Project Relationships & Quickies

I'm Drea. I'm Meg. I'm Tina. And I'm Jess. And this is Pardon My Stash. Welcome to Pardon My Stash, a podcast about knitting, the fiber arts, and how awesome it is. Before we delve into this week's topics, let's share what we're all working on now, Dreya. Kimmy Shaw. Jeans. Jeans. How close are you now? I am so close. Yay. I was going to say, you've got to be almost there. I wanted to get it done before we recorded for this week's episode, but I felt just shy. So I'm hoping. Almost.

Those last few rows are so long because you have hundreds of stitches at that point. I know. And I'm still increasing. I'm still increasing. And you've been done. Like at that point, everyone who's ever done a shawl knows when you get to the end, you're done. You've been done. Well, I've already done the bobbles. There's bobbles in those, which I forgot about. They're little ones. You know, I like little bobbles. Yeah, those are cute. I like those. Those were fun to do.

And yeah, not this week, but definitely for next episode. Yay. That is exciting. Very empty applause. That's the Akemi shawl by Isabel Kramer. And I'm using silver moon fiber arts, faded jeans, fingering weight. A plus. Sweet Meg. I am finishing up the lovely stripes shawl by Leah Michelle designs. I have two sections to go after the one I am working on. And each section is like not terribly long.

So probably not by this time next week, but hopefully by this time, two weeks from now, it'll be done. I hope so. I'm it's beautiful. And I like knitting it, but I'm, I'm starting to do the thing where I'm looking at other yarns. I'm looking at other yarns. I'm winding other yarns and that's never a good thing. I stopped myself today. I was like trolling Ravelry for other patterns.

And I'm like, no, no, no, we're, we're gonna, we're sticking with it because I actually have only finished one project this year. And again, not a bad thing. We've talked about that before, but I really want to finish this one because I know if I put it in the bag, not going to finish it. I'm just not, I'm not going to finish it. I'm so close at this point. You really are. I am knitting it from Critical Hit Dyes, barred fingering in the discontinued colorway Sapphire Dragon. Nice. Tina?

I decided in my infinite wisdom to start a project that's I'm making do from a week from now. Very good. Yeah, I'm impressed. I'm making a blanket for my cousin's newborn and I it's, it's okay. To be fair, it's not like a huge blanket and also it's knit in the round. So I feel like it goes faster. Nice, nice. But it is called the Radiating Star Blanket by Alexis Laden. And I am making it in Juniper Moon Farms in Cumulus with this kind of blue color and a light pink color.

They're like faded blue and pink colors. And I'm just basically, it has like a section that you repeat several times. And every time I do a section, I switch a color. Nice. So that's going to be real pretty. Yeah, I'm actually and it's going to end up real fast. Yeah, I'm actually almost done. You can't put it down. Yeah, literally cannot put Cumulus down. Yeah, it's so good. It's a sexy yarn. It really is. It is real nice. Jess? So I am still working on Phoenix by Crafty Intentions.

I also have my tea cozy sitting over here with our flowers and eventually I'll feel like making some flowers. But right now I'm making a Phoenix foot. So that's where we're at. I am making it out of Critical Hit Die's Fireball and I'm using a fingering weight. I'm pretty sure it is. It's rogue. Yeah. I'm pretty sure the pattern calls for worsted. What? I'm making it smaller. It's a tiny Phoenix and y'all can back off with my gauges. Oh, oh. I do what I want. That is fair.

And I forgot to say that if you look up my pattern, it says it's done in bulky, but I did it in a bigger needle and a smaller yarn because I wanted to. Whatever. We play fast and lose with gauge. Why not? It's a blanket. It's a Phoenix. He's just going to be a tiny Phoenix. It's all good. It's doing what you want it to do. Yeah. Yes. But I'm using that. Oh, and for the beak and the foot that I'm currently on, I'm using Plison Hellhound's Day in, I want to say it's Ginger.

I think that is Ginger because it's the one with the sparkle. It's the sparkly yarn. Well, if you guys all want to see pictures of our projects, if we remember to take them or get more information about Part of My Stash in general, be sure to check out our website, partofmystash.com for info, picks, patterns, and yarns.

