Want to know what I just bought? Of course you do. You’re as yarn-obsessed as me, right? ;)

Eight skeins of Knit Picks Shine Sport in “Harbor”:

Three skeins of Knit Picks Shine Sport in “Cream”:

Those eleven skeins are for my first FULL garment design. You read that right! I’m moving from sketches and swatches to a full, realized garment! *squee* I’m so excited! (EXCLAMATION POINT x INFINITY)

Now, as a reward for myself (because I need more of a reward than eleven skeins of pretty yarn?), I also bought myself 4 skeins of Knit Picks Bare Superwash (merino/nylon sock yarn) to dye.

Seriously, this is, like, the best night of my life. *twirls around in circles*

I can’t wait for it to arrive. I haven’t used the Shine Sport before, but I’ve been pleased with most of the Knit Picks I have come across. As for the Bare yarn, I’m really eager to get my hands on that yarn to dye. It’s been a while since my first dye-job, and I can’t wait to start mixing colors again. I may use the yarn myself, or sell some of it. I know that each skein is 462 yards of sock-weight yarn, which would be fantastic for so many projects.

How would you feel about that? Would you guys buy some yarn if I dyed some for you? It would never become a full-time thing for me, but it would definitely be something I’d do for special occasions.

I have amazingly talented listeners of my podcast. Truly. One of them is Julie, of Lotus Knits (her Etsy shop is 1,000 Petals), who is a brilliant yarn dye fanatic. I happened to mention to her one day that I was in lust with one of the skeins she had up for sale on her Etsy. It’s still there, but I have no idea why. It’s brilliant! You should buy it and make me jealous.

Here it is:

Isn’t it..don’t you think…? OH GOD, I have no words. It makes me hungry. I think that’s hunger. It could be…something else entirely.

Back to my story, dear ones.

I mentioned my lust, and that when I have the funds, I was going to buy some of her yarn and podcast about it’s deliciousness. She replied, telling me how she would like to dye me a skein of yarn if I would only tell her the colors I like, the type of dye process, and my address. How freakin’ RAD is that?!!!! There aren’t enough exclamation points in the whole world!!!!!!!!!!

A week or so passes and a box arrives for me, containing this:

That package contained the following:

But it looked more like this:

Mostly because I totally fail at unwinding twisted hanks and winding them into balls. Seriously. Hours of frustration when all I want is to dive in and GO. So, the lovely Julie said she wouldn’t mind winding into the above ball.

MERINO/SILK BLEND, people. It’s a shaded yarn in a light turquoise and I loooooooove it.

As soon as I got it, I started swatching!

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with this beauty. I think it’s about 17WPI, which would place it somewhere around fingering, maybe? Julie? Do you want to step in here?

Anyway, I had two ideas for this, and if there’s yarn enough, I’ll hopefully be able to do both. But here’s the first, a sneak peak if you will:

Half-Double crochet and Front-Post stitches, which are creating that beautiful, natural scallop edging. I’m using a rather large hook for the yarn, so it’s creating a nice lacy effect between the post stitches.

What do you think?

If I lived within driving distance to Portland (PDX), I wouldn’t be able to resist visiting Yarnia. Repeatedly. All of you who are within driving distance are going to have to write up reviews, blog about your experiences, e-mail me photos so that I can drool and weep and moan about my life being meaningless without such a haven of yarn.

It’s like a friggin’ Choose-Your-Own-Adventure of yarn.

You are a brilliant young designer. You realize that the yarn in your stash, or even that in the stores you’ve visited, are not suitable for this design. Your Google-Fu and Mapquest skills direct you to a land where strands of fibers await your touch, your care, your genius.

Upon arriving, you open the door and find yourself facing three paths. You…

(A) veer left toward cones of varying wools in brilliant shades and delicious texture.

(B) continue straight ahead toward tables full of inspiring, pre-wound cones, and consigned crochet and knit pieces.

(C) veer right toward the aisles of alternative fibers, roving.

(D) make a full lap around, fall into a chair before you pass out from the awesomeness, and cry like a child on Christmas who has just received the pony they’ve asked Santa for the last three years.

You know how you tell yourself that you should really go on a yarn diet? Or, really, someone else tells you. You look at your piles of yarn, look away. You make a double-take because, wow, it really has taken over the room, and then you sigh before agreeing that something needs to be done. Nothing serious–no, nothing so serious as to get rid of any of that wonderful, glorious, often times beautiful, yarn. But, truly, something needs to happen, and so you sulkingly, and with complete grumpiness, agree that a yarn diet is the most acceptable course of action.

