Dead Heat Stashdown and the Tour

I've been busy, busy, busy this past week or so. I went home to visit my parents, and proceeded to attempt to fatten up everyone I knew with delicious baked goods. My BFF Veronica took a few photos of the yumminess, so I'll post with more detail when she gets those photos to me.

In terms of crafting, most of what I've been doing is planning. The Tour de Fleece is quickly approaching. While I don't spin (yet), I will be participating as a hand cyclist for the Knitmore Girls' group, Team Sasquatch. I'm also going to be participating in the Dead Heat Stashdown for the ravelry group, Stash Knit Down. I'm thinking of it as more of an opportunity to focus on planning my projects more than as trying to destash. For one thing, my stash is small enough that I really don't need to work on getting rid of yarn.



That's my bucket for the stash down. As you can see, I tried to pick both fancy schmancy yarn as well as my yarn from big box stores. I'm not a yarn snob. While I do prefer working with the nicer (aka, more expensive) stuff from my LYSes, I do recognize that there are situations when the big box stuff is appropriate. I'm not going to shell out $20 for a single skein for a coaster or market bag, but I will for a shawl.



This is the contents of the basket.

• The yellow malabrigo is going in a Springtime Bandit.


• The top bunch (two cones, the giant tan blob, and orange ball) are going into two different market bags. I actually CO for one- it'll be an orange and white striped grrrlfriend market bag.


• The microscopic pink yarn is caron spa that will hopefully become a summer flies shawl, once I pick up another skein.

The orange and yellow balls are a frogged attempt at a tank that should be turning into my first ever pair of socks.

• The pink and blue ball will turn into an Eliina shawl. I'm super excited, I've never used yarn that thin before.


• The brown and blue yarn will become a cabled necklace. It reminds of the beach is the best sort of ways. I have the perfect dress to go with it.
  
• Finally, the yellow and white UFO is an Elefante. I don't know what it is about that pattern, but I cannot seem to get one done. It shouldn't be that difficult, and would only take me a few days if I just sat down and knit it, but for whatever reason, I do not want to work on it. I'm thinking I'll bring this to Florida with me so I'll be forced to work on it.

The stash down lasts through July and August, so I'm hoping I'll wind up finishing early. I also threw in my bucket of scraps, but I'm not counting it as part of the stash down. Since I usually just knit toys out of the yarn, they'll be a nice, quick break when I need it. Plus I want to get that bunting done before I move in again in August.



The bucket looks a little different from when I first took this photo, but not significantly.

Finally, as for the Tour de Fleece. I want to knit shawls! The Eliina and the Springtime Bandit are on my to do list for this challenge. I'm fairly confident I can finish both, but I did just cast on for a scarf for Monkey.

Monkey works at a movie theater during the summer, and he'll most likely be assigned a shift for the Harry Potter opening. His managers have decided that the people working the opening shift will be able to dress up, and I thought this would be an awesome way for him to dress up without much effort. The scarf is the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf. I'm not very far yet, but I'm really hoping to make significant progress before either challenge starts- and before the movie opening!