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Knitters, I ordered Alpaca. I'm all in now.


KungFuPanda
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I learned to knit at co-op in September. I've made scarves, wash cloths, and a pair of thick socks. Now I've learned about conceptual knitting and have decided to make a "sky scarf". You look at the sky each day and knit two rows in that color. The finished scarf shows your year's worth of sky. Right there it's a daily project for a year and I'm better at starting these things than finishing them. I ordered the kit with sky-colored alpaca and directions.

 

If that's not enough of a commitment, I also got yarn to make a scarf chronicling my dance year: Gray for days I don't dance, Purple for class days, and sparkly black for performances/events. This yarn was hobby lobby and much less extravagant.

 

Anyone wanna place bets on how long I hang in there? Wanna explain how long the yarn honeymoon lasts? I just spent $50 on a scarf that may never exist, but the idea that it might is sooooo cool.

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Welcome to the dark side. I'd say it's dark because of the chocolate cookies or coffee, but really we're all just happily buried in yarn. Great insulation in the cold winter months.

 

I just made a list of 60 things I want to knit or crochet in 2015.

 

I'm matching patterns to yarn on hand and have determined not to buy more yarn until I don't have any to match to my project list.

 

So far, I have 15 project "kits" ready to go.

 

I highly suggest going to knit nights. Creativity and enthusiasm are contagious.

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Welcome to the dark side. I'd say it's dark because of the chocolate cookies or coffee, but really we're all just happily buried in yarn. Great insulation in the cold winter months.

 

I just made a list of 60 things I want to knit or crochet in 2015.

 

I'm matching patterns to yarn on hand and have determined not to buy more yarn until I don't have any to match to my project list.

 

So far, I have 15 project "kits" ready to go.

 

I highly suggest going to knit nights. Creativity and enthusiasm are contagious.

 

Brilliant to the bolded!

 

I am embarrassed to say that every time I go into the stash I find something that I forgot I owned.  My problem though is that I seem to have odd bits of yarn--not always the right weight, color or quantity for the project I want to do.  I think I might be better off pulling out some yarn and finding the project.  Even if I am buying a pattern, I am not buying more yarn!

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What a cool project!  A word of caution about alpaca though-- love it but it I find it tends to grow/stretch unless blended with another yarn.  I made a ribbed hat for DH a few years ago in 100% alpaca and by the end of the season it looked like a yamaka.  :eek:

 

I do something similar to Martha- every December I make next year's Project Plan. (It's a fluid plan, as I tend to get randomly inspired- damn you Ravelry!- and knit something not on the list.)  At the end of the year, any unfinished projects get migrated to next year's plan... sort of like a bullet journal for knitting.   :D

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I've read about the sky scarf but it never grabbed me because I don't look good in blue. lol. I've also seen a version that tracks the color of the sunset vs the daytime sky. But I like your idea of a dance scarf! Just adapting the concept to something else and assigning your own colors is va great idea. Good luck with it!

 

Oh, adding that I saw a blog where she also tracked the colors in a notebook for times when she could not get to the knitting. I know I've had days when I could not knit a single stitch. You might already be doing that but I'm mentioning it just in case.

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That is so cool. I started knitting at the beginning of November. I asked for yarn for Christmas and have a ton right now (mostly craft store yarn but my brother came through with some Patons so at least some of it's 100% wool) but I really, really, really want an alpaca or cashmere blend to make things for my MIL. 

 

I'm trying really hard to find projects that match the yarn I have. :P to you for tempting me. 

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I love the sky scarf idea and might just take that up myself as a project to do with my ds who also knits. My current project is a lace shawl that I started last winter. It's sitting in my knitting basket waiting for me to attend to it. I started out with a lot of enthusiasm and then somehow lost the impetus. What I've noticed is that if I have a specific goal and time frame I'm more likely to complete a project.

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Blue is a good color for me, but if the scarf turns out right, I might give it to my mother. She'd LOVE something like that. I'll definitely have to keep a log. I know me and I know I'm only going to do this 2-3 times a week, most likely at my regular knitting meeting (conveniently held at co-op while DS is in Science.)

 

The dance scarf will use baby yard, because I needed something very fine. The sky scarf actually uses double strands of lace-weight yarn. I've never actually worked with needles this small, so I'm bound to learn something. I saw online that someone did a temperature scarf and assigned their own colors to a five degree range. There are also mood scarves, but I didn't like that idea at all. I'd be sitting there at the end of a bad day wondering if it's really bad enough for a formal complaint.

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The sky scarves are really pretty.  The advent ones are kind of neat too.  Don't ask me about my yarn and fiber stash though.  I probably own enough sock yarn to make a pair of sock every month for more than two years.  And some yarn I just own so I can pet it occasionally.  So soft, so warm.  And alpaca, I love alpaca.  It's one of my favorite fibers to knit and spin because it is so soft.  But never, ever make felted slipper  out of it unless you are looking to make slippers that look like bear feet.

 

Have fun with your projects. 

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Brilliant to the bolded!

 

I am embarrassed to say that every time I go into the stash I find something that I forgot I owned. My problem though is that I seem to have odd bits of yarn--not always the right weight, color or quantity for the project I want to do. I think I might be better off pulling out some yarn and finding the project. Even if I am buying a pattern, I am not buying more yarn!

Yes! I am doing that too.

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What a cool project! A word of caution about alpaca though-- love it but it I find it tends to grow/stretch unless blended with another yarn. I made a ribbed hat for DH a few years ago in 100% alpaca and by the end of the season it looked like a yamaka. :eek:

 

I do something similar to Martha- every December I make next year's Project Plan. (It's a fluid plan, as I tend to get randomly inspired- damn you Ravelry!- and knit something not on the list.) At the end of the year, any unfinished projects get migrated to next year's plan... sort of like a bullet journal for knitting. :D

Yep. And laughing about Ravelry. My dh has taken to calling that knitting class I took in nov '13 the chicken gateway of the yarn world. It led to ravelry, that led to adding more crocheting, sewing, embroidery...

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I love the *idea* of the sky scarf. In reality, I have no place to keep something like that for a year and, let's be honest, I probably wouldn't make it past January.

Your purse? Once a week put enough yarn in for a few rows a day. A few mini-skeins and needles don't take up much room. :)

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