Yarn Diet: Fail

It's a proven fact that I already own a lot of yarn. As you can see from my earlier post last month re cleaning my yarn room, I basically have my own little private yarn shop. I love having my own little private yarn shop. However, now that my yarn stash is public, I have to admit that mine is the prototype for STABLE – Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy. So for New Years I made a resolution to knit exclusively from my stash and go on a yarn diet. No new yarn this year. Hmmppphhh.

...Until mid-January, when I was finishing a project and was running out of the yarn that I was using. Had to make an EMERGENCY purchase. Well, it was all in the service of finishing a project. (You know that last year's theme was perseverance, so I was just continuing that, right?) But really, let's face it, January: FAIL.

Ok, so on to February, which is a short month so I should be able to suppress my yarn addiction for 28 days. All went well throughout the month. Now, I may be on a yarn diet, but I'm not on a fiber diet (got some luscious new wool blend from Janette to spin), a spindle diet (got a gorgeous 20 gram Greensleeves drop spindle made from East Indian rosewood with a walnut shaft), or knitting accessories diet (several new magazines and needles made their way into my life). Nor am I on a paper diet. I spent a lot of time this month making cards, which was super-fun! So here came the last week in February and I was getting ready to dance the happy dance in celebration of making it an entire month without buying any yarn.

Just then, a series of events rattled my diet world. First, I got the new KnitPicks catalog. OMG, really? Right when I was at my most vulnerable, after going through three weeks of yarn buying withdrawal, I go to the mailbox and pull out the catalog filled with vibrant yarn that is so lovely you can see in the pictures how smooshy it is. My resolve weakened a bit, but I didn't order anything from KnitPicks.

Second, a designer on Ravelry, Valerie Johnson, who designed the Elphaba fingerless gloves that I love, emailed me because she saw that I had posted on our Maple City Ravelers discussion board that I was looking for some self-striping yarn to make those mitts. She told me she has some for sale in her Etsy shop, and her yarn looks so luscious. "Wow, what great customer service," I replied, as I drooled and worked hard to remain strong in my yarn diet commitment.

The last straw was getting an email from Jimmy Beans Wool, my all-time favorite online yarn shop. As it turns out, my "Jimmy Beans Bucks" (quarterly rebate) were set to expire on February 28. Did you hear me, I said EXPIRE! I was going to LOSE SEVEN DOLLARS if I didn't buy some yarn by the end of the month. To top it off, when I asked my knitting friends what I should do, they agreed that I needed to buy some yarn. (Thank you, my enabler pretties.)

I put an order in for some Malabrigo and Madelinetosh sock yarn as well as some delicious Arucania cotton in a jade color. March is a long month. Can I make it?

Everyone Needs a Little Yarnover Now and Then

Earlier this week we celebrated groundhog day (with a rip-snorting blizzard, no less). In case you didn't know, this holiday derives from the ancient midwinter celebration because, as it turns out, February 2 is pretty much the exact middle of winter, being six weeks from the winter solstice (December 22) and six weeks from the vernal (spring) equinox (March 22).

In the depths of winter, we knitters are working furiously to finish our wooly sweaters, hats, and socks. We were discussing this yesterday at the Monmouth knitting group that meets on Saturdays at the local library. It seemed that everyone was groaning about the dreariness of their current projects, what with the unending ribbing or stockinette stitch. All of a sudden, I realized that what we all need are some yarnovers to perk us up.

Well, I went home and finished a baby hat/booties/mittens set -- cute, but no yarnovers. Then I knit 20 rows of ribbing on my ho-hum yoga sock February KAL project. Yawn.

Suddenly, I decided to cast on a lace-edged hat so I could bring a little excitement into my knitting life! I'm using this smooshy Lorna's Lace's worsted organic merino in a pretty lilac -- cheery color for the middle of winter -- and very nice to work with. I got to spend an hour happily knitting with lots of yarnovers and even a purl here and there. The color, the texture, the lace...it all rejuvinated me! (Ok, the color in these pictures is washed out, but trust me, it is lovely yarn!)

Wistfully, the two inches of lace edging came to an end. Still, I cherish the memories of that hour of lace knitting. It's amazing what a little yarnovering can do. Now excuse me while I knit eight inches of stockinette stitch to finish this hat.