From Stashin' to Fashion

Etna yarn by Mondial

I bought about 9 balls of this gorgeous, pink-purple variegated, Italian yarn at 75% off in a posh local yarn shop.  Because it was thin (sport weight or a little lighter), I had intended to use it on a project from Crochet So Fine by Kristin Omdahl.

So, what's the problem?

The problem revealed itself when I tried to crochet the sport-weight yarn.  This yarn is lively.  It's springy.  Drape is not part of this yarn's repertoire.  The construction is difficult to explain, but let me try.  It is a cotton (66%), nylon (32%), metal (2%) blend.  Imagine the nylon as a sheath surrounding a core of cotton.  The metal is interwoven in the nylon.

I wished to make the beautiful, simple, elegant Sprout Chains Shawlette by Kristin Omdahl, but when I started stitching, I just got more and more frustrated.

Can you see why I was frustrated?

Was blocking going to help this mess?  (And it was a HOT MESS.)  

I felt it was a cape worthy of a poodle, but I myself had no desire to emulate poodle style, no matter how adorable my dear, sweet doggie is. 

After stashing the yarn away, and wondering what the heck I could do with it for months, I had a brainwave!  What would happen if I combined the problematic fiber with an easy-going cotton?  I had about 3 spare balls of Omega Trigo, which is available in Mexico.  It was already in my consciousness because I had forced myself to "finish" my Lacy Cropped Cardi by Robin Chachula.  For the entire traumatic story (which starts in 2009) see my Ravelry page.

But I digress.  I put together the Trigo and the Etna, and magic happened.  The yarn was thick enough to complete the Gypsy Duster by the Double Stitch Twins.  The color combination was beautiful.  I had a problem with the pink alone.  Could I bear an entire sweater out in that pink mess?  The lavender mellowed it out and also gave it enough weight to have a beautiful drape.

Voila!

In addition, the pattern was quick and the beautiful open weave made the color not too overpowering.  The subtle glint of the metal gave it just enough shine.  I felt like I had won the crochet lottery!

I still have a couple of balls of the Etna, but I'm no longer worried.  I am thinking a market bag or even a hat would be perfect!

Stash Busta!

(OK, so it's not Busta Rhymes, but doesn't it seem like he could be?)

I have been STASH BUSTING.  How, you ask?

Well, first I pulled out all of my yarn, works in progess, and unfinished objects out of their various and sundry hiding places. 

 

Then I photographed all of them and uploaded the photos.

image from raverly.com

 Then I added them to the best social network ever, Ravelry.

Yes, I had Malabrigo in my stash. Yum.

Then I started crocheting seriously hard- finding patterns and substituting yarns.

 So far, so good!

Where will this all end?  I´m not exactly sure if I will sell my remaining stash or start to rebuild, but for right now, it feels good to use what I have.

The Stash Conundrum/Crafter's Block

So you spend your life amassing beautiful and amazing craft supplies. You have paper in every color, various and sundry glues, more rubber stamps than one can imagine, and a plentiful supply of gorgeous inks. Marbles, patterned scissors, fabric & thread, as well as yarn, oh! and paint begin to round out your collection.

You might feel a little empty without these items, but you have them for a reason. The reason is so you can CRAFT. The reason is so you can breathe in art in all forms, created by you! It's not there to be stored away, lost, mourned, or forgotten.

Yet, alas, that is exactly what happens to a lot of this treasured stuff!

Personally, I need to be more productive so I can get these crafts going, open my etsy store, and have special, hand-crafted items on hand for gifts.

My problems are only a few.

1. My stash is divided between two countries! When I moved here from Chicago, I took four suitcases. Three were filled to the gills with craft supplies, and one contained other stuff like clothes, shoes, and toiletries. It's been almost two months and I still haven't returned for the remainder of my stash, and almost every day I think of some supply that's still back in the US. *sigh*



2. I am surrounded by inspiration, but I can't seem to find an adequate medium to express what I am feeling. Moving to Mexico has been amazing! Every day I see something new. Everything is new to me. And Mexico City has an abundance of gorgeous public art, museums, architecture, and artisan festivals... Inspiration everywhere! One frustration is that I think that thick, colorful paintings would be a joy to produce, yet I have no training in paint, and no painting supplies to speak of.

See what I mean? How gorgeous is that?

3. Related to number two, with such a proliferation of shapes, colors, ideas, and new knowledge to process, I get what I call "saturated" easily. The ideas swim in my consciousness, and I want to create, (maybe even something for which I have supplies here, and ready) and I get started, then stop. Or I plan it, then stop. Or the ideas come in such great numbers to my head that I lose a few, even though I am journaling and taking inspiration pics...I saw all these gorgeous, colorful things
in one day! I know, right?

4. I'm seriously addicted to crafts. I want to do them all! I was totally in love with paper crafts (and I still am), but, as evidenced in my most recent post, there are gorgeous, awesome beads here. And they're cheap to boot! Yet I can't create a lot of awesome jewelry because... see above. My jewelry supplies are in Chicago. I left them there because I hadn't done that in such a long while. And then, of course, there's ravelry, which makes me love yarn, too!

So, enough complaining. What am I going to do about this?

1. I'm photographing my stash and putting it up on Flickr. This is more of Ravelry's influence! I am hoping this will help me keep my supplies fresh in my mind and inspire me to pick up a craft when I have some time on my hands.

2. I'm tuning in to more crafty podcasts! Portable inspiration- you really can't go wrong here!

3. I'm (as Alison of CraftCast says) "getting my butt in the chair". I'm going to craft!!!