Miniskeins and Auction Prep

I never really got onto the miniskein train when that hit a few years ago. I watched in fascination as knitting friends traded, looked for special kits, and a plethora of patterns showed up that required specific numbers of miniskeins of specific lengths paired with a solid or a this or that... 

All interesting projects and of course I ended up with a few sets because I am a lemming for a beautiful gradient or I just couldn't resist the Color Kittens theme. But overarchingly they sit in the stash because it either requires more brain space than I currently have or the idea of having to pay attention to when I am changing colors or this pattern requires 7 colors and I only have 6 and why no, I do not wish to completely rework the pattern math thank you.

One of these sets acquired was the Progress Pride set from the now dye-retired Stranded Dyeworks. 

 I even cast it on, hoping to knit through a Gingko Biloba pattern that I've admired for years. And then it sat for 3-4 years.  The problem here wasn't that the yarn was too fussy but that the pattern requires a medium amount of attention. It's not a shawl where I know I'm going to be staring distractedly at a lace chart; it's not socks where I can be on the train, standing, and having a full conversation while the hands go around and around. I have tried to knit this pattern at least twice, possibly three times, and I always flame out somewhere around petal four. 

Enter the Stash Toss over the winter break and I pulled this out again and realized I should (a) knit this up for the Romancing the Vote auction this summer and (b) it needed a different pattern. Fortunately, an Ambah O'Brien pattern, Woollsia, presented itself and we were off to the races. 

Per the recommendation of some other crafters, I'm treating this set of miniskeins as though it were a single skein-- I'm not trying to blend between the colors. (This pattern is also just easy enough that if I were knitting in with a couple of skeins of the same color, I'd absolutely go 15-20 rows without noticing I forgot an eyelet row.) I have lined things up with changing yarn so one side doesn't have any garter ridge bumps. 

And progress is indeed underway! I am just over halfway through, five colors completed, color six (red) underway, and five colors left to go. It's rocking along. 

This is just big enough now that it's not really good public knitting but when I get back into longer meetings where I just need to knit it will be fine and overall it's small enough still that I could work on it on the train.  

The color changes are satisfying in that sense of feelings of accomplishments. I know I'm on skein 6/11 and each skein goes by fairly quickly. That said, I think if it were anything other than what I know it will be -- a specific flag of stripes -- I'd find it more annoying. The hard stripes between this many colors are not something I'd seek out to wear. So I'm feeling validated in not having more actively pursued mini skein knits.  I'll work through the other (does quick math) 10 sets eventually. At least six of them are gradients -- not distinct colors -- though one is a Wollmeise advent calendar. 

I am reminded though that I have bags of leftovers that I've been meaning to turn into hexagons that will eventually be a "socks I have knit" blanket. If I can memorize that pattern, using those up would also put a nice dent in the mess around the stash section of my office. 

I'm hoping to have this ready for the auction pile by the end of January.