Stash Enhancement: Before the Year Gets Away...

Happy Saturday! It appears that I've not done a proper stash enhancement acquisition type post since I came back from Lambtown and that was in October.


Now, I would love to tell you that I've not had any yarn come in at all since then.


Of course, I would be lying. And for the sake of transparency, I'm going to disclose the last few month's acquisitions.



Since my last post, a few things have come in, and not all of them were fibery....but they are all related to my fibery endeavors so I think it counts. These aren't going to be in in any sort of chronological order but I do try to group things. Also, it's a photo-heavy post :)

I picked this up from Erin Lane Bags. Yes, you read that correctly. She's had some extras of some of the yarns and bags from some of her clubs so she threw them up on Facebook and we could claim them (sort of like a Facebook Live sale, without the video part). So, these came to my house. This is five mini skeins, a Safronie Fairy Tales gradient pack. The colors included are Denim, Egregious, Total Teal, In the Pink, and Natural. Each mini is approximately 76 yds, so I have about 380 yds total.

I also picked up a skein of Holiday Yarns Super Sheep DK from Erin Lane Bags. The colorway is Shire and I believe it was from her Middle Earth Club. It has about 260 yds. I have no idea what it wants to be when it grows up. For now, it's just mine.

Over on the "winning" side of things, I won this skein of yarn over in the LSG Monthly Thread in September. It's a skein of Frabjous Fibers Cheshire Cat in Tulip Roots and is about 520 yds of fingering weight yarn. The person I won it from also sent some stitch markers along :)

But wait, that's not all! I won yarn last month, again in the LSG Monthly Thread. These are two skeins of Cutthroat Yarn Laceweight in Purple People Eater. It wants to be a shawl when it grows up because it's about 1750 yds total.

I'm apparently good at winning over in that thread. I also won a cowl someone else had made (it needs a wash and block, however, because she has cats and I had it on for about five minutes before my allergies kicked it - it's gorgeous and I will wear it a lot after it's been washed/blocked again).

This yarn is interesting. I got this in the annual Claudio Sanchez Swap in the LSG group on Ravelry. I know the three on the right are handspun merino (according to the sender). The two on the right are two-ply and the other one is single. The lighter green is handspun wool (probably Corriedale) that was dyed with Kool-Aid. None of these are listed in my stash on Ravelry because I'm unsure of weight and yardage. But, I know I have them.

Toward the end of October, I caught a little something on Instagram. Valkyrie Fibers (which is somewhat local - she's in the Tahoe area) was having a Rocky Horror Picture Show special colorway club and I managed to snag the very last one.

These are all on her Matte Sock base. The top one is Frank's Laboratory and is inspired by Tim Curry:

She also included two minis. The red is called Sonic Oscillator and the sparkly purple is Frank's Lingerie. She also included a pear stitch marker (because, as you can see in the above photo, Doctor Frank-N-Furter is wearing a string of pearls).

Outside of those, I only made three other yarn purchases:

Ever since Artfibers closed in San Francisco, I've been scooping up some of the bases that I like when I see them come up here and there. I don't check super often but I check once in awhile. These came up in the Artfibers group on Ravelry and they came home. They're all partials of various lots. I'm pretty sure the bottom right is their Anime base, for which I have a liking. I think the two white ones are a cotton base or cotton polyester blend. I'm not even sure what the bases are, honestly. I just like them so they came to live with me.

I also contacted River's Edge Fiber Arts about the one skein of purple yarn I won at the auction at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool, asking if she had a couple more on hand. She said she was en route to another festival but when she unpacked, she'd pull them and send them my way. So, these two arrived in October sometime.

In November, one of my bestestest friends from college was here for about a week or so and we went to ImagiKnit in San Francisco. I had not been there since we moved to California 5.5 years ago. It was time to go again. So, we made the trek into the city (not that it's all that far) and these two skeins of yarn came home. They're from Apple Tree Knits and the base is Plush Fingering Gradient. They're both rainbows (not that you can see the second one) but one goes from red to purple and the other goes from purple to red. The colorway is called Chakra Gradient.

