100 Things: #2 -- Yarn!

[gnomi]

Yarn. I love it. I have skeins of it that will probably never see my knitting needles. I have balls that I bought for projects that I was all set to start but that never made it out of the bag. I've got hanks given to me by friends who were deaccessioning from their stashes.

I prefer natural fibers, but I am not a yarn purist. I believe that synthetic yarns have their place (such as for baby gifts, as I refuse to knit baby gifts that cannot be tossed into the washer and the dryer), but I prefer the ones that have a more natural feel (so, for instance, yarns that are wool-synthetic blends).

My grandmother taught me to knit when I was about nine, and I admire many things about her and her knitting, but I have no idea why she had this seeming obsession with cheap Red Heart yarn. That's not to say she only worked in Red Heart, but there is quite a large quantity of knit objects that she made out of Red Heart that survive to this day.

I like to go into yarn shops and just fondle the yarn. More than once I have come home with yarn that I have no idea what I might want to use it for. It followed me home; what it will become will be revealed eventually.

I will, and have, bought yarn online, but I prefer to buy yarn that I have had an opportunity to feel for myself. So one thing I will do is look in my local yarn shop (LYS), buy a skein or two there, but go online to buy multiple skeins if I am making a sweater, mostly so that I don't buy the whole inventory of a yarn in my LYS and to be sure that all the skeins I buy come from the same dye lot (thus preventing the pitfall of different dye lots looking different when knit into a finished item).

I appreciate mabfan being tolerant of my bringing home skeins of yarn that have no immediate project designation. And now Muffin and Squeaker are beginning to express interest in my yarn, so I may have to start buying them yarn that will be just for their own use.

Comments

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I think picking up a yarn you like that you may not see again makes perfect sense. You'll always find a use for it.

[introverte.livejournal.com]

My kids have stashes of their own. Or really, stashettes.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

there is quite a large quantity of knit objects that she made out of Red Heart that survive to this day.

there is something to be said for that level of survivability! durability? yeah. maybe.

[fauxklore]

I buy yarn in other countries. It's not stash, it's souvenir.

[aviatrix18.livejournal.com]

Yarn is just a fiberish extention of the creativity gene.