snapdragon crafts

FO Friday: still going ...

My progress continues! The fabric above finally uses up the six-year-old stash from my sewing class (look familiar?)

WIP Wednesday: acrylic stashbustin'

May the acrylic stashbusting begin! Starting with something fast ... scarves for charity using super bulky yarn!

Yarn: Lion Brand Hometown USA (two skeins)
Needles: Size 13s
Pattern: cast on 12 stitches and knit in seed stitch.

Love Your Library, vol. 16

My third Riverbank is finito!

Pattern: Riverbank (link to my Ravelry project page)
Yarn: madelinetosh merino DK (colorway: alizarin, used about 1.2 skeins)
Needles: Size 7 Addi's
Mods: Skipped the eyelet rounds on the second repeat of the sequence. Just repeated the previous stitch patterns I liked the most and played it by ear. Also didn't switch to smaller needles for the ribbing sections.

Hope your May has been as productive as mine!

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FO Friday: tote edition

So, I mentioned earlier this week that my fabric stash was one of the three "stashes" I wanted to whip into shape this summer. So I decided to start with the "low hanging fruit," and in this case that was putting a dent into the MASSIVE collection of print cotton canvas I'd amassed over the years. It started when I first learned how to make this tote bag pattern SIX years ago in my first beginning sewing class. Making those first tote bags was so much fun that I have gotten into the habit of browsing the cotton canvas whenever I'm in a fabric store, and letting myself purchase a yard here and there when I see a print that catches my eye. I should stop kidding myself. One yard? No--more like four yards! I started with my newest acquisitions, so this is eight tote bags going straight to the gifting pile. Two will be end-of-the-year teacher presents, and the rest will become my go-to birthday present for sisters, sisters-in-law, next year's teachers, etc. I'm super excited, as I've been able to make these without purchasing any new fabric for the interior. This pattern uses approximately one yard for the exterior, and one yard for the interior, so we're looking at 16 yards busted from the stash right here! Woohoo!

summer stashbustin'

I know it's only the beginning of May, but for me it's the beginning of summer. (that's what happens when you work in higher education at a university on the semester system) Finals are over, my grades are in, and that means only a few short sweet months of summertime crafting. I always start off overambitious, and this summer is no exception. You are looking at only one of the three major "stashes" I'd like to make a dent in this summer. Two large storage tubs of my acrylic yarns, including some very dubious purchases I made prior to discovering the world of wool yarn. (the other two stashes? an overflowing dresser of gorgeous sock yarn, and a fabric stash that contains at least three or four quilt's worth of fabric ready in wait) I thought I'd start by outlining plans/ideas for the acrylic stash first so I can compare my progress at the end of the summer.

Project #1: No surprise here, as you saw the cast on for this project last week. My third garter squish blanket!

Project idea: More sidewinder beanies! The Hobby Lobby yarn is reflective so it's like "safety yarn."

Project idea: A couple more leaf baby sweaters to have on hand for gifts.

Project idea: a baby garter squish blanket.

Project idea: a boy baby sweater out of the maroon, a tank top out of the cotton ease.

Project idea: a cowl/hat out of the blue-turquoise acrylic. Not sure for the weekend yarn.

Project idea: ?!?!?! Scarves for my daughter? A fuzzy stuffy animal?

Project idea: ?!?! Not sure yet. TBD.

Project idea: another garter squish blanket!

Project idea: scarves for charity.

Last but not least is the remaining stash of "good" baby yarn. This is the stuff that I still love and don't question my taste when purchasing it. If I don't get to knitting this up that's okay with me.

Love Your Library, vol. 15

Riverbank numero tres is almost done! I'm really loving this Madtosh Merino DK. Soooo yummy to knit with! The depth of the Madtosh colorway is really hard to photograph, but brings me so much joy. Think alternating pinks, grays, and purple-blues. Loving it! I predict this one will be done within the next couple of days! How's your love your library challenge going?

going crazy for garter squish

It's official--my second garter squish blanket is done! The grand total? 3,600 yards out of my stash. WOOOOOOOOOO! Using size 13 needles created a much better finished product this time. I love, love, love the first garter squish blanket I made, but I have noticed that the large garter loops made with size 15 needles lend themselves to being snagged/pulled very easily. Size 13 needles creates a more firm loops, but still soft and snuggly. I cast on 150 stitches for this one to make up for the smaller needles size, and it is still very ample in size. It easily covers two people on the couch! And also stretches the length of a standard couch. For full details of all the yarns I used in this one, visit my Ravelry project page.

When you're on a roll, why not keep on going? So yes---this is the start of my third garter squish blanket. This one is intended for my little guy's "big boy bed." I've had this blinding orange acrylic in my stash for over a year with intentions of making him a blanket with it. I'm toning it down a notch with this charcoal gray Lion Brand Homespun. Although now that I look at it, it's going to be a bit Halloween-y isn't it? LOL. That's okay. We LOVE Halloween in this house!

But wait, there's more! Yup, it's my third Riverbank. This is the one I mentioned starting in yesterday's Love Your Library challenge post. This time I'm using madelinetosh merino DK in the Alizarin colorway. It's more purple-grey and less pink than this picture would lead you to believe ...

