Inspiration Everywhere

One of my latest projects: wild yeast sourdough starter. I'm using the instructions from Donna Currie's Sourdough Starter-Along over at Slice, and I'm on Day 6 (technically, this has been going for 7 days, but I had to fridge it for a day while I was away). 

It's burbling away contentedly and actually smells like bread, which I am counting as success. To allow air circulation, I'm using a paper towel held down by a canning ring (although I'm going to switch to a plastic screw-top lid later today, so that the lactic acid can start developing). Because I've been sketching out ideas to submit to Defarge Does Chaucer (one of the follow-ups to the fabulous book What Would Mme Defarge Knit, edited by Heather O. of the also fabulous CraftLit podcast), I've been daydreaming about medieval illuminated manuscripts, The Door in the Wall (which I read over and over again as a kid), The Chronicles of Prydain (ditto), the A Song of Ice and Fire series (which I am re-reading), etc. etc. I walked into the kitchen this morning, looked at the jar of sourdough starter, and giggled. It looks like it's wearing a wimple and headrail. 

Nesting

I've been at home with a cold for the past few days, so I got comfortable. 

Now all I need is another pot of tea!

Blog up...email down.

Although the website is now running smoothly here at its new home (SquareSpace), email to mail@mkcarroll.com isn't working. Please use info@mkcarroll.com or mk@cooperativepress.com while I figure out what's going on. 

The yarn club in my stash

So back in January, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee blogged about her self-imposed sock club, bundling together yarn from her stash with patterns and setting up 12 grab-and-go bags. I thought it was a nifty idea, and then I forgot about it. After my frog-or-finish decisions, though, I started thinking about it again, because it was time for me to look at my stash and start thinking about what to keep and what to donate/gift/sell. I have a bin for yarnstorming supplies (mostly odds and ends of various yarns, vintage acrylic) and I set up a box of yarns for Mom (kitchen cotton, she likes making dishcloths), and then I stalled.

Well. Would you want to give this up?

At that point, I went through my Ravelry stash (that helped me figure out how long some yarns had been in my stash) and my favorites, and did some pattern suggestion searches. With that, I started a Ravelry queue and have been bagging yarns together with notecards that have the pattern name and hook/needle size written on them. No printed patterns, because 1) I don't own a printer, and 2) I have been using my Kindle for patterns and really liking it.

This is the first bag, which I now have in my portable project bag. I've started the Wham Bam Thank You Lamb cowl by Susan Chang, and it's at just the right speed for winding down from the holidays - garter stitch and quick progress, resulting in a cowl that is very gift-able (that is to say, Muggles will like it). I'm over halfway through after one car ride, and if I knit during the drive back home tonight (I'm not going to be the one driving!), I'll be done and ready to cast on for the Cabled Button Toque by Amy Swenson, which I think could coordinate well with the cowl without being too matchy-matchy.

For yarns that I don't have a project in mind for, it's time for my trade/sell list on Ravelry. I don't need any more yarn right now, so it's all sell (unless you have some marvelous handspun yarn to trade). Because I need to move these yarns out of my stash, I'm asking for 10 - 20% below average retail price for untouched skeins that have been sealed in plastic bags away from light and odors, in a pet-free home. As I continue to sort through my stash, more yarns are likely to be added.

Frog or Finish 2011

Around October I started thinking that I should frog or finish my WIPs by the end of the year. This week, it got obvious that I wasn't going to finish everything, so I buckled down and made decisions (and live-tweeted it with the hashtag #frogorfinish).

It quickly became obvious that I like making hats, but I don't like weaving in ends.


I remembered the dishcloth kick I got onto last year.


I even had a few projects that had been finished and just needed a wash! A few more hats were finished and washed, then dried in the oven (with a timer so I wouldn't forget - 170F, checked every 10 minutes). I bagged up several finished hats and mailed them off to a dear friend of mine in the Pacific Northwest, to be used/shared/gifted as she chooses.


Now I have two big bags of WIPs that can be finished quickly; my plan is to keep one next to the couch so I can grab projects to work on during my commute or while relaxing at home. I grabbed two dishcloths on my way to the post office yesterday; they just needed the edgings finished and ends woven in. Done!


Last night, I couldn't fall asleep, so I finished a set of crochet potholders and coordinating dishcloth. Done!


I've also gotten started on destashing. More on that later.