Ravelry and stash knit down 2009

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/stash-knit-down-2009

If you belong to Ravelry and have a stash, like I do, you should consider joining this group. There is a personal sock club 2009 that I personnally will do this year. This is an excerpt from the moderator-For those of you who are new to this, the idea is that you package up sock yarn from stash and a pattern for each month of the year. Put each project into a plain, unmarked paper bag such as a lunch bag, seal it up, and pick one on the first of the month. Voila! A sock surprise!

I think I will work on that this week while watching TV with my husband. I probably have enough for 2 a month.........And this will work with the knit from your shelf project as well. I have lots of sock books that I have purchased and not knit from. Hmmm............I can 'kill 2 birds with one stone'.

It is only the 13th of January and I am already on my 3rd sock. I knit a 'vanilla' pair for me of 1 ply handspun wool and 1 ply handspun baby alpaca, knit toe up. I needed a warm pair for work. I need to tuck my ends in and throw them into the washer for a slight felting. I am also working on a 'vanilla' toe up pair that were meant for my husband from our home grown mill spun worsted weight yarn. I increased to 44 stitches and merrily knit along. By the time I got to the heel they were too wide and too long. They may either go into the washer to felt down, or go up for sale for those with bigger feet than ours. I am in the process of finishing off the top of the sock and will cast on the 2nd one today. Pictures will come later.

Knit from your shelf 2009

The first book on shelf that I am going to start knitting from this month is Lisa Lloyd's 'a fine fleece'. It is a book dedicated to knitting with handspun yarn. I am going to make espresso, on page 58. I need to look in my stash and see if I have enough handspun for this, or if I will spin up the Blue faced Leicester lamb's fleece I just got back from the mill. Or if I will use up some of our home grown, mill spun yarn. Decisions.

It calls for a worsted weight yarn, which means I would have to spin a 3 ply in order to get it thick enough. My mill spun is worsted weight..............hmm. And size 3 and 5 needles. The gauge is 22 stitches and 28 rows=4" (10 cm). Guess I am going to have to knit a swatch.

You can get the book here- http://www.afinefleece.com/
here- http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Fleece-Knitting-Handspun-Yarns/dp/0307346838/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231847560&sr=1-1
or here- http://www.knitpicks.com/A+Fine+Fleece,+Knitting+with+Handspun+Yarns_BD31024.html