And in the midst of the craziness, I saw something very clearly one day while talking with Sarah. I saw how my attention to detail was - as it often does - creating stress where none was needed. I hate to use the word "anal." It's so misused and overused and unattractive. Maybe I'll say "hyper-focused" or "exacting" or "ridiculous." Yes, I've been ridiculous.
I've been enjoying this blogging project, but I've been ridiculous. I love knitting and crocheting. I love working with my hands. I love being productive. But I can be really ridiculous sometimes.
I've been hanging onto yarn in my stash that I paid absolutely nothing for (I was so happy about that!) but had absolutely no use for. I had found sweaters that I knew no one could use. They were made of good fibers, so I took them and unraveled them and stored them. But when I began this project, I found myself desperately trying to come up with projects for all those yarns. I hadn't found anything for years, and I still couldn't find anything. Well, I could find things, but nothing that I wanted to make and nothing that I would ever use for anything...ever. So why was I keeping them?
It was adding more stress to my mind, more mess to my closet, and more time to this project. My goal is to clean out my stash without spending any more money, but what was wrong with giving some of it away? If I can't use it, someone else can.
I bagged up 7 or 8 bags of mostly 100% cotton yarns, along with other yarns people had given me which I knew I would never use. Then I put them in the trunk of my car so I would not forget to bring them...somewhere. But I didn't need to. Someone came to me, I mentioned what I had just done, and she said, "I'll take them! I love cotton yarns! I use them all the time!"
God is good.
Relief. And an excitement to keep on moving toward the goal. And now my closet is a little less packed, my stash greatly depleted. Onward toward the goal....
I finished the Ruffled Triangle Shawl and am so pleased with the results! Unfortunately, I was so excited to present it as a gift to a dear friend that I grabbed it off the blocking board that morning and rushed out of the house without taking a picture! :(
I've asked her to snap a photo and send it to me, and I'll post one when she does.
In the meantime, I took on three other projects. I finished the first one, which I mentioned in the last post: Hermione's Everyday Socks. These were from the knit-along hosted by A Yarn Loving Mama, and I'm so glad I joined. I love these socks! I love the pattern and I love the yarn.
The textured top is so cool and works perfectly with the Summer Sox's cotton/wool blend. Sarah is very happy with them. She likes no-show socks, so I kept them low with only a 4-row 1x1 ribbing before binding off.
She has become my favorite sock model! And there's quite a bit of the yarn left, so I will probably make her some fingerless mitts to match.
I also took on two more pattern-testing projects. Project #15 was a lacy slouchy hat that I cannot disclose yet, as it was for a pattern that will appear next year in a book. But it was a quick project, and I got to use up some of the handspun Alpaca yarn that I have in my stash.
I purchased this yarn about10 years ago when we lived in CT. Someone was selling it at a local fair, and I just loved the look and feel of this beautiful stuff. It's a 3-ply yarn that I used to knit a warm scarf for my husband for the icy New England winters. Each of the plies is a different color - cream, tan, and deep espresso brown - which gives it an overall oatmeal color. There was plenty of it left, so I chose it for the slouchy hat, which turned out perfectly. There's still 170 yards left, so I'll have the chance to make up something else this fall/winter.
Project #16 is the other test pattern. It's a lovely lace shawl calling for a laceweight or fingering weight yarn. I was so excited, as I have never done a shawl like this! After doing some swatching, I decided to use the 100% silk yarn from one of the two J. Jill sweaters I had unraveled several years back. Remember? It's hard to believe I paid $1.50 for all of this lusciousness.
1 comment:
So glad you were able to find a good home for your yarn. Whenever I have some extra yarn for which I have no use I can donate it to a local girls' institution. They are overjoyed when they see me coming! LOL!
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