Stash-Busting and Gift-Giving

OK, I used only one ball of yarn, but that's one less ball of yarn in my stash.

Last year I made a lacy little purse because I was sucked in by the beautiful display of new Louisa Harding yarns and books in a local yarn store. Though the pattern said I'd need one ball of yarn, I bought another "just in case". That ball had been sitting around, waiting for something to call its name. Turns out it wanted to be a lacy little purse, just like its sister ball of yarn.
It's not an identical twin. Rather than flowers, this one sports a lone lady bug. And rather than being lined in cotton cloth, this one is lined in felt.

It's an Easter gift.

Here's a view of the inside.

I'm quite pleased with it.

What did I learn in the year between these purses?

One, I learned how much I love the Addi lace needles. The first time I made this purse I had a hard time with some of the decrease stitches on the bamboo needles I was using. It was a struggle and stitches were hard to move from one needle to the other. It's all so much easier with the lace needles.

Two, I learned how to read charts. This pattern is not charted and truthfully last year charts scared me. I had no idea what those little symbols meant or how they related to what I was doing. So I just followed the written out directions and was glad there was no chart there to confuse me. I've since come to love charts and wish they'd been available for this project.

Thirdly, I learned how much I like knitting lace. Last year this was the most complicated lace I'd ever done and I wasn't sure I could do it. I did, with a lot of concentration and counting. Now it all comes much easier.

Now to come up with projects for more of that stash...