Crochet through my yarn stash before adding to it

I’ve had two skeins of this great nubby wool in shades of blue and gray sitting around forever. This weekend, I finished up a simple muffler and brimmed hat in an easy double-crochet pattern.

There’s a tiny ball of the yarn leftover; I’m going to find a pattern for fingerless gloves and whip them up in a dark charcoal, using the leftovers for edging.

I’ve spent the last several days crocheting up a storm as I sit and visit with friends and family, saying good-byes. I finished my vaguely misshapen, monochromatic tea cozy, which is currently nestled o’er top of my little ceramic teapot. And I’ve made great headway on the muffler; another 18 inches or so (about 25 rows) and I should be done.

I’ll have to remember to take some photos.

I don’t know that having a pile of UFOs in my work bag counts as progress, but it does keep me from feeling inspired to go out in search of more yarn. I currently have the following in progress:

• A pair of socks in a cream colored worsted wool, half of one sock is completed
• A winter muffler in a tight, single-crochet swatch pattern, in a variegated blue and gray wool/acrylic blend, 1/3 complete
• A granny square big-boy-bed blanket for my nephew in navy, brick, and forest green wool. 20 of 200 squares complete
• A shell-pattern tea cozy in malted milk, cappuccino, and chocolate colored acrylic/cotton blend yarn, 1/5 complete

I crochet REALLY slowly, frog one of every three stitches I complete, and am obsessed with tension (which translates to being really bad at holding things consistently taut). It’ll take awhile to finish these.

This is partly inspired by the “move to NYC” plan, and partly by my need to not overwhelm myself with projects I’ll never accomplish. I’ve done a huge amount of work giving skeins to knitters and crocheters in need of a project, and have used a great deal myself in the last year. This is what I have left, and what I’ve earmarked it for:

• 9 rolls of cotton, earmarked for kitchen cloths. I’ll keep a number for myself, and pass the rest (individually) to friends and family. These are fabulous practice for intricate stitches
• 3 skeins of super-soft baby cotton, earmarked for booties and skull caps for the nephews expected to be born in December.
• 1 box of wool skeins. A 24-month sized sweater for Freddy J, a pair of winter socks for myself, a carriage blanket for the twins
• 1 box of blended yarn (wool, acrylic, cotton, and silk)—with no idea of what to make.

And a friend has an enormous box of yarn that he’s holding for me in Connecticut—no idea what weights, colors, or mediums, so it’s like a little treasure trove I’ve spotted but not yet dug up.