I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the ACT, the Ngunnawal people. I acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

Friday, November 02, 2007

Novelty is the mother of invention

Five Ferns commented on the Bluetooth scarf ... it's a very good thing to bust a move in your stash with novelty-type yarn. Just hope you didn't have it stored with the good stuff otherwise you could end up with a revolt on your hands.

I assure you there is a strict apartheid policy as regards yarn accommodation, Chez Taph.

Firstly there is the small (1 basket) of the pretties. These are small lots of special/good fibres, hand-spun, hand-dyes and hand-paints. I have a little project to knit the pretties. I'm allowing myself a single project from special yarn at a time.

Then there is workaday stash largely divided by yarn type and then weight. So it's woollen lacweights; baby wools; sock wools; other 4plys; 5plys; 8plys; 12plys - hat stash and other; chunky stuff; mohairs, angoras and cottons (also subivided by weight). There are a few bags of odds and ends of balls divided by colour but not weight for feral knitting.

Then in glorious(?) isolation, where it can taint no natural fibre, there is what can only be described as novelty stash. Mostly cheaply bought, muggle pleasing yarns divided by colour. They have their uses, particularly in the more freeform styles of knitting. They can be mixed with natural fibres for a project, but only as a spice, not a main ingredient. The plan is to knit scarves, wraps, hats etc. Nothing pleases a muggle more than a novelty yarn scarf. Sad, but true. That doesn't mean they have to be knitted completely from one yarn - it's best to mix them up a bit, which is why I divide by colour rather than weight.

And here's a pretty pic of entirely natural fibre - they went to the day spa yesterday and they think they look pretty hot.


Rosie (right) looks cranky because Peggy bit off Rosie's bow but evaded Rosie's attempts to remove Peggys' bow and is skiting about it. The bows are, of course, completely naff, but the groomer insists on them and the girls seem to like them.

4 comments:

DrK said...

hehehe, your yarn organisation sounds like it has a dewey decimal system of sorts attached. speaking of which, i didnt think that show was as funny as it could be. shame really. the girls are gawjus, i want one :)

Kate said...

A friend mother's dog got herself a beauty appt, too. When the dog came home, complete with bow and stylish hair brushed to fluffiness, she tripped into the house with self-conscious pride. My friend roared laughing at both the bow and the posturing pooch and the poor little pup went and hid, literally drooping. I kid you not. Shades of Cinderella after the stepsisters destroyed her ball gown. The daughter still feels horrible about it. The dog and forgave her lavishly the next day. Dog's either have short term memories (doubtful) or are incredibly forgiving.

Gillian said...

I once sorted my stash by colour, which was pretty but impractical because patterns don't usually specify colour.I now have a system similar to yours but not so...(please insert the right word here)
Do you have to pay extra for the bows?
Cheers Gillian

Donna Lee said...

Novelty yarns certainly have their uses. I hate to waste perfectly good, hand washable, hand painted yarn on folks who won't know the difference. My coworkers for example. They think my hand dyed yarns are lovely but don't get the point of the individualness of them and how they are not dye lots. Sigh, that is why I keep a stash of soft, colorful, less than wools for odd projects. And my parents own samoyeds who come back from the groomers with big bows around their bear-like necks. Talk about funny!