the fiber fetishist

I like to enable. I like to introduce other knitters/crocheters to yarns/fibers they haven’t played with before. I also like to make them stuff, but sometimes I feel I’m taking the fun out of it (for them) when I make them something! Adding to their stash seems like a fun thing to do, so when I see yarn that sings someone’s name to me, I like to get it for them if I can!

Today I planned to visit my mom, as I missed seeing her for mother’s day last weekend. I planned to stop at Uniquities (LYS in Vienna, VA) beforehand to pick up what I had decided to get her for mother’s day — a copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting and some hanks of Euroflax Linen in colors to match her main floor bathroom!

I arrived at Uniquities exactly at 10, when they opened. Outside the shop they had the clearance merchandise, and I poked through it before heading in. I found a bag of black yarn — the discontinued Classic Elite Sand, a worsted weight, textured, nubby, 100% cotton yarn. 12 50g hanks for $48 — a great deal, and enough for a garment!

I of course thought of my favorite “black and cotton” knitter, E (of Poking My Eyes Out) and once I ascertained that it was indeed black and cotton and soft, it was in my hands. The way I saw it — even if E doesn’t want it, I have no black yarn in stash, and it is a good deal!

Read on for more details and pictures behind the cut.

Inside, I picked up Euroflax Linen for my mom in two shades, and one hank for me. I also picked up two balls of Trekking XXL — one for me (76) and one for Mom (blues) — so now I can join the Trek Along With Me KAL/CAL. Hooray!

I was in and out of the store very quickly — I had a list, and my only deviations were the CEY Sand and some Koigu. The person checking me out laughed — I was in and out of the shop before anyone else had come in that day!

I drove up to Mom’s and gave her the yarn/book — she seems to be intrigued by the book and the linen yarn. Hopefully she won’t saw off her fingers with the linen twine attempting to make a hand towel!

While at Mom’s, I sent E an email that said something akin to — I picked up this black cotton yarn, and if you want it, it’s yours! I also put a lot of “uh if you don’t want it, it’s okay and I will keep it” notes mostly so she didn’t feel like she had to take it.

I received a reply: E said, “of course I would like it!” Tada! More stash for E (well, unless we trade)!

When I got home from Mom’s, I was overwhelmed with the stuff in my house. In an effort to clean out some of it to save my sanity, I collected a huge box of yarn to donate. It’s mostly acrylic and wool-acrylic blends like LB Wool-Ease and LB microspun. I had this yarn all in its own stash box, and I had not opened it in months, so I decided that it was time to let it go. I think I am going to donate it to one of the homes for the elderly around here.

The box it was in is now half-full of fiber for spinning/felting and I feel better about the clutter in my house (cleaning my desk and putting away two years worth of bills also helped contribute to this).

So that’s extra stash for my mom, E, and some elderly folk, with a little side of Koigu and Trekking XXL for me! Hooray!

I think I can sit down and knit now, possibly while watching Memoirs of a Geisha.