Day 10 - Im going to sea, dont try to reason with me.

Beloved is back from his work trip this afternoon, so things are on a more even keel around here. I may even have something vaguely interesting to say tonight.

I wanted to thank everyone who shared their favourite lullabies and songs in the comments; I hope everyone who read them enjoyed them as much as I did. It seems to be one of those things that is so individual and personal and memory laden. I hope that I'm giving my kids some deeply connected memories with the songs we sing and the traditions we start while they're still young. Those are precious things.

There has been some dribs and drabs of stash enhancement going on over the last weeks and months; I'm not brave enough to document it a la Rosered, but almost all of it has a plan (some people seem to think this is important!), once the current deadline WIPs are done. I thought tonight I might lay some of those plans out - perhaps it will shame me into actually doing some of them. But then again, perhaps not.

Sorry, no pics (cant be arsed, frankly! And most of it isn't photographed - it doesn't count as stash that way!), and all the patterns links are from Rav. And no particular order, either.

1. There was some Bendy purchased a few weeks back - mostly for a gift jumper (in progress), but one has to make up the free postage threshold!

• Waving Grass in Rustic 12 ply in Spiced Plum for the Princess for next winter;
• Little sister's dress in heather cotton for this summer;
• Avita in maritime blue cotton - but I'll modify the straps because I don't like the ties.

There was Bell's little Berry adventure that yielded some Cascade 220:

• 2 skeins of a gorgeous red (9404) that will become a Toddler Tunic;
• 2 skeins of teal (9455) that may just want to be a February baby sweater for next year.

Bells also arranged a small Knitpicks shipment:

• Wool of the Andes in two shades of purple for a Green Zebra
• Mainline cotton in red for a baby swing jacket

Bec put me onto the very lovely Utiku yarn from NZ:

• 200g of Watermelon will become an Oriental Lily;
• I'm as yet undecided what 200g of Blueberry will be though.

There have been plenty of Spotties purchases as they cleared out their winter stock:

• some Mode Vera Torte will become a Boogie Vest for me;
• a few balls of Lion Brand cotton that will make many things including a Confection Baby Shrug, a Daisy and perhaps some longies
• Im not owning up to the rest just yet.

There was a German shipment in July that included:

• Garnstudio Paris cotton for a 100-2 Jacket with Rib
• Garnstudio Alpaca that is just so nice to smoosh it doesn't need a plan

Lincraft blowouts:

• Balmoral Tweed (green) that is now partly a U-Neck Back-to-school Vest;
• Patons Smoothie for a Wicked;
• more Balmoral Tweed (grey) for another vest, or maybe a Tree Jacket.

I would like it noted I have passed on numerous enhancement opportunities in the recent past, despite the temptation. I am strong, I tell you.

And I haven't listed anything I want to do for the Summer of Lace.

I expect that should keep me off the streets for a while.

One last thing - I wanted to mention a new-ish blogger on the block who is an old friend from my Blue Mountains days. Liz runs the Button Bower (if you like vintage buttons you must go there)and also crafts beautiful jewelry and objects from buttons and other vintage thingies. And she's a scientist by day! Drop by and say hi; she's having a giveaway for Blogtoberfest too!

Now, if I dont get back to the couch and my knitting, this list will remain just that.

Baby did a bad, bad thing

When Amy and Bells published their No Guilt Stash Manifesto a while back, I was in there with bells (haha! no pun intended) on. I've been known to spend a little on yarn in recent history, especially since my initiation into the world of indie dyers, sock yarn and (mmmm) luxury fibres.

Ok, even the not-so-recent past. If you buy Beloved a beer, he'll gladly tell you about the 2kgs of yarn we hauled to Germany and back, so I wouldn't be bored during the 4 months of snow-bound winter I spent there in 2004-05. (I knit less than half a jumper, and we hauled it all the way back. Did you know you can still go outside when it snows? Whoda thunk it?)

