a triple win - you, me, and those in need

Around the holidays each year, my thoughts turn to charitable giving. I am blessed to live a comfortable life, and I am grateful that I have enough discretionary income to knit, spin, take photos, and travel to see my fiber friends. Yet I know that there are many who struggle to afford even the basic needs of life.

This year, with especially difficult economic circumstances, food banks are anticipating greater demand for their services this winter. In lieu of exchanging Christmas gifts, my extended family is donating cash to a food bank instead.

I thought this would also be a good opportunity to do some destashing. I've gone through my stash to see what I can part with, and I will donate 50% of the asking price to a food bank.

This is a triple win!

• A win for you, because you get some new yarn but know that half of that price will go to feed the hungry.
• A win for me, because I get to clear out my stash and make a bigger charitable donation this year.
• A win for the food banks, because cash is the most valuable donation they can receive. With cash, they can buy food at wholesale prices. Not only can they get more "bang for the buck" at wholesale prices, but they can also buy items that they need the most.
  

Take a look at what I’ve got for sale in my stash for sale page on Ravelry, and remember that half of that price will go directly to a food bank to help the hungry during the holiday season!

Lots of good stuff is there ...


And more!

PM/email for more info or shipping prices. Thanks for looking!

look what came in the mail

My mailbox has been bursting with goodies recently.*

I only bought one thing -- a skein of black Cascade 220 -- but I've been selling and swapping a lot. Several weeks ago, I went on a fiber crawl in Maine with some blog buddies. I fell in love with two spinning wheels, and realized that I needed to save some money for a wheel of my own. I decided that some of my stash would be better off in other peoples' homes. A big thank you to everyone who bought something from me! My wheel fund has grown quite a bit :)

Through the wonder that is Ravelry, I also arranged several trades. Let's call it "stash reassignment."

First, several swaps for some Araucania Nature Wool. I am planning some felting projects, and learned the hard way that it can be important to use all of the same kind of yarn when knitting something to felt, or uneven felting could occur.**

I love the colors and subtle variegations of the Nature Wool. I checked out the yarn on Ravelry before swapping, and it looks like it felts pretty well. I'm planning some more felted clogs, with dark soles and lighter tops.

From the top left:
2 skeins of purple from Kara
2 skeins of gray from Megan
2 skeins of navy blue from Megan
2 skeins of brown, one from Jen and another from Megan
2 skeins of purple-ish pink from Jess

I gave Megan three different things from my stash, and she also sent me some Patons Merino that I didn't photograph! Jen got some All Seasons Cotton. I made some sock project bags for Kara and Jess. Kara got the one on the left, and Jess got the other two -- one as a swap, and she bought the second one :)

Here's Jess' photo of the bags with stuff in them --

I also got a skein of beauuuuuutiful Wollmeise from winning a contest on Rachel's blog. That's the blue in the lower right corner of the mosaic above. Rachel rocks! Not only did she give out really cool yarn as a prize, but she also let me pick the color I wanted and then bought it just for me :)

And, I swapped with Sarah for a copy of Mason Dixon Knitting, which I've already put to use (more on that in another post). I have a couple of other swaps pending, too! Good times :)

I'm really happy with my new yarn. I am much more likely to use this than what I had in the stash, lovely as those things were. And I had a lot of fun making sock bags. Kara liked hers so much, she's going to buy 2 more from me!

All around, a great experience, and I made some new friends!

*****

* That's a figurative expression. We actually have a mail slot in the door. When anything bigger than the slot arrives, it gets left between the wood door and the storm door. I can tell it's a good mail day when I get home and the storm door is held slightly ajar from all the packages.

** That's another post. One that requires photos that I have not yet taken!

of spinning and sales

I've gotten pretty hooked on this spinning thing. Lots of fun, turning fluffy stuff into yarn.

(Roving from the Sheep Shed. Two-ply in the center, navajo plied then knit on the right.)

One small problem. I don't have a spinning wheel and I really want one :) (Julia has been kind enough to loan me hers, but it is high time that I think about returning it!!)

