Fat Cats Corner

  Knitting.  So much yarn, so little time.   I have a significant S.A.B.L.E...Stash Available Beyond Life Expectancy.  It's a real struggle to divide my time between my hobbies: Reading, Knitting, Beading, Painting.  Then there are the mundane chores like cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes. Sigh.  I'm not a compulsive 'starter'.  I only have one major project and one TV/Social Knitting project (wash cloth, garter stitch blanket/scarf etc.) on the needles at any given time.  A great deal of my SABLE was purchased with no project in mind at all.  But sometimes I buy for a specific purpose. I took a Fiber Road Trip in April 2019 to attend a spinning class given by Kate Larson at  The Fiber Event  at the Putnam County Fairgrounds, Greencastle, IN.  Kate was so informative and patient with the small class.  We weren't overwhelmed with statistics or extraneous details.  I learned a lot.   While I was the...

Last Fall I decided to start Stash Busting with my Acrylics... this is Winter's Coming by C-Lo, free pattern  Do you see a Storm Trooper face? I wanted to try stranded knitting.  I tend to be a tight knitter which doesn't really lend itself to carrying yarn. Not my best work but as my friend Holly says 'They'll fit somebody!'  This is Copy Cat C.C. Beanie  by Emily Ingrid.  It was a fun knit. Sometime in December there was a request for yarn donations for school kid crafts.  About then I gave up on Busting my Acrylic Stash a donated the entire tub. A non-knitting friend admired my blue  Tilted Texture   and asked if I'd knit one for her.  I don't usually say yes but I love, Love, LOVE   Jennifer Weissman 's patterns!!   Every time she posts a new one I'm like  "Damn!  I HAVE to knit that one too!"   I bought the Dragonfly Fiber , Dharma (50% Yak-50% Mulberry Silk) in Cognac...

There was Knitting.... and all the yarn used was from STASH!  I've put myself on a Yarn Diet these last couple years.  At the rate I knit my yarn stash is considered S.A.B.L.E “SABLE- A common knitting acronym that stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.” Atlantic Cowl by Antonia Shankland in Classic Elite Yarns Majestic Tweed - Gifted This yarn was purchased in 2015 Denver Cowl by Veronica Parsons Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted - Donated to Charity Yikes, purchased in 2009! About time it found it's project :)  I often bought yarn without a project in mind.  Not the best idea really.  But these yarns have told me eventually "I want to be a scarf/hat etc." Cloud of Softness neckgater by Marji LaFreniere Bijou Basin Ranch , Bijou Bliss - Gifted Yarn purchased in 2015 Great yarn!  I'll be buying more from them. Oops!  Awe, forget the Yarn Diet! Dangling Conversation by Mindy Ross Wolle's...

Yea.  Remember when I posted this list of Knitting Plans?  And a few months later changed that plan to  this one ?  Well let's just agree that this will be a fluid, ever changing plan, O.K.?  O.K., good.  I  did complete the Ocean Cable baby thrown and I frogged the Ethereal Shawl.  And since I didn't have the yarns for Simply Sheer I started Tilted Texture   a pattern that wasn't even on either of the two planned lists.  I'm using a beautiful, hand-painted, fingering weight, 50/50 Merino/Tencel from Briar Rose Fibers called Sea Pearl that I purchased at fiber fair back in 2010.   Sigh.  Well at least I'm knitting.

Two years ago I saw this beautiful shawl pattern (Miya Shawl by Mari Chiba) on display in the Bijou Basin booth at SAFF and I just had to have it.  And a hank of Bijou Basin 100% Goat Cashmere (Xanadu)  to knit it in!    I had never done lace knitting like this before and was therefore completely intimidated by it and put it on the shelf to await my better knitting skills.  Yea right.  This from the woman who requires a lifeline in her Garter Stitch because she has the attention span of a gnat. Well last week I decided to Hell with my fears (and lack of knitting skills) and to just go for it.  How difficult could it be?  Let me tell you.  Cast on 31 stitches, knit 3 rows of pattern = wrong ending stitch count. Frog. Begin again.  Turn off TV.  CO 31 st.  Manage to get through first 12 row repeat, YEA!  Put in Lifeline.  Knit 2nd repeat.  Correct stitch count! YEA! Move lifeline. 3rd pattern repeat... 4 ...