March 20, 2014 was my very first post on Knitting: A Love Story.  That week I think I had 3 visitors.  My knitting buddy Linda was my first, my friend Sally Powers was my second and I was my third.  That was fine.  I just wanted to reflect on my thoughts, feelings, learnings and experiences concerning knitting.  I wanted to write it down so I wouldn't forget.  Let me share with you once again why I called it Knitting: A Love Story. 

"You may wonder why the name 'Knitting: A Love Story."  My heart races with excitement at the thought of it.  I catch myself thinking about it through out the day.  When I think about it I smile.  Even when it's boring, even when it's hard, I can't imagine not having knitting in my life.  If that's not love, I don't know what is."

​I am still very proud of that very first insight.  It still says it all for me.  Like Oprah loves potatoes chips, I LOVE KNITTING.  I searched through all of my pictures to find the ones which best sum up the last three years.  

I love this.  Yarn becomes magic when love is added.  When I look at this picture all I can think of is, "I want to do this then this then this then this then this. .  ."  It reminds me of limitless magic when you combine sticks and string with imagination.   

This expresses my love for exquisite, yummy yarn.  I don't know anyone who ever has fallen in love with scratchy yarn that squeaks.  Beautiful yarn has kept me hooked on knitting.  

There have been many times I have pledged, promised and committed to "No more yarn!" but then I see something so beautiful I can't look away and I'm a goner.  

I hope I have brought humor and joy to you in talking about my love of all things knitting.  Knitting to me is pure joy.  There isn't a stressed bone or muscle in my body when I am involved with anything to do with knitting.  (Well, maybe a little stress when the American Express bill comes.)  Even tangled yarn makes me smile.  I love to untangle yarn.  It is the ultimate puzzle.  ABSOLUTELY NO CUTTING OR BREAKING THE YARN ALLOWED!!!!!  Just discover how that that beautiful string got itself knotted and unknot it.  

Knitting: A Love Story had very limited visitors and them something amazing happened.  I received a call from Jocelyn Brown from the Detroit News saying she would like to do a story about Knitting: A Love Story in her column.  The rest is history.

The Homestyle magazine comes with the Friday paper.  Before noon I started getting emails from friends and acquaintances saying "Congratulations!"  It was very exciting.  

I also started writing about the LYS I visited and asking them to share Knitting: A Love Story with their customers.  One things has led to another until on Knitting: A Love Story's 3rd anniversary there had been 123,338 visitors.  WOW!  Who would have thought that my desire to reflect on my knitting experience would lead to that!?!?!?  Not me that's for sure.  

​I want to thank all of you.  I can't imagine not seriously reflecting on knitting at least once a week and writing those thoughts down.  It has become a part of what I do. . . Just like knitting.

Some people are very disciplined.  They buy yarn for a specific project.  They finish their project before they buy yarn for the next project.  As you know, I am not one of those people.  Linda used to be one of those people until we started knitting together.  My knitting philosophy influenced Linda to where she has a substantial yarn stash.  My MO is I fall in love with yarn, I fall in love with a pattern and buy many different yarns for it or I see something I just can't resist.  I have taken you on field trips to the spectacular Stash Studio.

I've shown you my amazing collection of pattern and needles and accessories.

I've shown you my library.

I've shown you my many organized, sorted and labeled tubs of yarn.

I've never told you the many stories than explain this massive quantity of fiber.  I think it's time I shared all of the ways I've built my Stash.

There are as many stories as there are skeins of fiber but I will only tell you those stories which involve acquiring massive or at least large quantities of yarn.  Every picture tells a story.   

This is really how I feel sometimes before I roll up my sleeves and organize, organize, organize! What can I say?  I love the feel of yarn, the smell of yarn and look of a mountain of yarn.   

I am going to share things for the next few posts which have caused my yarn stash to grow.  I will share stories which explain the immenseness of the residents of the Stash Studio.  Today it will be Survivor Shawls, Kathy's afghan, Knit the Sky, and Crayon Box Jacket.  There  is a common principle operating here.  Let's see if you can figure it out before I unveil the theme.

​1.  Survivor Shawls

You are well acquainted with my beloved Survivor Shawls  Is it any wonder I fell in love with Survivor Shawls!?!?!?! They make recipients so happy.  They make me happy, too.  They make me happy  when I knit them, when I give them away and when I buy pink yarn.  I collected 10 tubs of pink yarn one skein at a time.  Every time I went into a LYS or visited my favorite online yarn shops I was on the look out for a skein of pink yarn I had never seen before.  Because I was only buying one skein price really didn't matter.  The only thing that mattered was beautiful yumminess.  I learned that pink is not just pink.  Pink can have pastel tones, vibrant tones, purple hues, peach hues, even green hues.  It really is mind boggling.  I have yarn bombed a chair with the left over pink yarn, created a Christmas tree and gave away pink yarn in a Survivor Shawl class.  I still have 7 or 8 tubs.  Survivor Shawls greatly added to my yarn stash.  