So I embraced the Manifesto, confident it would be a little shield against the comments Beloved had started to make. Like "more yarn? When are you planning to knit that?".

Little did I know that I would be clinging to the Manifesto like a drowning man to a lifeline, reciting it like a desperate rosary in the wee small hours when the oblivious snoring of Beloved beside me amplified the guilt of a little.....slip. A minor brain snap.

No amount of manifesto-ing was gonna ease this magnitude of guilt. Marx and Mao would have to go into business together to manifesto my way out of this one. This was nuclear-strength guilt.

I blame QuiltingMick. If she hadn't gloated about her haul at our LYS, Cassidy's, $2 yarn sale, I would have blithely sailed on, ignorant to the temptation, my integrity intact. Check it out she said; I was there on the weekend, and they didn't have so much, she said. Just some Totem, some Cleckheaton Country. A couple of boxes worth, she said. It's probably all gone. She said.

But really, I'm hardly to blame. It's a knitter's nature.

I mean, wouldn't you? Just cruise along in your lunch hour to see what they had? At $2 a ball? Around 60% off? Of course you would. Of course I did.

They still had a couple of boxes worth. And a table full. The store manager had just been to their other store, on the other side of town, and picked up all the stuff that wasn't selling there to bring it over here.

I don't suppose you've got a box I could use, I asked. I may want a couple of projects worth.

She handed me a plastic shopping basket, and then showed me the other stuff that was on sale that she hadn't had the chance the mark down yet. Over here. And here. All this in these racks.

I think I may have blacked out for a while. Thirty minutes and four trips to the car later.....

There was still some Totem.



There was still some Country 8-ply, there was Caressa, and there was some Cleckheaton Machine washable 5ply.

There was some Jet.

There was some Bluebell 5ply.

And then there wasn't much of those left anymore.

Just in case you lost count on the way through, that's Two. Hundred. And. Ninety. One. balls of yarn.

Oh dear.

It took me three days to work up the courage to open the car boot again. Yup, it was still there.

Oh dear.

Did someone say they had a pattern for a house-cosy?

No Guilt Stash

I hereby adopt the No Guilt Stash manifesto as developed by Bells and Amy.

No Guilt Stash Manifesto

I will neither defend nor apologize for my stash. My yarn brings me joy, and therefore brings others in my life joy.

Through my hands I do good in the world. I knit with love for friends, family, and strangers. Yarn is my medium.

I promise not to let my stash acquisition interfere with personal relationships or financial health; yet neither will I give in to pressure from significant others to reduce my stash.

I will not judge others' stash. I can admire it, be inspired by it, even covet certain skeins, but it is not my place to pass judgment on quantity or quality.

I recognize that stash management is personal. I fully intend to knit my beautiful yarns, but I refuse to be guilted into doing so on anyone's schedule other than my own.

I understand that it may take many years for a yarn to reveal its destiny, and that yarns that have been in my stash for a seemingly long time just haven't met their correct pattern. I won't feel guilty about this.

I also recognize that yarn can have many destinies. It can be a reminder of a special trip, a friend, a time in one's life. It can be comfort or inspiration. It doesn't always need to be knitted to fulfill its destiny. I accept that some yarns in my possession may never be knit by me.

I believe in the karmic properties of stash. I willingly share with other knitters, and I realize the stash, like love, will grow when it is shared.

**********************************

Thanks Amy and Bells!

That's my boy!

This afternoon, Chez Kitchentable......

Pirate Jim: Mama, I take basket, I go shopping (holding small plastic shopping basket)

Mama: OK, darling, what will you buy?

PJ: Eggs, we need eggs.

(a few minutes later....)

PJ: Look Mama, I go to shop. I kaufen (buy).

In case you missed it....

One skein of 4-ply and one skein of 10-ply Waratah Fibres yarns, acquired at yesterday's visit to Helen's home (as blogged here by Happy Spider) and yet to be RRSSS'd.

Boy's got taste.