All right. So we decided that we're going to talk about our styles of projecting as in, are you monogamous or fast and loose? I am polyamorous. Are you polyamorous with your yarns or are you monogamous with your yarns? What is your- Or do you go back and forth? Are you a switch hit? Some people do.

Yeah. Do you decide to do just one project until you're finished no matter what, or are you good with throwing on whatever the heck you feel like whenever you feel like it, or are you a little bit of both? What do peeps feel? How are we feeling about that? I feel like I'm a switch hitter. I feel like for the most part, yeah, for the most part I get kind of focused on what I'm working on, but then case in point, I've got half tea cozy sitting next to me just watching me work on a Phoenix, sadly.

You have a wandering eye. Mourning. Is what you have. I can appreciate other aesthetics. You start and you have the utmost project monogamy and then a sexy new project winks at you. That's true. And you're off doing that until that one's done and then you may or may not go back to the original. It's true. You know what? I'm not counting those who just open up ravelry and just look like you're allowed to look, guys. It's all good. It's all good. You're totally allowed to look.

You're allowed to look. I will say I am constantly opening up ravelry and being like, what do I, my favorites list is so long at this point. You got to appreciate the pretties. Yeah. I favorite things. And then like once every five years I go through and I'm like, I would never get that. I would never knit that in a million years. I don't know why I favorited that. It's really pretty, but I'm not going to do that. It is not a project for me.

Guys, I actually bought another pattern that I have no intention of. It's crochet. I'm not crocheting anytime soon, but I do want to do it. No, it's, it's gloves and they're cabled, but it's crochet, which I thought was interesting. That is interesting. And I took a quick, granted, this was a, I forget what time of night it was. I should not have been like looking at patterns. You didn't tell me you bought it. Oh yeah.

Because the last time I didn't buy something like that, the price went up like $10 and I regretted it. So I got it now. And I was looking at the directions because I always like go over my directions first and I'm like, I can't make heads or tails of this right now. And I'm trying to read it at like 11 30 PM when I really should just be going to bed, but I have it and it looks cool. And you were texting that pattern you up. Were you at where you at? All right. So Jess is a switch header.

I mean, you could, you could stare at me if you want. You all know. I don't even, I don't think I need to say anything. You already said it. I was going to say it. You did already say it. I just, I, the more the merrier, give me a harem of whips. No. Okay. Merch. Now. I need a big bag that just says my harem of whips on it. God. You cut that out. And only comes in size beach tote. Yeah. Yeah. It absolutely. Absolutely. You can't put a harem of whips in a small bag. No, triple XL for sure.

Only the biggest. Absolutely. My harem of whips. That was amazing. That was beautiful. That was poetry right there. I'm here to provide. No, I just, you know, I don't try to go against my brain.

You know, I find that if I go with my brain, you know, I can, I can try to like, especially with, you know, good therapies and medications, I'm not completely going off the rails, but like if my brain really wants to focus on this thing, I'm going to focus on that thing because it's going to be easier for me to just focus on that rather than like forcing myself to do something else.

So like this, this blanket right now, the reason why my brain's like, we got to do this right now is because it has a super short deadline. And if you give me deadlines, all of a sudden my brain goes, oh my God, we need to do the thing. So we are the complete opposite. I know. Yeah, right. Cause yours goes, I'm, I'm not going to do that thing. Correct? Yes. I will not be doing that soon as I have a deadline. It's like, well, enjoy this thing. So I just watch that sale by mine is like, no shame.

Oh, that's the deadline, but I could get it done faster. Nope, it's cause you are fueled on spite. Like every aspect of your life. No, you're not. I should mention that the deadlines have to be like something that means a lot to me. So it can't just be arbitrary. Yeah. It can't be like, if you care about this person, you can't just be like, I'm putting this deadline on so I do it. Then your brain's like, you thought, yeah, no, literally.

Cause it's like, if I say to myself, okay, I'm going to finish this by, I don't know, September, I'll be like, well, for what reason though? And then I reason myself out of it. I said so, who are you? No, this time I'm like, yeah. So yeah, I'm able to kind of like, if I have a true, true deadline where I'm like, no, no, no, I really want to give this to this person at this event, then yes. Right.

