I think I am really dating myself but whenever I have a great week, I always think TW3.  TW3, That Was The Week That Was was the precursor to SNL's Weekend Update, the news of the week with a twist.  The headline of last week was Linda coming.  Tuesday was my day, I picked Linda up at 11:00 and Denny (her husband) came and got her at 3:30 to move on to the next visit.  In between it was just getting my Linda fix.  My plan was to take pictures of the two of us laughing, talking, knitting and maybe drinking a little wine but we got so into talking that we never ended up knitting and I never took a picture.  Just to remind you who Linda is . . . 

This is Linda with Oleya at Knit Purl in Portland. Linda and I talked knitting and yarn and patterns and projects and wishes and ideas and schemes and more.  We went out to lunch, checked out a new gift shop and new yarn shop in Adrian that have opened since Linda left in December.  I must admit, I did buy some yarn.  

I am just a sucker for gradient yarn.  I can't seem to resist the magic of the subtle color change whether it is separate little skeins like this or the incredible cakes of Twisted Fiber Art.  This is Diva Gradient in Rusted by Leading Men Fiber Arts.  I must say I am very taken with this.

I also must say that I have never heard of Leading Men Fiber Arts but I do like what I see.  This is Show Stopper Gradient in Razzle Dazzle.  It reminds me of the song from Chicago.  

Last, but certainly not least is Mechita in Archangel by Malabrigo.  Reds and purples; if that does't say celebration, I don't know what does.  If I would have realized what was on the way, I might not have been quite so generous at this new LYS.

Linda and Denny played with Tess and had to leave much too soon.  As soon as the car left the driveway I thought, "I didn't say this and we didn't do this and we didn't get to. . . "  I guess all of that will need to wait until the next time.

While Linda and I were exploring the joys of Adrian, the mail carrier brought me a package I had forgotten all about.  Those scoundrels at Noble Knits had tempted me once again with a sale on Schoppel Laceball 100.  Why do online sellers insist on picking exactly what I love, put it on sale and then send me an email about it!?!?!?!?!  Totally unfair but profitable for them.  I love the Noble Knits logo.  He/she could come and be my pet any day.  I think Miss Tess would love it.

I love Laceball 100 by Schoppel and saw a couple of colors I had never seen before.  The one above and the one below.  Aren't they the bomb!

I wish I could tell you that I know exactly what I'm going to do with them, that I have the perfect pattern and this is the perfect yarn, yada, yada, yada.  Since our relationship is based on truth, trust and transparency, I just can't say it.  I saw it, I loved it, I bought it.  End of story.  

One would think that these two forays into fiber collecting would be enough for the week, but the mail carrier had more in store for me.  On Thursday, a package came from Earthfaire and the amazing Ellen.  

I have fallen in love with the Find Your Fade pattern and saw this on one of my weekly emails from one of my newest besties, Ellen from Earthfaire.  Only a bestie would make sure you have plenty of reading material for a husband's stay in the hospital like Ellen did when Dick had heart surgery.    Ellen just has a way of reading my mind from a distance about my favorite Ravelry patterns, kitting them with fabulous yarn then emailing me to let me know.  This time she had Gradient Family Color Sets in KPPPM Koigu.  

Because I couldn't make up my mind or I thought I might love Find Your Fade so much I would want to make 2, I bought another.  I have always been intrigued by Koigu and love the magazine which creates patterns to showcase the amazing yarn.  You might think this was all I purchased from Earthfaire but you would be wrong.

This is Katia's Darling in a colorway Ellen calls Valentine. I already have a couple of balls but wanted a couple more.

Now you might think this is all of the yarn that came my way this week, but once again again you would be wrong.  I had one more package coming my way.  

I got my package from Twisted Fiber Art for the latest yarn club.  I am saddend because this may be the last club but ecstatic at how over the top this new club is.  We used to get our beautiful club yarn in a shipping bag but this club came in a perfect little box.  Immediately, it was just cuter, better, more exciting.  I am a sucker for great packaging.  But no one has ever knit a scarf using a cute box, so I quickly opened my cute little box and found this. . .

This is the Bread and Roses Club.  You can choose either Bread or Roses for your exclusive colorways, but of course, I always choose both.  The top colorway is Marmalade Toast and next to Lucky Penny it may be my favorite club colorway of all times.  Once again my photography doesn't do the magnificent colors justice.  I love to just stare at it.  I feel myself calming down and getting kind of warm inside.  Who knew that a cake of yarn could do that?!?!?!?!?!  The colorway on the bottom is called Rose Garden and it has the perfect pinks and yellows and peach colors of all different types of roses.  Beautiful.  I immediately fired off an email expressing my adoration and excitement for the new club.  My underlying goal is to see if I can subtlety convince the Twisted Team to continue yarn clubs.   

