Love is Blind

You know when they tell young lads that too much solo sex will make them go blind? Well it's the same for us knitting gals. Too much SEX (Stash Enhancement Expedition) will produce the same results. Yes, you'll get a warm tingly feeling inside, but you will indeed go blind. Blind to the fact that you have nowhere to put it, blind to the fact that you don't have a project for it, blind to the fact that you probably won't use it for at least a year and blind to the fact that you don't really need it and probably can't afford it. So girls, practise safe SEX - don't go yarn shopping with people likely to encourage you, leave your credit cards at home and only shop when you need it. Who am I kidding? It's been a positive orgy of yarn pr0n here recently so you should all share the love and go indulge yourselves.


These two were from a local market stall that sells mainly acrylic but have a lot of nicer 'seconds' for sale. Usually the problem is that the ball was the wrong weight rather than there being anything wrong with the yarn. The lilac one is Sirdar Country Style DK in Viola and was 69p per ball. I bought 700g, some for a sweater for me and the rest for something for Scarlett. The darker one is mystery yarn (please let me know if you recognise it), it's black and deep purple and has a brushed look. It's very fine. I also have small amounts of this in deep/light pink and blue/turquoise and would love to know what it is. It feels really soft. This was only 59p a ball so I bought 6 in case I wanted to use it doubled.

My LYS has had a great January sale, this Patons Crystal was in the bargain bin at 65p a ball, it's been discontinued. It's microfibre acrylic but is made the same way as DB Cathay so would make a great sub for it. I have 5 of the brown and 6 of the red and am thinking it would make lovely summer tops.

They also had the great yarn mountain out again. They pile up packs of yarn in the middle of the shop and if you want to know what's in there you really have to get down and dirty on the floor to have a good rummage through. I came away with a kilo of Sirdar Country Style in Lichen and 500g of RYC Cashsoft DK in Crush. Both were half price. The Country Style is for one of my own designs and the Cashsoft is because it would have been rude to leave it behind.

I've also been bidding away on eBay. I'm not even safe staying at home these days. I'm starting Glampyre's gorgeous Simple Knitted Bodice next month as part of an informal KAL with friends. I initially wanted the Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora (vintage rose), but even at half price had a bit of a wobble on the cost (I need two 500g packs) so I bid on the Patons Diploma Gold Aran (kilo pack) instead. I was out bid and bought the DB as a consolation only to find out I'd been given a second chance to buy it after the winning bidder didn't pay on time. It was a huge bargain, about a third of the retail price and more than enough for a sweater so I grabbed that too. Needless to say I need to take a leaf out of Mary-Lou's book and start hiding it behind the bath panel. So much for knitting from my stash....

Just in case you were hugely disappointed that this wasn't the kind of sex you had in mind. (Sorry Jen - forgot you weren't up with the latest knit slang). You need to practise safe sex for the other kind too, or you'll end up with one of these...

and adorable as baby James is... I'd rather have cashmere. He's from last year's batch of summer babies and is now 7 months old (where does the time go?) He's a very smiley little chap and keep his mum on her toes with his mischief.