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Love Your Library, vol. 14

That's right folks--my Riverbank is done! And it knit up just as fast as the first one almost a year ago. Super simple, beautiful texture, sophisticated unfussy results. LOVE. And since I have more of this yarn in different colorways in my stash, I'm going to keep a good thing going and cast on for another one!

Pattern: Riverbank (link to my Ravelry project page)
Yarn: madelinetosh merino DK (colorway: firewood, used about 1.5 skeins)
Needles: Size 7 Addi's
Mods: Skipped the eyelet rounds on the second repeat of the sequence. Just repeated the previous stitch patterns I liked the most and played it by ear. Also didn't switch to smaller needles for the ribbing sections.

It's another month, which means a new topic!

May: Time to Purge Do you have patterns you're holding onto even though you know you'll never knit them? Books you never open? Time to do a critical look at our physical and electronic libraries and purge the items we are no longer interested in. (short-time only free patterns, I'm looking at you!)

How's your personal Love Your Library challenge going this week?

feels like deja vu

I kind of feel like I'm in a holding pattern this month. Since I'm picking up the same projects over and over again, yet not knitting enough to make much progress, it feels like a constant state of deja vu. I keep thinking I'm forgetting some project I should be writing about .... nope, just too little knitting time this month to get these finished! My second garter squish is thisclose to being done though. I'm in the homestretch on that one! And after finishing the rainbow rothko mitts I cast on immediately to make another set to use up the leftovers from my yarn club kit. I'm calling these my "reverse Rothko's" since the original pattern colors are in reverse order. Going more simplistic with these ones too, omitting the beginning and ending contrast stripe.

Love Your Library, vol. 13

So earlier this month I eased back into my Love Your Library challenge by knitting a pattern I'd been gifted earlier this year (my slip-zag cowl). This week I'm finally back into the swing of things with a pattern that truly qualifies for the challenge, being purchased last year. This is a repeater for me--I've knit this pattern before, and when I did it was for a knitting swap partner and I swore I'd knit it again. Now is the time! The pattern is Riverbank, and it is easy, fun, and makes a fabulous cowl. I'm using MadTosh Merino DK for the first time (colorway: firewood). It feels like butter and I love this colorway!

What are you working on this week for your personal challenge? As the craziness of spring winds down, I'm looking forward to summer and time to re-focus on this challenge!

Love Your Library, vol. 12

I thought this week would be a good time to address this month's prompt:

April: Analyze Your Behavior What is your creative process? How do you go about starting a new project? Do you see a pattern you love first, then find yarn? Or vice versa? Think about the order in which you typically begin a project, and how you can do a better job of including your current library into the process.

When I was seriously yarn dieting, I had an "a-ha" moment that made me realize why my stash was growing and growing and growing, and why I was neglecting the amazing yarn I'd already purchased. And that realization was that my creative process was backward. Well, maybe not backward, but ordered such that my current stash of yarns was acknowledged last (if at all). Here's how my creative process used to work:

Browse the interwebz, read knitting magazines/blogs/websites, look at Ravelry's hot right now pattern page .... see something AMAZING! Decide that I MUST MAKE IT NOW!!
Look at the pattern's yarn requirements. Go directly to one of several of my favorite online knitting stores and daydream about making the project with various different yarn options they have in stock.
Fall in love with a yarn I see online and decide I HAVE TO DO THIS PROJECT with THIS YARN. Yes, MUST.
Purchase said yarn.
Purchase said pattern.
If I'm lucky, cast on right away. If stars are aligned, actually knit until I finish the project. (this almost never happens)
Reality: Realize that I have ____ number of ______ I need to make with an upcoming deadline. Decide my beautiful MUST MAKE project needs to patiently wait until my obligation knitting is done.
Time passes. Repeat process with new shiny patterns. Dig through stash two (or more) years later and remember the beautiful MUST HAVE project I'd planned. Feel guilty.
Rinse and repeat.

So basically, once I purchased yarn I either cast on right away, or it would enter the black hole of guilt. I was NEVER looking in my stash to see if I already had yarn that would work for the current shiny project I was attracted to, partially because that wasn't my process and also because that yarn was "dibbed" by another pattern already. When I did my strict zero-yarn purchases diet for six months last year, it forced me to turn my process upside down. I was afraid that the thrill would be gone--it is super exciting to browse and daydream and purchase something EXCITING NEW! Luckily, I was wrong. I discovered that it was just as thrilling to find the PERFECT PATTERN for yarn I already have, and I still felt that thrill I got from purchasing new yarn. So here's what I try to do now:

Dig through stash on a more regular basis. Discover a PRECIOUS skein of something AMAZING. Decide that I'm not going to wait a second longer to knit with it.
Hop on Ravelry and look up said yarn. Look at what projects other people make with it.
Fall in love with a project idea. Purchase pattern.
Hopefully cast on ASAP.

So what's missing from this process??? My library. I need to add "search my library first" step in there, and I will have hit the perfect trifecta of using stash yarn, using library patterns, and eliminating any crafting-related guilt forever. Teehee. Right?