Stash and Burn

No, I am not burning my stash, just giving a great deal of thought to my knitting habits.  In the past, my yarn purchases have been made with little or no thought as to what I was going to actually make with the yarn.  I simply wanted it because it was pretty, soft, squishy and wonderful.  I would buy 6-8 skeins of yarn, and say to myself "This should be enough for what I might make", or "Wouldn't this make a nice shawl/sweater/vest, whatever".  Of course, when I pulled out those 6 or so skeins of yarn and began looking through pattern books, I either didn't have enough yarn, or the yarn I wanted to use wasn't really the right weight or fiber.  Yes, many substitutions can be made in patterns provided the correct gauge can be achieved.  But, some stitches simply look better in a silk lace weight yarn than they do in Caron Simply Soft, period.
As a result of this willy-nilly purchasing, I now have a great deal of yarn that I don't know what to do with.  More recently, I have made an effort to either purchase a suggested pattern for the yarn I want, or have one chosen from one of the many books I have.  This has cut down a great deal on the amount of incoming yarn.  My problem now is, working on one (or two at the most) projects at a time and finishing them before starting any more.
You may have heard me say before that I like small projects that aren't too complicated.  Large projects with cables or lace tend to get to me after a while, and I feel that little progress is being made because it takes so dang long to finish; so I set them aside and start something else that interests me.  And on and on.  I have many unfinished items lying around, stuck in this bag or that, and I have long since forgotten which line of the pattern I have left off on.  I will most likely just frog the majority of them.
Right now, I have 3 big projects that I intend to finish before ordering more yarn or starting anything new.  These are my Handsome Shawl from Victorian Lace Today, the very large beast of an afghan I started about a month ago, and the sweater I am knitting in the round using EZ's percentage method.  I've mentioned these things before several times, so those of you who are regulars will know what I am talking about.   It is my goal to have all of these completed by the end of the year, and I will not allow myself to start any new projects or order any more yarn - after I receive the back ordered stuff from Jimmy Beans and Paradise Fibers.... ahem... - until these 3 are done, blocked, and being used.  
I am tired of having nothing to show for all the money spent on gorgeous yarns, and money spent on pattern books and stitch libraries; I would love to utilize the many techniques I see in the books I have.  What is the point of having so many books that I don't even use?  There is no point.  I want to be a better knitter, and in order to be that, I need to choose a pattern, begin the project, and finish it.  I believe this will not only make me a better knitter, but a happier knitter.   I would also like to have more to share with all of you who read my blog and watch my videos than the latest magazines or books I have purchased.
And so, with all of that being said, I am going to go and work on one of the above mentioned projects.  I usually post a progress picture on my facebook page, so be sure to check there.  Until next time, Happy Knitting!

Picots On The Sides

Picot Cloth

I love picots, and was thrilled to learn the picot bind off a couple of years ago.  And even more thrilled when I learned the picot cast on.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered I could add picots to the sides as well, to create a picot border!  It's the small things in life, isn't it?

The method of adding picots to the sides is the same idea as the cast on or bind off - you simply cast on a few extra stitches and then immediately bind them off.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  I have knit a dish cloth or wash cloth with a lovely picot border and am sharing the pattern.  Below is also a video on making the side picots.  If you don't know how to do the cast on or bind off, I have videos for those as well over on my YouTube channel.

Picot Cloth
All you need is some Lily Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn, and US size 7 needles.
I used the color Natural Stripes

Cast on 46 stitches using the picot cast on method.
Row 1: Knit all stitches
Row 2: Make a picot, knit to end

Repeat Row 2 to desired length - I just knit until I was almost out of yarn.  Then bind off using the picot bind off method.

And here is the video demonstrating picots on the side :

This cloth is my own design.  You are free to use the pattern to knit cloths for yourself and friends/family; if you would like to share the pattern with others via your own blog, please link back to me.