Green Eyed Monster

I am not a jealous person. In fact, it is quite rare that I feel jealousy towards someone. If I ever do feel a twinge of envy, on the whole it is because the person in question has children, and I really want kids. Lots of 'em. Now, I'm not saying I am jealous of every single person on the planet who has children, definitely not. What I mean is that every now and again, when I'm feeling low & I see a lovely, happy family I think to myself, "Man, I wish I had that."

But now, though, I have noticed something else bringing the green-eyed monster in me, and that is knitter's stashes.

No, not that kind of stache, silly.

This is Stitched Together's stash (A.K.A Chrissy), so I'll be writing a
post all about her next week. So stay tuned!

This kind of stash.

I don't have to scroll through someone's stash on Ravelry for very long before I begin to feel a little envy for what they have. Especially if it is hand-dyed yarn. Honestly, I swear that stuff is a knitting drug. Once you try it for the first time, you just want to spend all your money buying more.

Like most knitters and crocheters, when I first started with the craft I didn't see any point in having a stash. I used to just decide on what I wanted to make and buy the yarn/

That logic lasted for all but one project. I soon came to realise that knitting the project was not the only enjoyable part of the process, actually buying the yarn was fun too!I quickly discovered that the best way of going about choosing a project to make was to choose the yarn first, then find a pattern to use.

I recently got a new bed, and it has three huge drawers underneath of it. One of them is not being used for yarn and, guess what, IT IS FULL! It makes me very happy to pull it open and see all this yarn before me, knowing that I have so much choice in terms of what projects I can make. 

Most of my yarn is cheapie acrylic stuff, but as long as you pick particular brands you do get some lovely yarns. Stylecraft has really upped its game, and its Special 4ply & DK ranges are among my favourites to knit with. When I get a bigger budget, I'd love to be able to start stashing away hand-dyed yarns from places such as Candy Skein and Gnome Acres. Also to buy more expensive commercial yarns like Arteseno. 

Until then, however, I'm perfectly happy with my stash. I'm looking forward to seeing how much it'll grow over the coming year, perhaps even a few hand-dyed skeins will make their way in there.

So, dear reader, do you have your own personal stash? If so, what is your favourite yarn hidden away in there?

I'll see you guys at the same time tomorrow, when Knitting & Crochet Blogging Week kicks off - wahooooo! I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to it! If you aren't joining in, I highly recommend you do so, it is a bundle of fun!

Lookin' Out of My Back Door

There are a few factors that are involved in my choosing of what to knit that day, the biggest one for me, is the weather. This may sound weird, but please, hear me out.

I have a lovely window right by my bed, which looks out onto our back garden and a few fields (this is the country - there are fields everywhere!). So, as soon as my eyelids flutter open in the morning, I open the curtains to admire the weather for the day. Now, if you don't already think I'm weird enough, I love any kind of weather. If I had the health to do so, I'd be out all day every day, rain or shine. I just love being outdoors.

Unfortunately, at the moment my health is at the point where I can only leave the house once or twice a week. As I am inside the house all the time, the weather doesn't affect my day at all.

So, one day last year, I decided to work on a project that complimented the weather we were having outside. "WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" I hear you ask. Okay, so this is how it works.

In the early years of my life, I watched the Teletubbies so
much that I thought that was what the sun *actually*
looked like...

If the sun is shining and its warm outside, then I'll work on a bright coloured project, or one that has some kind of link to summer. For example, working on a strawberry baby hat fit the bill as it is both bright, and a fruit that is most readily available in the summer.

Why do people in RomComs always kiss
in the rain? You'll catch pneumonia, since
when was that sexy?!

Now, if it is raining, cloudy or windy, you have to knit a comfy project. Either it must be a warm/soft/chunky yarn, something big (like a blanket), or a project that you would wear in such weather (ex- working on a scarf).

Now, you may think that it is an insane way of picking up a project, and that's fine if you think so. I do know others that do it though, so I don't feel as crazy as I probably should do.

How do you go about chosing a project to knit (or crochet!)? Tell me in the comments below! I'll see you all at the same time tomorrow, until then I'm off to watch The Notebook...