Combatting an old adage of excessive consumerism

I no longer believe in the old saying that the one who dies with the most wins. Really - I don't.
Long ago I uttered these words to my sister - and now cringe when she repeats it.

At time I've looked at my stash in frustration. And really it's not much in the way of "STASH". In my purse I've have carried an index card around for months now that has 12 inch fringes of yarn that I'm trying to match for a fair isle sweater in fingering weight.

I don't need to die with the most.

What I would like is to knit with beautiful yarn. And make beautiful, well fitted garments for myself and those I love. That implies - to me at least - less stash - more FO's.

Well - that's the crux of the whole knitting experience now isn't it?

Having said that.....
I bought yarn yesterday while Sis and I were at Gourmet Yarn . The new Best of Interweave has several garments that called my name but I chose only one in keeping with my new goals of less stash, more FO's. The Marcel's Sweater by Veronik Avery is my first new project of the year. The yarn is Berraco Ultra Alpaca in DK weight, colorway Salt & Pepper.

First thing is to learn a new cast on. The Tubular Cast On.

Year End Knitting

The Notre Dame de Grace by Veronik Avery from the Summer 2007 IK is almost complete.  The body, which was originally about 1 1/2 inches too short, has dried on the rack and is a good length.  The sleeves are knitted and ready to attach.  Maybe later today I'll accomplish that final task.  

The yarn is an organic wool from Full Belly Farm.  It is a nice gray/brown color that while it doesn't scream "look at me!" does provide a comforting casual look.  

I am greatly impressed with Avery's design.   It is one of the very few patterns that I've knit without changing a thing and without finding a single error.  Yesterday I went searching through back issues of IK for other sweaters by the same designer.  And yes, the next sweater will be another Avery offering - but with one change.  For now though I'm anxious to finish the Notre Dame.  

Here is a nice photo.

FO - not to be confused with an offensive gesture

We finished our bike tour the week before Thanksgiving. I'd taken one project with me. There isn't much room when all of your belongings for two plus weeks must fit in one medium size pannier. Normally I chose socks for travel knitting but on the needles was a second sock and it was more than halfway finished at that.


I'd bought some Malabrigo Baby Lace, colorway Olive, at Taos Sunflower with the thought of a simple shawl from the Morehouse Merino Book. Short story - it is a great travel project. Two skeins and the circular needle takes up very little room. The project isn't especially fast since you end up with oodles (185) stitches on the needle at the widest part. It's very simple though and no instructions need to be carried. By the end of the two weeks I'd gotten to the halfway point with my sporadic motel room knitting which was balanced with reading and journaling in the evenings.

As soon as we got back home though I blazed through the last gift sock on the needle, then picked up Christopher's navy blue pullover sweater. It too was almost finished. The body was complete, one sleeve finished and the other 2/3 done. All stockinette. Sometimes it's damn hard to find the umph to tackle that last little bit. But I gave myself a stern talking to. No more knitting for myself until all of the knitting for others was complete.

Within four days after our vacation ended I had two FO's! Chris's sweater fits great and I think he'll actually wear it! I slapped myself on the back and ate a piece of chocolate.

One more item on the list for holiday giving, a hat for Chris's dad. I fussed around with several choices of yarn and decided on a nice brown and gray Superyak from Karabella, colorway 61444. It's coming along well. I've got a three inch rib foldover and have started in stockinette now, which will go really fast.



Then....I can get back to my shawl and even my sweater. It's the Notre Dame de Grace pattern from IK using the brown/gray organic wool from Full Belly Farm.