Ghosts of Stitches past...

The countdown officially begins today. One Month until Stitches Midwest. I'm enrolled in Karen Alfke's sweater class all day on Friday, so if anyone else out there is enrolled, drop me a line.

I have orders from my aunt for yarn she wants. Teri wants some Lorna's Laces, but what is on my list for this year....Hmmm...

Let's first visit the ghosts of Stitches Midwest past.
2004:
1. 2 balls alpaca - for the Madli shawl, which after many tries, didn't go anywhere.
2. 2 skeins of Tess's Super Sock yarn - knit up this year for me and my sister.
3. Cone of Summer Tweed from Webs - tried to knit this into a sweater last year, but it ended up being way, way, way too big, so I frogged it. I haven't yet restarted it, but I aspire to.
4. 2 balls Dale Stork yarn - Made into baby hats.

2005
1. 2 balls Cascade Fixation - Knitted into socks for me
2. 2 balls Lorna's Laces - Knitted into socks for me.
3. Interlacements Seeds - Knitted into Clapotis
4. Interlacements Rick Rack - Currenlty knitting into a Feather & Fan Shawl for me
5. Socks that Rock - Balled it up tonight to start more socks
6. 2 balls of koigu - balled up. For the Tangled Vines scarf which I have not yet started.
7. Cashmere - Still haven't found anything special enough yet, but I take it out and look at it lovingly quite often.
8. 2 skeins of green no name yarn - Going to make into a log cabin baby blanket when I get inspired.

So the score for Stitches past 2 for 4 for 2004 with an extra point for having a purpose for the Summer Tweed. For 2005, we're 4 for 8, with a purpose for 3 more of the purchases. Not bad. I obviously went with a better game plan for 2005. This year, I should come out even better. (Note I did not mention the spindle...I really, really need to take some spinning lessons. I finally found a place close by to take them, so I'm looking into it for the fall).

Before I go, I just need to take a moment to comment on my obsession with the sock yarn squares. A truly frightening thought occurred to me. I was going to make this a 40"X40" baby blanket (100 squares) and give it away, but I decided I want something to keep for me as a visual record of all the socks I've knit. So, I originally thought it would make a cool spread for the bed in my spare bedroom/crafting room...but the thought of making 1000 squares daunted even me, so I've decided on a lap blanket. Which means that I, in all actuality, only need 300 squares. But the truly frightening point comes in when I think about sewing all those little squares together. It boggles the mind. In my total insanity, I also thought about putting on a picot edge around the blanket. I realize now, that I'm totally insane and am obsessing over an afghan that will take me years to complete. This is totally crazy and yet I dream about it at night. I hope it goes away soon because I'll have to knit quite a few more pairs of socks to make enough squares to make the lap blanket. I'm only on 10 and have yarn for about 20 more. That leaves me 270 short...