I made the pumpkin version last fall, so yesterday I tried the peach.

These preemie hats are too darned cute.

And I got some great suggestions on yesterday's post that if I have too much yarn, I can give it away, either to newbie knitters or to a good cause. While both of these ideas are admirable, well, I don't think I'm that big of a person. You see, I will spend hours and hours and hours making stuff that I just give away. I make tons of preemie caps, squares for HCC afghans, and gifts for friends, but handing over an unknittedup ball of yarn to someone else? Ouch.

At one of my knitting classes, a woman didn't buy her own yarn. She brazenly asked me if she could just use mine. I had this crummy, old, ugly ball of faded brown acrylic junk in my hand, and yet I went, "Um...well...er...uh...o...kay," and slowly handed it to her. It was crap yarn! It was ugly and awful. But giving it away? It hurt my heart. I would've gladly made something out of it and handed it to her for free, but I have a severe selfishness problem with giving away unused yarn.

Sis B, I'd rather hand you ten bucks to go pick out your own yarn! And FbL, we too make blankets for the VA hospital here in town; I was just going to start one soon. The problem is, a lot of the yarn I have is not stuff that is good for these projects. I have used up most of my washable acrylics on HCC squares; what I'm left with is fancy wools and sock yarn and a ton of baby yarn to be made into preemie caps. But I'll dig.

Maybe I can convince myself to be a big enough person to give away yarn.

Maybe.

Doubtful.

Posted by: Sarah at 08:27 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 That hat is amazingly sweet. It could only look sweeter with a teeny, tiny head tucked into it. I cannot WAIT to learn how to do this type of knitting magic!!

Posted by: Guard Wife at April 29, 2008 08:43 AM (GPWZ1)

2 adorable!!

Posted by: awtm at April 29, 2008 12:54 PM (f726z)

3 I love your preemie hats! How sweet the little peach hat is!

Posted by: sharona at April 29, 2008 01:26 PM (BeRta)

4 Very cute! And you make such wonderful stuff, I wouldn't feel bad at all about not give it away.

Posted by: Butterfly Wife at April 29, 2008 02:46 PM (YkizZ)

5 *heehee* Perfectly understandable.

Posted by: FbL at April 29, 2008 09:49 PM (rW1/8)

6 I have *got* to get a picture of Emma wearing her preemie hat sent to you . She is wearing it now!

Posted by: Kate at April 30, 2008 03:41 AM (576n8)

7 I had to giggle! Has Erin told you about ''my stash?''

Posted by: debey at April 30, 2008 06:09 AM (nNfOh)

8 Good thing my apt is small or I'd have more yarn, too. Just need to finish some other projects so I can get on with a Soldiers' Angels crocheting project that I promised to help with.... Love your blog! I haven't been here in a while and wondering why not. Duh.

Posted by: Lisa in DC at April 30, 2008 06:16 PM (7NvA/)

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Knitters with a big stash will completely grok this:

So that's where I am today. At least in my head. Remembering how I felt when I bought this stuff. Remembering what I planned on making with it. Remembering all the emotions I was sure I'd feel when the projects were finished. Beating myself up for never getting around to starting the projects. Beating myself up for not even winding the yarn yet. Beating myself up for beating myself up for all the projects I wanted to make but never got around to.

My friend learned to knit and crochet right when her husband left for Iraq. A year later, she had a serious obsession. She made her husband come over to my house to see my stash so that hers would look small by comparison. Her husband was a bit stunned by my skein collection; my husband just shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

I've been making a conscious effort to use up yarn I already own, but somehow the stash keeps growing. Sometimes is grows slowly, as when I find one lonely ball of mustard yellow on sale for 60 cents that can be used to make HCC squares. Other times it grows in leaps and bounds: one of the ladies in my charity group has been ridding her stash of yarns that bother her arthritic hands, and every two weeks she brings me a new big bag of yarn for me. So even though my stash is growing mostly due to free yarn, it's still starting to overwhelm me.

It takes several hours and about 1.5 oz of yarn to make a preemie cap; thus, bags of yarn every two weeks will take me ages to work through. But somehow I have this stupid mental image that I will use up everything I own someday, and then dust my hands off and go buy more.

Working through my stash is like digging in sand.

Posted by: Sarah at 08:02 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 I'm this way with my scrapbooking supplies. (Note to self: organize and put away your scrapbooking stash before Sarah steps foot in this house!) Oh, well. That's what hobbies are about, I suppose, and as inexpensive as the supplies can be, they mulitply fast!

Posted by: Guard Wife at April 28, 2008 10:02 AM (BslEQ)

2 I promised myself a while ago that I would not buy any more yarn until I had all of my projects with specific yarns completed. So ABW and I walked into the thrift store the other day and found a HUGE bin of Rowan wool yarn for $1.75/skein (brand new, with tags). We went a little crazy. And I felt guilty the whole time. There was a point right before I got to the register that I almost put them back. But I couldn't part with the scrumptious colors I picked out, even though I had no current ideas for the yarn. Hey! Maybe I'll make some wool soakers with the pattern you sent...(I already have three projects on the needles that haven't been touched in weeks). Argh.

