Bustin' That Stash

So we've been doing our knit-along of the Colonnade Shawl and I decided to use some really nice wool/angora blend I bought last spring at the Maryland Sheep and Wool. Here it is:


I got this far and realized that while I love the yarn, I don't think it's the best for this pattern, which calls for something with more heft to bring out the lace pattern. So I decided to unravel it and start again, also thinking this yarn would be better suited for something else. So above is before. Here, during:


And here, after:


In addition to doing a knit-along, Jennifer and I have decided to do some serious stash-busting, and are trying to devise projects requiring no new yarn purchases until the 2010 Maryland S&W. It's liberating and challenging and feels very good to use up old yarn stock. So here, I begin the Colonnade Shawl once again, using some beautiful Classic Elite Miracle (an alpaca and tencel blend) stranded with some leftover Habu mohair and green stainless steel:

And voila:


The mohair is all gone. Only a few yards of the stainless steel remain, and only a few feet of the alpaca, since I was also able to bang out some fingerless gloves based on the Fetching pattern from Knitty. The two tiny balls above the gloves is all that's left:


Best of all, since the set is finished I can take both the shawl and gloves to Madrid and stay warm. We're leaving tonight and I'm all ready except I don't have a travel knitting project yet. Maybe I'll start a pair of herringbone gloves.