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!

Bernat Panama -- Working From My Stash

My mom knew all kinds of needlework techniques and, amazingly, she was good at all of them - sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting, counted cross stitch ... even tatting.

She happily passed her knowledge along to her six daughters and before she died, she also passed along her stash and UFOs. Among the sisters, different ones gravitated toward different techniques. Several of us knit, but I'm the enthusiast and so her stash of Bernat Panama Yarn is now part of my stash.

10 skeins of white, 7 skeins of misty blue and 2 each of petal pink and corn flower blue.

Shoal Bay Slouch - Part 2, Developing the Pattern

Having figured out my yarn and pattern and finished my gauge swatch (Part 1, Preparation), now it was time to plan my pattern. Since this is all math (and no photo opportunities), I thought I'd throw in a couple shots of my knitting environment.

My head is 22-inches around and a couple pattern standards documents I've found recommend anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of negative ease for a close-fitting hat. My idea is a bit of a slouchy hat, but I want the ribbed brim to fit. So, my brim measurement should be 20-21 inches. Using my 1x1 rib gauge of 16 st = 3-inches
     21 ÷ 3 = 7 and 7 x 16 = 112 stitches
     20 ÷ 3 = 6.67 and 6.67 x 16 = 106.7 stitches

I've noticed that many hat patterns use an 8 "gore" decrease in the crown section and 112 divides evenly by 8 to 14 stitches, so I decided to go with 112 stitches.

(I was sitting in the gray chair when I did these calculations. Bill usually sits in the brown one. We're still a few items shy in our home decorating and are using storage boxes as side tables.)

Shoal Bay Slouch - Part 1, Preparation

Now that fall has arrived and since I Still Need a Hat, I decided to peruse my stash. I played with a couple choices and eventually settled on this:

The yarn is somewhat thick-and-thin and has a fine strand in tan that's twisted together with a much thicker variegated strand. I have 4 skeins - 2 with lighter toned variegated yarn and 2 with darker toned variegated yarn - and I have no idea where or when I may have acquired this yarn.

Reading the label, the yarn is called "Montreux", it's 77% wool and 23% acrylic and it's made by Southern Cross Yarns. The skeins are 50 g (81.5 m), recommended needle size is 5.50 mm with a gauge of 16 st = 10 cm. (5.50 mm = US 9. 10 cm ≈ 4 in.)

Since I'm planning to make a hat, I'll need double-pointed needles and 16-in circular needles. Yeah, if I need to, I can make this work with a pair of circulars instead of the DPs and the 16-inch circs, but using 2 circs to knit round isn't my preferred method ... yet. (I've changed my mind on things like this in the past and fully expect to do it again.) I have DPs and 16-inch circs in size 6 (4.25 mm), so that's where I'll start my swatching.

I played with a few pattern stitches, but soon decided to let the yarn be the focus. I tried a welt stitch in the darker yarn - to give it a bit of texture ...

I Need a Hat

A couple weeks ago, I gave away the last of my hand-knit hats, which - of course - means it's time for me to get started knitting a new one.

First though, I should mention that I have a "thing" about itchy hats. In my quest to overcome itchiness, I've tried a variety of different fibers (merino wool, superwash wool, alpaca, angora) and techniques (standard knitting, fulling, etc.) and have finally come to the conclusion that I simply need to line any part of the hat that will come in close enough contact with my skin to cause itchiness. (Reference Bill's hat.)

Because (for anyone who isn't familiar with this) ... an itchy hat is just awful!! It's nice and soft and warm and then all of a sudden it's ITCHY ... and to alleviate the itchiness, it MUST be removed IMMEDIATELY ... at which point all its nice, soft, warm qualities are absolutely worthless!!

OK, back to this hat. I went to my stash and picked a yarn I've used before - Valley Yarns Deerfield (alpaca & silk).

This is a lovely, soft, fairly non-itchy yarn. However, from past experience, I know it will eventually get itchy at my forehead and around my face. So, I will plan to line that section at a minimum.

Because I hadn't figured out the exact details of this hat, I decided to start at the top. (After having knit and blocked a gauge swatch.)

(These photos are over exposed and don't show the color correctly.)

The pattern is a 9 stitch/6 row repeat of a 3-stitch cross stitch with moss/seed stitch between. The 3-stitch cross pattern is:

• R1 & 2: k3
• R3 & 4: slip 1, k2
• R5: 1/2Lcross (1 over 2 left cross)
• R6: k3

And here's where I am as of today.

If all goes well, I should have a new hat within the next couple days ... and hopefully, some better photos!!

Gloves (and then a Hat) for Bill

Towards the end of last winter, Bill held up his commercially produced wool gloves, pointed out the holes and noted that a knitter's spouse really ought to have a nice pair of hand-knit gloves.

He's right, of course, and I happened to have some lovely wool yarn on hand, having purchased it about a year or so earlier. (On sale!)

I bought the yarn with the idea of knitting Bill a hat, but since I didn't know what design I would use, I bought extra to be sure I didn't run out. I thought the self-striping earth tones and thick/thin yarn could be simple and interesting at the same time. After checking my stash, I decided I had enough yarn to make gloves as well as a hat and since the urgent need for gloves had been brought to my attention, that's where I started.

Bill likes "thick" fabrics, so while the recommended needle size was 7, I ended up using size 4 needles. (Partly, because I have a set of size 4 double pointed needles.) I wanted to keep the stitch pattern simple to show off the yarn and decided on 3 small cables up the back of the hand (blending in to the index, middle and ring fingers of the glove) and stockinette stitch for everything else. For the cuff, I chose a hem, rather than ribbing. Here's the wrist edge of the back side of the gloves.

Here's a full shot of the back side of the pair.

You can sort of see that the thick/thin yarn gives the stockinette stitch thumb and fingers a bit of a Wicked Witch of the West look. You can see it even more in this shot.

Cherie's Hat

The incredible, wonderful, amazing Cherie came up for a visit a few weeks ago and that prompted me to finally put the finishing touches on a hat I had started about a year ago. This was one of those projects where the recipient wasn't planned from the beginning, but became clear by the end. Everything about this hat makes me think of Cherie.

Cherie and I both re-located from southern California to the Pacific Northwest within the last 5 years (me from Sherman Oaks, Cherie from Santa Monica). We had both lived in SoCal for many years and neither of us had a proper winter hat.

I've knit quite a few hats since I moved - and given most of them away. After all, if I give a hat away, I make room for another one to take it's place, right? Besides, how many hats does any one gal need? (Socks, of course, are an entirely different story.)

What made this Cherie's hat? Two key elements:

Fire and Yarn

I have a rather large amount of yarn in my stash. I could use the "I live on an island" excuse, but the truth is my stash represents 20-plus years of yarn acquisitions and it was just over 4 years ago that I started living on an island. I guess I just like yarn.

My stash falls into four categories:
1 - Yarn I bought with an intended purpose, but haven't yet knit up
2 - Yarn I bought with no specific intent, but was sure I could put to good use
3 - Yarn left over from a project I have finished
4 - Yarn given to me by friends and acquaintances working on downsizing their own stashes (I'm a sucker for FREE yarn!)

The last two categories in particular include some skeins that look like this.

No label. No idea of it's fiber content. Or gauge. Or recommended needle size. For that matter, I have no idea how this skein ended up in my stash. I don't recall knitting anything out of this yarn - although my memory on that front is not all inclusive.

So, what to do.