Wool Stats and Completed Projects for March.

 I was rather afraid that the stash reduction for this month was going to be very small indeed but in the end the numbers were more pleasing than anticipated. Yarn in was 200g which I claimed in a swap and for which I have a project in mind, and no wool in my stash that was suitable. Yarn out was 1265 g; almost half of that was sold and the rest was a mix of being knitted up or given away  Net reduction for the month then was 1065g and the cumulative reduction for the year to date is 3429g. 

(Things may not be quite so good in April as I have two lots of club yarn arriving, which I opted to receive on a quarterly basis, thus saving myself some postage but it does mean that there will be a lot arriving all at once. Ah well, c'est la vie. )

Meanwhile here are the completed projects for March. 

Birthday socks for my brother-in-law. He is a train geek, and in fact has just become an assistant editor at Railway Modeller magazine, as well as being the voluntary editor for the magazine of the Ffestiniog Railway Society, so a real enthusiast. So when I saw this mini-skein set dyed in the colours of some of the most famous locomotives from the old pre-British Rail days I had to buy it and make him some socks. Because I only had 20g of each colour I did actually have to sit down and do maths for this one! and I also knitted them two at a time so that I could be sure I had enough wool for the coloured stripes and that they were even. The dark grey is called Engine Oil, and the colours belong  to the Duchess of Hamilton (maroon), the Flying Scotsman (green) , Mallard (blue) and Rocket (yellow). Mini skein set by Quack Yarn. He loved them. 

 

Owl themed fingerless mitts that I made for a round robin type of thing. It's a big circle and you get sent something, take inspiration from it and make or buy or rootle out  something to send on to the next person round. I got a lovely fabric box with appliqued owl and fox, so I made these out of some fox coloured wool I had (coincidentally from Box 2 - very helpful) and with owl cables. 

These are socks for the OH that I made from the wool I got in a January swap, so not out of the box but good to get it used up. These were far from being a favourite project as the wool was harsh and they just seemed to take ages and ages to knit. Also about 3/4 of the way through the ball, the micro stripe turned into a much fuller stripe but there was nothing I could do as it didn't turn back! So the foot you can't see in the picture is finished with about four quite wide stripes. It looks odd and I was quite disheartened, also it niggles me, but he doesn't  care. so that's alright really then. 

This is the big project I worked on without managing to complete in February; The Impressionist Shawl by Helen Stewart. I wanted this finished for May when we are off to the Loire Valley and starting off with a visit to Monet's house and garden at Giverny. I thought it would be a fitting thing to wear there. The lace is much easier than it looks (it must be otherwise I couldn't have done it) but even knowing that I am really pleased with this. 

I'm not even going to pretend that I made these 'spa cloths' for any reason other than to do a quick knit and get this year used up. My current swap theme is Earth/Eco Day, and these are made in some hemp yarn that someone gifted to me. I was pleased to find an appropriate use for it. 

Box 2 is still looking relatively and worryingly full, but there's another four weeks so if I work hard....

And finally the token 'not knitting' project; a card I made last week which I am also quite pleased with. Simple but effective.