Dawn of a New Yarn Stash

When we got home from our shopping expedition last week, we were in for a shock.

I can, without (much) hyperbole, say, that I bought all the yarn.

You may be thinking to yourself: How did this happen, Maggs? You had a list!

Yup, I had a list. A list that went from a binding contract to a scrap of paper in the recycling bin after it collapsed under the weight of The Spouse asking if I was sure I’d grabbed enough yarn – and in the face of coupons – and under the pressure of sales – and under the perceived threat of scarcity. Given that we went in the middle of a sale and at the end of the day, there wasn’t a whole lot left. I took the last of their charcol and blue skeins, leaving only a handful of the other color skeins each and as they were completely out of black, I went on line to get the rest.

This is the haul that I physically picked up and I am waiting on 10 black skeins to arrive for the sweater. The good thing about patterns is that they tell you how much yarn you need for the project – I only needed 8 skeins, but got 10 because it was further discounted and because: black yarn. So I should be set for a good while in terms of fiber. Enough to make the transition from a chain store to a legit local, independent yarn store – as soon as I find said store. I know, I know. I’m not proud of this. There are no shortage of yarn stores in the East Bay and I have had a lot of time to go check them out but I’d been putting it off because I thought of myself as still dabbling and thus only really bought acrylic when I could justify actually purchasing anything (see post about inherited stash). Now, there isn’t a thing wrong with acrylic, but the local shops I’ve visited didn’t carry it and thus, I stayed away thinking that one day, I’d knit well enough to be worthy of nice yarn. I still kind of feel that way but once I’m done with the stuff I just bought, I think I’ll be most of the way ready for the fancy fibers. Well, these are a wool and bamboo mix so this yarn haul is pretty fancy.

Okay, maybe not a lot of yarn for most, but it’s the most I’ve ever bought, possibly ever.

I have never bought so much yarn, let alone in one go. In retrospect, I should have determined how much yarn I would need -by weight – when the Mood Scarf started, or even before I left the house that day.

All I had to do, was weigh the scarf, knit a row, re-weigh and then do the math to figure out how much I would need in a year. Granted, what if I had three months of nothing but Weird? Instead, I did all that *after* we got home and we way over estimated. I found out that I had, on average, only used 5g out of the 50g skein. It’s easy to see why The Spouse and I thought I had a lot less yarn. The ball of yarn looks like it’s waaaay less than 45g it is, compared to the 50g skein next to it. So now, we have both learned something new. Not that I’m complaining. There is no such thing as being over prepared and I reeeally don’t want to jinx myself into having a year full of an emotion I don’t have enough yarn to knit about. I am now fully stocked for Joy, Copacetic, Weird, Dejected and Distressed and the year can proceed normally. I may only have one extra skein of the blue, but mathematically, it works out – and that’s keeping me from freaking out. Hopefully, I’ll be way over stocked for those last two moods and the cardigan I’m starting this week.