Stash Flow

First of all, thank you all for your kind comments on the Flora dress. Baby loves it and I'm so glad. I did go back and add more sizes to the pattern, so if anyone makes it, I'd love to get feedback. It was really fun to do!

The mailman brought something fun yesterday...


It's the prize package from Ysolda's blog contest! There was a fabulous Elijah card, all kinds of fun buttons and itty bitty working clothespins, beautiful fabric, and of course, yarn. I got nearly 4 full balls of Rowan Glace in a really beautiful peacock-like blue (almost the same color as the Malabrigo lace I'm using) and 1 ball of Louisa Harding Kashmir DK. Yum, yum, yum! I hope you don't think I'm too weird if I confess to spending some time petting the yarn :-)


The thing that is calling out to me right now is that Glace. I don't think there's enough for a top for me, but I have started ruminating on some ideas about a top for my older daughter, Sweetie. Of course I'll let you know what I come up with!

As if that weren't enough, there was also this gorgeous print. I *love it*! Thank you so much, Ysolda!


So all of those beauties now go into the stash! I've had some recent things come out, too. I destashed a few things on Ravelry. It was particularly liberating to let go of both the pattern and the yarn for the failed Filatura jacket. I also used up a bit of stash. On Saturday, I spent my knitting time on the Cabled Hoodie but stalled out on it again (so sorry, Farrah!). So then on Sunday, with all the yarn stores closed, I was really itching for a project and went "shopping" in my stash. I had gotten the bok Bag Style for Christmas and had bought some Cascade 220 around that time when I went to visit my in-laws. It was time to put pattern + project together, and here is the result so far:


I need to block the unfelted overlay portion of the bag and do all the finishing work, but the knitting is all done.

And then yesterday, I discovered a Ravelry group called Random Acts of Kindness. People post their wishlists (mostly knitting, but some non-knitting stuff too) and you can browse through and fill any requests that you want, no strings attached.There are a surprising number of people who are happy to receive oddments here and there. I have a bunch of not-quite-full balls and some interesting scraps. I had saved them "just in case" I needed to make a repair on a project, but many projects were given away as gifts or are not being used for one reason or another, and I no longer need the remainders. I sometimes tell myself that I'll make some sort of scrap project with them, but I know this will probably never be the case (with the possible exception of making some of Alan Dart's Dickensian Mice (Ravelry link) or Christmas ornaments, so I did save some appropriate DK for those). Anyway, I am now finding good homes for some of the yarns that would otherwise just be acting as extra insulation in my house. You can also post your own wishlist. I haven't done this, and I don't think I need to ask for anything knitting-related but I think it would be fun to ask for stamps or postcards to see what turns up. Of course, if you are interested in doing something like this but would prefer that the recipient pay shipping, I also found another another Ravelry group, Yarncycle.