And if the, if it's somebody that you care about and you're excited about gifting it, that's different. So I'm not as, as like, oh, I have to have to knit this by Christmas for this coworker that I'd rather not knit for. I don't know. What coworker am I knitting? I'm just throwing things out there that people might arbitrarily. I am a sole owner of a business. I have no coworkers. The coworkers are the dogs. You should knit them something. You know, I do want to knit them sweaters.

You should just knit something for yourself. See, like I'll have a Christmas party, a business Christmas party with myself. Secret Santa. And I'll give myself presents. I'll have a raffle. We'll do a raffle. Listen, a secret Santa, no less than a hundred dollars. Listen, cough up. We're not doing cheap white elephant. Come on, come on. All secret Santa. Just tell your husband, sorry. I use it was the rules. I couldn't go cheaper. I just, I, I'm the boss man.

You can tell him, Tina, you can tell him you won the raffle. No, I need to get a nice gift. I have to impress the boss. The boss isn't going to be thrilled with something cheap. Got to get something nice. And apparently the boss is really into super fine Merino. The boss would know if I got this from a big box. They would know somehow. Yes. Somehow they would just glean it. So back to monogamy. Meg, are you, are you monogamous? Are you a one, one project kind of gal?

No. We'll just get that all the way. I would honestly refer to myself as more of like a serial dater because I have this problem where I can be monogamous when I settle on a project that I am enjoying. I have this problem when I am trying to figure out what I want to knit next, where I cast on a bunch of stuff and it's like, are you the one? Are you the one? No. Okay. And eventually I do.

I go on a bunch of dates and for whatever reason, either the project isn't working or the yarn isn't a good fit or for whatever. You guys just don't have the chat. Nope. We just, well the what? The chat. The chat. What's the chat? I haven't dated in a really long time. That's from how people in the UK say that you have good conversation. We have learned that from the love islands. No, I do not have the chat.

I thought that was going to be like a Gen Z thing that I was going to have to learn before the fall. I mean, maybe, I don't know. Listen, I just finally got used to cap. I don't need to learn other words right now. Okay. I just learned cap. Okay. But yeah, no. So I try out a bunch of stuff. So that's why I have so many like whips on Ravelry. They're more in my like hibernating place. And once it goes into hibernating, that's a short jump to frogged. I'm not going to work on that again.

And it's if something is in my hibernating queue, it's not that I don't like it or that I'm never going to knit it one day. It's that something about it is not working right now. The yarn isn't working. The gauge isn't working. I'm just not in the right head space to work on it right now. Once I settle on a project, I tend to be pretty monogamous depending on the situation. I mean, if it's a jerk, you dump it. Wow. I mean, yes, that was aggressive. No, I think it's hilarious.

I was more talking about I have I have my Calliope sweater, which I love. I really am enjoying working on it. It's a treat. The yarn is gorgeous. But Calliope doesn't do so well in warm weather. She's a cold weather date. She's mohair. So in comes lovely stripes. She wants to go, you know, tubing and skiing. She's going to be she's going to be my cold weather date. She's a snow bunny. She's a snow bunny. She's going to be great in the fall. She's on hiatus right now.

While I have lovely stripes, who is a silk blend, lovely stripes loves the summer. My hands don't mind working with lovely stripes in the summer. They don't get all sweaty. So we have a pretty monogamous relationship right now because we just get along well right now. I'm going to put this in her bag. I will take her out when it gets cold. Yes, I'm anthropomorphizing my knits. I've never done that before. It's kind of weird, but we're going to run with it. You're all welcome.

This is turning into one of my favorite episodes. I'm really enjoying this. So yeah, long and short of it is I'm more of a serial dater. When I when when the timing is right, I settle down. I generally try to stay pretty monogamous. Right now I'm a little polyamorous with my two knits, but Calliope is kind of just waiting for it to get cold. You know who's married and goes to couple therapy every week? Who? Drea. You're the only one for me right now. Even when you're fighting.

Drea is a tried and true serial monogamist. You want a loyal knitter to be making you as a project. Drea is your gal. Yeah, I'm the one. No exceptions. I actually get anxiety if I have too many whips. And that's fair. And I used to have a bunch of whips. Socks. Socks. Yeah, socks. I frogged a whole bunch and reclaimed the yarn. It really was. I bet. But yeah, I can't I honestly can't handle having more than one whip every once in a while. And I know I did this last year.

