Times, they are a-changin'...(updates)

I was going back through this blog the other day, and realized that so much has changed since some of my previous posts. I thought I'd do a quick run-down on what's new and different in my world (both knitting-wise and in life).

The most major update is that I've moved to a completely new state (I already miss JBW, though the yarn store closest to me in my new locale is quite charming). Because of this move, a few things happened:

1) I actually cleared out a bit of my stash. Some of it I donated, some I gave to my good friend (and knitting Yoda) Sam. That being said, I still have a fair amount of yarn (two good sized bins, most of which is worsted or fingering weight).

2) I found the Chroma Striped Scarf. I thought I had frogged it, but no. IT STILL EXISTS. I feel like the fact that is has persevered 12+ years is a sign that I should probably break down and finish it.  

IT LIVES!

3) At some point I was working with a drop spindle and learning to spin some lovely Malabrigo roving (if my goals from 2017 tell me anything, though I don't appear to have really blogged about it--terrible), and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO IT. I haven't found the drop spindle in my boxes* (yet?) and the roving wasn't in my stash. 

4) I had restarted these socks (just the very tippy toe), but recently frogged those as well and am thinking about using the yarn to make my mom some kind of shawl because she keeps stealing mine. On that note...

5) I still have a shawl problem.

*In 2015, I also made a move and a ton of stuff ended up in a storage unit; a lot of stuff is STILL in a storage unit, including (until recently) many of my knitting books and accessories. I was finally able to dig a bunch of this out recently, but am now wondering if there is another box in there with other knitting/crafty things I need to hunt down...

In which my needle bin has exploded.

I'm pretty organized.  I like having things neatly arranged.  So how did my "needles and notions" cube end up looking like this?

Yikes.  Those bags and the bin of KnitPicks Palette samples were also in there.

I'm not really sure how this happened.  I think my needle-buying went out of control somewhere along the line, or (more likely) I just started stuffing things into there without really looking, and now its all kinds of chaos.

I've been pondering how to go about needle organization for the DPNs and circulars currently crammed into that cube (my straights live in a vase on top of the cube containment unit).  I considered one of those nifty circular needle hanging holders, but I just know the cats would be messing with that non-stop and chewing on my cables.  I'm considering the binder and zip pencil pouch approach.  Mainly I just want my cords to be less curled up, and for things to be organized.

Even the top is messy!  For the record, it used to look like this.

I have some work to do.

Creature of habit

Not long ago, I ventured into my LYS with fresh birthday money in my pocket that was just aching to be spent on yarn.  I cruised around the shop, fondling my favorites: Malabrigo, Mini Mochi, etc.  As I debated about my yarn choice, I found myself gravitating towards my favorite colors: blue and purple.

Now, I know most everyone has a favorite color, or palette of colors, and people tend to gravitate towards the colors that suit them best.  One of my friends favors earthy tones, which she always looks fabulous in.  I tend to love really bright jewel tones.  I always knew I had a thing for the color blue (especially turquoise), but my love of fuchsia, bright purple and even bright yellow did not really come to my attention until fairly recently.

I happened to peak over my Tumblr archive and Pinterest pages and noticed I had habit of posting photos with similar color schemes.  For example: here, here, here and here.  Very bright, saturated colors in cooler tones.

I took a look at my stash and saw that my tastes were similar:

What can I say?  I like what I like.

However, I did want to make an attempt to find a color of yarn that wasn't too similar to something already in my stash, but was also a color I liked/wouldn't mind wearing.

I bought purple sock yarn.  Eh, at least I can say I tried!

Organizing

Post about organizing my stash, originally from Fiber Freaks.  I'm sort of proud of it, which is why I'm posting it again.