Stash Madness

It’s been a little insane around here…my recent Spring sale on the Destash Blog moved along very nicely (a big thank you to everyone!). After all the sorting out, posting, packing and mailing those goodies to their new homes, I'm left with over $400 of destash fund, maybe not a hefty amount, but that should be enough for some guilt-free indulgences.

For the record, here are the spoils of my new yarn splurges:

From The Knitting Garden ($48)
- 6 balls of Rowan Spray for Jasmine

From eBay ($150)
- 2 bags of Debble Bliss Cotton Cashmere
- 2 bags of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora

From Elann ($35+shipping)
- 1 bag of Debbie Bliss Soho

From LYS ($16)
- 8 balls of Dune Bouton d’Or

From WEBS ($271)
- Tons of Araucania Nature Wool for a coat and some kid stuffs
- Araucania Magallanes for more kids stuffs
- Some Berroco Zodiac for a handbag
- Cascade Bollicine and Rowan Big Wool Fusion for Jasmine
- Some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool for a scarf
- 2 hanks of Noro Silver Thaw
- Some Regia 6-Ply tweeds

Apparently, I'm all good and it was almost guilt-free, until I discovered the closeouts on Webs… arghhhh, and I finally flopped!!! With all these tallying up to a whopping $525, I must say "destashing to restash" is really such a lousy idea. My Knit-from-your-stash 2007 is officially OVER with now... Ooops!

A Sunny Taste of Spring

Yesterday was sunny, clear, and utterly springlike in Hong Kong. After weeks of gloomy hazy weather, it's almost too good to be true and we are so aching to get outside!

Warm breezes and lovely blooming bauhinias trees greeted us along our scenic drive uphill the southern coast. In no time, we found ourselves at a quiet beach near Stanley. The waters is still somewhat chilly to paddle in so we just took off her shoes and let Jasmine played on the sand. She was skeptical at first but soon enjoying the feel of sand and wiggling her little toes into it...

You've probably seen enough of my baby and wondering by now if I have any real knitting to report... Well, the answer is yes! Knitting in warm weather or sandy beaches has never been a problem for me, as long as it's not woolly or anything huge, like Lady Eleanor. In fact, I was having quite a good productive afternoon knitting away aside a huge stone, until Jasmine finally came to interupt *join* me with her messy little fingers.

Anyway, it's a Trellis Cardigan from Knitty that I've just started with some Dune Bouton d'Or in Thé (Tea or a pale green) in the smaller size. I'm using a bigger yarn and hopefully this would fit my 18-month toddler. Dune is a chunky weight cotton/acryllic blend at 3.5 spi, just about the same yarn that Siow Chin uses for her little nephew's knitted log cabin. I saw them on sale at a LYS for US$2 a ball and just had to grab some even though the saleslady wasn't quite too eager to serve me.

So what about my Knit-from-the-stash commitment? Game over? Not really cos thanks very much to those who have helped with my current round of Spring Destash Sale - I'm having a comfortable amount of destash funds sitting in paypal and actually planning to shop some spring/summer yarn. Some of my destash items are still available, so please take a look if you're interested. Thanks and bye for now. ;o)

Never too late

At the beginning of the new year, I think I will join in the Knit From Your Stash 2007, although I must confess that I have been hesitant at first but after going through my yarn chests and boxes this morning... I knew this is exactly what I needed.

Anyway, here are the rules, with my comments and a little twist:

Knit From Your Stash 2007:

1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 -- a period of nine months. Being late is better than never... BTW, I've not bought any yarn in 2007 so I'm violating any rules here.

2. We will not buy any yarn during that period, with the following exceptions:

2.a. Sock yarn DOES not count. What? You think we are made of stone? I already have a few stashbuster projects in mind, so to make sure I'll stick to my plans before buying more, I'll count these in as well.

2.b. If someone asks for a specific knitted gift that we really and truly do not have the yarn for, we may buy yarn to knit that gift.

2.c. If we are knitting something and run out of yarn, we may purchase enough to complete the project.

2.d. We each get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card -- we are each allowed to fall off the wagon one time. To make up for counting the sock yarn and spinning fiber, I will allow myself one purchase for every 3 projects completed in the same category, i.e. If I made 3 pairs of socks - I can buy yarn worth for one pair. If I finished 3 sweaters, I can stock up new yarn for a sweater project.

3. We are allowed to receive gifts of yarn.

4. Trading stash is allowed. And using the $$$ from destashing for new yarn is allowed too.

5. Spinning fiber of any sort is NOT exempt. I'm really really really running out of room so please don't tempt me to spin. I'm too easily lured.

Wish me luck for now and I'll be back soon to share with you my stashbuster project plans.