I also found a recipe for bread and one for cake inside the cute little box.  Was this a great week or what?!?!?!  Starting with Linda and ending with my Twisted Fiber Art's Club, it can't get much better than this.  Weeks like this are certainly contributing to the size of my yarn stash.  Well, TW3 and wasn't it great!

I recently saw an article that talked about choosing your next five projects.  I thought, "WOW! What a great idea!"  Instead of having a queue of a hundred or so, to actually know what what I'm going to do for the next five treasures.  It would make life much simpler.  So I went to iBooks where I keep copies of all of my downloadable patterns.  This is so different than even 5 to 10 years ago when I would have gotten out magazines or pattern books.  

Let me tell you how I organize my online patterns.  Lately, I have been finding amazing pattern ideas on Pinterest.  It is phenomenal but I've told you that before.  Then I go to the website where I can purchase the pattern.  Sometimes it is Ravelry, sometimes it is Patternfish, sometimes it is Carftsy, sometimes it is a website of the designer.  I purchase it then the next thing I do is put the pattern in iBooks.  Then I download the pattern from the email sent by Ravelry, Patternfish, Craftsy or the designer and save it on my computer as I am making a printed copy.  So each pattern I buy can be found in my account where I purchased it, in iBooks, on my computer in downloads and in a notebook for printed copies.  If I loose the printed pattern, it doesn't matter.  If my iPad dies, it doesn't matter.  If my computer dies, it doesn't matter.  I have built so much redundancy into my patterns, I am set.  

Let's get on to My Next Five Treasures.

​1.  Ravenscliffe by A. Hamilton

If you saw this pattern wouldn't you say, "This is something Jan would knit"? I saw this picture on Pinterest and immediately said, "Got to have it!"  

​2.  Double Fun Scarf by Wendy D. Johnson

This is made out of my favorite yarn, the yarn I've knit with more than any other, Kauni EQ.  Someday I will write about all of the beautiful pieces I've made using Kauni EQ.  

​3.  Cross Country Skiing by Carol Sunday

I plan on using Fiberstory's Silky in 5 different colors that are "tealish."  I have 3 skeins of this gorgeous yarn (which I'm going to give to Linda for her birthday) so I know it is exactly the right yarn.  This is going to be a stunner.

​4.  Season's by DanDoh

This is absolutely one of the most amazing ponchos I've ever seen.  I can't wait to find the right yarn.  I can feel my heart beating faster with excitement.  

​5.  Wunderwellen by Ute Nawratil

Isn't this one of the most mind blowing stitches you've ever seen!?!?!? I think I may be using a Twisted Fiber Arts Gradient called Purple Rain in honor of Prince.  I've been waiting for the perfect pattern to use with this scrumptious fiber.  

​6.  Aurora borealis by Tashashu Gordon

Tashashu Gordon is my favorite, new designer.  I have many of her patterns in the queue.  She sets a new standard for "out there" ideas.  I want to knit them all.  RIGHT NOW!  I really don't know how she thinks of the designs.  They are spectacular.  You really need to Google Tashashu Gordon and get ready to be WOW!  

WAIT A MINUTE!  I said I was going to pick my next five but I have chosen 14 with no end in sight.  As I was looking through iBooks I was saying, "I want to do this and this and this and this."  There really wasn't much I didn't want to do right now.  What I think this says is there are unlimited, amazing patterns out there.  

Right now Miss Tess is keeping me very busy.  As soon as potty training is over, I'll be able to get back to my 3 hours of knitting each day.  Until then, I'll try really hard not to let the lack of knitting make me ornery.

My early fall copy of Vogue Knitting came in the mail a couple of weeks ago.  Since we are in the throws of everything puppy, I didn't rush to it like I usually do.  When I looked at the articles mentioned on the cover, nothing seemed to grab me and say, "HEY! Come see me right now!"  Vogue Knitting always has something that grabs my interest even if it is just an advertisement with a fabulous knitted garment.  I have found more beautiful "I must knit this" in the the ads of knitting magazines than I have found in the patterns.  I did do a quick, "Cute Shoes!" as I looked at the cover then I moved to the never ending puppy training.  A couple days later my sister Kathy called to asked if I had seen the new Vogue Knitting because there was a fabulous article on Maggie Jackson and MaggiKnits.  I opened Vogue Knitting and there it was.