I put down my sweater so I could do the first make along that we did. The Celtic Myths shawl. Yeah. Yeah. So I did put down my project so I could do that because I knew it was going to be faster. But then I worked on that exclusively. And then I went back to my sweater exclusively. Wow. It must be like I never thought about this before. Like, but that must make make alongs really tough. Unless you time it right. Like to finish one whip right. I never thought about that before.

Yeah. And I'm not going to lie. I have this make along deadline looming over me now. So I'm trying. I have. Well, I have to like restart completely. I have to pick a whole new pattern. I haven't even done that. Yeah. You know, look, I tried to give a super long deadline. Yeah. I mean, I can do it. I should be finishing this very soon. Yeah. You said a week. So my teapot is really small. Yeah. Like it is a very small teapot.

So making a snail cover for that should be like I am a dedicated monogamous knitter. Yeah. How do you guys keep track of like all your whips and when you decide like which one you're going to be working on? I mean, I already kind of said that I do mine kind of dependent on circumstances. Well, whether is one attention span is another. Sometimes I have like I don't mind like if the make along is like, OK, we're doing a hat or a shawl or something. I'm like, all right. Well, I got this deadline.

I don't mind deadlines. They don't bother me. And I think it's because I have so many at work that I have to keep track of. It's just like, all right, that's another one. I don't care. They don't they don't bother me. I don't mind putting my stuff down and doing a make along project. Sometimes I like having kind of it sounds terrible. The excuse to to kind of cheat on my projects because it is like I said at the top of the show, I start to get bored and I start to look at other stuff.

And sometimes it's like, OK, I'm going to do like a quick hat or something to take the edge off because like Tina, that's what I'm feeling. Stop stop with the snickering. I see you stop making on Tondra's where there are none, ma'am. I don't know what you expect out of me. I'm asking a lot. It should be this. No, but that that doesn't bother me. I don't have a ton of project bags, so I keep track of them that way.

Like I think I only have about three or four project bags and I'm like, OK, this isn't this one that's in that one. And I usually keep them all in one bag. So I always have them all with me. And then I just take them out when I want to do them. I keep the pattern in the bag and hope for the best. Surprisingly, I have like a billion project bags. You just like bags. I do like that. That's its own thing.

For me, I for a long time, I had a binder that had all of the patterns that I was working on actively. That was a big binder. I know it. I'm not the big, big one. That was all my patterns. It was still big. There's no it's a one inch. Come on. Oh, no, no, no. The one inch. It was maybe a half inch. It was it was a tiny binder in terms of like binders. And then my big one with the patterns is like a three inch. It's like massive. But I tried carrying the binder around.

The problem is I always left it somewhere and then I didn't have the pattern with the projects. I just stuff the project in the bag. So pattern in the bag. Hilariously, I have lost that binder. I have no idea where it is. So now I've just been putting the patterns into sleeves and not connecting them to anything. And I have like a laptop sleeve in my backpack that I carry around. And that's where these live. Hey, that's what I'm doing. I just take mine. No sleeve.

Oof. It's like creased a billion times. It's like the consistency now of used money. It is it is well loved. Yeah. That way it is well loved. Like I will never use this pattern again. If I'm going to make this pattern again, I will print it again. Yeah, I just I don't know why I just kind of get into this weird thrifty. I don't know. Well, that way. Well, it's funny, too, because like one of these like I accidentally printed on card stock. Oh, God, I've done that. It's obnoxious.

It's like really thick for no reason. Anyway, but the binder thing is how I usually keep track. Ravelry is always behind because I, you know, remember to log into Ravel projects thing and my stash thing and like my stash thing is completely out of date right now. My project thing is somewhat up to date. I don't think it has all the new ones that I've just done. I can't remember the last time I updated my Ravelry projects. Yeah, it's just like I try to remember to do it.

If I finish, I definitely. Yes. Yes. I don't like not the in progress or I honestly sometimes I like will finish it and that's when I add the project like entirely. I don't even add it while I always I always do it right away because I get excited. I'm like going to put it right in there. But yeah, I'm my cue is a complete joke. And then in terms of yeah, my cue. Yeah, forget. I don't know what that is. I haven't even looked at it in like, I don't know, five years. I don't know.

