Sunday, May 02, 2010

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Day Seven

I can still remember when I first started stashing. It actually took a while; for a long time I was quite content to work on a sort of "pay as you go" model of knitting. Unfortunately, I am also my mother's daughter, which is to say that I come from a long, long line of hoarders, stashers, and bargain shoppers; it is simply not in my nature to say "no" to a good deal. Thus, I began to accumulate.

(I also have a belief [bordering on superstition] that is bad luck to walk out of either a yarn store or a book store without buying something.)

Suffice it to say that I love yarn. I love touching yarn. I love the different textures of different kinds of fibers, and I love the way that merino is different from Romney is different from blue-faced leicester. I love colour, as well: Fleece Artist and Handmaiden's palettes have enormous appeal for me. I love having a craft room full of yarn that I can pick from for my next project--it's almost like shopping at home.

I love Briggs and Little, particularly Regal and Heritage, both of which have a wonderful "real wool" kind of feel. I feel like whatever I knit from them would be indestructible.

I love Three Irish Girls. I've been in her clubs for almost two years now, and that has rewarded me with some of the most beautiful colourways imaginable. In terms of her yarns, though, I'm quite partial to Galenas Chunky, which is the softest, squooshiest thing imaginable, and also her Finley Fingering, which takes colour in a gorgeous way. I have dreams of knitting fingering weight cardigans out of it that are light and warm.

If I had to choose one yarn to rule them all, though, I'd probably pick Berroco's Ultra Alpaca line. It's soft, snuggly, has a terrific colour palette, felts like a dream, and is exceptionally well priced. If I were limited to a single yarn for the rest of forever, this is probably the one I would choose. I've used it to make Fetching, a Dumpling Bag, a hat that looks really stupid on me and therefore doesn't exist, and some house socks. I definitely need more of this stuff.

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