I have a new item over there on the sidebar. Now that the economy is in the toilet, I’m very excited that I have boxes and boxes of stash to knit from. My sister-in-law Ena is visiting, as I mentioned in my last post. After she got settled in to our guest room, she came upstairs laughing. First she had to move a bunch of stash boxes around in the closet so she could have room to hang up clothes. Then she noticed Lewey talking to something he imagined was under the bed, so she got down to look. Yup, more yarn. I didn’t take her upstairs to see the 2 huge boxes of sock yarn, and the huge box of lace yarn in my office.
Anyway, I’m not committing to not buying any more yarn. You all know me better than that, and that plan has never gone well. I am simply committing to publicly keeping track of all the forward (or backward!) movement in my stash yardage. If I use a skein of yarn, the yards get added. If I buy a skein of yarn, the yards get subtracted from the total. Let’s hope it stays out of the minus numbers. I’m starting out with adding all the yarn I’ve used so far for the not-Cobblestone sweater. After this I’ll update it as each ball of yarn is used/added. My blog, my rules.
Ena is also a beginning knitter. She is knitting dishcloths as practice, and brought her knitting with her. Here is her first fine effort, and a photo of her knitting. Will you all please welcome the newest member of our fold, and encourage her on her progress?
She finished the first dishcloth in less than two evenings, so I’m pretty sure she’s hooked. I actually heard her say “just let me finish one more row” a couple of times. We went to the LYS today so she could stock up on her very own needles and more yarn (and stitch markers, tapestry needles, etc!).
Last but not least, here’s my hippie car, just to let you know who I’m voting for this fall.**
We vote by absentee ballot every year, and finished our voting this morning over coffee.
Whoever you are planning on voting for this year, get out there and get it done!
**Yes, I have a license plate, I’m blocking it out for safety reasons!
Welcome, Ena! That looks way better than my first several projects. 🙂 Counting down to the election…
Your car is just too cute.
Hooray, Ena!! dishrags are the best home knitting. I see socks in your future :o)
Welcome to the group, Ena! I just hope you don’t get your bags searched when you leave, now that you know where the yarn stash is …
Congratulations, Ena! Always wonderful to see a new knitter!!
Lorette, I find it much better to just focus on knitting from stash, rather than focus on not buying new stash… That’s been my own goal this year, and looking back, just over 3/4 of my projects this year have been from stash – not too bad at all, as far as I’m concerned! You can do it, I know it! :0)
Welcome to the fold Ena! You’re sitting in one of my all time favorite knitting locations. I should send you a picture (if I can find it) of Ben’s VW (Little Red). We kept it for him while he was in England and went to a 70’s party. We decorated it all over with flowers and peace signs. Too cute.
Love the car … and hey there, Ena! It’s always a pleasure to meet a fellow traveler.
But did you get an I Voted sticker with your ballot?? If not hey I can get you one I got cute kids. They always give us extra stickers.. cause at least one of them goes and votes with mommy!
Hooray Ena – are you sure that’s your *first* one? It looks great!
Welcome to Ena! I know she is now part of out large and extended family!
I love the car! And I am all geared up to vote as well!
I like your side bar about the stash. I have set that as my new resolution and I think that I will be able to now that I have cleared out a lot of the older stuff for the donation I posted about.
I love the fact that Lewey talks to yarn…..sounds adorable.
Personally, I’m glad you started the stash counter thingy today, rather than yesterday… 🙂
And a warm knitterly welcome to Ena!
Yay Ena – looks great!
And so glad that you have introduced yet another to the fold 🙂
Love the hippie car… and the bumper sticker is cool. my votes go out in monday’s mail !
OK – I heard that you have knitting stash coming out of every nook and cranny – and then I read “home office” and thought to myself – Why doesn’t Lorette just turn her home office into her own private LYS? I think you’d be much happier. Think about it.
Great Job, Ena!!! Love the Bug!
Your hippie car needs some other accessories: http://www.beetlepartsnow.com/vwtaillightcovers.htm
I have the daisy ones on my Bug!
