Month: May 2007

Help!

I’ve Fallen Into The Stash, And I Can’t Get Out…

After several recent attempts to find something specific in my yarn stash, I decided that it was time to clean house. I set up a database of all my yarn a long time ago, but it was a Microsoft Access file, and when I switched to Mac last year, I just sort of quit using it. Microsoft doesn’t make Access for Mac (what the hell is up with that anyway?), and the file just didn’t convert nicely to an Excel file. So I had these bags and bags of yarn everywhere, and there have been additions and subtractions all over the place in the stash. It was time to reorganize. It finally dawned on me that I still have my old laptop, as I use it from time to time when we travel, and that I could still use the old file. It just needed some serious updating.

So that’s what I’ve been doing all week. Box by box, I dumped it all out, sorting, counting, tallying, drooling. It was a little like a college reunion, where you meet all your old friends that you haven’t seen in years, and you remember why you loved them. There were a few skeins that made me think “what the frack did I see in them anyway?” (Just like that old college boyfriend, the one that got a pitcher of beer dumped on his head for being a jackass.) I have almost all of it back into boxes, and added all the new yarn purchases over the last 8 or 9 months to the database. No, I have no idea how many yards total I have. I am so not going there. Even if I were to add up those skeins to get that number, I would not under any circumstance publish it to a blog that my husband occasionally reads.

Here’s a little taste. First, a small sampling of the sock stash, out for inspection:

And back in the box:

Just to give you a hint of how much yarn I have, I’ve numbered the boxes.

And don’t ask. Yes, that’s a “9”, implying that there are “8” boxes of yarn before this one. I am just not saying how many there may or may not be after this one.

Ok, Ok, here’s a bit from one of the other boxes. I’m not saying what number this one was. It was the “mostly lace” box.

That’s all. I am not giving out any more information. I’m just thinking that after tallying all this up, I might consider printing out a list, putting a monetary value on all of it, and getting a separate insurance company rider for it. Don’t laugh, it’s actually not such a dumb idea.

Next time: Perhaps a Finished Object. I’m close, so close.

Call For Help

Remember this photo?

That’s my Birch shawl, with a big honking hole that I found last fall. I stuck the pin in it until I could muster up the nerve to fix the thing. It’s been in a heap ever since.

The thing is, I don’t have any of the Kidsilk Haze left. I know I had some leftover, I must have tossed it out in a fit of pique, being quite done with KSH at the time. I could probably do a real half-assed job without extra yarn, but I spent so much time on this sucker that I’d like to try to really fix it.

Which is where the Call For Help comes in. I’m hauling out the Knit Signal.

Does anybody have some of this yarn in their stash that they would be willing to part with? It’s Kidsilk Haze, by Rowan, in the color Liqueur, a very deep nail-lacquer red. I don’t have the dyelot number (if I’d saved the fracking yarn, I’d know the dyelot, now, wouldn’t I?), but at this point I’m willing to give anything a shot. I probably don’t need more than a few yards, so if you have a bit leftover, I’d love to have it.

In return, I’ll go shopping in my stash (a deep, extensive stash, I might point out) for a little something to compensate you. If you are the one who has the KSH in your stash, I’ll even let you pick the category: something for a scarf, or a hat, or perhaps a pair of socks.

Call it a blog contest. First one to say they can send me that yarn in the right color wins.

Added later:

I knew I could count on you guys. I have multiple offers of KSH, so I should be all set. Thanks!

Abby Normal


You Are 40% Abnormal


You are at low risk for being a psychopath. It is unlikely that you have no soul.

You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess.

You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection.

You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom’s basement.

You are at medium risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is somewhat likely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

The hand sanitizer part may be true. As may be the part about my mom’s basement, but only if it’s stocked with yarn.

Beach Party

We’re back from our week at Hilton Head, and we had a great time. It’s been one of those usual rainy springs around the Pacific NW, so it was good to see some sunshine. Of course, now that we’re back home, it’s gotten distinctly spring-like here finally, with the lilacs blooming, and a few baby ducks showing off on the lake. No pictures of them yet, but so far I’ve counted five new arrivals.

Here are a few photos of the trip, giving you an idea of just how much fun we had.

Since we had a two-bedroom condo, John’s sister, Ena, came along to spend the week with us.

We took a short bus tour of Charleston, which I’m pretty sure that John planned out so we wouldn’t have time to hit the yarn shops.

I did have time to meet another knit-blogger, Vera, of Vera’s Crafty Blog. We met after the tour for lunch.

Here are our current socks-in-progress:

We dipped our feet in the Atlantic Ocean:

And we knit. Ena is learning how to knit, and when I saw that she was in dire need of some new yarn for a project, what could a sister do? We found the local yarn shops (which were a little less than inspiring, by the way–I’m pretty sure I have more yarn in the stash at home than either one that we went to), and she stocked up on some yarn for pretty scarves.

We played Mexican Train. While John and I are old pros, this was the first time Ena had played.

We finally ran out of booze and had to come home:

This was the first time I had been to Hilton Head, but I could definitely see going back.

Next time, a Project Update!