And, truthfully, that was all that came home that was yarn....well, mostly....

I came home with these three little kits. The yarn, any "extras" (stuffing), and a pattern are included. The yarn is actually embroidery floss, which is fine. I just need to find the needles (US #1, if I'm remembering correctly).

I also found this otter view bag. The inside has lily pads. I couldn't resist. I have a gazillion project bags but I wanted this one, too. I think this is my only bag with a view window.

I also came home with a new bottle of Eucalan and two books. The Cable Left/Cable Right book goes well with my Cast On/Bind Off and Increase/Decrease books by the same author. The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques has been on my radar for a bit and I finally just bought it.


But wait, that's still not the end of it....

I can't remember if I've shown these or not. I bought the fabric from Spoonflower well over a year ago, back when Erin Lane Bags was doing custom work. Life got in the way and like eight or nine months after I had purchased the fabric (and washed/pressed it), I found it. By then, the custom bag option was nowhere to be found on the website. A quick email to Lindsey and I shipped my fabric off. A few months later (because she was in the middle of festivals and such), I had my three lovely, Hunger Games inspired project bags. The top two are sweater bags and the bottom is a two-fer.

.......and then I fell into one of the Erin Lane Bags Facebook Live sales and may or may not have spent too much money. I picked up two dice bags (the Star Wars and Snoopy Red Barron bags) and two of the sock bags (Fantastic Beasts and Nightmare Before Christmas). I also found this in my package. I've seen them in her booth and I cannot find them on the website. I believe it's a lanyard keychain (not the kind you wear around your neck). I'm a fan.



But that's it, I swear!

Stash Enhancement: Erin Lane Bags Indie Yarn Carnival Club

Happy Saturday :)

In the spirit of keeping it real (or transparency, if you want corporate speak), I bring to you today's edition of Stash Enhancement Saturday (Stash Acquisition Saturday is also appropriate).

Last weekend, I discovered a box outside my door containing my last (sob) Indie Yarn Carnival club shipment for 2016. It was the October shipment and it was lovely. The yarn came from Mrs. Crosby in the Train Case base and the colorway is called "Carnival After Dark."

In addition to the lovely skein of yarn, we also got two bags, one of the large project bags and then a little DPN project keeper type of bag (I think - it's got buttons so putting notions in there would be silly as stitch markers would fall out). You can see the keeper bag under the skein in the photo above.

That's the big bag. We also got a pattern (socks) to go with the yarn. I've not decided if I'll knit them yet or not...maybe someday. I mean, I have the pattern and all :)

So, that happened.

And that's it, I swear!


I hope you're having a lovely Saturday. I'll be back tomorrow with my Year of Projects update. Also, take some time out of your day to celebrate Guy Fawkes and watch V for Vendetta. It is, after all, Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night.

Stash Acquisition: Stop Asking Me What I'm Doing With it......I'm Just Feeding The Stash!

Happy Saturday!

I've got a literal box of yarn that requires a post.....and I'm afraid this post is going to be full of photos. Yarn porny photos. Yep. Lots of that.

Let's get started.......

Yarn: Wollmeise Blend
Weight/Yardage: Sport & 546 yds
Colorway: Ballerina

It called to me. I just had to feed the stash. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it! Don't punish me!

Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted
Weight/Yardage: Worsted & 219 yds each
Colorway(s): Black (top) and Orange (bottom)

Okay, these have an actual project attached to them. I'm going to make another Gex Sweater, in the 1-2 year size, for my brother and sister-in-law who are expecting their first child, due November 1st. However, they're really hoping for a Halloween baby. Sooooo, I'm going to make a sweater to fit a 1-2 year old in Halloween colors. And I'll probably have leftovers to make some other items like a matching hat and baby mittens or a toy or something.

