine Top (2)

Now that UFO week is over, it's time to get back to my Traveling Vine Top. I still like the basic idea from my swatch - lace at lower edge, stockinette stitch above with a reverse stockinette stitch round/row thrown in from time to time.

During the week, I thought about my fit problems - too small at the lower edge, too big at the bust - and added another consideration. Would three repeats (vertically) of the traveling edge pattern be better than two repeats? If I'd been happy with the fit, I probably wouldn't have considered this. However, to make the lower edge bigger, I'm going to be starting over anyway, so everything's on the table.

My first thought was to add another pattern repeat (horizontally). That would take care of the lower edge, but how would I get rid of those extra stitches - and more - as I knit up?

Well, as I was making a dump run last Saturday, inspiration struck. I could start with an 11-stitch repeat of the pattern, then decrease to a 10-stitch repeat and then decrease to a 9-stitch repeat. Also, I could start with larger needles and work my way down. Now, this seems like something that could work!

Twisted Lace Socks - May 2014 UFO Week

For my first UFO week, I decided to work on my Twisted Lace Socks.

It's a little bit of a stretch to call them a UFO. I started them in February. In my knitting journal, I called them "Valentine's Day Socks". I made good progress, but then, about a month ago, spring was in the air and I set them aside.

Back in February, I swatched several different patterns. None were really working for me until I flipped through a magazine my sister Jeanne had given me for Christmas a couple years ago - Quick Knits from Classic Elite Yarns, 37 Fabulous Patterns for Wraps, Socks, Hats, and More. I decided to try the Eyelet Rib stitch from the Twisted Lace Socks pattern and liked it.