MDSW: the yarn
The yarn, oh! The yarn! I was at MDSW for a total of five hours, but did countless dollars of damage. Please don’t do the math and give me a running total, because I’m still in a bit of denial. At least I didn’t buy any fiber - I never spun up the stuff I got at Boerne, so I didn’t allow myself to buy any more.
First up, yarns for gifts! This is how I justify the purchases - a bunch aren’t for me!
The skeins on the ends are for baby-in-law due in August. The 8oz on the left is some superwash Tess worsted (YUM), and the 8oz right is Blue Ridge Farms organic cotton. That’s a pound of yarn for baby. I think the cotton will be one of the first yarns to get wound up and knit, for some reason I’m deeply in love with it. In the middle is some Spirit Trail laceweight for Sockpalooza 4. I’m still debating about this one - my sockpal is definitely into brights, and I’m wondering if this color is shocking enough.
There are two more skeins that don’t photo well with others:
Tess laceweight - this will be a Spring Things shawl for Rob’s grandmother. I had to do some fancy color-correcting to get it to look anything but RED.
Yarns for me:
The top yarn is Brooks Farm Acero, a wool-silk-viscose blend. It is shiny, and I couldn’t resist. I now have five skeins of Brooks Farm in my stash, all unknit. Bad kelp! Left to right: two skeins of Tess worsted for a sweater, some Koigu from the Mannings (I was determined!), and some Spirit Trail laceweight. I was thisclose to buying Spirit Trail’s silk laceweight in a gorgeous pink and grey colorway, but I went with the merino instead. Silk is expensive! I am absolutely in love with the Tess yarns. I wish that there was more of the skinnier merino, but I loved it so much that I bought the worsted anyway. I’m thinking that it will become a lacy cardigan so that I’ll actually wear it around these parts.
Overall I did pretty well. I went a bit over my budget, but didn’t buy too many frivolous things - I was on the lookout to extend my laceweight stash and stay away from the multicolored sock yarns, and was pretty successful at both of those goals. There’s also a couple of skeins that I got for Amy, but those are a surprise until I see her on Thursday.
The official I-have-too-much-yarn-and-must-knit-from-stash decree
Given the recent Yarnzilla action and MDSW, my stash is officially growing faster than I can knit it up, so I’m not buying any more yarn in my problem areas (sweaters, socks, scarf-amounts) for the rest of the year. Socks totally count - I’ve got more sock yarn than I know what to do with. There are a few exceptions:
- I am allowed to buy yarn for gifts. Especially for momma P, who is allergic to wool.
- Any money made from destashing yarn can be used to buy more yarn. But really, I’d prefer to plug it in to something else, like etsy non-yarn goodness.
- If I knit three projects in one problem area, I can buy yarn for another project in that area. I’m definitely hoping to knit three sweaters before the end-of-summer sales to get more sweater yarn at a crazy discount.
Wish me luck, I’m certainly going to need it!
RSS
Gorgeous yarns! Good luck with the knit from the stash plan. You’re a stronger woman than I am…
Oh my goodness, what a haul! I’m jealous.
yum, great haul! I LOVE that Tess laceweight and the Brooks Farm.
I was really tempted by the Tess superwash merino petite (or whatever they call it).
Good luck knitting from stash! :) You do have all of that fantastic yarn for sweaters… :)
[soon, you will show off the airywraplongassnamecardigan, yes? :) ]
Beautiful choices! I can imagine that Tess yarn was hard to photograph– I always have trouble with those complex burgundys. Your destashing goals sound perfectly reasonable… good luck!
I am drooling all over that Koigu. Gorgeous colorway!
Great haul! Such beautiful colors! I really should do the same thing with my stash. I’ve bough 4 times as much yarn as I’ve used up this year and your rules sound really good. Hmm..
Good luck!
Good luck with the knitting from stash, it sounds like a pretty good plan.
I am not even going to mention how much I love that yarn and (still!) wish I were not spending all my efforts on dead Germans.
I think the Tess Laceweight you got is the same colorway as the one I picked up. It’s gorgeous! It’s going to be something from Victorian Lace Today but I’m not sure what yet. I got some Acero too, that’s some wonderful stuff! Nice haul!
Girl, you did GOOD! I am considering joining you on your knit-from-stash decree, too . . . I have way too much yarn for my own good.
And the Acero? I bought the same color of Mas Acero (worsted) for a sweater! Hee!
nice enhancement! if you are going to stop buying now, you went out with a bang!! All the yarns you got are so pretty - we got the same Spirit Trail yarn!
i love your no new yarn decrees - now we just need to hold you to it!
Admitting you have a problem is the first step.
The yarn is beautiful…I’m sure you’re excited to cast on. But purples and blues and greens? Who ARE you? haha
That’s quite a haul! Woo hoo!
Yummy!
I praise you in your effort to fight the stash….but I’m telling you from experience (of course, this might not apply to you, but this is my experience), that I emerged from my yarn diet totally knackered. It’s better to exercise S.E.X. (Stash Enhancing eXperience) in moderation than to set yourself to rules. ;-)
Girl! I know exactly how you feel!! I must really knit up my stash!!
nice haul! WOW! i had no idea that so many people liked Tess’ yarns so much! I went to her booth at Stitches West this year and last and never heard anyone talk about it until MDSW this year. I’m so glad i have co-conspirators in how great her superwash merino is! i just love it…i’m using it to knit up a log cabin blanket. yum! :o) i know i’ll have plenty left over to do a bit of sock/hat work too. but who knows. if you only need 2-3 skeins of worsted for a sweater….i’m probably going to have enough for at least one sweater! :o)heehee!
Pretty yarns - they all go together so beautifully. Lots of lovely muted shades. I suppose this would be the wrong time to tell you that Y2E is having a big Mother’s Day sale this weekend? :)
Good luck! The yarn you found is all SO drool-worthy… I am bouncing in my chair waiting for Rhinebeck!
I bought exactly the same Acero–it’s amazing isn’t it? And also enhanced my stash way too much at Tess designs–slightly different color scheme though! Good luck on your knit from the stash plan–I tried that too and lasted about, um, 3 hours I think . . . .
The Koigu! The Tess! really, really stunning.
That Tess is the one thing I wanted to badly at MDS&W but couldn’t locate, rats!