Unfortunately, as a new home owner and part time grad student, there is no spinning wheel budget at the moment. What's a girl to do?

STASH SALE!!!!!

Yep, I'm selling some yarn. I love all my yarn. But I have to admit that I have far more of it than I will ever knit. So, my loss is your gain!

Good stuff, too ... a couple of kinds of Rowan, some Fleece Artist sock yarn, Ultra Alpaca, and more. All at 25% off retail rates :)

There are two ways to check out the goods --
Click over to my stash sale set
or
check out my trade/sell page on Ravelry

If you are interested in anything, email me at aswiminknits AT yahoo DOT com, or message me on Ravelry. You can leave a comment on Flickr too, although I don't check it as obsessively regularly as I check my email and Ravelry message box.

If you know anyone who might be in the market for some new yarn, feel free to send them this way :)

Helleborus is finished

I finished my Helleborus scarf a while ago, but never got a good photo. So, I might as well post a bad photo.

Project specs:
Pattern: Helleborus, from mustaa villaa
Yarn: Shimmer, from Over the Rainbow Yarns
Gauge: eh, it's a scarf!
Needles: Addi turbos, size 9
Size: Absurdly long (72? inches)
Posted to Ravelry

I think I'll really enjoy this in the cool weather.

40 Days for Others

Last year, I participated in a knit-along called "40 Days for Others", hosted by Annie. 40 Days is a KAL that focuses on knitting for charity during the 40 days of the Lenten season. I'll be doing it again this year! My reasons for participating haven't changed much since last year, so I'll just link you to what I said then.


I'll be knitting mostly for Dulaan unless I see another request for charitable knitted items that moves me. I'll still be knitting for myself and those I know, but will be mindful of creating balance between both kinds of knitting.

Here's my first 40 Days project --


This is a hat, which will almost certainly have a crown of a different color, due to lack of green yarn! It's a Lopi yarn that I overdyed with blue food coloring last year. I have looked at it so many times over the past year, and I'm glad to be knitting with it. It's a pretty thick yarn, but I'm knitting it on medium sized needles to create a dense and warm fabric. I'm guessing that I will find some blue yarn to use for the crown when I run out of this color.

2 fuzzy photos

The clogs of the last post were indeed felted.
I felted them with some towels for agitation. The white fuzz on the clogs is from the towels. I'll remove it eventually.


See how the right one is a little bigger? I felted it some more so they are now the same size.

They are warm and cozy, especially on the wood floors of our new house. I might need to attach leather soles, though, as they are a bit slippery.

things about which I have not spoken, part A

I did not mean to disappear from the blog for so long. Really, I didn't. Life just got the better of me. I have still been knitting a bit, and there are several projects for which I need to provide updates.

However, that would require photos which in turn would require daylight. Not seeing much of that recently, the photos are on hold for a bit.

But, I did manage to find some unblogged photos on my computer.

Back in December, my SnB did a Yankee Stash Swap for the holidays. Everyone brought something small from their stash and gifts were exchanged...

I got this skein of Cascade Quattro (like 220, but with each of the 4 plies in a different color), and project bag.

It didn't stay in my stash very long, though! It grew up to become this ...


It's the ubiquitous felted clog pattern by Fiber Trends. Obviously still unfelted here, though!
(And look, handknit socks in action! And I'm wearing the same socks again today!)

This was a nice stashbuster -- the pattern calls for 3 skeins of feltable wool.

1) I used the gift yarn for the uppers (and got rid of a skein of something else in the gift exchange).

2) Then, I had a skein of navy blue left over from a hat/scarf/mitts set for my FIL.

3) I needed a second skein of navy blue, so I went to a local LYS and exchanged a skein of yarn that I bought for a gift project, yet never needed. I made the gift (socks in Baby Cashmerino) but had purchased an extra skein. So, I exchanged it for another skein of navy Cascade 220.

Net stash reduction -- 3 balls. Let's not talk about what's left to be busted still.

The slippers have been felted and the photos will be posted soon. Perhaps even tomorrow.