1000 Yard Challenge

Although I haven't blogged much, I definitely have been knitting. I succeeded in the May 1000 yard challenge! Yay! Well, according to my own definition of finishing, that is. In April, I joined a group of knitters who wanted to decrease their yarn stash numbers by at least 1000 yards in one month. Although there weren't any hard and fast rules, I didn't count yardage until I considered my project as a Finished Object. I didn't count any yarn that was in a WIP.

In April, I finished off 600 yards, although I had about three unfinished projects on the needles going into May.

2 dishtowels- 200 yards

BSJ and hat- 400 yards

Puffed Sleeve Cardigan- WIP

Monkey socks- WIP

more dishtowels- WIP

For May, I did finish off two projects and almost finished my cardigan. Except I ran out of yarn for the cardigan. I need to order one more ball of yarn from Knitpicks to finish the button bands and the short sleeves. Although the cardigan is technically unfinished, I'm counting it out of my stash for May. I've slaved away at it for two months and used up all my yarn for this project. There's no way it's going back into my stash after this anyway. End total for May: 1165 yards

2 more dishtowels- 200 yards

Monkey socks- 350 yards

Puffed Sleeve Cardigan- 615 yards

Clapotis- WIP

I have approximately 10,235 yards of yarn at home. Not bad. It's on the low side compared to most knitters.

Here's another stashbusting tip. Decorate gifts with pom poms!

Monkey See, Monkey TWO!

Pattern specs:
Monkey socks by Cookie A
Yarn: Lisa Souza Hardtwist Merino in Awwtum
Needles: size 2 (2.75mm)

Earlier this year, I made a pair of these socks for my aunt. Although I rarely knit a pattern more than once, I liked the pattern so much that I knit a pair for myself. This is hand dyed sock yarn from Lisa Souza's booth at Stitches West. I really love how the pattern shows off the variegated colors! The Awwtum colorway seems a bit brighter than the autumn colors I would normally think of. There's more pink in it than I initially realized. It's not a problem at all. Just the fun surprise as colors mix and match as you work.