Obviously I’ve got the bug really really badly. I can’t believe I just did this, but I bought what seems to be the only large lot left in the UK of Louisa Harding [I]Thalia[/I] skeins in #8 – [I]Beauty[/I], which is a mix of gold, plum, pink and tan, with an overall impression of pink. Its a ribbon yarn, and it’s really beautiful – and it’s the yarn called for in Kristeen Griffin-Grimes new book, [B]French Girl Knits[/B], in the lace tunic [I]Louisa[/I]. I love the pattern, but I specifically fell in love with the yarn.
I agonized for about two hours over whether to buy it or not! I’m don’t even know if I’m a good enough knitter to make the tunic yet! i have five jillion needle sets arriving in the mail soon, and I’ll [I]still[/I] need another one to make this project! And I’ll have to figure out how to store it until I decide to try making it! And the finished tunic itself might not even fit in my luggage! LOL!
[B][I]PLEASE[/I][/B] tell me I’m not the only one who’s bought yarn way more expensive than I can actually afford at the moment for a project that I don’t know when I’ll be good enough at knitting to make… :shock:
I’m a sucker for Malabrigo sock yarn ($18-$20/hank), Alpaca Sox($20/hank), Be Sweet Magic Ball ($30/hank), Shibuiknits Sock ($10/hank), and Tofutsies Sock Yarn ($16/skein). If I had unlimited funds, I’d be buying scores of these yarns. Instead, I buy when on sale and save for a special project. Right now, I use alot of Cascade & KnitPicks yarns.
I’m quite pleasantly surprised at the price you can get nice wool yarns and superwash wool yarns at these days. The Cascade 220 and The Heathers I worked with for the USO hats were suprisingly nice, and I understand that Emu’s Superwash is even less expensive and well worth trying out. I still need to get down to I Knit in Waterloo and check that out…although at this point, where I’ll put more yarn in my luggage is a complete mystery to me…
Oh no, you’re not the only one. I just ordered two lots of handpaintedyarn.com’s Merino Bulky for this and another sweater to be named later. Right now I’m blessing the fact that I can fit into a medium 95% of the time, and a small the other 5%.
I’m drooling over other very very expensive yarns as well. Bad, bad, bad Trish!
However, my experiences with needles (from crap to Options) and 100% Acrylic yarn (Lion Brand, I’m looking at you) have show that - for me - it is worth using the good stuff. I enjoy the process so much more, and I’m less likely to get UFOs.
When I first started painting, 'lo these many years ago, I had the idea that I’d get cheap brushes and cheaper quality paints until I “learned” to paint.
Although it might seem counter-intuitive to start with the good stuff when you’re just learning, that’s really the only way to go. At least from my perspective of many years creating art of one type or another.
Once I “splurged” and bought some really good quality oil paints and a few awesome brushes, I found that I learned so much more and got such better results with the quality materials that buying the cheapie stuff was the real waste!
If you want to practice a stitch pattern or explore a new technique you’re unfamiliar with, by all means use a less expensive yarn (but use your good needles!). Then, when you feel a bit more confident of the pattern or technique and the serious knitting starts, just go for the gusto!
Always start with the best materials you can afford. The yarn you mentioned just looks like something that’ll fill your senses and strike creative sparks throughout the project! Glad you went for it!
Oh, thank you thank you, ladies…I was starting to think perhaps I’d lost my mind to knitting. :mrgreen:
Ruthie: I’m a terrible snob about fibres and tools, I’m afraid. I’ve been sewing and crocheting since I was six (my mother claims it was 4), I’m a theatrical costume designer, I’ve taught machine embroidery software classes, I make beaded jewelry, etc., and in all of them, I’ve noticed exactly what you’ve said: no good comes of using poor quality tools, no matter how much of a beginner you are. I also play the violin (I play Irish traditional music), and, let me assure you, giving someone a cheapo violin-shaped-object is only inviting pain for the player and the listener!
I’ve been so good up to now, though…using much cheaper versions of yarns I liked, etc. I tried to resist this one too, but I just couldn’t!