​2.  Crayon Box Jacket

Before the Survivor Shawl there was the Crayon Box Jacket that incredible pattern created by Chris Byslma.  Linda and I saw one made up on one of our trips to Crafty Lady (it was before it became Crafty Lady Trio) and immediately signed up for the class.  It was magical, a game changer.  We actually swooned and salivated.  We were mesmerized.  It was the first time I saw a piece of knitting that wasn't knit back and forth. Each garment took five solid colors and as many different contrasting colors as you wanted.  The teal one was my first.  I chose my five colors of teal, navy blue, magenta, purple and lime green.  Then I began collecting the contrast yarn.  Every time I was in a yarn shop, I would look for "just one more skein" that would make the jacket a work of art.  Then came the pink jacket.  I chose pink, orange, light purple, dark purple and navy blue.  then I began buying contrasting yarns.  So now I had contrasting colors for a teal Crayon Box Jacket and pink Crayon Box Jacket.  The stash just grew and grew.  I loved every skein or partial skein and wasn't about to get rid of it.   I had quite a few skeins of pink yarn when I started Survivor Shawls.  I remember telling myself that I would only use pink yarn I already had for Survivor Shawls.  That didn't last long.  I remember showing Dick my first Survivor Shawl and making some silly comment about being able to make these with buying any yarn.  Foolish girl.  

​3.  Kathy's afghan

I love this.  I bought all of the Great American Afghan books and picked the best of each book.  Particularly choosing the ones that had a nature theme since Kathy lives in a log home.  Once I decided I was really going to do this, I began buying Cascade 220 in shades of brown and green. I didn't know there were so many shades of green and brown.  This beautiful afghan also predated the Survivor Shawl.  Every time I went into a LYS, I was on the lookout for Cascade 220 in browns and greens I didn't already have.  I have a tub of green and browns.  As a matter of fact I made several of these out of yarn left over from the afghan.

I don't understand the attraction but I guess little boys love them.

​4.  Knit The Sky

And here it is.  My fabulous Knit The Sky.  I will never give this away.  It is the sky from every place I went from January through June of 2016.  

You know the story.  I bought blue, white and grey yarn every place I went.  It didn't seem like it was possible for me to have too much.  After all, the sky never looks exactly the same.  Some days it is pure blue, some more turquoise, other days blue with puffy clouds, some days sparkly with rain, other days grey with snow.  We also traveled to Sunset Beach and Hawaii where skies are really different than Michigan.

Do you see a pattern here?  All of these projects had an indefinite amount or  color.  They all were subject to my interpretation of what was necessary.  And you all ready know my philosophy.  More is better.  There is no such thing as enough.  You would think if I limited myself to patterns and projects that had a recommended yarn with the exact amount needed I would be safe.  Installment 2 in "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Yarn Stash Grow?" will show you that is not necessarily the case.  

Before Christmas I had an inspiration.  In my head I saw this afghan.  It was made out of Malabrigo Caracol.  It was made out of several skeins of this beautiful yarn each skein part of a gradient change.  To make it so it wasn't boring and predictable, it would be knit on the bias so the color changes were diagonal rather than horizontal. I got my idea from this. . .

Isn't it beautiful.  I loved knitting this.  Let me show you what Caracol looks like. . .

Caracol to quote Malabrigo is "Truly a unique yarn!  We start with a bulky thick-and-thin single made of our delightfully soft super wash merino wool, and then we criss-cross it with a binder thread (either black or white).  Then the yarn is dyed one of our signature kettle-dyed colorways, and: poof! Something unlike any yarn we've made before, inspired by a particular style of handspun yarn.  Caracol knits up into a cozy, fluffy fabric with a ton of texture and visual interest.  Simple stitch patterns really let it sing!"

The first time I saw this yummy yarn, it was love at first sight.  I knew I had to do something with it.  Something that would hit it out side the park.  Something that would make people swoon.  So I started with nine skeins then quickly realized I needed more.  After all was said and done, I ended up with 15 skeins.  Some of the exquisite colors, like this one, just didn't make the cut.  This is truly beautiful but it didn't fit into the color sequence.  I do have plans for it.   

Now that you are acquainted with Caracol and I've built up the anticipation and excitement, let's get on with it.  

THIS IS IT!  I must tell you this picture does not do these beautiful colors justice.  Each color pops and blends much better than this shows.  Once we bought the condo, I decided this would be a Sunset Beach afghan.  I thought WOW how great!  I'm knitting this fantabulous work of art for my new home away from home.  How special!  How wonderous! As I attached one skein to the next, all of a sudden I realized that this afghan weighed a ton.  There would never be more than 2 days in Sunset Beach in January when I could use this! Now it is my at home afghan and I have been using it the past two days since it's been so cold in Michigan.  It is luxurious!

