this is not going to become a knitting blog...

there are entirely too many knitting blogs out there and, frankly, most of them are really kinda embarrassing.* but lately i've been doing a lot of knitting, so it's on my mind and there's this part of me that wants to blog about how i made a really cute pair of mittens yesterday by combining a strand of this weird koigu yarn (that the lady at my friendly neighborhood yarn store -- the lady that carson pointed out looks like kenobi (my small cat) -- somehow talked me into buying) with the awesome lamb's pride wool/merino yarn i found in the bargain bin in color "medieval red". or about how this weekend i knitted my first sock and now i want to knit socks all the time!

but i will blog about this... i have become a yarn snob. that's right -- a freaking YARN snob.

when one first learns to knit, one uses big needles and cheap yarn. this is because bigger needles are easier for unskilled hands to manipulate, and cheap yarn is less frustrating when you mess up a billion times. but once you start to get the hang of it, you start to experiment with different needle gauges, and soon enough you have a whole freaking armory of needles -- single pointed needles, double pointed needles, circular needles, cable needles, wooden needles, aluminum needles, long needles, short needles, fat needles, skinny needles; not to mention the stitch markers, the stitch holders, the rulers, the scissors, the counters...

but the real kicker isn't the needle-gathering**, it's the yarn. the yarn! once you start knitting with real wool, there's really no going back. it's so superior! it moves through the needles so much more efficiently! the stitches look so much nicer! it has the ability to transform a casual and pleasant hobby into true craftsmanship!

(i know -- this makes me sound batty as hell. spinsterhood, here i come!)

but there's something incredibly gratifying about knitting with good wool. sheep, alpaca, merino, cashmere... even cotton! it's all about the nice natural fibers. once you start using it, there's just no freaking way you can go back to manmade acrylics. yuck!

the issue here is that natural fibers can be freaking expensive. (there's this one skein of yarn at the yarn store that i'm completely in love with, but it's almost $60 for about 200 yards! this is a love that is destined to be unrequited.) even if you decide you're gonna knit christmas presents for everyone on your list, if you're using good yarn, you're not really saving yourself any money. it's truly sad. but i'm truly becoming a compulsive knitter (i knit on the bus, i knit in bed, i knit while i watch college football! i'd knit on the treadmill if i could do it without falling on my face!) and it's just so much better to use the good stuff.

alas, i am a poor girl these days. so my new plan is to dig out all the old sweaters i don't wear or like anymore and unravel them! yup -- recycling old yarn. i'm gonna turn ugly ducklings into beautiful swans! because i just can't stop myself.

sigh...



* i believe "fantram" is the correct word.
** yes, that was a pathetic attempt at a pun on the word "woolgathering", which (the context of this post notwithstanding) is one of my favorite words ever of all times.