I used to take my weekender bag for part of my stash and that's where I would keep all my projects. And at one time I was trying to punish myself for making other projects by putting every single whip that I had into the bag. So I remember that I knew I knew how many projects I actually had. So I would stop making new ones. I feel the weight. Did it work? So unhealthy. Did it work? No, because then I was like, wow, this bag sucks.

And then I was like, I went through it and I was like, I actually want to like maybe work on three of these. And then I was like, wow, I don't need this big of a bag to do that. So I put my harem in my backpack now and so I'm with you wherever you go. The funny part is, is I hear decisions. Exactly. The funny part is, is like, it's so Phil, like I have four right now with me. Why? Because I have four.

And when I have to put, like I said, it has a laptop sleeve because when I do bring my laptop out of the house, this is the bag I use. So but even when I bring my laptop, I keep the bags in there. So the backpack turns into like rock solid filled to the brim. Like I'm going on a hike through the mountains backpack. And you know what? When we go hiking, you don't even bring a backpack. No, I don't. I do not. My favorite thing. The backpack is not for actual moving, but it's for whips.

Yeah. But the fun part is this is, this is a hiking bag. Like it has all the pockets and stuff for hiking. Only the best for your harem. But my harem is just carried around with me everywhere. Like you should have seen, okay, I felt actually really embarrassed the other day. We went to the diner down in Middletown with my dad and I had my backpack with me and I accidentally like when we got up for some reason, I was like, I don't have a bag.

And I got up to the, to pay and I left my backpack and I was like, wait a second. I usually feel like a giant weight on me. Why? Where's my weight? So I was like, oh, I had to go get my bag. So I went back to the booth to go get my bag and this like older woman was just side eyeing me the entire time, like just completely in shock of like the size of the heaviness of my back. Cause I'm like trying to get it out. I'm like, oh, I'm going to have to get it out of the table.

Little does she know it's full of yarn. You're like, I'm getting an advanced degree back off. It's full of books. Yeah. I'm so educated. Uh, and then I just like, I was yanking it out. And then when I picked it up, she was still like, she was like staring right at me and her table was like right in front of my booth. So I looked at her and I said, oh, you know, can't forget all my projects. And she just, then she got even more confused.

And her face just kind of went, ah, and I just, okay, time to walk away. And I walked away. That woman is probably still going what in the world was in that bag. It's a body. Uh, I mean, you know, the other benefit, the other benefit of this backpack is that I can, uh, you know, defend myself with it. If at any point in time I need a weapon, it is a weapon. It is solid. I can absolutely knock somebody out if I throw this at their head. Would you sacrifice your harem of whips?

They would say they would. My harem would protect me. Absolutely. Absolutely. They love me. Um, so this joke is getting out of hand. No, it's not getting out of hand. I am never going to not refer to my backpack as the, the holder of my harem. Now, usually if I have multiple ones, they are in different bags and I know by what's on the bags what I'm working on because I kind of coordinate them a little bit. Like my, like back when I was, I was working on a couple of things.

I had like my, um, copper colored shawl was in my autumn leaf bag and then I was doing like some sort of hat and that was in my winter bag. Um, so I kind of separate them like that. Here's the thing though. If I put that bag in a spot that I don't then see, uh, that bag disappears from, from, I mean, it'll still be in the spot. I left it, but in my brain, like it no longer exists and then I'll find it and I'll be like, oh yeah, I was working on this.

And then you open it and you try and decide, am I still working on this? Because I forgot it existed for a while. Like, is this just going to sit here or I'm actually going to work on it? Um, but for the most part, I kind of, I tend to, when I do multiple projects, one is usually a crochet and one is usually a knit and working on them is very dependent on which type of needle or hook do I want to be using? Like do I want to just be crocheting or do I want to mess around with needles? Um, wow.

Yeah. That's how I, that's how I do. Sounds so violent. Yeah. Stabbing things or hooking things. None of y'all are any good. But that, that is generally how I keep track. And usually like it helps too if it, cause I do, I take so long to actually choose a project. Um, when I actually start, usually is something I'm pretty interested in finishing at some point. So hence the sweater. Yes. That in and of itself. I think the most whips I've ever had is probably 24. That I could not keep track of.

