The Summer of Knitting

I've sold more toys privately in the past few months than I have in my Etsy shop. Which is fine by me. Because I'm not picky about where the money to support my knitting habit comes from. I've spent almost $120 on yarn this week (a short time after promising myself I would use up some stashed yarn before I bought anymore - which I did! Sort of). I assuaged my guilt over this frivolous expenditure by reminding myself that the money in my Paypal account (from Etsy sales) and the money I've made making baby gifts for friends and colleagues in the past couple of months more than covers that. For which I am thankful.

Because we're supposed to be pinching pennies in preparation for an upcoming move. About 1200 miles away. Oh yeah, did I mention that I got a faculty job at private university in Connecticut? Ok, well. That happened, so we're moving in the next 7 or 8 weeks. To a much more expensive part of the country. We will be reimbursed for our moving expenses, and we aren't in a dire financial situation or anything, but saving some extra money seems like a good idea.

Which is why a purchase I wouldn't ordinarily have thought twice about has inspired mild feelings of guilt. But, oh the lovely things I'm going to knit! You know, with all my free time between packing up the house and packing up the lab (my current boss has decided to move our lab to the building across the street) and finishing manuscripts and submitting manuscripts and revising manuscripts and writing rebuttal letters to editors and preparing for courses and finding a house to rent in CT and getting our house here set up with a management company to rent it out and all the other baggage that comes with a long-distance move.

So yeah, this might be a bit of a pipe dream, but I am determined to knit some amazing things with all the yarn I've just bought (and some that I've had stashed for... well, let's just say a long time). In no particular order, here are the latest additions to my knitting to-do list:

Interweave Knits' Popsicle Dress
I saw this in the latest issue of Interweave Knits and immediately wanted to make it. And Knit Picks is in the middle of a huge sale, so of course, I couldn't not invest in some Shine Sport (in Pistachio for the main color and Mongoose for the contrast) to make this adorable dress happen.

Penumbra Tee
This is in last summer's Knitscene, but I've just decided I want to make it. I'm going to use some Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton for it. I haven't decided which color yet - either forest green or maroon.















Butter Camisole
This a free download from Ravelry, and it's super cute. Perfect for summer. I bought a full bag (10 skeins!) of Knit Picks Simply Cotton worsted yarn in Wave Heather (light blue), enough for two projects. This will be one of them.

Radian Yoke
This is another project from last summer's Knitscene that I love love love. I'll be using Knit Picks Simply Cotton sport weight in Green Tea Heather for this one.

Waiting for Springtime Sweater
Another free Ravelry download. Very cute. I'll be using most of my Simply Cotton Worsted on this one (the rest is for the Butter cami).

Runcorn Cardigan
Another free pattern, and I love stripes. I'll be using a very similar color scheme (but not the yarns called for in the pattern), all from yarn already in my stash. I'll just have to buy buttons. I'm going with some dark brown Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton as the main color, and some Knit Picks Shine Worsted in blue and fuchsia.
















 Whew. All those projects are going to keep me busy for the foreseeable future. So I'll leave you with a project that I actually finished a few weeks ago (and have already worn twice - that's how much I love it) - the No Sew Breathless Sweater (free pattern, yes!). This photo is from the pattern (I don't have any pics of mine yet).

 My sweater looks almost exactly like this. Instead of Simply Cotton, like the pattern calls for, I used Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Butter Cream (a discontinued color, very similar to Willow if you click the link to see the colors) and Sailor (still tan and navy, as pictured). It took about 6.5 balls of Butter Cream and 2.5 balls of Sailor for my sweater, so I definitely used up a good bit of my yarn stash on this one.

















Did I say I was done now? I lied. I'm also going to show you the project currently on my needles.

Cecily Camisole
I'm using Stroll Sock Yarn in Blue Topaz (from my stash - told you I was using up some stashed yarn) for this one.















All the toys I've been knitting lately have also used up a good chunk of my stash of Shine Worsted. So maybe I'll have room for all the yarn I've just ordered. It's going to be a busy summer.