I'm back!

Well, it's been awhile- and for good reason! In the two months since I posted last, the fiancee and I have been in 10 different states, have spent at least 38 hours driving across all of those states, had a car break down en route (and subsequently sold to a salvage yard), had a hard drive crash, and have had to adjust to humidity. The last few months have been trying, to say the least.

And speaking of that humidity- once we got to Iowa, it was hot. It was very very hot. And, lets just say that I wasn't exactly in the mood to have the wool project I was working on touching me, let alone covering my lap.

But, of course, I couldn't go without any crafts! So, I whipped out the book of iron-on embroidery patterns that I've had for years but have barely used, and made a few coasters and a small wall hanging.

It's cooled off some in the past few weeks, so my needles are back to clicking... on this lovely lace shawl! I'm using a merino/cashmere/alpaca blend, and it's heavenly. I'll post pictures when it looks more like a shawl than it does now!

So what have you been working on in the hot summer heat? Let me know in the comments!

The Whole Stash.

My fiancee and I are moving at the end of the week. Friday morning to be exact.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to get a jump start on my packing. My stash of yarn was already in a big 50 gallon tub and a couple of extra baskets, so I figured I would consolidate into just the tub. Easy peasy, and then it would be done and out of the way.
Why did I think that I wouldn't need to get into my stash for two weeks? What was I thinking?
My nice neat, orderly stash and all of my knitting supplies were tucked away, with only the cardigan I've been working on out and in action.
Then I got a custom order on etsy. It, of course, required yarn that was on the bottom of my newly organized tub o' yarn.
I managed to reorganize pretty easily. Then, last night, my fiancee reminded me about the birthday present I needed to make. By moving day.
The gift was a stashbuster, made by holding several different red yarns together that were leftover from previous projects. It required seven different yarns.
Recovering from that wasn't so easy. The stash was in shambles.
So, this morning, 48 hours away from the move, I have to reorganize again.
So, in order to make the best of the situation, I decided to show all of you just what my stash looks like!

I'm sure that many of you noticed that those aren't the skeins or balls that you're used to knitting with! For the last year, I've been working at this great local yarn shop in Portland, OR called Yarnia  where the yarn is custom wound on cones! It's really neat process where you're able to select up to six thin strands of all different fibers and colors to combine into a completely unique yarn that's one of a kind! You should all definitely check it out!