Happy New Year, knitting from stash 2012

Finished last year and started this one with a bit of a tidy out. The Ravelry MK group are doing a "12 projects knitted from stash in 2012" project this year. So I've felt slightly odd, knitting a few things from stash on my week off, and wondering whether I should "save" them for a busy month?! :) I made some fingerless gloves from mini-mochi, a yarn that felts almost as soon as you look at it, a blue jumper for a boy, turned the Finnish-bought mohair into a scarf just to finally use it up, and made another charity tee.

I have plans to buy a few yarns this year - I purchased 3 50g balls from a now defunct local yarn shop, and have realised that that's 50% short of a pair of socks in each case, so will be hunting out three matching balls. Annoyingly, the shop in question has a red-white-and-blue themed window display (presumably it folded around the time of the Royal wedding) - if I wasn't an honest citizen I'd be inclined to break in - the yarn in question is fading behind the glass, it'd be a mercy crime :).

Also I want another set of 2mm DPNs, my metal ones seem to have disappeared somewhere. Although I love my knitpro harmony needles dearly, their dark burgundy colours are not at all conducive to sock knitting with dark yarns and winter nights.

I see the above yarn purchases as necessary - I'm really not into trainer socks, and I don't think knitted ones would stay on anyway - but, those purchases aside, I am going to try and get my stash down below 100 on Ravelry and halt the march of cones across the floor.

So, what projects to pick, what to knit from stash this year? I've three more cones of Peaches n creme to knit up, and alas they are all different shades and do not contain enough yarn for an adult garment. I might JUST about squeeze a vest for myself out of one of them. I've two blasted cones of chenille to knit up. Blasted, because the purple one made a very odd-shaped garment one xmas - I had a disastrous week's machineknitting in the days 'twixt xmas and new year, henceforth to be called "chrimbo limbo" - both garments were binned as were both made from unfroggable yarns), and the blue one, though knitted up, just didn't look very nice, even when knitted by machine. I want to knit up as much as possible with the chunky machine before I take it down. I've already swatched for a double-bed tuck stitch jumper on the Passap e6000 - the tension measurements were something daft like 40 sts and 91 rows to 10cm, so that one is going to be quite an upper body workout - it's going to be a v-neck cut and sew jumper in a cream industrial yarn. I've three or four cones of 4ply that need to become jumpers and/or cardigans - a garter pattern jumper and a lace cardigan.

On the handknitting front, I finished the chunky cabled jumper a few weeks ago, but I'm not entirely happy with it. The neck is a deep scoop cowl neck. I had to stitch it down at the front to stop myself looking like some bizarre pastel-striped funnel - can't decide whether I casted off too tightly, or whether the neck just doesn't sit right overall. I think I shall have to unpick it right back and just have a simple 5cm band of ribbing. I will be far more likely to wear it then.

I've also been working on the "Estonian spiral sock" pattern from "Socks that rock". It's a very simple pattern which appears to slant. Alas, I mucked it up so badly, and couldn't repair it, so it's been frogged and restarted. I'm knitting it in Crazy zauberball. I think the yarn company meant crazy to mean the variegated colours, but it also accurately described my mental state after spending 20 minutes trying to wind the ball into a proper cake, when all it REALLY wanted to do was bias, tangle, and become yarn vomit.

Whilst having a sort out, I have been putting oddments of yarn into a clear plastic bag as and when - it'll either go to a friend for charity knitting, or will be used as sewing-up yarns. Either way, it's all good! In the process I rediscovered a crochet shawl I started eons ago (it's only 5 small squares at the moment - seemed like a good idea when I started it, HA!).

I'm just about to update my "Projects of 2011" post. Looks like I had a pretty productive year, and seems to be rather a lot of blues in there!

Himself and I spent a fairly quiet xmas at home, we haven't been out and about much as the beer 'fridge has been stocked to overflowing (himself had quite a lot of beer as presents too). We've leftover stuffing to finish, and leftover home-made apple and pear crumble, and a roast chicken for dinner. For tomorrow we die(t)!

Here's to a happy and hopeful 2012, and more knitty fun to come!