Tuesday, January 16, 2007

On The Band Wagon


Have you read about this? Or this one (the original) Well, I'm on board! The general idea is that acquiring yarn has now, at our house anyway, insured that should our apartment run out of insulation - we'll be fine...the wool will keep us warm. I used to laugh when I read stories about people who had wool in every single room of their houses. Well...save for the bathroom, we're "one of those people" now. You know, when you begin knitting, it all starts so innocently and then something happens - some wave of insanity washes over you. I blame the Internet. The easy access to patterns and pictures of things that I find myself obsessed with knitting would be no temptation without this here Internet. And then you're online and there are the Knit Picks yarns at such a good price or the webs or the Elann...or, well, you get the picture. Here in New York City you have access to a ton of amazing knitting shops (I try to stay away from those).

I moved to NYC in January of 2001 and Chris was busy with a show. I'd be home alone in the apartment (he did not have cable - he needed me so badly back then...) and I decided that I needed a nice quiet hobby to occupy my lonely hours. So, I bought a knitting video/kit and a book and taught myself. It wasn't easy - but thankfully Chris did have a working VCR, so I was able to rewind the tape to the point of wearing it out and get down the basics. And then, I started ordering yarn and wouldn't you know it, I needed needles I didn't have to make the next pattern and whoooo boy, isn't that a lovely shade of pink? I think I'll get ten balls of that yarn ('cause the girl down the aisle is looking kind of interested in this here bin and I'll tell you what, she's not worthy of this beauty - it must live at my house. I'll find a pattern for it, I know it). And that's how the infection grows.

And then one day you start to look around your house and realize that you MUST start to knit with this yarn you have. I've started to tighten the purse straps for this new year and frankly, it feels good. With my last trip to the yarn farm, I think this idea of Knitting From Your Stash for 2007 is a good one. Here are the rules:

1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 -- a period of nine months.

2. We will not buy any yarn during that period, with the following exceptions:
2.a. Sock yarn does not count. What? You think we are made of stone?
2.b. If someone asks for a specific knitted gift that we really and truly do not have the yarn
for, we may buy yarn to knit that gift.
2.c. If we are knitting something and run out of yarn, we may purchase enough to complete
the project.
2.d. We each get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card -- we are each allowed to fall off the wagon
one time.

3. We are allowed to receive gifts of yarn.

4. Trading stash is allowed.

5. Spinning fiber of any sort is exempt.

So, I'm all in. I'm doing it. I'm On The Band Wagon. If you bump into me in July or so, you might take pity on me and give me some yarn (see #3) 'cause I have a feeling that this is going to get a bit hard half way through.

Oh! And Chris got me the Knit Picks options needles for Christmas, so this challenge includes most needles for me too.

Pictures that I owe - My Teddy Bear, The Needles, The new scarf knit from the first skein of Yarn Farm yarn and the new scarf that I'm knitting for Jenn's mom (I'm sooooo thrilled with the pattern!).

Tonight: The Continental Congress of the 2006 Class of The Academy! Can't wait to see my pals.

That's all the news that's fit to print.

1 comment:

Kristin said...

I'm so sad that I never get any comments, that I am shamelessly leaving myself a comment.

Go you! You can de-stash this year! And eventhough everyone in whole wide world hates you today, I still think you're alright.

Love,
Yourself.