For My Next Trick....

Would it be me if I wasn't setting myself up with another challenge? Some people make New Year's resolutions; I am constantly resolving something or other. Most recently it was to knit only from yarn I bought at the 2009 TTC Knitalong and the 2010 Knitter's Frolic. I had 2 months between the Frolic and the 2010 TTC Knitalong and I was determined to pare down the stash a bit, or at least to curb my shopping in favour of knitting. In the end I successfully knit up 13.5 balls of yarn and allowed myself to buy 7 new skins of yarn at the Knitalong.

I would like to continue to pare down the stash (ahem, ignore the free yarn I also scored that day, that clearly doesn't count). So I'm taking up a similar challenge in preparation for another big yarn shopping event.


Here is the deal: I am planning to go to Rhinebeck this year. Jacquie and I have epic plans to meet in New York City (at the top of Empire State building, natch) a few days before for some exploration and maybe even a bit of yarn tourism, and then rent a car and head for Rhinebeck. I think it is clear that 7 skeins of yarn isn't going to cut it here... there are approximately 13 weeks between now and my NYC adventures, so a new epic challenge is definitely in order.

Epic Rhinebeck Challenge Rules

1. Just like the previous challenge, I have to knit 2 balls of yarn for every 1 skein I want to purchase in October
   
   
2. I have to be satisfied with the projects I'm making -- no knitting up crap just because it is quick and consumes yarn quickly
   
   
3. EPIC TWIST: For every newly purchased or acquired yarn I knit with, something older from the stash has to get used up
   

TTC Knitalong Stashquisition

I was a very good girl on this knitalong! I stuck to the rules of my challenge and knit only from last year's TTC Knitalong and this year's Frolic yarn purchases. In the end I successfully knit up 13.5 balls of yarn before the day of the TTC Knitalong. According to my 1 for 2 rule, that meant I was allowed to buy just 6.75 skeins of yarn on Saturday. I gave myself the .25 and decided I could buy 7 new skeins of yarn -- after all, during the 2 months of the challenge I also started and ripped 2 projects representing about another 3 balls of stash yarn.
Mmmm luscious luscious Madelinetosh. This colourway is called Gilded and it makes me happy just looking at it.
More gratuitous photos of Madelinetosh. This colour is called Baltic. I bought both of these at the Naked Sheep, and together, these yarns will be the most beautiful colourwork something. If only I can find a project worthy of their extreme awesomeness...These are lovely little circular needle cases from Namaste.I can't seem to stop photographing these adorable little cases!Can you blame me? Look how sweet and delightfully organized they are. I bought two, and they hold my expansive needle collection quite well. There is even a little bit of room for a few circular needles in key sizes... These lovely wooden needles and the cases all come from the Purple Purl. The cases I bought (I pretty much had to!) and the needles were free swag. I also scored a gorgeous orange Namaste DPN case as my free prize with purchase (wow) but I just can't seem to capture it...Oh sweet, Sweet Georgia yarns. This one is called Slate.
These yarns are so lovely I couldn't resist. I'm not entirely sure I understand the name of this colourway (China Doll), but together with the grey I envision a cozy stranded hat... And how cute is this little button box? I've been meaning to replace the little Altoid tin that previously held my stitchmarker collection, and when I saw these I knew I had to. The Sweet Georgia Yarns and this little box were all scored at Lettuce Knit. Thanks Megan!This lovely red Baby Alpaca was a from an illicit yarn warehouse. The price was decent and I'm happy to work with this lovely soft, drapey yarn again. This colour is just phenomenal!
Last but not least, I got these 2 skeins of glorious green Highland Simple Twist, a 100% wool yarn from Americo Original. I can always count on them to have something inspiring and they did not disappoint. I was so tired when I got here I just grabbed a seat to enjoy the A/C, and I literally spotted this gorgeous green from across the room. It was like a mushy love song, only it was with yarn...

