Messy Tuesday

Today's Messy Tuesday post is all about the stash. I got a bit overwhelmed this weekend just looking at it. It's getting a bit out of control and taking on Blob-like tendencies. First, everything was neatly placed in bins on my bookcase and a larger bin on the floor. Then a few straggler cakes sat on top of my books, you know, for display purposes.



Then the Rhinebeck stuff was stored in a space bag.


Then I noticed it was a bag by my armchair. That bag became two. Then three, then four, now five.


Not to mention my desk:


You've seen my desk at work but honestly, it's got nothing on my desk at home. There are numerous skeins mixed in there with bills, patterns, and unread magazines. I think there might be a laptop under there somewhere. I drove myself nuts this morning trying to find a tape measure in there.

And while I get that Messy Tuesday is about "appreciating" the messiness that is our lives, I would like to be a bit more organized. So that when I'm searching for size 4 needles, it doesn't require upending everything in my room.

Oh yeah, and there's also the rehabilitated yarn hanging from my shoe organizer. I could probably stick a few random skeins in those shoe pockets as well.

The stash is taking over!

Confession Time

I made quite a fuss about planning out my projects for the year, didn't I? Well suffice it to say, the reason Venezia isn't still on the progress widget over there is b/c I've stuck her in hibernation. There will probably be a fair amount of frogging going on when I pick it up again (read: Starting over from the beginning). And Juno is theoretically there as well, but I like the symmetry of having 6 WIPs.

Problem is that I quickly lose the knitting mojo on these long-term projects. Meanwhile, I've churned out the Drops Cardigan (ends are all woven in, I just need to get buttons). Brompton is coming along nicely, if slowly b/c I'm knitting from the huge hank of Briar Rose (sometimes I put it on my swift and knit while I'm in bed which is quite convenient and cozy). Of the two socks I'm working on, only one is getting much attention, but they're both luckily past the 50% mark. Picovoli was put aside for a bit until I could finish a cardigan since it's not quite tank weather yet. And I finally found a project for the Sea Silk thanks to blogless Jenn in DC for which I, naturally, cast on this weekend.

The startitis that spawned the two cardigan projects has spread, aided by my recent yarn-buying binge. Because I've bought so much, I feel this incredible urge to get stuff out of my stash and out of my sight if only to justify all the buying. Just wait until you see my Messy Tuesday post tomorrow, you'll be appalled by the state of the stash.

ETA: Juno just got put into hibernation as I've added the scroll stitch scarf I'm doing to Ravelry

Next please...

So now that spring has officially arrived, I think I'm ready for fall. It's not that I'm not happy about the arrival of warmer weather, I'm just dreading the arrival of even warmer weather and all that entails.

It's currently time for the annual sale at Webs, which means lots of worsted and bulky wool purchases. Not exactly summer fare and it only makes me long for fall. As evidenced by the proliferation of cardigan projects I've started.



This got me thinking that summer has lost its cachet for me. It's really only fun when you're a kid when the gross parts of summer never really bother you. Gross parts such as:

1. Getting sweaty on that 5 minute walk to/from the subway.
2. Standing next to sweaty/smelly people on the subway.
3. Not being ready for bathing suit season.
4. Working and sweating outdoors in a cemetery which means you get unbelievably filthy dirty but still manage to get sunburnt through the thick armor-like layer composed of sweat, sunblock, and mud. (OK, maybe that one is just me)

I'm already dreading all of these things. Am I forgetting the awesome parts of summer? Like laying on a beach (preferably deserted so that #3 doesn't bother me?), dining alfresco with some refreshing beverages, BBQs, reading a book while swaying in a hammock... yeah, probably. But it feels like most of these things would require me to not be here in the city.

Truth is, I'm considering what my life would be like if I didn't live in Manhattan. What would I miss? What would I be grateful to do without? Without a beach house to escape to this summer, I'm realizing just how little I enjoy summer in the city. By all means, persuade me that I'm wrong. I'd welcome it. Remind me of the things that I would miss if I wasn't here.

Spring Mofos!

A little while back I showed you some pics of my favorite place in Inwood, the Heather Garden in Ft. Tryon Park. Let's check back in with it shall we?

This was on Easter weekend:


Same shot now:


Pretty cool huh?

If you recall, the daffodils and forsythias were just about to bloom. Well they've arrived.



The Daffodils put me in mind of the Wordsworth poem

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

... I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For, oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The forsythias are less eloquent though.



Everytime I look at them I feel like they're saying "Spring, mofo's!" (although in my head they are a bit more PG-13)


Spring! BAM! In your face!

Makes me wonder what Wordsworth would've sounded like if he was a slam poet.

Kiri

This is quite possibly the most beautiful yarn in the world. So is it any wonder I abandoned all other projects in favor of this one?



And now I have an absolutely amazing shawl.



Pattern: Kiri by Polly Outhwaite (Rav link)
Yarn: Sundara Yarns Fingering Silky Merino (50% silk, 50% merino wool)
Color: Autumn Rose from Seasons Yarn Club
Yardage: Approx. 500yds

I did 14 repeats of the lace chart. And ran out of yarn before I was finished binding off. This meant I had to go back and frog 2 rows of the edging so I'd have enough left. I didn't want any of this yarn to go to waste! It's seriously the most beautiful thing I've worked with. So soft and with a totally beautiful sheen from the silk.

Last week Sundara opened up the club for the next round of signups and I'll confess I signed up for two seasons this go round, Autumn and Winter. I've been so pleased with the colors she's come up with and the base yarns themselves that I really can't get enough. It didn't help that the Webs Anniversary Sale started on the same day. I just spent a hefty portion of my tax rebate resuscitating the fiber arts economy. :) At least I know it's going to a good cause. And it's something that'll keep me warm...



This is my most recent project. A Drops Design cardigan (Rav link) in Cascade 220. It's totally flying by. I'm hoping to have the sleeves started tonight. I'm hoping to have plenty of time to wear it before things warm up too much.

Messy Tuesday

I've been intrigued by the Messy Tuesday posts that have been popping up on some of my favorite blogs. And so I present my desk.



You've seen my desk before in other formats, but this may be getting out of hand. I've noticed the mess seems to be spreading like an amoeba and engulfing anything in its path via phagocytosis. I encourage you to check out the notes for this pic over at Flickr. I swear there is a method to my messiness. Otherwise, why am I incapable of finding anything the day after our cleaning ladies come?

Among the important items on my desk: an $.89 1.5 litre bottle of diet coke, the last of my Peeps stash, many many paint samples, my Fug Madness bracket, and piles upon piles of I-don't-know-what that should probably just get shredded and recycled. I really hope my old notebook is in there somewhere, but I'm not too sure.