The Life and Times of a Yarn Junkie

MamaBear with Sashay scarf - I love the bright colours

One model for four projects:  a
LionBrand Homespun shawl; a
studioloo (handspun) scarf on head);
two "twirly"scarves and one
fingerless glove

 From Red Heart Sashay to Frillseeker Light.  From hand spun Studioloo to hand dyed Handmaiden Sea Silk.  From Lion Brand Homespun to Marble Chunky.  I haven't met a yarn I didn't like. There are so many of them.  Of all types and persuasions.  Cottons. Acrylic.  Wools of all kinds - Alpaca, Merino, etc.  Silk.  Various scarf yarns. The colours:  soft colours; jewel-tone colours, bright colours; dark colours, variegated yarns, hand-dyed yarns.  A yarn for any season.  Any reason.  Ahhhh, the ecstasy of it all.  Sometimes I wonder if I've died and gone to yarn heaven.
So many yarns.  So little time to knit.

Or maybe I should give up sleeping....  Hmmm.  Now that's a thought.  Maybe not a good one, though.

My creative place - with finished and
unfinished projects

Two projects on finished Lighthouse
filet crochet afghan

To think, I used to believe that all yarns were carried by places like Michaels.  JoAnn's.  Mary Maxims.  Herrschners.  Lens Mills.

I had no clue as to the wide world of yarns awaiting me, beckoning me into their warm, soft embrace.

My pride and joy -
Handmaiden Sea Silk shawl -
slightly imperfect:  just like me

I had needlessly limited myself.  To think that one little store in a little town in Ontario was the key to broadening my horizons yarn-wise.  To point me in the direction of becoming a "yarn junkie".  Addicted to the feel and colours of other yarns, more expensive yarns.  Yarns made out of wool, silk, merino.  Yarns that feel like butter moving through the needles.  The touch alone calms the nerves and speeds in recovery.

Modelling my first ever hat.  I am
so proud of it.
Cowl made from Studioloo

Ahhh, pure blissful, decadent delight.

I had no idea that day that I first wandered into the yarn shop in Stratford that it would be a life-changing event.  Even when I left with my first pair of knitting needles and a couple of balls of Katia Triana scarf yarn, I had no idea what was to follow.

Chemo Hat for friend - crochet

I continued going back to the yarn store every time I had a counselling appointment in Stratford.  I like to think of it as the combination of two different kinds of therapy:  yarn and talk.  Both valuable.  The talk helps me sort of my issues; the yarn - ahhhh, the yarn.  What can I say except that the colours delight me, make me smile?  So does the owner with her kind words and helpful comments.

After my first couple of scarves, I started scouring the area of more scarf yarns.  I found both yarn stores in my hometown of Kitchener.   At that point in time, only one carried the scarf yarns.  Different from the ones carried in Stratford.  Then I found more scarf yarns in Lens Mills.  The hunt was on.  The quest had begin.  The thirst for yarn that could not be assuaged with only one type.

Thus began the beginning of the making of a yarn junkie.  A saga that continues on to this day.

See you next week.  Until then ... happy knitting - or whatever you do to stay sane.

A scarf for almost any occasion