Oh I bought an insane amount of malabrigo, after agonizing over it (I’m one who likes to think through and not just buy intuitively) but for this yarn, it felt so right,… And I couldn’t decide on a color, so I just bought a lot. (For about $100 if I remember correctly)
Then, I bought a cone of artfibers tsuki, I just had to… ($33 for 100 g)
And lately I had been drinking a lot of tea and noticed that I didn’t have much green tea, (I have a large collection of tea), so I just went online and spent $70 on tea and $30 on shipping.
I got some Noro Cashmere Island which is the most expensive yarn I have bought so far and I am still trying to work up the courage to knit it! I’ve decided it’s best to wait for now until I’ve lost a little weight…plus I did buy it with birthday money though which makes me feel a little better about waiting. :shifty:
After I graduated from college last summer, I splurged on a skein of Tilli Tomas silk yarn with beads. I had seen it and had my eye on it. After walking across the stage and not falling down, I believed I had earned the right to own that yarn. :teehee:
I just hopped over to Schaefer yarn and my heart all but stopped!
All I could think was “gimmee, gimmee, gimmee”! :roflhard: One of each, two of some, and many of others!!!
Of course it’s just what I need - yet another incredible yarn to add to my stash. Well, I do have a birthday coming up in April…Nah! That’s too far away!
I swear yarn breeds. Every time I open my yarn cupboard (or open the lid of my yarn chest) I’m more convinced than ever!
Of course the breeding potential of yarn varies according to the type of yarn, but at night while you’re sleeping they’re all partying!
I know this is true because I’ve found yarn in my stash that I had no recollection of buying, in colors I didn’t think I’d ever choose, which is evidence of “cross breeding”. The olive merino MUST have gone to the prom with the navy alpaca! Nothing else can explain it!
So when you put your new purchases away, you might want to give some thought to what you store them next to.
Good luck with it! And do let us know what you decide to spend your savings on!!!
Oh glabaltraveler you are definitely not alone. Just yesterday my BF and I went to Thousand Oaks (A town near where I live). He had an interview and I told him I would walk around and meet him at a nearby deli. So I started walking when what to my wondering eye did appear but a LYS!!! So of course I had to go in - just to look - and wound w/ a skein of Jo Sharp alpaca kid lustre and an $18 skein of Noro Taiyo - just to try it :teehee:
Well, how do you know what you might want to use it on if you don’t ever swatch it ahead of time?!
That’s my excuse, anyway, and I’m sticking by it!
I used to live in the SFV (in Reseda), way back when, for about 4 years. I sure don’t miss the Santa Ana winds, and I don’t miss those days when the smog was so bad that you couldn’t see the hills around the Valley!
Oh - I hate those winds! Santa Ana winds = fire!! We had 2 big ones coming at each other last year and then a couple of weeks later the Santa Ana’s picked back up and there was another one to eat the fuel the other 2 big ones left behind. It was awful!!! But I digress, this thread IS about expensive yarn obsessions after all :teehee:
I agree! I’ve been wanting to try Noro forever and never get any. When I walked into that store and saw that they were putting away their brand new shipment there was just no stopping me, but I was good - I only bought one skein to see how much I like it first
I take back what I said about 100% acrylic. It’s the cheap stuff that’s so harsh on my hands that I don’t like. I’m reserving judgement on this Red Heart Soft Yarn. I decided I didn’t much like the feel of the baby blanket I FINISHED today, and decided to look at acrylics for the baby cardi that MissMolly linked in another thread. What? I can learn sweaters that way without killing my hand painted merino!
I also picked up some light worsted wool (JoAnn’s brand - Sensations) for socks for my mom, and some varigated bamboo that I think will work for same, maybe for my sister - it was $2!
Oh, and some gray merino (Caron’s Classic Wool) for a cabled sweater for me.
The baby is getting sweatshirt gray - Mom doesn’t know what she’s having, and since we’re all in the Army, a gray hooded cardi probably fits their style. But the blanket is white trimmed with a green ribbon for Michigan State - her husband is a fanatical alum.
