Sheep On My Stuff

So, while I haven't quite given up on the idea of working 2 stash projects for every 1 new-yarn project I make (2:1 ratio), I know that the completed/tossed/frogged-to-new ratio is going to be impossible to manage (goal was 1.5:1; I'm currently at 0.8). It's time to set new goals, and this time they aren't connected to a calendar year. (That way I won't be going crazy with "ZOMG YEARLY GOALS!" knitting at the same time as I'm going crazy with "ZOMG HOLIDAYS!" knitting.)

My goal is this: on my 30th birthday (September 26), I will have X grams of yarn in my stash. By my 31st birthday, I will have X/2 grams of yarn in my stash.

A lofty goal full of stashbusting! But I think maybe I can do it!

Of course, in order to complete that kind of goal, it's necessary to know how much yarn I'm starting out with. And in order to have a number for the goal by my birthday, I need to spend the next 39 days doing the math. And thus begins the stash cataloguing project.

I started off tonight with an easy goal: find all my bulky yarn, photograph it, add it to Ravelry, and post the stats here. So here's what we've got:

That's 893 (round up to 900) grams of handspun wool from Spring Hill Romneys (mmmm, so soft and pretty; I'm thinking a vest for Grant this winter), 1900 grams of Storm Wool of the Andes Bulky from Knit Picks, two balls of Ecological Wool from Cascade at 250g each, and about 250g of Merino Light that's partly worked up (woohoo, head start!).

Total: 3550 grams of bulky-weight yarn, all 100% wool.

I actually didn't go through as long a bulky-weight period as many new knitters; I knew one knitter who spent over a year trying not to work with needles smaller than a size 15. As a result, very little of my bulky-weight yarn is from "the early days" -- the Merino Light sure is, as is the Ecological Wool, but the rest of it is stuff I bought because I loved it to pieces and am still willing to work with it now. I'm also excited to note that all this yarn is wool; I had this fear that most of my stash would end up being acrylic or some other fiber I've outgrown, and it seems that won't be the case at all. Yay!

Now, mind you: I'm not going to try to hold myself to knitting up half of my stash by weight in each yarn weight. So maybe I won't touch this at all -- or maybe I'll knit it all up because it'll be a quick 3550 grams. >_> However, I have a shocking amount of stash (this is not even the tip of the iceberg, it's a grain of salt on the tip of the iceberg), so it'll probably be a hell of a lot of yarn by the time I'm through. Maybe I should consider working all this up...

Until this weekend, I thought I was doing really well on my goals. I was at about 1.4:1 in terms of completed/started projects -- not the 1.5:1 I was going for, but not too far off. And I was at something like 3.2:1 on stashed/new projects -- well above the 2:1 I was hoping for.

Then I did something terrible.

I started counting yarn I'd bought and stashed -- but hadn't worked up -- in the goals.

Oh boy.

Counting each instance of stashed yarn as a "started" and "new" project, I am now at 1.3:1 (eek!) on completed/started projects and... 1.7:1 (ACK) on stashed/new projects.

In other words, I have bought a lot of yarn.

*hangs head in shame*

On the bright side, when I actually begin working the newly-stashed yarn into projects, I will then be able to count it as both stashed AND new, and if I finish those projects, they will go into both the completed AND started categories.

Srsly, I may not be buying any more yarn until the end of the year. (Yeah, that seems incredibly likely.)

Also, I hope that buying cross-stitching patterns doesn't really count. I mean, I've only bought one (with sheep) and two booklets (one for one specific pattern, one for the whole thing) this year, plus some fabric that was on clearance. And I'm working up one that was in my stash, and have only three WIPs (including that one) and four "want to do" and one "will do for yearly Christmas ornament" projects on tap, and that's all I've had in the house for ten years, excluding finished projects, of which there are five unframed, four in the framing process, and ten framed and on display in the house. That makes a total of 29 -- 14 completed through framing, 5 completed through stitching, 3 in progress, 4 kits bought, 3 patterns planned, and the 2009 Paula Vaughan Quilt project. I am not crazy. I think. OH HELP. I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE.

ETA: OH JOHN RINGO NO. I had a math error in my spreadsheet. I'm not down from 1.4 to 1.3. I am down from 1.4 to 0.9. Is it even going to be possible to get up to a 1.5 ratio again? Clearly I need to be knitting more projects from the stash. And quickly.

The Bog Jacket 2 is the sweater that wouldn't end. I'm tempted to cheat on it just so it knows it had better put out. Here's a picture.

Yarn used... you know this already, right? Wool-Ease sportweight in Wheat, size 4mm needles.

Even Beautiful Sheep is having trouble making it look interesting. I've finally cast on the extra sleeve stitches, though (I did short rows first). Hopefully next week I'll have pictures of a sweater to show you.

To make up for that, here are two completed dishcloths that have been sitting in a box in my yarn closet for months.

*
Yarn used: Sugar 'n' Cream solids, size 4.25mm needles.

Finally, finally, finally. Say hello to Little Ty Sheep, returning to model the dishcloths. Awww.

The yarn closet is looking better now! Well, actually, it's looking much the same (full of yarn). However, I have found the rest of the craft room, and I am delighted. The unfinished objects now have a place. The finished objects that may or may not find their way to Etsy have found a place. And I got rid of another couple of projects in the bargain -- one frogged, several tossed. This delights me -- and bumps my completed/frogged/tossed-to-new ratio all the way up to 1.6 for the year. Yay!

Here's a picture of all the Wool-Ease I have left. Some people stash Homespun and then try to get rid of it; for some it's Red Heart. For me, it's Wool-Ease:

Yarn exhibited: A shit-ton of Wool-Ease in every imaginable color. Most of it is Worsted, a little bit of it is Sport.

Exhibited along with the yarn is the cutest Kleenex box cover ever made. I could try to make something out of crochet or plastic canvas, but I couldn't beat that, and I don't think I can be bothered to try. That Kleenex box cover comes from New Zealand (you can't really see it, but there is a New Zealand logo on its front). Those are two of the sixteen to eighteen sheep that came back with us from New Zealand in 2005. :) Yes, I brought home a flock. (Also some souvenir yarn. Most of it is still in the stash. I almost don't want to knit with it! Some of it is gorgeous, though -- hand spun, even -- so someday I'm sure I will.)

What am I gonna do with all that Wool-Ease?, you may be wondering. I'm going to make practice sweaters. I would like to make sweaters that look like they belong on a human body, and this is where I'm gonna start. The Bog Jacket 2 is actually part of this project, being made out of (so far) two balls of Wool-Ease sportweight. (It will take about three by my current estimations... maybe a little more, maybe a little less.)