Back-Story

StashGame is a virtual game where you send me a photo and description of your stashed, long neglected yarn and I’ll come up with at least one project idea for it and publish it here. There’s one hitch – you can’t request a type of project.

To enter, please send the following:

• A clear photo of your yarn. It helps if I can get an idea about the colour as well as the texture (natural sunlight is best for taking pictures).
• The name of your yarn (brand name and product name: for example Berroco Vintage)
• The yarn’s weight (ex. 100g) and yardage (ex. 200m/220yds)
• The yarn’s tension (ex. 18 sts & 24 rows = 4″)
• The yarn’s suggested needle size
• If available, the yarn’s Ravelry page: (ex. https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/berroco-vintage)
• How much yarn you have
• How long the yarn has been in your stash (I’m just curious)
• Any interesting or pertinent back-story (if it has an interesting one). Was it a gift from someone special? Did you inherit it from your grandmother? Do you love it? Are you afraid of it? Do you hate it? (please note: if you hate it you should probably just break up with it and send it on to a better place)

Send your info through any of the following channels with the subject/hashtag #YarnStashGame:

• Email: info@knitomatic.com
• Facebook messenger: https://www.facebook.com/knitomaticyarns/?ref=bookmarks
• Instagram (@knitomaticyarns): https://www.instagram.com/knitomaticyarns/
• Twitter (@knitomatic): https://twitter.com/knitomatic

Please Note:

When choosing yarns to StashGame I go with the flow and pick what feels right at the time. If I haven’t chosen yours please be patient, it’s time will come. It looks like our collective break with regularly scheduled life isn’t going to be ending any time soon, so we have lots of stash-gaming ahead. My life hasn’t really slowed down so much as shifted (facing new challenges and rising to them), so my goal is to post a new StashGame once a week.

Drops Melody

Our second stash yarn comes from Lori Ann … it’s a super soft and fluffy blend of alpaca and wool that looks a lot like a vintage style mohair but feels like what we all wish mohair felt like (but doesn’t) – ie. like alpaca. I love the fuzzy texture (I was already thinking about bringing this yarn into the store next fall) and I like the funky combination of colours – there’s a hint of a reference to the industrial design of kitchen appliances circa 1970.

• 71% Alpaca, 25% wool, 4% nylon
• 50g/140m (153 yds)
• Bulky weight
• Suggested needle size: 7mm/US10.75
• Notes: leftovers, probably totals about 460 yds total

I’d like to say that I did an exhaustive search and thought long and hard about this one, but I didn’t. It was bashert, I knew right away what this yarn needs to be ….

Colorful Clockwork Cozy

Like, seriously Lori Ann, if you don’t do it PLEASE let me! Your yarn NEEDS to be a clock cozy. As soon as Ikea reopens you need to haul you butt out there and get yourself a cheap ‘n cheerful Tjalla and knit it a sweater! A cozy, fuzzy, funky coloured, randomly striped mohairy sweater. You can either reduce the needle size to get a tighter tension or hold the yarn double – you’ll need to play around a bit. I’ve knit one of these once, I suggest you should get the clock first so you can ‘try it on’ as you go and gauge whether your band is wide enough. And when you’re finished please send a beauty shot.

I’m Knitting To ….

Since this one was short ‘n succinct (seriously, it is a moral imperative that that yarn become a clock cozy), I’ll include some extra ‘content’ … this is what I’ve been consuming while I knit ‘n stuff:

I’m Currently Listening to: Tara Brach (available on all podcast apps, Youtube, her website). The episode “Sheltering in Love pt.1” was so necessary, so important. I’ve been following all her pandemic related podcasts, they’re all been immensely helpful for getting through this challenging period.

I’m Currently Reading (on e-book): Letting Go by David Hawkins. I started this shortly before toilet-paper became a *thing*. I’m not sure if Hawkins is still alive, but the man is KILLIN’ IT! His interview with Oprah was also good.

I’m Currently Watching: Start Trek: The Next Generation (Netflix) with my Beau. The early shows aren’t great, but I think the interior design of the Enterprise really stands up, it’s still my favourite Enterprise. I also started watching Hilary (Netflix), which is interesting, and The Pizza Show (Crave), which isn’t great but I keep torturing myself and watching it because pizza is the only thing I miss about gluten.

I’m Connecting With: Myself … and meditating with the free Insight Timer app and occasionally Tara Brach’s short guided meditations. If you’re stuck at home this is an unprecedented opportunity to connect with yourself. Plus, meditation is REALLY helpful for negotiating fear, anxiety, vulnerability, depression, and all feelings both comfortable and uncomfortable. The book that helped me get past my fear of meditation was 10% Happier by Dan Harris … don’t worry, it isn’t new-age self-helpy stuff, it’s in the literary non-fiction or memoir genre. Plus, it starts with a cocaine addicted NBC news host who has a drug fuelled breakdown on live TV – any mistake you’ve ever made will feel demure compared to this guy’s, and he’s cool with it.

I’m Crafting: DIY Face Masks … well, I’m seriously thinking about it. I bought a mask on Amazon and have been wearing it out and about for a few days. It’s good, it fits beautifully and comes with extra filters (fancy!) but it doesn’t match my winter clothes (first world pandemic problems). Then, I came across this article in Science a few days ago, and I decided it is very important to me to make an effort not to accidentally give someone the virus if I’m asymptomatic and don’t know I have it (I see myself coughing for the very first time and accidentally taking out a whole retirement home … I don’t care to live with that). I discussed this with my Beau (who lived for many years in Hong Kong and has had both SARS and Swine Flu, so I figure he’s got some street cred in this department) and he agreed with my assessment and asked me to buy him a mask too (he insisted on black). Anyway, now I don’t feel right going out without a mask, but my mismatched mask in a spring floral print isn’t cutting it, it’s more of a cheerful May/June pandemic aesthetic, rather than a drizzly April mode.

I met a lady on the street yesterday morning wearing a snazzy mask and when I stopped her she said she’d sewn hers out of scrap fabric from around the house. The lovely woman even offered to make me one, but I was all “No thank you, I am super crafter, I am ON THIS!”, and then I flew away with my cape fluttering in the drizzly, miserable breeze. The first thing I found when I googled DIY masks was this Tutorial in the New York Times, so you know it’s going to be a bona-fide cultural phenomenon. There are already a bunch of video tutorials on Youtube, and crafters are selling their wares on Etsy too (not a bad activity for laid-off sewers to do).

Please note, if you are in a high risk category and need to prevent yourself from contracting the virus it is advisable you wear a proper medical mask. Fabric masks are suitable for those who want to prevent themselves from unknowingly shedding the virus and giving it to other people. Also, keep washing your hands (soap is kryptonite to COVID) and don’t touch your face.

See you soon!

xox Haley