More shawls

The finishing tear continues. 

I blocked my maja shawl the other day and took pictures. Unfortunately those pictures did not come out very well (the colors are washed out- and I had to do it using a timer, since there is no one to take the pictures for me). But here it is.

The shawl is maja from Knitty. The yarn is manos silk blend- it used up 4 skeins. The yarn is incredibly soft, and feels so good against the skin. Love it, will use it a lot I think, and the colors are much brighter than the photo.

Meanwhile I re-organized the yarn stash. My goal was to get everything sorted. I wanted one bin of summer-weight yarns, one bin with the wool yarns that are left, a bit that would hold yarns for baby projects, a bin for socks, and a bin that would hold lace-weight and toy projects.

Oh, and one bin to hold crochet thread and kitchen cotton, and  a bin for blanket/afghan projects.

Well we got there- as you can see, it was complete and utter chaos, but everything is in the bins now (no random projects out in tote bags, unless it is stuff I am working on right now) so it will be much easier to move. I have too much yarn and really need to reduce the stash by half. So Its time for a big knit-down, because I have no idea where all these bins are going to go in the new (and much smaller) apartment in Texas. 

I also have three bins of random balls of yarn. I am deciding on how to knit that stuff down.... lots of hats, maybe for charity? Or for friends who live in northern climes. Hmmmm. Everyone might be getting mittens this winter (I have an unholy love for mitten knitting.)

I also got a surprise in the mail yesterday. My mom and dad sent me a little birthday gift.

A ball-winder, sock blockers and the knitted teddy bear pattern book (so cute!) The swift is still on its way (there was some confusion over the fact that they are sold seperatly, so Dad ended up putting in another order for the swift.)

Anyway, I am so excited by the ball-winder and swift!!! And sock blockers!!! So much fun.

I am now working on my monkey socks- they are the next in line among my UFOs that need finishing during this finishitis kick. Hope to have those done soon. And once I clear out the UFOs, I can start new projects for the summer. I already have plans for a knitted crocodile from the latest Twist collective (got pattern and yarn- love). But what else should I start? I have a bunch of baby knitting that is in progress that I cannot show on the blog until gifted, but I also have other projects I want to start. So what should I pick?

A short-sleeved cabled Cardi in Berroco Comfort

A long-sleeved lace pullover in Ella Rae Silkecence

An entrelac bag (the one in IK spring designed by Vivian Hoxbro) in a linen yarn

A lace shawl (could start any number of designs)

Complicated socks (again any number of designs)

Any ideas?

(And yes, I do always have about 10 projects going in the pipeline... its just how I roll.)

Comments

[Jennifer]

I am so envious of your ability to complete so many objects all the time! I get distracted by other things and so often go for a bit without being able to pick up my knitting. It takes me 3 months to finish most projects!

[Jaime]

I like Maja, very pretty shawl. And congratulations on the ball winder and swift, yay! I love mine, I just wish I could leave them out. A little weird, but I actually have to put them away due to lack of space. So I usually wind more than one thing at a time.

Also, I like seeing all the yarn out like that. It's like looking at the "what's in my bag" type of groups on Flickr to see someone's yarn stash. :-)

[Lazuli]

Holy yarn stash, batman! And Maja looks very pretty! I'm sure you'll get lots of shawl-use in over-ACed Texas!