Thursday, November 1, 2012

Yarn acquisition: it's like a beautiful illness

Are you old enough to have watched The Carol Burnett Show with your parents on Thursday nights?  (I am pretty sure it was on after The Waltons, Mary said, heavily dating herself.)

One skit that stuck with me was a spoof on Hollywood melodramas that followed the old Boy Loves Girl, Girl Has Terminal Illness, Boy Loses Girl theme - except that the closer Girl got to death the more glamorous Girls' many many closeups became.  I realize this seems like a huge digression from anything knit-related but it's kind of how I see yarn acquisition at this point: the closer I get to total yarn saturation, the more stunningly beautiful a beautiful yarn can seem.  And how can you not buy a really stunningly beautiful yarn even though you are on the brink of storing yarn in gaps above the books on your bookshelves?

(seriously, I need to know.)

(though actually I stand by that as a very efficient use of space as well as an ideal insulation combination.)

(I did say 'brink', right?  I'm not there yet.)

Cutting To The Chase

I put myself into close proximity with yarn yesterday while waiting for an appointment, and I saw this:


and kinda had to check how soft it was (very) and guessed Malabrigo (correct) and then saw "baby merino" and I was done.  Let's put it this way: if you think merino wool is soft, imagine how much softer the baby version would be.

Once I had that in my hand, I spotted this skein and thought...


"mine."  Mainly because I am knitting a pair of socks this colour and Hello, Cute?  can you picture a matching sock/scarf combo?

Then it occurred to me that while both these yarns would make very very nice warping yarns for a long luxurious scarf, I didn't have anything at home that would so them justice in a pairing.  So... I found another pile of Malabrigo.  Worsted this time (superfast weaving, here I come.)

I liked this green on its own,


and I liked how it looks with the first baby merino skein.


Then I saw this one,


and I thought it would look pretty great with the second.


Which it will, because when I was saving these photographs and naming them I finally noticed they are both dyed in the 'stonechat' colourway.  Yeesh.

Plot Summary

After months of being pretty good about resisting new yarn, I am buying way more than I need to.  Again.

Ironic Twist

The Vesper Sock Club opens up for new members today and I was going to give myself a big treat and join.  Also, the Royal Winter Fair opens this weekend and I have been reflecting on how the alpaca boot-weight sock yarn I bought there last year led to two of my favourite pairs of winter socks.

Conclusion

GAH.


And that is the end of today's exciting yarn story.  I hope you'll join me tomorrow for another installment of Hugs For Your Head, which may feature a finished pair of winter socks as justification for the purchase of more alpaca-based winter sock yarn.  You know, to support my local farmers.

2 comments:

Leslie said...

I'm currently knitting a sweater in Malabrigo Rios. It's divine and I can't wait to finish so I can wear it. I'm actually considering moving someplace cooler so I can wear more malabrigo creations. It's absolutely divine!

Mary Keenan said...

Omigosh Leslie, Rios looks like it would be so fun to work with - and the colours are gorgeous! That is going to be one nice sweater ;^)