Garments, accessories, blankets, like it was the whole gamut. That would stress me out. That would stress me out. Two. As well. Do you mean? No. Two is just the number two. Oh, I was like, what? Oh, now. Okay. So you, you have your max is two. Yeah. Two. Like if it's a really big project and I want to, and I'm like doing a make-along and it's a, it's a quickie, then you know, I'll do the quickie and then I'll go back to my long term relationship. But you don't feel good about it. I don't.

Do you apologize to the longterm? Sometimes yes. That's fair. So it makes me very nervous. I have a question for you. You knew it was going to be you. Yeah. Well, I mean, well, you looked at me. So all of us are Tawdry. So obviously it has to be for you. How do you deal with the boredom? Because that's my main reason for why I start to kind of look the other way. How do you deal with the kind of like monotonousness of.

So this is, this is actually my first project in a long time where I have gotten sidetracked and that's why it's taking me so long to get this done, like normally, normally something like this and something this size, I would have been done like months ago, but that's just hasn't been working out for me. And I don't think that it's that I'm bored with the project because I don't typically get bored with the project. I usually don't get bored. Usually no. I'm jealous.

I usually pick a project that I know is going to keep my attention because otherwise I'm just going to frog it and then do something else, which I've done before. But if it's a project that I like and it's a pattern that I like, I have no problem holding my attention to it. But lately it's just been like other things other than crafting that have caught my attention. That's fair. The project itself holds my attention when I'm doing it, when I'm doing it.

What cracks me up is when I have a project that's so close to being done and that's when I derail time to cast on something new. I'm going to finish that. It's going to be like a week and then it's like two years later and you're like, Oh yeah. It was a long week. No, I, yeah. We're going to find off. Like that is my stormy skyshall. I honestly probably could get that done in a week if I like stuck with it. Yeah. But I just, I do two rows and then it's just not, it's not happening right now.

I do other stuff. No, I just like plow through projects. Typically I just do it. Do it like sometimes I do it. That's not completely out of the question for me. It's just that I have to really like, I'm probably going to do that with this, but like I have to be like really, really focused. You got to really be into it and that's fair. And it has to have like, yeah, I tend, honestly, the ones I tend to derail are projects that are probably going to end up for me.

That's the ones that get derailed the most. Cause I can always make myself wait, but if I'm making projects for other people, those are the ones I end up prioritizing. And then I just, all of mine just derailed, derailed, derailed. And that's actually how I ended up with the 24 because like 20 of those were either garments or shawls or like these large pieces for myself. And then I lost my weight. And then I was like, wow. Um, these are all three acts and they don't fit me.

Um, so I'm going to just frog them all. The only one I haven't frog is my cami because I don't have the heart. I just can't do it. That's all the cami. I can't do it. I can't do it. I know it's way too big. I just, I can't. It's only because I know I had to cut the thread and at some point because of the way the top is constructed. And I'm like, no, I won't. I'm going to, I'm going to figure that out.

And that one's also really close because once the body is done, it's just little straps, like I cord straps. Yeah. Then I'm done. Yeah. There's no sleeves right there. So I'm just like, woman. I know. And sometimes that's, that's really hard too. When you're like, I either have to finish this or I feel like I need to finish this and getting the motivation to do that is really hard. Like whether it's for a deadline or, or a case like that, where you're like, I don't have a deadline.

I don't have to do this, but I just, for whatever reason in my head, I feel obligated to finish it and that's, that could be really tough too. Just getting that motivation when, when you are mentally done, but the project is not, it can be hard just for whatever reason, either I'm, it's just not working for me or you know, I've made the mistakes too many times and I'm like, you know what? I'm all set for whatever reason. I'm just like this, I don't have an interest in this anymore.

I am past the point now where I am going to do my hobby out of an obligation to finish it. If I don't want to do it, I'm not going to do it. It's my hobby. It's not my job and nobody is going to suffer if I don't finish a project that I am not enjoying and I used to be a lot harder on myself of like, I have to finish this even though I really hate doing it and I just don't do that anymore. I'm like, this is, this is my hobby. It's supposed to be fun. It's fair.

And that's all the time we have for this week. For additional content and opportunities to connect with the cast, be sure to check out our website at partonmystache.com and remember to tune in next time for more tips, nips and wits at Parton My Stache.