Yarn Stash Tips

Hey Knitters! I know some of you are super fabulous and only buy yarn for 1 or 2 projects at a time and don't have a large stash, love ya'll but this blog post isn't for you! This is a post of the knitters who need help/want help with organizing their yarn stash so they can utilizing it easily! 

Here are 5 tips for your yarn stash! 

1. Sort your stash by Weight: Now I have my stash set up in shelving in my studio but you can do this with baskets, tubs, or bags too! Sorting by weight means that it's easier to see what yarn you have that will work for a certain design or project. No more digging around to find the right weight if they are all together. 

2. Sort by Color: It is so much easier to pair colors or see what you have an abundance of if you curate your stash holders by color. I find that I can pull different yarns together for projects when the colors are near each other. 

3. Keep a List: Make your life easier (and don't try to remember) what yarn you have in your stash by having a running list of your yarns, that list weight and color family. Keep it in a place you can take with you so when you're at a festival or a yarn shop you have a record with you. This makes it easier to buy for certain patterns you're interested in and pair new yarns with what you already have. Keep this list in a notebook, note apps on your phone or on Ravelry! 

4. Bag/Tie Yarn Together: What? When you purchase yarns you plan to knit in the same project, bag them together with the pattern so you don't forget what you had planned to knit. It will make it so much easier and relaxing to start a project when everything is already pulled together for you. 

5. Have a bug deterrent: Use some form of bug deterrent in your stash. Bags of lavender, cedar pieces, or moth traps. Keep all that lovely yarn safe and take preventative measures to keep everything just the way you want. 

I hope this post helps you love your stash even more! 

More Spring Socks!

I am totally addicted to self-striping yarn right now. I want to knit ALL THE YARNS in my stash. I'm also a bit of a collector so I have quite a few to choose from. One dyer, who I have an array of yarns from, is Must Stash Yarns. I've knit one of her Christmas colors and loved working with her yarn, the other colors I have I've pretty much just hoarded. But, this spring, the spring of 2023 I dove into my collection and pulled out the happiest spring colorway. 

My newest finished socks are Firework from Must Stash Yarns and they have been so fun to knit through the gray days of spring. I added the heel flap color (a mini pulled from leftover box) and I love the reverse of the speckle in the heel vs as the main color. The sock is my 'vanilla' recipe, 64 stitches with a modified Eye of Partridge heel flap and a wedge toe. This recipe seems to fit my feet perfectly with a US 1.5 needle. 

Stacy is the owner of Must Stash and she sends out a newsletter with an update every Tuesday, some weeks I just can't even open the email because I know something is going to catch my eye. Do you have a dyer that you do this with? Stacy has a very cool concept that she calls Must Match, which means that your skein of yarn comes broken into two 50 hanks and they start at the exact same place! No trying to match up stripes because she does it for you! Isn't it genius! Now tell me you don't want to go and buy some of her yarn. 

Combining Colors for Shawl Knitting

Does pairing colors confuse you? Do you love other knitters multi-yarned shawls but every time you knit a multi colored shawl or try to knit one you just don't love your color combos? You definitely aren't the only one! 

So, let's have a little lesson about colors and how I combine them! 

I've arranged 4 sample color sets to talk about and they are each ones that I have purchased and pulled together from my stash. 

Combo #1: A variegated yarn with a pulling pop

The yarn featured below is a variegated yarn which plays more green/highlighter yellow. I paired it with a purply/pink yarn that pulls the same color from the variegated. I picked the purple to highlight because in the actual skein it is the color that shows the least and I personally wanted it to pop. The idea in mind for this set is a pair of shorty socks that has some stripes of the contrast color and a contras color heel .

Comb #2: Colors in the same palette 

The second way that I like to pair colors is different colors that are in the same family. The below color combo is a fall colored variegated and speckled yarn that has pink, orange, yellow, a bit of brown, and an overall fall feel. With this fall feel in mind I paired a deep burnt orange color as the contrast. The orange is highlighted but doesn't stand out quite as much as the contrast above. This shawl combo gives an overall warm palette and fall vibe to me!

Combo #3: Same colors different bases

Not every knitter wants their accessories to pop. Some people like it a bit more subtle, the combo below definitely fits that description. Instead of picking a color combo that is contrasted this combo uses the same color palette but on different bases. The main yarn is a traditional fingering weight blend of merino and nylon and the contrast is a mohair silk blend. Dyed in the same color palette the knitter would have a shawl that plays more with the different textures of the yarns vs different colors as shown in the two combo above. 

Combo #4: Pulling a color from a less highly variegated yarn

The last combo is a variegated similar to the first combo but the color palette more subtle. This combo seems more like a picture to me. I can visualize a flower in a field with the combination of green, pink, and gold. The gold is used the least amount in the skein so that is the color that I picked to be the highlight. I purchased a contrast that would pull the least seen color of the variegated yarn and now the gold specks will pop when knitted up. 

