Exploring the stash

After reading Truly Myrtle's post on "stash grooming", I was inspired to reevaluate my own stash.  I actually have two stashes as many college students do, one at my parent's house and one at college.  Inevitably, I often forget what I have in my home stash.

So, this morning I broke out my stash, organized it, and entered it all onto Ravelry, and it felt great!

Here it all is (not counting a bag I'll mention later):

I've got a healthy mix of handspun, luxury, self dyed, and acrylics (that people always seem to gift me).

I remembered how much I loved to dyed yarn a couple of years ago.  I've had some pretty experiments and some not so pretty experiments.  I'm definitely going to make time to dye some more this summer.  I especially want to try dyeing with tea again (the brown skein below).

Some wonderful family friends gifted me some amazing new yarns that I've never tried knitting with before.  The first two are Cascade Sierra (cotton/wool blend) and the third one is Manos Silk Blend.  Didn't they pick out the best colors?

Lastly I dug through my undyed base yarn bag and I have a lot of yarn to work with.  I have a skein of Knit Picks Bare DK, 6 skeins of Cascade 220, and 5 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash.  This was excellent news because Lisa and I have been planning a yarn dyeing party this summer, we are going to have a blast!

I've always been proud of being able to maintain my stash at a reasonable size, this summer I'm planning on downsizing it a lot with some great new projects.

Have any exciting stash plans?

Knitting at the airport

I really dislike flying commercially. I've been flying at least 10 times a year for the last seven years while attending boarding school and then college out-of-state. So I have definitely seen the painful decline of air travel in the US first hand.

Due to the extent that flying stresses me out, I'm not sure how I could do it without knitting to help relax me.  I always knit socks at the airport, it is tradition.  It is also a great type of project because I'm less likely to elbow the person sitting next to me.  Today I brought this pretty project along:

My connecting flight today was at Chicago O'Hare Airport (KORD), one of the cleaner and less stressful of the larger airports.  It has some really fun little things to see while waiting for an inevitably delayed United flight (every time), such as the light tunnel and a hydroponics garden:

On this particular trip I found something that made me really happy, a cafe called Argo Tea.  To me, being able to find properly brewed tea and yummy, healthy salads at an airport is pretty much the best thing ever.  I'll certainly visit them again the next time I fly. 

Things I've learned as a frequent flyer (in the US): 

- Be very nice to the TSA, especially while taking needles in your carry on (contrary to common belief, they are allowed during domestic travel and I've never had them taken away) or when traveling with children.  This is also one of the few situations where standing up for yourself is not a good idea, they will punish you.

- Never ever fly US Airways. Ever.  Among other things, they refuse to gate check your carry-on if the overhead containers fill up, and will likely lose your luggage if they check it later.  Also avoid United if possible, they will cancel your flight up to 30 minutes before boarding due to "mechanical problems" which is usually just their way of saying the flight was not full enough, also they are always late.

- Southwest is my favorite airline by far, even if the seating situation is a little crazy.  Delta is generally acceptable except for in weather situations. 

- Bring your own goodies, the snacks there are never worth the premium and you will have exactly what you want for your trip.  In case of a delayed connecting flight sprint I always bring nuts to help keep up my energy.

-  If possible pick out a carry-on bag that looks like a purse, not a roller-bag.  If you get stuck on a smaller plane or if overhead space runs out, you will be less likely to be forced to check it even if it is the same size as a roller-bag. 

- Frequent flyer point systems are rarely ever worth the effort, I don't even bother anymore because most of them reset every year now. 

- International concourses usually have the best food and minimum noise (KATL --> Concourse E). 

- If a flight is cancelled or rescheduled for the next day due to mechanical failure, the airlines are usually contractually obligated to pay for a hotel room. This is not true for weather cancelations.

- If you find yourself in a terrible situation caused by an airline company and need help, call the people at Flyer's Rights.  They are a non-profit with a 24 hour help line and will help you.


Have any good tips for surviving commercial flights?

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and for those of you traveling tomorrow, good luck!

Road tripping along

I've been very quiet here for a while because I have been traveling with my family.  I've still been trying to keep up with you all using my phone because I've been at places with no internet until today.  As a tip to those of you Blogger people with Captcha enabled, it is incredibly frustrating to comment by iPhone and you may be losing some comments that way.

Graduation was fantastic!  I ended up graduating with high honors and a few other awards, which was the perfect way to end my undergraduate experience.  Jane Lynch was a great speaker and very funny, although she was nothing like the characters she typically plays.

Right after I snagged my diploma, I jumped into the truck with my dad and all of my moving boxes, and headed off to North Carolina!

Eleven hours later we arrived and shortly after that I found the perfect apartment that even has a little garden (which I'm planning to fill with lavender)!  It is such a wonderful feeling to have everything falling into place and I'm excited to move there in the Fall. 

I'm now in upstate New York for my sister's graduation (12 hour drive back up) and have been knitting away any chance I get on my super womanly strength something-or-another sweater.

As I initially suspected, it is almost impossible to be sad while knitting with Madelinetosh.  Everywhere I go I have people comment on how beautiful this yarn is.

For the pattern, I chose Ambrosia, a very pretty, fitted cardigan, with some nice cabling along the front. The best part about this pattern is that there is no seaming!  I'm thinking that because I am using Merino wool instead of cotton, that I might make the sleeves a little longer. 

The most disappointing thing about this trip is that no matter how hard I try, I have been unable to visit a single yarn store!  Hopefully I'll have better news along that front in a few days. 

Work-in-progress Wednesday - #7

I've been a busy little knitter over this quiet little week.  Only seniors are on campus right now and it is very strange and quiet.  It is nice to have some time to breathe before graduation, but at the same time I am living for that moment when I finally get to shake hands with Jane Lynch (!) and receive my diploma!

My Tadpole socks are turning out wonderfully.  I've finished one sock and started on the second. The gradient of this yarn makes it a lot of fun to knit with.  I'm not sure if I like how they feel on my feet though, I'm more of a Merino sock kind of girl.

My Gaia is progressing a little bit more slowly, but it is getting there.  I love how soft the cotton/silk/nylon blend is.

Here is the start of my break-up super duper womanly strength sweater (I'll give you more details on this later).  Why do I knit with anything other than Madelinetosh Vintage?

My spinning project has been a little neglected, but I try to give it a few minutes every day.  The Targhee really is a joy to spin with.

I hope that you are all having a great Wednesday and I hope that you also join in with WIP Wednesday with Tami's Amis.

I wanted to thank every single one of you who have been wonderful enough to support me through this really hard time.  Your comments and your love has helped me more than I can ever express.

Thank you!