MOVING!!!!

I decided to get a Typepad account - I was able to successfully import all of my past blog posts and do a lot more formatting than I knew how to do on Blogger so I am a HAPPY GIRL.

Here's the new address:
http://yarncrawl.typepad.com/

I will start posting over there right away, so please join me there!

Knit from Your Stash 2007

I discovered that there's already a site that's consistent with the plan I had for '07 regarding knitting from the stash - and I'm in! Here's the link - I'm following the rules as posted here with one exception - that I will only do this for 8 months until Stitches Midwest instead of 9!

I don't have any particular weakness for sock yarn, but I do have a major weakness for sale yarn so I may be calling on the "fall off the wagon once" card. I have this freakish tendency to remember which yarns were called for in my knitting pattern books and recall this whenever perusing yarn sale web sites, etc. and feel compelled to purchase this particular yarn if on sale. Then it usually ends up sitting in my stash, I decide I really don't want to make that item and I repeat the cycle all over again.

Also, on the rule about being able to accept gifts of yarn - I will modify this to say " I'm allowed to accept gift cards and use them for yarn." Such as, Visa, Amex or Ebay gift certificates. I do get these from time to time, so this could become relevant.

This will be interesting...last year I planned a monthly spend of $200 for yarn and couldn't stay anywhere close to that most months (often doubling that.) So this will be very interesting to say the least.

Temptation is knocking on my door right away though, between the email from discountyarnsale.com regarding closeouts and the email regarding the second tier of Kool Knits' store closing markdown (not yet reflected on their site...now it's 50% off on some yarns and further reductions on the others.)

First Post of 2007: New Skirt and Stashbusting Project #1!

Happy New Year to everyone! I woke up my favorite way this morning - next to my husband on one side and my cats on the other, without a hangover, so it's a good day so far!

Last night we went to Blu Coral for sushi with our friends Tim and Paul, with the intention of staying for their New Year's Eve celebration, but after sushi and two martinis, I was just wiped out so we ended up going home at around 10. We had driven Jim's "beast" (93 Mark VIII that is our "leave at the train station, still running at 140K miles, beater" car) with the intention of tying one on, taking a cab home and leaving the car overnight to be picked up the next day. When we left we really were fine as we hadn't drank excessively, but just played it safe and called the cab as we knew there'd be tons of roadblocks out, etc., even earlier in the night. We'll just pick up the car this afternoon.

I'm so NOT a stay out late person anymore - I always think about what I'm going to feel like the next day now. UNLESS I'm drinking wine, in which case, all bets are off. With beer or mixed drinks, I usually stay in my right mind, but as my husband can attest, wine is an entirely different story.

In sewing news, I found this pattern and snapped it up as I love skirts with a wide yoke waistband (don't know what this is officially called - is there a better name?) I have some of these skirts and they fit me really well so I thought I would make one for myself. I'm going to try the one labeled "A" first.



Here's the fabric I am going to use - I actually had this in my fabric stash (although there is no "goal" for 2007 regarding no fabric purchases, I still would prefer to use what I have first.) It's a really really fine-waled corduroy so I think it will work for this. They list "baby cord" as one of the recommended fabrics.



This actually requires a zipper so I am going to be trying that for the first time on this project. The new classes at the JoAnn Superstore are now posted, but the 2nd one is making a vest. The instructor had thought it would be either making dress pants or a skirt, including learning how to put in a zipper, but a vest is something I don't really wear. I'd be more likely to wear a knitted one than a sewn one.

The class after the vest is something I'd like to do though - making a suit! Seems so complicated! I'm just wondering if I should sign up for the vest class as preparation for the next class that follows it. It is only two Saturdays and only costs $40. The suit class is $100 for four sessions, three hours each, which really doesn't seem that expensive considering how much instruction that is, and the fact that the classes are only like 5 people. I like that aspect of it a lot, and I really liked the instructor for this last one, so maybe I'll email her and see what she thinks about all this.


Now on to stashbusting project #1: I had some partial skeins of Noro Silk Garden left over from Klaralund, so decided to make this project from the latest Knitty. I saw Lynda's Calorimetry made from Noro Kureyon (same gauge as Silk Garden) and thought it looked cool so the wheels started turning on this little stashbuster while I was looking for some "mindless wool" for watching a movie with Jim.




I think it took me a total of 3-4 hours or so. I liked it because there were definite sections to it (kind of like a sock in that way) and when I was just starting to get bored with one section, I'd be almost done with it anyway. I had enough yarn too with the partial skeins, which I was worried about! I'll show a pic of me wearing it once I weave in the ends.