The headline said it all.  All of my Maggie memories came flooding back.  Linda and I attended a Maggie Jackson class at Crafty Lady in Macomb before it became Crafty Lady Trio.  We were both taken under the spell of everything Maggie.  She is a force of nature.  It was hypnotic listening to her speak in that beautiful voice sharing stories and techniques I will always remember.  I learned some of the secrets of professional knitters for saving time while not sacrificing perfection.  My class with Maggie Jackson is one of my "game changers" in knitting. I look at knitting in a different way because of my time with Maggie Jackson.  Best tip ever:  when you are picking up stitches like around a neck or button band, pick up the stitches so they look perfect.  No holes, no scrunches.  Then after you have your stitches picked up count to see how many you have.  If you have too many on the next row decrease evenly across the row.  If you have too few, increase evenly across the row,  Just think!  No ripping out and trying it again and again and again only to have a ugly hole.  Masterful.  I was also throughly impressed that Kaffe Fassett is one of her friends.  But I bet Maggie was impressed that Linda Kaufman is one of my friends. 

Whether a sweater, shawl, skirt or cape, the Maggie look is immediately recognizable.  Asymmetrical, Maggie tubes, holes, buttons and yummy yarn are all hall marks of MaggiKnits.   Maggie was designing "edgy" before Stephen West had picked up two sticks and a string.  Kathy bought 3 kits and got me thinking, don't I have a MaggiKnit kit somewhere?  I looked in my tub marked Maggie Jackson and it wasn't there.  I looked at every tub to see if I had a second Maggie Jackson tub, I didn't.  Finally, I decided to look in the tub where I have kitted yarn with their pattern so I won't forget.  There it was.  The yarn was beautiful, the buttons were stunning but there was one problem.

The pattern was for a pull over sweater and I don't wear pullover sweaters any more.  There is just something about my stomach and rear that really don't look good stretching knitted garments.  But I did love the yarn.

Dark blue, turquoise, copper!  In another pattern this would be a stunner.  So I immediately wrote to Maggie with my dilemma asking for guidance.  I got an answer right away.  I picked some of the kits I loved on MaggiKnits and asked if these were possible.  Unfortunately everything I was in love with was knit in tweed and my yarn is linen.  So I pulled out my three Maggie Jackson books but didn't find anything that rung the bell.  I really want this to be a piece which has all of the signature stitches of Maggie Jackson.  It must be asymmetrical, it must have tubes, it must change colors in a dramatic Maggie fashion.  Then I found it.

This stunningly Maggie wrap.  It has it all.  As an added incentive, I will need to change up the color sequence because I don't have quite enough dark blue to do it in all one color.  I GET TO PUT MY OWN UNIQUE TOUCH ON A MAGGIE JACKSON WRAP!!!!! Is that cool or what!

This is my yarn and buttons.  I think it will be spectacular.  I can't wait to start.  Let me tell you how this makes me feel.

The only change I would make would be to leave out "you are close to finishing a knitting project."  Since this is My Year Of Selfish Knitting, I don't have to finish a project to begin a new one.  All I have to ask is, "does this bring me joy?" and if the answer is "no" it's on to the next one.  I may be on to Maggie sooner rather than later.  Hurray!

This is the marvelous Miss Tess who is distracting me from knitting.

I love to get my alerts about knitting blogs I have signed up for.  When I open my email and see a message from one of the several blogs I subscribe to, I get excited.  It is almost like seeing that copy of Vogue Knitting in the mail or until January that copy of Knitter's.  I am still very sad that Knitter's is no longer published.  It was my favorite magazine.  Getting a copy of it was akin to a middle school boy confiscating a copy of the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue.  I would take a deep breath, my heart would skip a beat, I would salivate a bit, then turn back the cover and get ready to be WOWed!  I would be incommunicado for the rest of the evening.  I got an email from Craftsy this week and saw something that I believe I know a little bit about.

I immediately went to the blog and got ready to read and critique.  I thoroughly enjoy the Craftsy blog and encourage you to sign up for it.  Don't you just love learning something new and useful about the art form we love.  I am always searching for a better, simpler, prettier idea to include in my repertoire of unique and amazing techniques.   When I saw "4 Ways To Organize Your Yarn Stash," it seemed like a miracle, minor though it may be.  I am ready to do a mega overhaul on the Stash Studio, and I get this article from a company I respect with suggestions on how to organize a yarn stash.  If that isn't "meant to be" I don't know what is.  