I love your car with the flower stickers! I had flowers just like that stuck on my bedroom ceiling when I was a teenager. 🙂
Welcome to the wonderful addiction of knitting Ena! There’s no turning back now. Great dishcloth!
I’ve been trying to knit and spin only from the stash this whole year without actually committing to it either. For the most part it has worked out really well.
I love you bug! I need to get some of those decals for my little ragtop bug.
Great job on the dishcloth. Someone who knits that evenly right off the bat ought to become a “serious” knitter!
I’d be too embarrassed to add up my unknit yarns. I think that if I emptied a couple of the plastic boxes, which mostly hold yarn for one or two sweater projects, I’d consider it a great year.
Hooray for a new knitter!
Good idea about tracking your yarn. I would do that if I weren’t lazy …
I love your hippie car, I can picture you driving it!
Way to go Ena, congratulations! Very impressed with your dish cloth. I advise sticking with cotton. Once you start with wool it’s a slippery slope. You might end up with a farm and some fiber animals. Just sayin’ 😉
Yay, Ena!
If you tallied up all the yardage in your stash, you are a much braver woman than I am. My stash has a don’t ask, don’t tell policy. :o)
Hey, glad to know you are still alive and kickin! Hope the yucky work stuff is over for good. You sure have a cute little car — we used to have flower decals just like that when I was way younger. I will look for it around the roads of Seattle.
Jerilyn
Oh, and I voted this week while sitting on my hotel bed in Denver. With voter guide and laptop in hand. Isn’t absentee voting great?!
I early voted on Tuesday! Yay!!!
Your car is so cute! This is the first year, I’ve done the absentee ballot thing and I love it! I have time to actually sit down and think about all the issues before I mark my choice but I’m so excited for the big choice and hopefully the change to come!
Add another one to the fold. I was actually knitting a dishcloth while I was reading your blog. How funny. Hope the stash meter stays in the positive for you. I am really trying to not buy any yarn but it is really hard.
Way to go Ena! Looks great. I can’t wait for the election to be over. I will definitely be there to vote but get sooo tired of all the negative ads!!!! Love your car.
Hi Ena! Great dish cloth! Welcome to the fold 🙂
Absentee ballot all the way baybee! The comfort of no lines, no knuckleheads to contend with and all in the comfort of my jammies 🙂
Love the hippy car and the candidate 😉
That’s right — teach her to knit and she’ll understand all that stash! Love the VW. Had a robin’s egg blue one. My parents bought it brand new in 1976 for $2500.00 (if my memory is correct). The convertible was $3000.00.
I like your counter idea. I may do that off blog.
I am so proud of myself this year, I have only bought but the smallest amount of yarn. Nothing like normal years. Well until recently when I bought entirely too much yarn to make star wars hats for friends. But that was a necessity, I didn’t have enough black washable wool yarn.
Hopefully next year will be the same, and I’ll knit through my yarn instead of against.
Working through stash can be very empowering. Love seeing the spaces in the cabinet that are just begging to be refilled!
As for voting, I’m one of those ding-dongs who loves to wait in line to be part of the process. I’ll have my mp3 player and my sock, so life will be good. Should be a very good day tomorrow!
Go Bama!!! I voted this morning. We played with the idea of standing in line before the polls opened (we stay up all night, so that would have been easy), but we opted to gamble that the 10:30 a.m. time period would mean light turnout in the suburbs. Our gamble was right, but maybe it’s just this area that we moved to ~ lots of retirees who vote by absentee and often the daytime polling places are pretty lightly attended. In any event, we got in, cast our ballots, and got out within 15 minutes, and if anyone is counting or taking exit polls, we voted for Obama. My thanks to everyone who stood for hours in the cold or rain. I know I appreciate your patience!
I absolutely LOVE your car!! My first four cars were original Beetles back in the 70s and 80s 🙂
I gave you an award today! Stop by my blog and check it out when you have a chance.