I hope you enjoyed this little color show and it gave you some ideas on how to combine colors for future projects. If you're lucky enough to live near or be able to visit a local yarn shop I guarantee that a worker would love to help you find amazing color combos! There is a video version of this blog available here on my Instagram account. Can't wait to see your color combos! 

New To Me Local-ish Yarn Shop!

I've lived in Washington almost a year now (I know right!) and was able to visit the lovely yarn shop on Bainbridge Island! The Lamb and Kid is tucked away on the main street and is just brimming with color and squishy, squishy yarn. The shop was open and airy with large front windows but still full of yarn!

The Lamb and Kid has its own specially spun and dyed yarn that is in an array of luxury bases. I purchased a Merino/Cashmere blend that feels like it blooms under my touch. (I'm planning to knit a solid version of Bump Along, but more on that in another post.) 

The bases run with cashmere, merino, yak, mohair, silk, and a little bit of tweed, all of them were amazing! The shop also carried a few other dyers and lovely notions along with their own brand of products. The staff was helpful and knowledgeable about their product. I definitely recommend making a stop at the shop if you are on Bainbridge or in the area. 

#pussyposse

The title of this post was on my favorite sign I saw at Sacramento Women's March 2018, I laughed like a lunatic when I read it. Last year I had no idea what was going on, other than the fact that we voted an idiot in for president. I only worked at a yarn shop and wondered why the f*ck we were selling so much pink yarn.

I didn't realize until after the march what a lasting effect and legacy that march would lead to. It's disheartening but also breathtaking the amount of women who have replied #metoo and to realize you aren't alone. In November when more women came into work looking for pink yarn I found out about the second march on the anniversary and this time I knew I needed to participate.

I signed up family up and proceeded to knit our pink hats, while also knitting pink pussy hats for the shop to show our support for the women's march.

The march was eye opening, so many people all together behind the same cause; phenomenal. The entire experience was peaceful but invigorating while also being polite. I was shocked there were no counter protesters but honestly, how can you be against a march that is to better the life of women?

I'm excited to see more movements and monumental events come out of the women's march. Here's to better days ladies!

As for my project, these are the socks that I cast-on to march with. This is White Birch Fiber Arts in Nasty Women colorway, I thought it was appropriate knitting.

#transformyouryarn Part 2

Okay, I'm obviously way behind in posting for the #transformyouryarn photo challenge but I would still like to complete the prompts. So here is the next weeks worth of prompts!

8. #wip

Current #wip for #transformyouryarn photo challenge. All the socks #handknit #sock #yarn#operationsockdrawer #socktawk#sockyarn #knittersofig #knittersoftheworld#knittersofinstagram #knit #handmade

9. #FO

Here's my latest #fo for #transformyouryarn this will be one of my first published patterns! Coming soon from my blog to you  #pattern #socks #handknit#operationsockdrawer #socktawk #knit#knitting #knittersofinstagram#knittersoftheworld #knittersofig#handmade

10. #knittingfun

#knittingfun is looking at stash for more design inspiration #transformyouryarn #socktawk#operationsockdrawer #knit #knitting#socks #design #knitwear #knittersofig#knittersoftheworld #knittersofinstagram#handknit

11. #fibremuse

My #fibremuse would have to be my yarn stash! There is so much potential at my fingertips that I can turn into anything I want.  #operationsockdrawer#socktawk #sockyarn #yarn #knit #knitting#transformyouryarn

12. #sharing 

Instagram and my #blogare the place where I do the most #sharingabout my fibre life and my life in general. Come check me out at my blog, link is in my profile #transformyouryarn #knit#knitting #blogpost 

13. #favoritefiber

Bluefaced Leicester BFL is my  #favoritefiber #socks#transformyouryarn #socktawk #knit#knitting #handknit #favouritefiber #socksformysister @logan_kreun

14. #knittingsanctuary 

#knittingsanctuary is whenever/wherever I have yarn running through my fingers. #transformyouryarn#knit #knitting #sock#operationsockdrawer #handknitsocks#socktawk #knittersofig#knittersoftheworld #knittersofinstagram

Joining Frontier Dreams and crafting on! 

The Ugliest Socks Ever: A Saga on why Not to buy Sale yarn

Sale yarn is so appealing. All that fiber! At 30% off! What!?! But really folks, take a step back and evaluate that yarn. Is it something you would really buy if it wasn't on sale? I say this because I love me a good sale and it has come to bite me in the ass.

Behold, the ugliest socks ever. Provided to you by sale yarn from my local fiber festival.

