A is For...

...hey, not so fast.

I think I need to explain the rules first.

Now, these were not decided upon lightly. Well, not too lightly. I did think about it for more than a day. But as I was looking at the stash in alphabetical order it suddenly struck me that if I simply went after my stash in the order it shows on ravelry it might happen along the way that I knit nothing but Cascade 220 for six months. And while I loves me some 220, I'm sure at some point I'd like to be able to dream that the opportunity to touch some Handmaiden might be on the horizon.


Rule #1: The Alphabet

(I should warn you now that the next paragraph will likely not only expose me as some kind of psychotic scissor-wielding dork, but might actually make you think there's something wrong with me. Just hang in there.)

(And I swear the other rules are simple. Really.)

So what I've done is export my rav stash into excel, then cut up into little strips of paper all the names of the yarns and the brand names associated with them. Like Berroco and Ultra Alpaca, for example. Then I separated them alphabetically (still with me? I have a picture - just wait). So the net out is that, as another example, in the envelope labeled 'L' will be little slips that say Lorna's Laces, as well as little strips that say Lion & Lamb. And if I pull a Lorna's Laces strip out I get to pick any Lorna's yarn I want to knit with, but if I pull a Lion & Lamb strip I have to pick from just the Lion & Lamb stash. See? So easy.

And because I think you deserve a picture for reading through that:




Picture of bowl with cut up strips of paper. Exciting, I know.









This way (my mind tells me) neither of us get too bored. You don't get bored watching me knit through 6600+ consecutive yards of Lambs Pride Worsted and all that entails, and I don't try to bury yarn in the back yard in order to pretend it doesn't exist and therefore I don't really have to knit it before I can move on to the next letter. Works for everyone.


Rule #2: I Must Knit What's on the Strip
No exceptions. I can knit anything, a scarf or a wristband or a sweater or a mitten. But I will live by The Strip. Well, except for this first one.....


Rule #3: Gift Knitting Does Not Count

Gift knitting is about the givee and not the giver. So it would be wrong of me to force my knitted gifts into this little corner of crazy I've built for myself. So there will be gift knitting along the way. And I promise to show pictures.


Rule #4: Neither do WIP's & UFO's

They need me to knit them. And I will be using any mental health time away from my self imposed trip through the alphabet to finish up those projects that have been waiting for me.

You will all be amazed at my massive output of sweaters requiring just one sleeve....


And I think that's it for rules. There will be no rules regarding the patterns. I can knit anything I want. From a hedgehog to kilt hose. Although in truth both of those seem unlikely.

A quick word about links. I hope to provide many, and will link to sources both inside and outside ravelry. If you're not a member and want to see the rav links please join. You won't regret it. But you may wind up having to knit through your stash in alphabetical order just to put some structure back into your life.

OK. So where were we? Ahh yes. A is for...

Alpaca With A Twist. Fino, in particular. The reason for this insanity. I just got tired of it staring back at me from the first place in my stash. And no, I did not pull it out of the bowl but this is the only time that will happen. I am using my executive privilege to break the rules only for this first project.

But what will I be knitting? Why, Mimknits' Adamas Shawl (rav link). And no, I will not also be knitting patterns alphabetically. What kind of geek do you think I am?

But I've been wanting to knit this forever, and the more I stared at the Fino I decided the charcoaly goodness would make a lovely Adamas. (One thing led to another and here I am making with the public crazy, but we'll let that part go.)

So, consumed by my new shawl project (because I certainly don't have any sitting upstairs waiting for me to finish them...), and armed with the knowledge that I would share it with anyone who cared to watch, I snatched it out of the stash last night, eager to wind it up and get started.

I wasn't expecting the shock.


















Dude. It's totally brown.




A's: apples, ankle tattoos, arsenic, all the young dudes,

The First Post

Sooooo......I have a lot of yarn. A lot. Too much. It's everywhere, and taking up space, and while we have a nice large apartment it is New York and space counts.

And I do love to knit. But I (generally) have the attention span of a horny squirrel and flit uselessly from one project to the next while finishing very few.

This has to change. And soon. Because now the UFO's are stealing space away from the stash and we just can't have that. But the blog isn't about the UFO's.

Something came over me the other night while I was browsing the bits of the stash that I have managed to get up into my ravelry notebook. And I had a seemingly brilliant idea to knit through it in alphabetical order. Sounds like a great idea, right? I thought so too. And while I know knitblogs are over and done, I thought it might be fun for me and the three people who like to look at my knitting (and don't live close enough to see it in person) if I kept a record. And I need something to keep me out of trouble.

So, in the next few days I'll come up with some rules, and the first yarn/project and we'll get right on it.