The four ways to organize your stash according to Craftsy are color, fiber, weight and project.  I think I may have found a better way for those of us to have humungous stashes.  When Ashley Little the writer of "4 Ways To Organize Your Yarn Stash" started her article by saying, "I recently moved my yarn stash from individual fabric bins into a chest," I thought, "AMATEUR!!!!!" But I decided to give her tips a try.  

1. Color: Even though I am a color person, this doesn't work for 90% of my stash.  I do have 9 tubs of pink yarn left over from Survivor Shawls, 3 bins of turquoise and copper I collected to knit the wall hanging I fell in love with at Knitting On The Fringe, 1 tub of blue from Knit The Sky  and I have 1 tub of white/cream that I really don't remember why I was collecting. 

Remember this?  I must say the tub in the upper right hand corner is only a mini-tub of what I really have.  The rest is in (in 3 bear language) the Papa Bear sized tub.  

This is the only time I would tub like colors.  What happens is that you loose individual skeins of yarn and it all blends in together.  Each beautiful skein looses it's identity to BLUE or PINK or GREEN  or whatever color you are sorting.  To quote an old saying, "You can't see the trees for the forest."

2. Fiber:  The concept may have merit but this also does't work for me.  Once again individual skeins disappear into the black hole of COTTON or WOOL or ALPACA.  

3.  Weight:  This is the organization method Ashley chose for her stash.  She had her sock yarn together in one draw of her chest for sock inspirations.  She also says organizing by weight helps you quickly see if you have the right yarn for a project.  Once again, "AMATEUR!"  My head is stuck on a chest holding an entire stash.  In what year or decade would my stash have fit into a chest organized by weight?  I think it was the late '80's!  

4. Project:  This is it!  This is the closest I come to organizing by Ashley's 4 Way method.  I call organizing by project "In The Queue." But what about UDY, my undesignated yarn category?  I buy yarn that I have no idea how it will be used based simply on the "love it, got to have" philosophy.  I have lots and lots and lots and lots of UDY!  

Now let's  see how I go about organizing my amazing Stash Studio.  

To start with, I need tubs in all sizes (Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear), labels, a Sharpee in black, and lots of Diet Coke or if this is a morning job, lots of coffee.  I also have on hand 2 gallon ziplock bags to  kit yarn with the appropriate pattern.  Next I need . . .

I need the table cleared and one chair empty of yarn or knitting books or needles or whatever else might be resting.  Next I pick CD's on my Bose (yes, I know that makes me sound old since Bose doesn't even make a CD player and everything is downloadable.)  Now I take a deep breath and peruse the Stash Studio to determine my plan of attack.  I determine how much yarn I have purchased since my last reorganization and if I will need to cull the stash to make room.  I have two questions I ask myself and I must get 2 "no's" before I get rid of yarn.  Do I think I will ever use it?  If the answer is "yes" there is no need for questions #2.  Do I love it?  If the answer if "no," (and let's be honest all of us have purchased yarn that was a mistake.  I must say most of my mistakes were purchased online rather than in a LYS.)  I put it in a box to either give away or dispose of.  I must say I have disposed of very few skeins of yarn.  It is like throwing a book away.  I just can't do it.  Now I have some room for my new yarns.

My two favorite ways to organize are by project or "In The Queue" or by company.   I must say, I really do know every skein of yarn in the stash.  When we built the Stash Studio and I moved all of my stash into it, I had somebody say to me, "I bet you found yarn you forgot you had."  My response was, "Have you ever found children you forgot you had?" I have 3 tubs of Madelinetosh, 15 tubs of Noro, 1 tub of Blue Herron, 3 tubs of Twisted Fiber Art, 1 tub of Kauni and the beat goes on.  All of my tubs are labeled with exactly what is inside; company, type of yarn, color, ect.  

When I find a pattern I fall in love with (now a days usually on Pinterest), I think through what I have in the Stash Studio that would be perfect then take a trip up the stairway to heaven.  Usually I can see my yummy yarn knit up into the amazing pattern.

Tomorrow I will climb the stairway to heaven to work on the rebirth of the Stash Studio.  I thought I would have it done when Linda comes in September for a visit.  I just found out that Linda will be here in a week and a half so it is doubtful if this will happen.  For those of you who can fit your stash in a chest of drawers, Ashley's 4 methods will be very useful.  For those of you whose yarn stash is reaching epic proportions, you might want to try my way.  Good luck.