December Stash Busting

December was a great stash bustin' month for me. The first thing I did was to go through and pull out any yarns that I couldn't see myself using in the future. I culled out all of the specialty yarns that I had collected for scarves, felted bags and that Color Box sweater that I never finished. All of the single skeins purchased for projects that I couldn't even remember went in the pile, as well as all of the half skeins from finished projects. I threw it all in a bag and took it to the Tuesday Sip 'n' Stitch. By the time we were ready to adjourn, everyone had adopted at least one orphan skein. When I came back home and considered the stash, it was like a burden was lifted. What was left was only wool that I could really see myself using.

Then, I decided to knit Paul the sweater vest that I had planned a long time ago. I'd originally purchased some Cestari worsted (from Churchville, VA) for the project and I hoped that he'd forgotten it so that I could surprise him. Amazingly, given all of the thousands of patterns on the Web and on Ravely, I couldn't find the right one, so I used a freebie and made modifications. Using one of the vests that he already had, I cast on and knitted in the round. For weeks, I worked, sometimes as we watched TV together in the evenings. I even took it to a Christmastime open house at one of the local airports and he didn't seem to catch on that I was knitting a gift. Finally, about a week before Christmas, I finished and was blocking the garment. Ten minutes after I finished, he came home early. Whew--almost busted!

The photo shows Jack "hiding" the vest from Dad. He's such a helpful dog, although I didn't really appreciate his customizing my size 9 double-points. Apparently, he thought they should be shorter.

After Christmas, I decided to try something I'd never done--mittens. Using some Lamb's Pride Worsted from my stash, I used the Basic Cabled Mittens pattern on Ravelry and worked up a great pair in just a few days. I love the bright kiwi color and they came out
very well, but, even after several attempts to rip out and shorten them, they are still too long for my small hands. Hopefully, I can find someone in the family who can use them. I think I'll try again using a smaller cable.