Confessions of a Fallen Yarn Snob

I’ve fallen from grace.

In most aspects of my life, I’m pretty down to earth.  I buy union.  My nightgown is ten years old.  I even cut my kids hair instead of taking them out for salon cuts most of the time.

But, yarn.  Yarn is different.  I am a bona fide, certified yarn snob.  My all time favorite?  Probably the skein of Alchemy Silk my Mom got for me last year.  I have an absolute fetish for Colinette.  My stash includes significant amounts of Cashmere, Alpaca, and organics.  I like handspun and handpainted yarns and I feel no guilt about indulging myself shamelessly.

So, why did I get a lion brand catalogue in the mail?  I put it in the "toss" pile without giving it a second glance.  Yes, I did have a brief flirtation several years ago with homespun after my friend Stephanie made me an incredible scarf for the holidays.  And yes, I have done some knitting needle cases by felting Landscape.  But really, a whole catalogue?  Wasn’t I too good for that?

Um, the mighty have fallen.  On a whim, I picked up the catalogue on my way out the door this morning.  Oh my, oh my, oh my!  It’s lovely.  Who knew Lion had that organic yarn?  And the felted birds are now on my "must make" list.  Multicolored tea cozies?  Gotta do one for The Judge for Valentines Day.  There is some seriously cool stuff in this catalogue.

Although I haven’t officially announced, I have been considering a (mostly) knit from your stash year in 2007.  Yes, there was the purple multi-cascade I picked up in my LYS yesterday and some Colinette I bought on E-bay, but really, that was it and I was going on the wagon.  But, this caught my eye.

It’s called Ruffles.  The base yarn is a cashmere blend and the ruffles are a sort of funky yarn that you knit into the top of.  Simply irresistable.  The yarn is now in the mail and on its way to me!

I actually have some undyed cashmere in my stash.  But I purchased the Lion Brand cashmere blend anyhow.  I was worried that the color might be off or something.  And one skein of the cashmere blend was under $7.  Sort of like being on a yarn diet, instead of a total fast.  (This reminds me a little bit of the year that the Judge, upon being asked what he was giving up for Lent, said he was cutting back on coffee.  He explained that because he was Episcopalian, all he had to do was cut back.  But, I digress.)

I’m waiting on Ruffles now.  At least I have been consistent in my recent desire to knit scarves.  There was a bad incident with the Clapotis last night when I realized the bad dog (see post below) had done a bit more damage that I thought, but it only took me two hours to pick up stitches and get everything back on the needles and hopefully, with all the markers in the right places.  I only have a couple of inches left before the silk feather and fan scarf is complete.  So c’mon ruffles, hurry up and get here!  I’m a fallen woman and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it!