Hello, I'm still alive!

I haven't posted in quite some time because I haven't had anything interesting to post about (also, I'm very busy with work).

Mariah is still zipper-less. And Kiri is kicking my ass. I realized that the spine wasn't aligned correctly and decided to start over again. I'll call it the shawl of perseverence. The most annoying thing is that it's actually an easy pattern but I can't seem to make it work. Needless to say, I won't finish it by the end of August and I WILL start something else before it's done.

I've gotten bored with the Jaywalkers after I turned the heel. I realized they're going to be too big for me so I'll give them to my mom, probably for Christmas. Even though I had told myself I wouldn't knit any gifts this year, I'm beginning to feel the itch to start making things for people. Oh well.

I bought yarn from Knitpicks to make another cardigan, this time from an old issue of Family Circle. I can't find a pic of the original sweater online, but I found one that someone made on this blog. Funny, it looks like the colour I ordered (I got Wool of the Andes in Blueberry). I also ordered some of the Knitpicks needles, some sock yarn that was on sale as well as a bunch of colour cards (I was especially happy to see they had a Wool of the Andes colour card back in stock as I plan to order it often).

Mariah!

Mariah is pretty much done and only needs a zipper. I'm not sure when I'll have time to go and buy one (and install it) so here's an almost-FO pic:



No need to tell me how bad the picture is, I know! I'm alone in the house and this is the best I could get before I got the "batteries exhausted" warning. The camera had just enough energy left for me to upload the picture. I look like shit, c'est la vie. I'll have my boyfriend take a better picture once the zipper is in.

The Kiri shawl is the other project I'd like to finish this month before I start my fall projects. I'm on the seventh repeat right now and I'll probably do 12 of them.

I got the new IK today. I also saw the new Vogue Knitting but I'll probably buy it later. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many copies there were in the bookstore (especially of VK). I remember when I first started to buy knitting mags, there would be 2-3 copies in the bookstores. More copies = more knitters. Yay!

So, in the new Interweave Knits, my favourite patterns would be Coral Crossing and the Weekend pullover. I don't think I'll make anything from that issue anytime soon though. Not that the designs aren't lovely, I just have many other projects in mind.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I started a pair of Jaywalkers. I LOVE THAT PATTERN! I'm using Regia sock yarn in one of the Canadian colours. They will probably be the most beautiful socks I've ever made (and I know I say that about every pair I make but I really mean it).

Avoiding the stash

A couple of posts ago, I mentionned Elann's hemp yarn that was on sale. Jeannie suggested that I buy it even if I'm not planning on using it for a long time. I'll admit I was very tempted. But I'm a weird kind of knitter.

I don't want a stash.

It's not that I think knitters shouldn't accumulate crazy amount of yarn. There's a part of me that wishes I could have my own yarn store in my appartment. I do look at people's stash pics and I drool. I'm only human.

But I don't want a stash.

Of course, having a little stash becomes pretty much inevitable at some point, unless you're the type of knitter who can buy yarn for one project and not buy anything else until it's done. I'm not like that and I tend to buy yarn thinking I'll start a project after I'm done with my current ones, but by the time I'm finished, I often don't feel like knitting the item I had planned after all. I've also received yarn as gifts and I have participated in Secret Pals exchanges. Not to mention that I have a bunch of crappy yarn that I bought when I was just starting and didn't know better.

So I do have a little stash but so far it fits into two medium-sized baskets. Oh and I also have a couple of cones. As well as a few skeins in a drawer. But that's it.

You may be wondering why I don't want a stash. It's simple. I live in a small one bedroom appartment. I have no space for a stash (and I tend to clutter and don't want to make my problem worse). So I feel guilty when I have too much. Then I feel like I should really use what I have and I end up having to knit stuff I don't necessarily feel like knitting just because I want to use up yarn.

So I try not to buy yarn unless I *know* I'll use it soon. The only exception (HA! Of course there's an exception) is sock yarn. I don't mind buying it even if I don't think I'll use it right away because I know for sure it'll get used eventually. I have some yarn (mostly the crappy acrylics I mentionned before or balls of yarn that are leftover from other projects) that I have no idea if I'll ever use. But sock yarn? I'm not worried. I still try not to go crazy and buy 20 balls at once though.

So today I went to the yarn store and got yarn for two pairs:


I'll see if I can work on Kiri at tonight's knitting meetup, but that may not be possible so I won't have any choice but to start a new pair of socks (poor little me!) ;)

Oh and I'm sure you're all dying for an update on Mariah. Well let's just say I had no idea that knitting a stupid hood would take that long. I'm almost there though.

I'll end this post with a link to a beautiful sweater pattern: Clicky!. I'm not sure when I'll have the time to make this, but I really want to!