I've been spending a lot of (too much?) time knitting lately, and my skills have really improved. My pattern reading, shaping, innovating, and modifying are much better than before. While I focused on small items that could be given as gifts (in a pinch) instead of complete garments, I spent hours finding the perfect projects for those small amounts of yarn that have been gathering dust up there on the second floor. Each item is nearly perfectly knitted and finished because I was working hard on my presentation skills. I don't want someone to see that the items are obviously hand knitted. It's that whole "homemade" vs. "handmade" dilemma.
I have three new scarves (gold mohair, red cashmere, and chartreuse leafy lace), a new vest, and a new hat. I donated hats, scarves, and neckerchiefs to the charity auction at work. My brother was given a hat; my nieces and sister-in-law received hand warmers to wear over their gloves; my mom has a new lap robe to use in her new car while she and Dad travel this winter.
But the stash reduction--my original goal--is not proceeding quickly enough. How can it multiply in this way? No matter how much I knit, I cannot catch up with it. The baskets and bins do not look much different. And I've been pretty strict about buying no new yarn. I even occasionally test myself by stopping into a shop or browsing Etsy yarn sellers.
I have allowed myself to buy new knitting tools and a few magazines, but no new yarn unless it is needed to finish a project begun with stash yarn. (Yesterday, I bought two hanks of yarn from fellow Ravelry users so I could finish a scarf made from yarn I bought five years ago. Sad. I know.) So why can't I catch up? It makes me angry at myself for being so out of control with my purchases. Hundreds of dollars worth of yarn. Can I really wear this many items? Can I ever convince anyone else that these items cost much more in both fiber and labor than one purchased from a store, and they, therefore, should be loved and cherished?
Probably not.
So, for now, I'm plowing on through, resigned to the knowledge that I'm going nowhere fast.
I have three new scarves (gold mohair, red cashmere, and chartreuse leafy lace), a new vest, and a new hat. I donated hats, scarves, and neckerchiefs to the charity auction at work. My brother was given a hat; my nieces and sister-in-law received hand warmers to wear over their gloves; my mom has a new lap robe to use in her new car while she and Dad travel this winter.
But the stash reduction--my original goal--is not proceeding quickly enough. How can it multiply in this way? No matter how much I knit, I cannot catch up with it. The baskets and bins do not look much different. And I've been pretty strict about buying no new yarn. I even occasionally test myself by stopping into a shop or browsing Etsy yarn sellers.
I have allowed myself to buy new knitting tools and a few magazines, but no new yarn unless it is needed to finish a project begun with stash yarn. (Yesterday, I bought two hanks of yarn from fellow Ravelry users so I could finish a scarf made from yarn I bought five years ago. Sad. I know.) So why can't I catch up? It makes me angry at myself for being so out of control with my purchases. Hundreds of dollars worth of yarn. Can I really wear this many items? Can I ever convince anyone else that these items cost much more in both fiber and labor than one purchased from a store, and they, therefore, should be loved and cherished?
Probably not.
So, for now, I'm plowing on through, resigned to the knowledge that I'm going nowhere fast.
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