Cataloguing My Yarn Stash

Well, another Sunday and instead of going to the Whitney and taking in the Biennial, I decided to review my yarn database (yes, it's true, I've catalogued most of the yarns I own), to see what projects to do with them. I've sadly discovered a yarnoholic's truth, that my comsumption for buying yarn has outpaced my creation of items with that yarn and unless I face reality, I'll be in the business of selling yarn, not legal services. The answers of what to do about the ever burgeoning stash quickly spring to mind, but the choice is illusive. Like Jared Flood's blog post, there are categories of yarn in my stash.

First is the "down with the ship" I'll never part with these yarns. These are the yarns that I tend to gaze at the most, fondle, dream about, always trying to think up the perfect pattern for their own yarn perfection. You know these yarns, they are Jade Sapphire's cashmere, any Hand Maiden yarn, Anny Blatt cashmere's, Karabella margrite, real Harris tweed yarns, coarse and wooly, Tao silk, those cashmere yarns I bought from the Italian ebay seller, most of them are luxury yarns. These are the yarns that my projects come from. I have great joy working these yarns and giving gifts made from them.

Then are the proletariat yarns, the ones that I've acquired in my 40+ years of knitting, most are wool, most are worsted or dk weight. Many of them are in sufficient quantities to make a sweater, baby blanket, etc. But most of them are not chosen for projects.

Then there's the non-proletariat, quirky, bulky, glitsy yarns that aren't in the bottom category, many of them were once in the 1st group, but have been ousted because they don't fit, it might be the wrong season, not enough yarn, too bold a color, etc., but I think I can make some good projects with this yarn, if I just find the right pattern, recipient, season, etc. Love by Filatura di Crosa comes to mind, a great fluffy bright colored yarn, but my current pattern craze is cables and it doesn't do cables well.

Then, the bottom. Most of this will be dispatched to senior citizen centers or donations. This is the acrylic I bought for babies, the cotton yarn that is terrible to knit and stretches out. This category gets smaller and smaller every year.

I think I need to stop buying yarn and start working of the over 479 database entry yarns I have. I'm a fast knitter, but my time on this planet is shortening. Ebay here I come.

Will no one rid me of this meddlesome weather?

Yes, this is my first entry and I hope not my last. The snow is blanketing NJ but its muffled hushness is permitting me to pick up the needles and knit my new project. It's the Heather Hoodie Vest designed by Debbie O'Neill published by Knitscene, Fall 2009. I love this pattern (this is the 3rd vest I've made) and I think this one may be my favorite.

I'm making it for my son's girlfriend. The yarn is an all-out hedonistic, luxurious, sumptuous 100% cashmere -- Capella by Anny Blatt, unfortunately discontinued but still available on the web, in the Veloute shade (a darkish heathery denim blue). The yarn is silky, puffy, woven and easy on the needles with excellent stitch definition and can be spit spliced. When I learn how, I'll post a pic. Cashmere is the best fiber -- bar none. If I'm going to spend my leisure time and creative energy, I want to be able to knit with something that gives me pleasure.

I was raised by a rather straight-laced (or so I thought at the time) single mom who parsed out pleasures: tv (b&w at the time) only after 5:00 and never more than an hour; big dinners only on Sunday; fancy shoes only for church (amen to that b/c fancy = painful), new clothes twice a year (more a product of economy I think than choice); and never have an alcoholic drink, chocolate or dessert before nightfall. Only illness, natural disaster or celebratory event altered Pat's rules. Today, I realized that my mom's rules have crept into my lifestyle; instead of indulging in an all day knit fest and finishing the aforementioned vest while the dreaded white stuff fell from the sky around me, I had to wait until after 8:00 p.m.

Well enough disclosure. I'll try to loosen up a bit and let knitting enter the day light hours from hence forth but only on non-work days.

Now about the Legal part of the Needle. I'm an attorney, sole practitioner with a varied practice in Bergen County, New Jersey. Part of my practice is representing children with special needs. I wish that School Districts would comply with the law and make my job obsolete, but in the current economic climate, it is not going to happen. It is so important for parents to learn what their rights are and the obligations of the school district as well as what parents cannot expect from School Districts. It's part of my job to educate the parents so that they are able to navigate their child through school and become happy, productive, and educated members of society.