giveaway!!

The kids and I have been playing in the basement recently. Daniel has rediscovered his love for playing in large cardboard boxes, and Anya rides around on a ride-on rocket (that she's nearly too big for) and sets up tea parties for herself and her toy puppy. Sometimes we play camping; yesterday Daniel convinced me to set up our small tent (from before we had kids and actually went camping) so they could play in it. We plan to have the basement finished this coming fall and winter. We've worked out the financing and booked a contractor, and we have a pretty good idea what we want things to look like when it's done. It's going to be a pretty big job, actually, with more than half the cost going towards updating and replacing our nearly-60-year-old plumbing, a 30+ year-old furnace and ductwork, a 15-year-old water heater and old fiberglass insulation that is hanging out of the wall in unattractive fuzzy chunks.

Now we just have to wait a few months for the contractor to be ready to start (we're in line after a few other projects). I'm anxious to have this done, but truthfully, we need these few months to get the basement cleaned out to make room for the work to be done. It doesn't hurt to have a little more time to save up some more money, either.

There's also the thing about my yarn stash being stored down in the basement, and it takes up a significant amount of space. The accumulation was not intentional, I swear. It just sort of happened. There is absolutely no way I can use it up in the next six months, but I should try and make a good dent. Knitting lots and not buying any more yarn is a good way to start, and I'm doing pretty well with that (for the most part). Last year I sold a bunch on craigslist, and that felt pretty good. But there is still too much, and some of this yarn has go to go. In fact, I've been meaning to do a giveaway on this blog for quite a while now, but suddenly it's just so hard to part with any of it. Every time I pick up a skein or a bag of yarn I bought long ago, I remember what I was going to make with it, or I remember why I liked it so much in the first place, and I think "I can't get rid of this! Not yet! Because maybe this is what I'll want to knit with tomorrow, or next week, or..." and then back it goes into its plastic tub or lined basket.

I have to start somewhere, though, so I'm going to start here. I have 10 skeins of this:



Elle Elite DK
50/50 wool cotton blend, machine-washable
125 yards per skein
5.5 spi on size 6 needles
color: off-white (pretty accurate in the photo, I think)

I know I won't use it. The Elite DK is really nice yarn (I know because I used it in white to make a Whirligig Shrug for my niece) The color isn't right for me, and what's more, I have more of it in white (which I will use...eventually...for this sweater). I know I could probably try and sell this and get a little cash for it, but the truth is, I got it on clearance online a while ago, so I'm not losing that much, and besides, this way is more fun.

I'll do a random drawing (in other words, ask Stu to pick a number). All you have to do is leave a comment answering the following questions:

1) What is one impulse buying decision - yarn or otherwise - you've made in the last 6 months that you regret? (And if you really truly haven't made any regretful impulse buying decisions, you are either a liar or a saint.)
2) What is one thing you know you should get rid of, but can't?
3) What's the last good meal you cooked and ate?

Just so you know, the first two questions are to make me feel better about myself, and the last one is just because I like to talk about cooking.

You've got until Wednesday, June 9 to leave a comment. I'll announce a winner in the evening, so be sure to comment by 8:00pm CDT.

On an unrelated note, here's a quick progress shot of the red top-down tee:



I think it's pretty close to done, but I haven't measured in a while. I hope to do an FO post for it later in the week.