Yarn Along

I’m knitting the little sweater ornaments from Knit Picks’ Snow Day kit, which is particularly apt given the 8 inches of snow that fell overnight in Southeastern Pennsylvania.  These little sweaters will become a fun and colorful part of my winter décor.  I’ll share how I plan to use them once I’ve knitted up a few more.

I’ll still have a majority of the yarn leftover after knitting this kit, and it’s the perfect choice for some of spillyjane's mittens. At $1.99 per ball, I won’t feel bad about adding a few extra colors to my collection.

I’m also knitting Nathan a new winter hat, since he’s outgrown the one I knit him last winter.  I didn’t have time to search for the specific pattern I wanted (I lost the printout and it’s a big Internet), so I’m writing my own pattern, which I’ll also post separately once it’s complete.

I didn’t want to stick our books in the snow for the shot, so here they are:  I’m still rereading the Yarn Harlot’s At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much and added The Secret Life of a Knitter to the mix.  Nathan’s really enjoying his My Favorite Animals Book—he loves hearing and watching me make the animal sounds and repeats quite a few of them now.

In the spirit of self-kindness at Twig and Toadstool, I’m thinking about knitting myself Cupcake Mittens and a new winter hat.  I’ve always wanted to knit myself mittens, and my hat is six years old, boring to look at and wear and keeps trying to slip off the top of my head.  I think I deserve a new one.

And on that note, I think I’m going to start a self-imposed yarn diet.  I’m not a big spender when it comes to yarn, or anything else for that matter, and it did take me more than six years to accumulate my stash.  I have some decent yarns in there, and if I get creative, maybe I can knit up a majority of my stash. 

This hearkens back to my post on resourcefulness and using what I have on hand, but also comes at a time when I’m feeling more conscious than ever of where my family’s money is going.  Starting this month I’m paying $300 more per month for health insurance, and it’ll go up $50 more in March.  That’s a tough pill to swallow, so now I’m looking for little places to cut corners and costs.

My change jars are getting full (and they have some one- and five-dollar bills in there!), so I think I’ll turn them into a guilt-free yarn fund.  How can I feel guilty about spending money on myself when it’s literally found money?  I’m sure there’s enough in there to make the cupcake mittens.  There’s gotta be.  So much for the yarn diet.