Accidental Diets

Is anyone out there on a yarn diet?  I wasn't on one intentionally, but the other day as I was working on a second sleeve I realized I haven't bought yarn at all this year.  Seriously!   The last yarn I bought was in November of last year.  And that was for making Christmas presents.  Now, there are plenty of people who are currently going "Cold Sheep" and vowing not to buy yarn, but I'm not that girl.  I've been very methodical about my stash, and I *love* everything in it.  So, I've been happily knitting from my stash and I haven't wanted for anything.  


Last year I knit 5160 yards.  I'm a scientist; I like to keep records.  Don't judge.  I bought 1360 yards.  That's 3800 yards out of my stash.  That's like 4 worsted-weight sweaters (without cables)!  So naturally I've been casually "shopping around" for some new yarn that is worthy of joining my (most-fabulous) stash.  I really like knitting lace and sweaters.  I'm kinda over the whole sock thing because I rarely wear the socks I make.  I want to knit things that I USE!  So I went through my favorites on Ravelry.  I culled the herd and tagged the remaining patterns mercilessly.  (Some Ravelers use their queue to keep track of patterns the like - I use my favorites)  In this process I noticed that I am drawn to sweaters knit in light weight fabrics.  So I started shopping around less-casually for yarns in sport weight or less.  I love shaded solids, but I frequently can't justify the cost of a sweater's worth of yarn.  Nearly all of my sweater stash consists of discontinued yarn I got at deep discounts, or yarn snagged during Web's annual 40% off sale.  In short, I was having trouble finding anything that met my needs.


Until yesterday.


For those of you on a strict "cold sheep" yarn diet you may want to look away now.


I followed a little advertisement on Ravelry to a shop called Crazy 4 Dyeing.  The shop owner, Ellie, has tons of shaded solids and lots of deep jewel tones.  AND - It just so happens that she is running a Fireworks sale in honor of Independence Day and nearly all of her yarns are 50% off.  Sock yarns for $11.00/400yd skeins.  Or perhaps you would prefer 1300 yards of laceweight wool/silk for $16.  The sale lasts until July 15, so you have some time to ponder your colors!  Guys, this is some absolutely gorgeous seriously cheap yarn.  Even at full price her costs are lower than most mass-produced commercial sources.



Sometimes you see a yarn and something just hits you saying "THIS IS WHAT I SHOULD BE!" That's what happened here with  Artemis (teal, and my favorite of the Greek pantheon) and Goldenrod (well . . . the golden one).  They need to be a striped sweater.  Specifically, a raglan cardigan with a scoop neck (or maybe a V-neck).  I shamelessly stole these photos from Ellie's site.  I promise I will photograph them myself once I have them on hand.  I'm really excited to start swatching and designing.  I have a very specific idea of what I want, and so far I don't see any existing patterns that emulate it.  So I'll probably be designing this one on the fly.   

I.  Can't.  Wait.  (Except I will have to wait as I have already committed to knitting a sweater for the 2012 Ravellenic Games.  More on that later.)