TIP: How to Bust Your Stash

From the Office of Obviousness: The best way to reduce your stash is to knit something.

Regular readers know about the continuing saga of my quest to knit myself a cabled sweater. I also have a burning desire to knit the 9 balls of the Rowan Classic Ca$h$oft DK in my stash. Not only does it take up precious space in my tiny hovel, but it it bothers me that it's pricey and just sitting there. After a failed go at a cable sweater, I've been hunting down patterns for the Cashsoft for months.

I've made an executive decision. The 9 balls of the Savannah colorway are not meant to be a cable sweater. It's just not in the cards. I decided to knit the Cashsoft into a Jemima Sweater -- a fun, casual number from Anna Bell. I have a few balls of cream left over from the Bobby Cardigan to work the accents, so this is an all-over stash busting project. I even have buttons that I purchased for the original pattern. I'm feeling really good about this decision.

Jemima is a loose, sweatshirty pattern with a couple of cute accents that dress it up including the awesome tubular cast-on. This is a really great cast-on for sweaters that start with ribbing, especially if your cast-on stitches are as wonky as mine. This is my new cast-on of choice. Check out Anna's too-easy tutorial.

Not only is this sweater cute, but I've fallen in love with the Rowan Classic Cashsoft all over again (we weren't even friends after the Bobby Cardigan). The drape is JUST PERFECT for this project. Anna nailed what makes this light, soft yarn sing. I can even overlook the fact that the yarn is a touch splitty and the balls contain a few too many irregularities for a professional, high-end yarn. It bothered me when I knit the Bobby Cardigan, but I barely notice it now.

I'm knitting Jemima like Alex P. Keaton studying for finals on crank. I want to wear this sweater ASAP. My realistic goal is to finish it before I go to Berlin for yoga teacher training on the 23rd. My delusional goal is to finish it this week. haha! I crack myself up (Becky, I know it's not Saturday, but does this count??) Feel free to start a pool and laugh at me.

Other WIPs:

I swear I haven't left B's sweater in the dust. It's definitely a slog, but I've hit a legitimate snag. I'm paralyzed with fear that I don't have enough yarn, and I won't have any luck finding additional balls in my dye lot. I won't get into particulars about how I miscalculated what I'd need, but suffice it to say that the numbers were right in front of my face. The fine ladies at Ribbels are going to help me sort it out. I'll be trekking to Leiden soon. Hopefully I can resist the lure of their Colinette Point Five. If I'm lucky, they're hiding it for the summer. I'm thinking of picking up some Noro while I'm there. I think B needs this scarf for when we move back to DC - it would look professional and stylish with his overcoat.

I can't bring myself to work on the Daisy Scarf. I was able to frog back to my mistake, but my brain isn't feeling a heady knitting project at the moment. This puppy takes concentration, and I'm in much more of a beach knitting kinda mood. On the other hand, I'm a list ticker-offer and now that it's up on Ravelry, taunting me like red-inked item in a to-do list, I will probably find the urge to finish Daisy soon. Just not right now.

In the Mail: A Bit of a Rant

On their way, hopefully, are the 3 skeins of Panda Cotton I ordered about a month ago for my mom's socks. I'm a webby person and have been shopping online since the dawn of internet shopping. I've even ordered major appliances without problems. This is literally my first bad online shopping experience. It's not even that bad, but it's enough that I won't shop at this store again (unless they send me a coupon or something to make amends, but I'm not holding my breath). Too bad for me - they have a lot of things that I can't find anywhere else in Europe.

If you happen to run an online shop and you're reading this, I offer these pearls of wisdom: just tell people what's up. Silence is bad. Don't send an incomplete order without a packing slip. In fact, don't send any order without a packing slip. Tell the customer right away if something isn't in stock. Don't make excuses or blame your distributer. Just say you're sorry and do what you need to do to remedy the situation.

In shinier news, also in the mail is a single skein of Bergere de France Berlaine. I haven't given up on it yet.

Comments

[Heather]

I love that little white border on your Jemima! I'm undergoing a Rowan Summer Tweed romance myself at the moment, so I can relate to your Cashsoft love...

[becky]

Observation from the Office of Obviousness duly noted and filed. No doubt it will take hands on experience for it to really work.

That Jemima is delicious. You may not be considered for Crack Saturday- based on the heading of my blog- where but in the life of a novice/intermediate knitter can there be such great hope?

I'm in FL now and just pulled up you FO smurf bag to show my mom how felting was supposed to work. Nigel travels well.

[Jennie]

It's definitely looking great! I love the lil' bit of white trim at the bottom.

[amanda]

i've had jemima-fever ever since the pattern first came out. your colorway is fantastic and i hope it comes out exactly as you hope!

[Jen]

Thanks for the love, ya'll! I can't take credit for the trim exactly - the color changes are part of the pattern. But I did try to pick an accent color that was close to the tan. I love that the colors in the sample are really close - I think that's part of the charm of the sweater.

[tiennie]

It looks great so far. I've yet to figure out the tubular cast-on. Thanks for the link - I will check it out!

[Dipsy D.]

Yes! This seems to be the perfect pattern for this more than beautiful yarn! The stockinette really gives the yarn a great go, it's put perfectly into scene that way!
I'm sorry about the negative experience you had with that online shop - unfortunately there a still a couple "black sheep" out there who obviously don't have much of a clue what customer service means - sorry you had to go through that!