Spring Is Here So Summer Is Not Too Far Behind!

Just love, love, love the sound of spring peepers as the sun starts to set!  Because that means it is warming up and going to stay that way for awhile!  Yay!  But that also means it is almost time for the WEBS annual tent sale in Massachusetts.  Double yay!

For any fiber lover or spinner, this is heaven on earth.  Our Graceland.  The Vatican of fiber. The Royal Family reunion.  You name it, this is it.  WEBS is a great online source for all things yummy. It may be all sticks and string but ooooooooooo do we love the string!  Cashmere, baby alpaca, merino wool, angora, kid mohair, silk, milk fiber, bamboo viscose; the list could go on and on and on...and on, and on, and on.  And what makes it great for me (Karen) this year is that I am finally going to be able to experience this breathtaking, choir of angels softly singing above me, sunbeams lighting the glorious path to "Ahh-Aaahhhh".

I encourage anyone who is a fiber addict, like my sister and I, have a fiber addict in their family, or if you just have a general morbid curiosity as to who all these odd crazy people are squeezing skeins of yarn like they are checking the ripeness of a tomato.  Trust me, one squeeze of some baby alpaca, you're gonna be running around knocking people over squeezing, touching, feeling, rubbing on your cheek (hopefully face), and emphatically sounding off the Campbell's "mm-mmm-good!" slogan over and over again.  You get hooked (crochet pun - haha) from the first time your gently glide your finger over a soft hazy pillow of superfine kid mohair.  It's like being wrapped up into a burrito made from big white puffy clouds lined with angel feathers.

If anything, come and watch the loonies get all starry eyed over something the size of lemon that costs more than a nice dinner for two.  But my thought is, who needs dinner?

2015 - The Year of the Stash Bust

If you're an avid crafter - of just about any type of craft - then, you'll know all about the STASH.  Your stash is all of your supplies - all the little (and big) things you've collected over time that aid you in your craft.

For those of us that love the fiber arts - your stash can often grow to be more than just your essential supplies.  To be fair, I only need a single pair of knitting needles, or a single hook to knit or crochet at will.  As long as there's some string around - I can make something.  But, I don't have just a single set of needles - or a single hook and a single ball of string.  Instead, I have lots and lots and lots of each.

Because I've got sooooo much fiber, in all those lovely colors and types and weights, it means that I'm utilizing quite a bit of space to store them.  As I can only work on one project at a time - that means that there's an awful lot of pretty string around here waiting it's turn to be transformed into something fabulous.

So, in an effort to get to each of those lovely colors and fibers in turn, I've made a resolution for the year of 2015:  I will not purchase a single skein of dyed yarn.  (it hurts a little bit to even type that...)

If I have a project that is just screaming to be made, and I don't have a color that is jumping for joy because IT gets to be that fabulous project - then I will just have to dye my own fiber to suit the project in question.  If that doesn't work, I'll have to move on to another project that's screaming for a turn - there are plenty. :)

This means that for the entire year of 2015, I will be working 90% of the time from yarn that I already have and maybe 10% of the time from yarn that I will dye on a project-specific basis.  There is only one exception to this rule of the 2015 Stash Bust - the WEBS Tent Sale.  For the Tent Sale, all bets are off.  I'm trying to be a good girl, but, let's not get ridiculous here.

In any event, it's now the 17th of January, 2015 and I haven't purchased a single, little tiny piece of beautifully colored string - not a single skein, hank or cake of yarn has been brought into the house by me.  (My lovely, amazing, completely ROCKING sister sent me some beautiful yarns and that is going to have to hold me over until the Tent Sale.  THANK YOU, KAREN!!!!)

We'll see if I can keep to this Resolution.  I'm at about a 50/50 split right now - half of me really wants to do this Stash Bust and the other half of me is ready to go surfing and see just what is on sale at Knit Picks right now...

Must, resist the pretty...

An Invitation to FLASH!!

So, this post is going to be all about FLASHING!!

I'm so totally going to flash you!

With my stash -

of yarn.

Boy, you've got a nasty mind...
:)

Mind you now, this is actually not even close to all of it...

So, here goes...

Oh, I should probably mention that this unit is just over two feet deep - and the yarn is starting to push it's way out.  Oh, oh and did I mention that 70% of it, or so, isn't even in this shot?  Oh, oh, oh, um, also you want to know the worst/best part?  There's more coming from Knit Picks sometime this week - and I can't find a single damn skein that works just right with the project I want to start next. *le sigh*

<3

Consider this an invitation to flash (your stash of yarn, please)!