It is so soft, so cuddly, so cozy!  It pampers me.  It also is huge.  I got out a steaming board that I never use.  It was just too big and unwieldy to steam on my regular board.  It was too long AND too wide.  It just wasn't going to work.  What was I going to do!?!?!  Then I remembered this steaming board that is 60" by 72".  This enormous fiber fantasy blocked from corner to corner to corner to corner.  It is 60" by 74".  I think it may be big enough to share.     

I know you are not surprised.  It is a gradient thing of beauty.  It was created from my vision.  It was knit from luxury.  It wraps me in love!

I bet you have been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the deuce, second edition, part 2.  Life has a way of getting away from me.  Tuesday we went to Ann Arbor to wire money (sans Spun!) and tomorrow we have electronic closing on our condo.  In the mean time I have perusing our house looking for objects that will make a condo a home.  I will make you wait no longer. . .  

I loved reading Skacel vol. 10 2017.  I was very piqued that I could have been subscribing to this wonderful "Magalog" all of this time.  It had a great article called "5 Years of Building Blocks" about Michelle Hunter's "Building Blocks" that wonderful book that taught many people to knit one block at a time.  I wouldn't even hazard a guess at how many times LYS have used this book to teach a beginning class.  It had picture after picture of afghans in different colors, different sizes people knit over the five years.  Inspirational!  The Magalog also had many patterns to showcase their beautiful yarn.

I made this beautiful wrap out of a Skacel gradient set for my Mom's 91 birthday.  Skacel color are so vibrant and the yarn so soft.  It was a pleasure making this for Mom.  And it turned out so beautiful.

On page 10 I saw this title "Skacel's Top 10 Tips and Tricks."  I don't know about you but I love articles like this.  I always learn something important when designers, fiber professionals or sometimes just regular knitters like me decide to share their top 10 tips.  I have learned how to make a no fail swatch, use stitch markers in many different ways, always put the lable inside a wound ball and many other ideas that save time and make knitting more enjoyable and beautiful.  I really couldn't believe what I was reading.  Tip #1:  USE THE YARN CALLED FOR!!!  Are you kidding me!?!?!  I am a sucker for a knit sample and almost always want it to look exactly like that perfect specimen but there is nothing more invigorating than the process I am about to describe.  

I relish finding a pattern I love then taking a trip up to the Stash Studio to find the perfect yarn I already own.  Sometimes I spend hours going through tubs searching for IT.  I pull out a skein, close my eyes and try to visualize this yarn in that pattern.    

First, you need to get acquainted with the 7 yarn weights and categories; 0) Lace, 1) Super Fine, 2) Fine, 3) Light, 4) Medium, 5) Bulky and 6) Super Bulky.  Then there are the words we know better: fingering, sock, baby, sport, DK, light wrested, wrested, aran, chunky, roving, and the beat goes on.  The most important thing when you are choosing a yarn for that pattern you've fallen in love with isn't the name, it's the gage.  There are many different ways you can make gage.  Believe it or not not all worsted will give you the same gage.  There much variation even within a yarn weight.  And remember, the needle size is only a starting place.  All the recommended needle size means is the designer of the pattern used that needle size to get the right gage.  Megan Trainer said, "It's all about the bass."  I say, "It's all about the gage."  You can use any yarn you want as long as you can get the gage.

I saw this pattern in a Interweave Knits.  I fell in love with the pattern.  This may have been the first time I decided I would ONLY use yarn from the Stash Studio.  NO BUYING NEW YARN.  I made a trip up and started going through tubs. This is what I found.

The pattern called for a DK weight.  I didn't find a DK weight I thought was perfect, but I did find 2 different fingering weight Isager in a beautiful plum (this really is plum)  that when held together made the exact gage.  That got me to thinking, what if when I can't get gage with the yarn I want because it is knitting too small, what if I just experiment and add another yarn!!!  WOW!  I love it!  This just opened up so many doors for me.  I could always use exactly the yarn I wanted for any pattern I wanted!  I just need to combine weights until I get the perfect gage.  This is what I found when researching on the internet.  2 strands of lace or fingering will about equal 1 strand of sport or DK.  2 strands or sport or DK will about equal 1 strand of worsted.  Sometimes 1 strand of fingering and 1 strand of DK will equal worsted.  2 strands of DK will equal a heavy worsted.  It is magic.  Nothing is exact, you just play with yarns until you get the look and the gage you want.  One time I was trying to get gage and it just didn't work.  I kept using a larger needle until the knitted fabric was to loose.  Soon, I added a strand of lace weight until I got the gage and liked the look.  This is so fun! 

So remember Jan's Tip #2:  DON'T USE THE YARN SUGGESTED.  USE SOMETHING THAT IS MUCH MORE FUN!

​Now that I've told you the happy news, I'll tell you the sad news.

Just as I have discovered the Skacel Magalog, this is the last issue.  I loved this. I was ready to subscribe and be enchanted every time it came out only to learn this was the last one.  Just as I have enjoyed my last Knitters Magazine, I have enjoyed my first and last Skacel Magalog.  The times they are a changing.