blasts from my yarn-buying past
Saturday, January 8, 2005 at 12:10AM Only 174 days left until I can buy yarn again. Just thought I would throw that out there.
I'm not quite panicked about this... yet. And when I say, not panicked, I don't in any way mean that I haven't wished (just once or twice in the tiniest of ways, of course) that I hadn't quite put the whole yarn fast thing out there in such a public way... I mean, yesterday my boss even said to me, "I really admire that... six months is a long time, but you are the kind of person who would plan that out and actually do it." I was flattered that she thinks I have such resolve and follow-through-with-it-ness, but I was also secretly thinking... crap. The jig is up. Seriously, no buying yarn. It's real. Thank goodness for Stephanie- every time I've been tempted (yeah, that's right, I've fondled a skein or two this week, and I've even imagined the possibilities, what's it to ya?) I simply think, MSF! Greater Good! Needs vs Wants!
So, since it is only one week into the six months and already I am clearly already freaking out at this drastic, no-yarn-buying lifestyle change, please indulge me for a minute. Want to see my newest yarn, that I got in December in preparation for the fast? Well, OK, if you must.
I didn't get a chance to go to Artfibers when I was home for Christmas, but I still got to take home all this:
and it's soft, too!
Yes, indeed, 12 balls of Toto, an incredibly soft "chenille", but chenille with a difference. And by "with a difference," I mean- it actually doesn't suck to work with. These 12 balls were originally bought my my mother last winter, to make my brother Brian a sweater. Because my brother has very, very specific tastes in clothing (he wears a lot of plaid, for example, but not if there is any red in the plaid) he had a clear idea of his imaginary future sweater in mind. A hooded cardigan sweater, with large buttons because all of his hoodies have zippers and he wants something original. No "going in" (ribbing) at the sleeves or hem, and he would like the hood to be a Jedi hood. Knowing that I was about to go on a yarn fast, I ever so graciously volunteered to take the yarn hostage... wow, did I really write that? I didn't mean take the yarn hostage. I meant, take the yarn, and the stress of knitting a sweater, off of my mother's hands. Weird that I mixed up my words like that. I did a little knitting on this yarn while I was still at my mother's, and it is So. Nice. Really, really soft, lots of bounce, beautiful colors, and smooth enough that it is still easy to learn to knit with. How do I know it's good for learning to knit? Well:
Yes, that's my brother Brian, knitting away. Once again, I would like to point out that he is a freaky fast learner when it comes to knitting. He picked up the swatch on his own a couple of other times over my weekend at home. As a reward, I bought him 3 balls of Karabella Aurora Merino. I got him olive green, so that it would match pretty much everything he wears. And while I was at Knitting Arts getting yarn for Brian, some other yarn was accidentally really, really close to it on the counter, and- whoopsie- I paid for it and took it home:
the last supper
Yup, Koigu. What is it about that stuff? It's weird... like, I HAVE to buy it. Some sort of sick compulsion. These two colors go with some other Koigu I have (solids in chocolate brown, forest green, orange, and a medium kelly green- and then a KPPPM with all of the solid colors), for a striped sweater I'm going to design and make for myself. The top skein is must more rust and less pinky in real life. The purse handles? They were just pretty, and I had to have them. I am quite certain that somewhere in my stash I have yarn that will join them in perfect purse harmony and bliss. Purse handles are not included on the yarn fast.
Neither are knitting books- good thing, because the 3rd and 4th of the Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns that I special ordered arrived for me at work the other day (love my job). In honor of the MSF One Week Need vs. Wants Donation Challenge (click on the Knitters Without Borders Button in my sidebar if you still haven't read about this! And then give!) I haven't taken them home yet.
I have made great progress on my vest- working in the round, it is just flying by. I'm so glad I trusted my instincts earlier this week and ripped it out. It now looks like the vest I had in mind. I have worked up to the armholes, bound off for the armhole shaping, and worked almost all of the back- I just have to finish the neck shaping on the right side. Pretty good considering most of the knitting has been done in two days on the train and bus to work. I sat down with it tonight when we put on the Chinatown DVD, and Jacob said, "Hey, sweetie, it's really getting bigger fast! That must feel nice." I love Jacob. He told me he was really glad I was knitting something for myself, "for a change." Jacob is due for some sweet new socks, that's for sure. Just waiting for the Mamluke sock yarn (ordered December 31st, thankyouverymuch) to arrive.
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