There’s some grumbling, some moaning, some late-night drooling over yarn listed on eBay, Etsy, Ravelry, and shop websites. And, by this time, one month later, you’re way past withdrawal, and even more past any mollifying that your partner, who played instigator and suggester to this backwards and ridiculous diet, may offer. Hell, you’re lucky to be alive! Alive…and without yarn…

Then there’s a brief moment where you remember that you told yourself that you would only buy organic yarn this year, and we’re barely into February. Guilt builds up and burns your throat, or maybe that’s stomach acid, but still…it tastes nasty.

You remember the giant bags of yarn you purchased last month, though you weren’t the only one as the Yarn-Diet Nazi helped with a couple bags of her own. Of course, those aren’t supposed to count. Still, you sigh wistfully at how glorious those two days of yarn-purchasing felt, and then the guilt, or acid, or whatever, hits your esophagus and you gag a little.

You start to hear a song in the hallway, and you think that maybe you’ve finely come undone. You’re ready for yarn suicide because here comes the crazies, but no…what’s that? Little gnomes of rationalization sing-song their way past as your head wonders why they’re all not out getting great travel rates. The little cranky-faced, rationale-loving gnomes line up in front you and you forget about the burn in your throat, and the souring that guilt has caused in your stomach, and they tell you that, really, you got all of that yarn on sale. Great prices! they shout, and then cheer for you because you’re an excellent bargain shopper.

Little Gnomes:
Hurrah! Super Bargain Shopper!

You:
Stop, really, you don’t understand. I shouldn’t have–

Little Gnomes:
You’re a Queen! We’re so proud! You saved loads of money! Do you realize the money you would have spent had you purchased all that yarn at–gasp–full retail price?

You:
Well, yes…I know. Easily $50 to $70 more.

And then you get caught up in the excitement of all that money you saved, and the yarn you accumulated.

You:
I got so much, and at great prices, sometimes half or more off! It was the best couple days of my yarn-loving life. I wish you could have seen me leave with the huge, heaping bags, WITH ALL THOSE COLORS!

Little Gnomes:
Oh, we saw, Empress, we saw. We see everything! What an amazing time for you!!!

You:
I know! And, oooh, guess what?

Little Gnomes:
What, Empress? What is it you yearn to tell us?

You:
I got more last night.

Little Gnomes:
More? What of?

You:
MOOOREEEE! It was great. We were only there for a few craft supplies and–

Little Gnomes:
Yeah, and…

You:
There they were. A heaping basket full of Patons Classic Wool skeins.

Little Gnomes:
Oooh, you could felt! You like felting.

You:
I know! And with the new washer, it will be–

Little Gnomes:
Get on with it.

You:
Right, sorry. There they were, and there I was, and it was like…it was like…

Little Gnomes:
Magic?

You:
No, you watch too many Tom Hanks movies. It was like…fate!

Little Gnomes:
And what made this encounter so fated, Queen of Ours?

You:
It was marked down from $5 to $2 a skein!!!

Little Gnomes:
FAIOJFAOIHGIE@#$FH#A!!! WOOHOO.

You:
Best. Night. Ever. I got 6!

Little Gnomes:
Six.

You:
Yeah, six.

Little Gnomes:
The yarn was more than half-off per skein and you only got 6?

You:
Yeah, well…they had five colors on clearance, and one color didn’t go well with the others, there were two shades in red, but the lighter one was all wrong, so I got the darker, some orange, and some burnt-yellow-ish. Two of each.

Little Gnomes:
Why not wipe out the whole stock? Why not put that diet to bed and BUY THE WHOLE CLEARANCE BASKET?

You:
You don’t have to be so mean about it. I had thought of it, but I didn’t really need all of them, and I didn’t want to get too much of one color and not–

Little Gnomes:
And we thought about giving you a crown…

You:
A crown? Really? Like a real Queen?

Little Gnomes:
Well, you’re not getting one nowww. Jeez.

You:
Where you going? What about the crown?

Little Gnomes:
. . .

You:
I’ll go buy more yarn?

Little Gnomes:
*throws confetti*

It went something like that.

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Caryn and I are trying to make a real effort in turning parts of our consumer and everyday lives into something eco-friendlier. The things you learn about your everyday items, or doings, is astounding. (Research what your mattress is made of, including chemicals, that’s all I’m saying.)

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