KFKS no more

I had high hopes for the KFYS (Knit From Your Stash), for those not in the know, but I failed miserably this year. So I've decided no more. Joanne had the right idea of not feeling guilt about buying yarn and I've decided to adopt this same attitude. Even with some stash busting efforts last year and then lots of yarn buying, I found that I used more than I bought and that's all I can really hope for. I'm good with that. The yarn that did me in was a purchase of Touch Me. I finally caved and got some Touch Me to make Vintage Velvet from Scarf Style.

I also did finish the My So-Called Scarf and added fringe. I'll try to get a picture up by the week's end. I've also been working on finishing up the Fair Isle Jazz scarf, as it needed something on the bottom. I tried making the tassels, but apparently I am a bonehead, as I couldn't get it to work right, so instead I'm also fringing the scarf, but with the multi-colored strands from all colors used in the scarf. I really like the design of the scarf and love that I did this Fair Isle work, but the scarf is really not functional. It's far too wide to be used or worn with my coats and jackets, so I'm not sure what the purpose of it was, other than to be completed. Which is not terribly bad, but I was so excited to finish it and then realized it's just not functional for my day-to-day wear. Hence, why I bought yarn to make the My So-Called Scarf. I just need to block it and it will be ready for its debut.

The Rasta hat is nearing completion. I've decided to work the brim on the hat, but I'm a bit unclear on the instructions. Once I get it figured out, I shall be done with it.

Although I participated in KFYS, buying sock yarn was still allowed as part of my rules. Well, I think I really overdid it in 1.5 months time.

I bought (for the first time) some yarn from Adrian of Hello Yarn and oh, my goodness, the package and everything was beautiful. It came in a Priority Mail box, but with chocolate tissue paper covering the yarn, which was enclosed in clear plastic bag with a postcard thanking for my order and a pattern for socks as well.


The color is called Staggering and it certainly lives up to its name. It is staggering to me in its beauty. I thought that perhaps I shouldn't buy it, but then a lot of her items go fast and so I went for it. I'm very happy that I did. I love it. I may even attempt a pair of Jaywalkers, but I'm not sure of the sizing of that sock. It calls for 74 or 86 stitches and I've never knit a pair of socks for myself with that many stitches, but I recall that there were alternate sizing out there (in blogland), so we will see.



The next beauty is sock yarn purchased from Fearless Fibers. Can I tell you that I love this stuff? The color is Brick House, and it's sort of muted and vibrant reds/oranges. I love it. It's 100% merino wool superwash and it contains 550 yards! People this is a great deal! I'm always excited about a perceived bargain. So I'm sorry if I come off a bargain 'ho, but I truly love a great deal. This stuff, $14.50 for 550 yards, you can knit a beautiful scarf or socks out of this. You can even knit thigh-highs with the yardage. Yeah, I'm pretty excited. I'm actually planning on knitting a Forest Canopy Shawl with it.

Some friends and I went in on a box of Socks That Rock and basically placed one large order of Socks That Rock. I splurged and got two skeins, one in the colorway Nodding Violet and the other in January One colorway.



Lastly and certainly not least, were some splurges with Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn. This stuff comes in some great colorways. One of the main reasons I splurged on this stuff, while I love the colorways, it does retail for $20. Not bad, the price, but the yardage is about 300 yards. Not very much. But my LYS had their annual end of year sale and with 35% off, it was less dear. First I bought one skein, then a few weeks later 2 more skeins jumped in my hand when I was returning some other yarn.


Flanking the Colinette on both sides, are the two skeins of STR. In the middle, there is Colinette Castagna, Blue Parrot and Copper Beech. I'm ready to dive in and knit tons of socks now.

A Couple of Things for the New Year

First, if you're reading this through Bloglines or another news aggregator, you may not have noticed two of the new buttons on my blog, but there are a couple of new things happening at WWK. I hate to just jump on the bandwagon, although I'd been seriously considering this ever since Wendy mentioned it on her blog. Those of you long time readers know of my stash angst, so it should come as no surprise that I've decided to Knit From My Stash.

My rules are:
1. The Knit From Your Stash (KFYS) will last from January 1, 2007 to September 30, 2007, same as Wendy's.

2. No yarn buying during this period, EXCEPT:

2a) Sock yarn does not count. Although for me, sock yarn purchases will be limited.

2b) If knitting for a gift that I do not have the yarn for, I am allowed to purchase yarn for the gift, i.e. knitting for babies.

2c) If I run out of yarn for a project, I am allowed to purchase only the necessary yarn to complete the project.

2d) I get two passes for buying yarn, one is for Estes (in June) and one fall of the wagon

2e) Souvenir yarn doesn't count (maybe I need to take some trips this year!)

3. Anyone who wants to send me yarn is encouraged (j/k) and allowed.

4. Stash trades are allowed.

5. This reduction in stash does not extend to book-buying, although it will reduced for a period of at least six months, where no more than 1 knitting book may be obtained each month. This restriction also does not affect patterns or needles.

Even though Polly says my sock yarn stash is a baby stash (and what is up with bloggers calling me out about the size of my stash anyways?), it's still a lot to me. Granted I know those who have so much sock yarn it would take them a few lifetimes to knit all those socks, I can take things to an extreme (for me), but if it's too, too much, I just go crazy. The KFYS just came at a good time for me personally.

And on the heels of that, on to movement for the body. . .
I'm definitely not where I want to be weight-wise or size-wise, but that is a work in a progress. What I want to accomplish with Runagogo is to encourage the habit of working ot regularly and incorporating movement of many kinds into my life. There will not be any running, more walking, biking (stationary) or other types of movement. My theory is that I only run when being chased, all other times are optional and I choose not to do so.




The goal here is to move 100 miles between now and April 1st. It seems a very doable goal. I may discuss it here and there on this blog, but probably moreso on Runagogo, although I may set up one of those ticker symbols here just to have a visual of how much further I have to go. I'm very excited to bring some new elements into my life in the New Year. Thanks all for your support!