Yarn: Kismet Fiber Works Simple Sweater
Weight/Yardage: Worsted & 218 yds each
Colorway: Lucky Penny

I was saddened to hear that Kismet Fiber Works is closing up shop. I've trolled destashes off and on, not finding quite what I was looking for. And then SkeinCocaine (Instagram) had this little lot in one of her Thursday or Friday yarn auctions and I snapped it up. No idea what it wants to be when it grows up but it's mine and I'm going to squeeze it and pet it and call it my lucky penny :)

Yarn: Seven Sisters Arts Meridian
Weight/Yardage: Fingering & 463 yds
Colorway: Huginn

This was a bit of an unexpected surprise. Elsewheresdtr (Ravelry) started putting a box together for me around....oh, January (when I had my birthday)......and it hung out until maybe two weeks ago, when it arrived on my doorstep. I found this little treasure hidden on the bottom of a lovely package that included candy, some wooden sheepies (I think I'm supposed to knit them little sweaters - I'll have to look into it), bath goodies, and other fun items :) I think I fell in love! Also, the chocolate is gone. I ate it all and I didn't share. I've had a rough couple of weeks and I deserved the chocolate.

And lastly, this isn't a stash enhancement exactly but I'm going to post anyway. I'm doing Erin Lane Bags' Indie Club Carnival wherein you get a bag and a skein of yarn and a pattern every other month for a year. A few things have gotten messed up along the way including not having enough yarn for the pattern that came with yarn (we all got more yarn), processing problems with the payment wherein we were charged twice (it was refunded), late shipments (due to other things like Stitches West and illnesses), and now we're waiting on the yarn to get to her so she can get things shipped (from KnitCircus). None of this bothers me a bit because I've met Lindsey several times and she will make it right somehow. This is how she's trying to make it right. She sent us all another project bag. God knows I can use more.


I hope you're all having a lovely day! I'll be back tomorrow with my Year of Projects post and I think I'm due for a mid-month goals update. Woo. So much going on!

The Haul (Stitches Midwest 2013)

When we were planning this trip back to Wisconsin, I really didn't think about doing anything for myself, necessarily......other than visiting some people that I knew I wanted to see. And then, out of curiosity, I checked to see when Stitches Midwest would be happening...and lo, I discovered that it was the first weekend we'd be back in Wisconsin. I looked at Husband and said, "well, if you're going to go drink beer on that Saturday, I'm going to Chicago and buying yarn." He couldn't really argue. I even managed to have someone watch Little Man. Sherri is the bestest bestie to have when it comes to watching Little Man - her kids entertain him and all she has to do is make sure he eats, has a clean diaper, and doesn't fall off the roof. It works out quite well.

So, Stitches Midwest......the last time I was there was in 2011 :)

I did a lot of driving on Saturday. We drove from Husband's parents house outside of Milwaukee to Mt. Horeb so I could drop Husband off with MegAndy (Megan & Andy), then I drove Little Man back to Sherri's in Stoughton (just south of Madison), and then I had to drive from there to Schaumburg. Normally, Schaumburg isn't that bad of a drive. We could get there in a little over an hour (about an hour and ten minutes)...but there was construction so it took me almost two hours to get there. But, I got there in one piece :)

I only planned on shopping because I didn't know how tired I would be, if I could get down there for an early/late class, and I didn't find any classes that interested me on the days I could be available to go. So, just shopping....and I shopped.

I walked down every aisle, looked in almost every booth (there were a couple that just didn't interest me so I passed them by - which is no fault of the booth owner) and bought things that I knew I'd have to otherwise go online for.

"Enough already, show us the damn photos!"

Okay, okay, photos.....(yes, it's another photo-heavy post)

University of Wisconsin Christmas Stocking kit

University of Wisconsin Button Beanie kit

University of Wisconsin Bucky Ski Hat kit

I picked up these three kits from one of the booths (and yes, I'm forgetting which one off the top of my head). There is a fourth one that I may order and it's for the scarf. The nice thing about these is that it's already set to go - you're given enough yarn, the pattern, and you go.

