Oh well.
Hat Hell 2011 was a partial success. I got rid of a lot of stash and made hats. I got about halfway through the month. Then I went mildly insane and wanted to stab myself countless times, instead I began actively organizing my stash and pattern collection. That project is still in the works.
My resolution not to buy yarn until I burned more stash failed... but it failed nicely. I bought 2 skeins of Red Heart to patch my MIL's blanket and then promptly burned them over the Thanksgiving break. Guess what the colors were? Orange and Black. It was a granny-square, Halloween blanket. I should be happy, but Halloween does have it's time and place and that is not during Thanksgiving. (See the orange skein to the left? Yeah, I was working with that and black.) I had the benefit of showing off my talent to a large group of talented in-laws. Alpha's brother designs and crochets blankets, that brother's wife does needlepoint and cross-stitch. Another sister-in-law takes fabulous pictures and is crafty. All in all, clinging to the lap blanket of orange and black made me feel like I could be a contender. And I did. They are all cool, wonderful people and they made me feel cool and wonderful too, which just makes them more awesome.
After this never-ending cycle of ego-stroking, I went to Salvation Army and rescued a skein of Red Heart Fleck... It's acrylic and nasty, but my heart was enlarged and willing to forgive even Red Heart. It was partly because it was nice enough (at a thrift store there are much worse yarns than Red Heart), and mostly because I went to a wool store just before.
That's right. My new fascination to shop for yarn when I visit other parts of the world continued. It began in England with sock yarn and has only gotten worse. This time I dragged Alpha out of his way to feed my need. We stopped in Temecula, California at a beautiful Wool store called The Wool Lady. It's an all animal-fiber store, specializing in wool bats for quilting. Seeing the lovely soft wool and cute projects made me want to begin quilting too. So, being in a beautiful, small business, I spent money.
I picked up 3 skeins of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace in 1071 blue. It's so soft and delicious to touch. I will share pictures, though if you google it you will see why I love it so much. I am already dreaming of a large lace shawl that will make me weep in frustration and glow with pride. It's why I bought 3 skeins. I also bought point protectors and a lovely Skin Thimble. While knitting the sleeves of my sweater, I realized that my right pointer finger does not have the necessary callus... so I was in pain. I knew that a decent thimble would work, but I didn't see one until I was in Wool Lady Heaven. If you are in the area, I suggest stopping buy.
So I might be awful, horrible, evil and lazy, but I am also kind of productive, crafty, savvy and totally Awesome.
(Did you see what I did up there for The Wool Lady? I cleverly said 'buy" instead of "by" instilling in your mind the necessity of purchasing, not just perusing. See?)
Also, not that enough people read this and adore me, but I would love to have a share of wool fromthe best place ever. They had a great sale for Cyber Monday, but my pocketbook is stretched a little thin right now.