Posted by: Erin at April 28, 2008 10:52 AM (y67l2)

3 Well... there's always junior knitters who may or may not be pregnant and may or may not be headed into a deployment and may or may not lust after yarn every time they enter a hobby lobby or michael's who may or may not appreciate your passing on some of the stash to them. Not that I know anybody who may or may not fit those criteria. Nope. Nobody.

Posted by: Sis B at April 28, 2008 11:18 AM (0ZS+T)

4 To Erin's defense she really did almost put it back. I told her to keep it. I couldn't let her put back her measly couple of balls of yarn when I......gulp.......bought 34. (but some of mine were only 75 cents a skein!) No excuse, no excuse..... just don't ask me to count my needles..... I'm off to knit...wait....I'm cutting quilt squares.....tomorrow I knit.

Posted by: ABW at April 28, 2008 11:50 AM (Y3JJK)

5 Shoot, Erin and ABW, no need to gulp...if I had been there, I would've fought you for the yarn myself. I sure don't need 34 new balls, but I would've taken them in a heartbeat, and maybe punched you out if you tried to get me to share.

Posted by: Sarah at April 28, 2008 11:53 AM (TWet1)

6 I've been talking to a company that may be donating yarn to Soldiers' Angels. When I talked to the crochet team about it, the team leader was so excited. She said that most of the knitters and crocheters (who usually make blankets for the VA) are retired and can't afford to buy as much yarn as they would use if they had the opportunity. So... perhaps I could help you find a good home for all that yarn...?

Posted by: FbL at April 28, 2008 12:58 PM (rW1/8)

7 OMG, can I just say that I hate you all. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. I lost my whole stash in the stupid Nor'Easter flood on April 07' and have been aquirring some stuff here and there. If I saw that sale I'd beat you all off with a stick for that yarn. There's too many knitters here in Philly to really be able to get good sale stuff, it's always picked over.

Posted by: Mare at April 29, 2008 09:44 AM (EI19G)

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I finished my Magknits t-shirt yesterday, and I am loving it. I already have plans to make another.

It's not easy to take a photo of yourself with the camera timer and try to get the dog to look cute, your new sweater to look cute, and to not look like you have a bald spot. Two outta three ain't bad, right?

Posted by: Sarah at 04:38 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Loving that t-shirt!!! I all three look great.

Posted by: Guard Wife at April 23, 2008 05:18 AM (BslEQ)

2 I'm dropping words apparently...I think all three of you look fantastic.

Posted by: Guard Wife at April 23, 2008 05:18 AM (BslEQ)

3 My husband used to work for a paycheck advance company. For many it was helpful and no one was forced to take out a loan. At one point a politician decided the military should not be charged the current rate and made the rate to low for the company to make money. They would lose money at the rate required. So what did the company do? Stopped loaning money to soldiers. The net effect? No loans when they may have needed it.

Posted by: Amy at April 23, 2008 03:17 PM (dgUV8)

4 Opps! Wrong post!

Posted by: Amy at April 23, 2008 03:18 PM (dgUV8)

5 So cute!

Posted by: Erin at April 24, 2008 03:31 AM (y67l2)

6 That is so cute. I might have to make one. I'm trying to find a local source for soysilk at the moment.

Posted by: Mare at April 24, 2008 05:25 AM (EI19G)

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I knitted two socks last week on vacation.

Yeah, I never said they matched.

The red one has the StL Cardinals logo on the heel. The black one is made with that fun Tofutsies yarn made out of crab shells. I just really wanted socks made from seafood.

And I imagine someday I will make the partner for each of these socks. But right now, there's work to do. I thought my baby knitting was winding down. Both my cousins had their babies last week, so that only left one more preg lady to knit for. And then I got two wedding invitiations in the mail. And found out someone else is pregnant.

It never ends.

Also in knitting news, while on vacation I went to the Toy and Miniature Museum. I knew that some of Althea Merback's work was there, so I dragged my husband's family to see tiny knitted gloves. This was the sweater we got to see, but there was so much more. It was The.Best.Museum.Evah. (My husband laughed when I said that; "You've been to the Louvre," he joked.) But some statue with no arms has nothing on a six-inch-tall working printing press. Or tiny working musical instruments and cameras. My in-laws are lucky we showed up two hours before closing because I could've spent all day there. And the whole time, I kept wishing I had the AirForceKids or Sir Rowland there with me; they would've loved it.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:12 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I read yesterday at CG that a blogger I've never read before, Dispatches from Blogblivion, has fallen on hard times. I noticed his wife has an Etsy shop, so I went and bought a cute crochet pattern. If anyone is so inclined to get a crochet pattern in exchange for a little charity, her Etsy shop is here. Looks like I will be crocheting little birdies at some point in the future.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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