A while ago DH kindly offered to build me the yarn storage unit of my dreams. It has taken me a while to figure out exactly what I need and I am still looking for more feedback before I finalize the plans.

Knitters who love colorwork usually have larger stashes than other knitters. It is something I'm not always completely comfortable with but it is just a fact of life. I do try to think about exactly what colors I need. I used to think I needed to collect every single color in the rainbow which can get very expensive but in the past year I've realized I mainly work with cool colors. I try to simplify by sticking to certain wool yarn lines in 3 weights -currently it is Cascade 220 for worsted, Elann's Peruvian Highland Sport, and Knitpicks' Palette for fingering weight. A few months ago I realized I NEVER use brown so I gave away most of my brown yarns to the thrift store. I do use black a lot for an accent and am always running out so I buy black whenever I buy any other colors. Lately I'm starting to add more heathers to my collection of colors.

I believe knitters who love colorwork need easy access to their colors and that they probably spend more time searching through their stash. I've stored yarns in Rubbermaid containers but it gets to be such a pain in the derriere trying to find something when you have 45 partial skeins all tangling with each other. Perhaps it is different for other color knitters but I prefer to see all the colors at one time. I do pick out colors before I start a project but I often find myself going back to the stash to add or subtract colors while doing a project. Seeing all the colors together is extremely valuable and can help me quickly determine what colors I need to stock up on.

Recently I cleared out a bookcase and used it to house all my colors of Cascade 220. Looking at this photo I can see that I need more green yarn and I am puzzled as to why I have so much pink yarn. I do like having a shallow shelving system like this so it is easy to see all the yarn at once but of course the balls of yarn tend to roll off the shelves.






I'm currently thinking of an armoire with two large doors. I will be able to open the doors to see all the yarns at once but I won't have to worry about our harsh desert sun fading the colors. (Been there, done that.) The yarn will be stored on shallow shelves that will be slightly slanted down for better viewing with a small lip on the front of the shelf so skeins don't go rolling onto the floor. I might also ask DH to light the inside of the armoire so I can better choose colors at night. I'm still unsure about a few things like how to store full skeins alongside small 10 yard bits of the same yarn. Also, I'm currently undecided if I should store other things like my needles in the armoire as well. I suppose I could have him do a system for needle storage on the inside doors of the armoire.


So what do you think? Does anyone have any other ideas for my yarn storage system? I have heard there is a Flickr group where people show photos of their craft room so I'll go look there to get more ideas.

I'm working on devising a special yarn storage system for colorwork with DH - I'll post our ideas next week.

Here's a fun house in Madrid, NM which is on the Turquoise Trail between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I loved the big chiles hanging in front of the windows.



Today is the one year anniversary of Bubbles coming to live with us. She plans to celebrate by eating a lot (coincidentally those are also her Christmas and New Year's celebration plans.)




15 year old Jack is happy we are getting snow all this week so we'll be home more to keep the wood stove burning and spend more time playing Scrabble. He enjoys "helping" by walking back and forth between us and the Scrabble board. He can continue this assistance for the entire game.




Here's the view from my front door. It has been the same way for about a week and I'm hoping for even more snow.




MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here's the final installment of gingerbread photos. These were all the work of the pastry chef at the Tamaya Hilton Resort at Santa Ana Pueblo.

There was a ski hill with graham cracker lift chairs and a train on the bottom. I just love all the skiiers splatted all over the hill!



I am still not sure what was used for the roof and the "hay" in the gingerbread stables. I think it might have been flour tortillas strips laboriously peeled apart.



I think this is my favorite building. I love the use of Kraft caramels for the farolitos/luminarias. (In the rest of the country luminarias are the paper bags filled with sand and candles. Here in NM luminarias are actually the pinon bonfires like the ones made all over Santa Fe on Christmas eve and farolitos are the paper bags.)



This building was the Tamaya Plaza next to a little trading post. I adore the two people kissing under the mistletoe at the door. Inside there were people sitting on granola bar couches in front of a crouton fireplace.




I like the addition of some darker pueblo buildings. I guess they must have added extra molasses or spices to the gingerbread dough.

I'm so glad I photographed these gingerbread buildings at the Tamaya Hilton resort in Bernalillo because I can see some of the details better.

I love the little gingerbread horno/outdoor baking oven in this one along with the corn grinding station and the lady making tortillas in the back right. I think the luminarias/farolitos are made from candy corn someone put a dowel through to shape them.




Every gingerbread village needs a church.



I've made a few gingerbread houses and always wanted to try the technique of making stained glass from hard candy as shown below in the windows.



I like the cinnamon stick gate door and the ristra made of real chiles.



I have a few more gingerbread photos to show you tomorrow.

I'm working on a little mitten booklet with three or four designs and some mitten knitting tips. I got the idea that I'd name each mitten after a town in New Mexico and would photograph each mitten design in the actual town. Here is a Tesuque mitten in 5 colors of Knitpicks' Palette. I hope to photograph the completed mittens in the wonderful outdoor Shidoni sculpture gallery outside of Tesuque on Christmas Eve. We're currently having a blizzard so I just tossed this one out in the snow.




We went to the Tamaya Hilton Resort on the Santa Ana Pueblo in Bernalillo for DH's work Christmas party. There were lots of very old rugs framed all over the resort.

There was an entire adobe village in gingerbread at the base of the tree in the lobby. I took many gingerbread photos and will show them all this week.

Lately I really enjoy knitting ribbing strangely enough so I'm planning on knitting another balaclava in Cascade 220 and updating my pattern. The original free pattern I did for the old Knitlist is HERE. Here's a shot of a very old one (probably 12 or more years old made out of acrylic). DH still uses it although you can see it is pilling.



The balaclava is done in worsted weight on K2P2 ribbing on 92 sts on size 7 (US) dpns. I think it would work well also for a cowl if you wanted a thicker, warmer version. Just knit the ribbing in the round until it is 7" or so.

The orange cowl shown in my last post was a great success with DH - I used Knitpicks' Gloss fingering weight (although it seems a bit thicker than other fingering weight yarns) and 92 sts and size 5 (US) dpns. I was going for something light instead of warmth. The two below are knit in Knitpicks' Shine sport weight cotton also on size 5 (US) dpns and 92 sts. I worry though that the cotton will stretch out too much over time. I've decided for mine that I prefer them closer to 6 1/2" than 7" - that way they will come just up to my chin.

I made two quick projects out of Knitpicks' Gloss. Gloss is 70% merino wool and 30% silk and it is softer than any other wools in my stash. I finally got around to making some neck protection for DH's hikes at his request. I used size 5 (US) dpns, cast on 92 sts, and did a K2P2 rib in the round for 7 inches. I'm very happy with the finished size of this as he can wear it without folding it and get complete neck protection from the sun. In fact if I find any other yarn he can live with in my stash I'll make him another one. Or perhaps I'll just make myself one.



Here's a simple scarf I made with the same yarn. This project took an entire skein of Gloss - the free pattern is HERE. I used size 2 and size 5 (US) needles and cast on 32 sts. I started the scarf on row 8 and ended on row 12.