See how that was only 7 skeins of yarn? Ok, sure, I bought a few other items but I always leave a shopping loophole, don't I? The point here is reduce my stash without going on a yarn diet or knitting from stash for a year (something I typically fail at -- loopholes are wonderful things, aren't they?).

Oh right, I almost forgot... our super generous sponsors sent us enough Bernat Satin & mixed Diamond yarns to sink a ship. As the head organizer I happened to go home with a few extra balls of these gorgeous yarns...
Some beautiful brown.Glorious pink.

And this lovely blue/green... all destined to become beautiful baby wear. Now friends, start having more babies so I can knit them things!

I also got some Galway in pretty heather.And finally this deep red ball of Superwash Merino from Diamond. Love!

For those of you keeping count, why yes the free yarn outnumbers the purchased yarn. THAT IS NOT THE POINT. Everyone knows free yarn totally doesn't count!

TTC Knitalong: East Red!!

Team East Red was awesome! We had the furthest trip to the Knitalong (Danielle came all the way from Hong Kong) the best knitticism (Mary said it first... how can yarn be so HEAVY?) and Jun most definitely needed a sherpa with more than 24 balls of yarn purchased thoughout the day. Meredith and I have captained one of the East Teams twice now and we have somehow always ended up with an awesome group of knitters to hang with on our TTC adventure. This year was no exception!

We started out at the Naked Sheep, the first LYS on our route. Lisa did an amazing job, putting out loads of snacks, giving out great surprises and offering a fantastic 20% off regularly priced items to TTC Knitters. I think between Teams Red & Blue we may have bought all the Madelinetosh she had to offer!

After our first stop we experienced the worst delay of our TTC-ing that day: we had to wait 13 minutes for the next Queen Streetcar after missing 2 in a row just as we left the shop. Finally it arrived and we headed Purl-ward.

Where we found even more delicious yarns and friendly faces - my intrepid co-captain Meredith was very pleased!

Purlificent! (Does that word make sense? Who cares, I think its totally accurate...)

And then it was back to the streetcars to head for our next destination... lots of knitting happening en route.

And our next destination was lunch! Some knitters headed for the Big Fat Burrito (a classic Kensington tradition) while the rest of us settled out front of the Grilled Cheese for some fantastic sandwiches in the shade just two doors away from our next LYS.

Lettuce Knit was awesome as always, as we packed the tiny shop and bought up loads of more beautiful yarns... Spuds and Chloe & Sweet Georgia were my faves! (Can you tell by now I was more into shopping and less in shooting? I totally forgot to shoot panos of Lettuce & Americo!)

We wandered South again to hit a few bonus shops, and on the way we encountered this amazing example of practical yet unusual knitted items in the wild. I love how the thick knitted lock cozy protects this pretty vintage bike frame from unnecessary scratches.

Next stop was a quick detour to this studio-warehouse sale where we scooped some deals and enjoyed the frosty air-conditioning and lovely views ;)

And finally ended up at Americo Original, one of my favourite sources of straight-up gorgeous wools and cottons.

And finally it was off to the Rivoli to recover, count our purchases up and give out prizes -- check out the official TTC Knitalong blog for the full details of who won what, and what kind of incredible prizes our sponsors contributed this year.

Thank you Team Red for making this such a fun day for your captains, too!

TTC Knitalong Challenge Update

So how did 5 weeks go by without an update? Well, add up students' year-end show, a major charrette the same weekend as the G20, numerous side projects, a multi-city trip to avoid my family in person see my family and a major knitalong to organize and my blogging time shrinks to nil.

All is not lost however, as I still somehow found time to create this fucking amazing updated TTC Knitalong map:

AND still fit in some actual knitting. I'm at 13 balls of Frolic and '09 TTC KAL yarn knit, which means I get to purchase 6.5 balls of yarn tomorrow. A bit short of my 16-ball goal, but still pretty decent -- and I might just give myself a break and get the full 7 balls despite it all ;) After all, we're talking about completing a cushion, a pair of colourwork mittens, a pair of colourwork socks, a kimono shrug, and a shawl in less than 8 weeks while working my usual insane hours.