Four Erin Lane Bags

I have a couple Erin Lane bags that I bought at Stitches Midwest in 2011 and I love them so I was quite pleased to see her again. The three on the right were bagged together as a three-pack and the one on the left was purchased alone. You, too, can own Erin Lane bags by visiting her Etsy Shop (which is currently empty but, you know).

Dazzling Ewe Stitch Marker (found in Miss Babs' booth)

More stitch markers (turtles and some knit/purl yarn balls)

I picked up some stitch markers. The first two sets were found in Miss Babs' booth and they're from Dazzling Ewe (Etsy Shop). The second two sets I, regretfully, don't remember from where I purchased them. But, they're cute.

Signature Needles and carrying case

Last time I was at Stitches Midwest, I picked up six sets of Signature Needle Arts DPNs and a carrying case. I did the same thing this time (but this time I remembered I wanted longer DPNs and I picked different sizes than what I had). I think I've pretty much rounded out my collection of DPNs now...

Stardust

This was the first skein of yarn I picked up. It's from Lost City Knits and the colorway is called Stardust. It is, of course, sock yarn.

Sookie

This was a lovely little booth called Fresh From the Cauldron. She had a lot of colorways inspired by True Blood (and probably other places, as well, but I noticed the True Blood ones). If I had planned to send more boxes home, I may have purchased another skein or two from this booth. It, too, is sock yarn.

"One of a Kind"

These two skeins from Zen Yarn Garden called to me. They're both labeled "one of a kind" but, you know, they look like they came from the same dyepot to me. Actually, there were a few more...but I couldn't bring myself to be a total Zen Yarn Garden hog. Did I mention that this was sock yarn?

Hagrid

I picked up these two lovely little skeins from Jeanette at Sun Valley Fibers. I hadn't planned to buy anything from Jeanette but, you know, she went and named these skeins after one of my favorite Harry Potter characters and I had to own them. ::sigh:: Does the sock yarn ever stop?

Splendour Beetle

Copper Demoiselle

These two skeins were from Cephalopod Yarns, Bugga and Skinny Bugga. I'm a sucker for Bugga and Skinny Bugga so, you know, how could I say, "no" to this? I also got talking to the owner about my having to adjust sock patterns all the time because I have large calves (but thankfully no cankles) and she told me I needed to go to the next booth (and they were basically sharing a booth anyway) and talk to them. They might have a book that can help me out...and apparently the sock yarn isn't ending yet...

Big Foot Knits by Andi Smith

The next booth over was Cooperative Press and this is the book in question. I think this may be my next book review so I'm not going to say much about it now...

 

...other than I got it signed by Miss Andi Smith herself :)

Wattle Cup Caterpillar

I also stopped at The Verdant Gryphon. In the not-too-distant past, Cephalopod Yarns and The Verdant Gryphon were the same company: The Sanguine Gryphon. There was a reason they split and I don't remember the whole story and I don't care to rehash it. Either way, they're now two companies but they kept some of the yarn line names the same (Bugga and Skinny Bugga, for instance). In this case, I picked up another skein of Bugga :) Guess the sock yarn thing isn't going to end...

So, that covers everything....except my two BIG splurges (as if the Signature Needles weren't enough):

Qiviuit Sock Yarn

I picked up this gorgeous skein of Qiviuit blend sock yarn (and the bag) from Bijou Basin Ranch. It says it's sock yarn and it's machine washable. That's grand. However, I'm not sure this skein of yarn wants to grow up to be socks. She kind of balked at the idea, actually. I think she wants to grow up to be a shawlette of some sort. We'll see how things go. For now, she's content being a skein.

Qiviuk

We have finally come to the end of the sock yarn. This yarn is Qiviuk, which is also a blend, from Windy Valley Muskox. It's laceweight, and there are almost 220 yards/skein so I have almost 880 yards to work with. This yarn, too, has not told me exactly what it wants to be when it grows up...they've been arguing. They've agreed that a shawl or a wrap would be nice but they can't agree on anything else (size, shape, etc.). So, they're staying in ball form until they can come to an agreement.


So, there you have my Stitches Midwest 2013 haul :)

C'mon everyone, group photo!