I'm not linking the dyer because I don't want you to think they don't have great yarn. They do, they really do, but this one just did not knit up well. I tried other patterns, different stitches, any thing to make these look better and they are just as ugly.

But they make me laugh! They are so ugly I just can't wait to wear them and laugh at how ugly they are! I just need to cast on the second one and giggle while I do.

So just remember people, do you really want that sale or is it just a great bargain?

Also on today's agenda, the first book club meeting at my yarn shop! I just finished The Friday Night Knitting Club for the second time and I'm excited to discuss with the ladies. Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams  for their make "Alongs" this week.

A Trip to Stitches!

The last weekend in February my mom and I made the trip down to Santa Clara for Stitches West 2017! If you haven't heard, Stitches West is a knitting convention that takes place on the west coast (though there are others around the country). This event is hosted by XRX Knitting Universe and is one of the largest knitting conventions, with a fantastical amount of indie dyers and larger dye companies.

This is the fourth year my mom and I have made it out to the event and I love the weekend we get to spend together. We drove down Thursday night and attended the market place Friday and Saturday, and for the first time we attended the fashion show and dinner on Friday night.

Stitches is magical because you are surrounded by yarny people who love and practice the same thing you do! Here are a few photos of what the market place looked like and the fun my mom and I were having while we shopped and attended.

If you ever have the opportunity to attended Stitches West DO IT! Don't even hesitate to say yes, it's worth it to see and experience.

Resolutions

I usually try to write a list in the last month of the year as resolutions for the coming year. None of them are hard fast have to be done, but they help remind me of my goals. They serve in times of "I have no knitting mojo," "This feakin' isn't working," and "I'm overwhelmed in yarn," a perspective on my time and the art I like to produce.

1. Knit one pattern from each of the books that I own.

2. Put out three designs throughout the year.

3. Walk at least twice a week

4. Pursue the first portion of a Knitting Master degree.

5. Keep in touch with long distance friends once a week.

6. Blog at least twice a week.

7. Start a podcast.

8. Read one book a month.

9. One pair of Knitted Knockers a month.

Just little reminders to keep my life from flying away in these crazy times.

I finished the book Overseas by Beatriz Williams and now have moved onto The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. Its been interesting comparing the show to the book, so far things are very similar and vastly different. I'm joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams this week with their Alongs.

All the Socks Still

I've been working away on more socks, surprise! These ones were a quick knit that was sent to me from my #fibreshare partner Sophia .

I've been finding that I wear tall socks at work and out of the house but prefer shorties/shorter socks for hanging out in the house. This yarn fit perfectly because I had just over 50 grams which is short socks for me. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Alegria, not sure which colorway but it's amazing!

I had no idea that this colorway was going to knit up the way these socks turned out. I have a couple more hanks of Alegria that I can't wait to knit up now and see how they turn out! I'm also so pleased with how the contrast cuff and heel look with this awesome rainbow.

Eye of partridge heel (from Hermione Everyday Socks) is so pretty, it doesn't matter if the yarn is variegated, solid, or stripes this heel looks amazing. I'll have a new post up soon with my Christmas sock progress!

Indie Dyer in the House!

Just like the title says, a new indie dyer is in the house...not really! In the last two months my mom and I have been experimenting with dyeing our own yarn! (Not that I really needed more yarn to add to stash) It's been an extremely fun way to dive into another part of this wonderful yarn universe.

We've started off using icing dyes purchased from Michael's and blank yarn from Knit Picks (merino/nylon and merino/nylon/stellina) which have worked out perfectly for us!

I've only dyed yarn one other time before my mom and I had started. The first was with my friend Andrea, Luna Purl, who owns an etsy shop and is a dye master! So, my mom and I are essentially newbees to everything but the internet is a great resource!

This is our first time using the dye pots. We wanted Halloween yarn to make some socks! It was a success and a fail at the same time, we got some dye but not enough vinegar so it didn't set well. The colors ended up a bit light for us so I set about doing some more research.

This is try number 2! We dyed the yarn outside instead of the kitchen, added WAY more vinegar and had smashing success! We dyed sock blanks first and set the dye in the steamer, so much easier than letting it heat in the pot. While those were setting I attempted speckles but got more of a splashy effect so we tried a different speckling technique for my moms and the speckles were perfect!

The last time I used the dye pots was just me out in the backyard. This was the first time I dyed two hanks to look the same and the first time I was over-dyeing a previously dyed hank of yarn. I have to say, they turned out very close! This was also the first time I tried for variegated yarn (this is one I tried dip-dyeing with) which is the pink and yellow hank. So far the yarn dyeing adventure has been super fun! I need to purchase more blank yarn to experiment with...and maybe some new bases too!