Wowie. I got my mail at the post office, and I received a birthday card from a long-standing computer client. Not only that, they included a $50 gift certificate to Yarn for Ewe! How sweet they are. I’m touched by the kind thought.

Truthfully, I also have another $50 I received in cash from two other birthday well-wishers. So now I have significant money to buy yarn. At least $50 of the yarn has to be purchased at Yarn for Ewe, but I’m thinking if I wanted to do something quite extravagant, I could put it all together into one purchase. I’m so used to buying two skeins at a time for socks. This seems like such a windfall! And I need to spend it on yarn for *me* rather than others, as well. Total luxury.

Often I don’t find the colors I prefer on the shelves at the store, so I have many times special ordered yarn in exactly the color I wanted. They carry Brown Sheep which is a favorite, and they have Debbie Bliss which washes like a dream and is just gorgeous stuff. I normally just buy Debbie Bliss yarns a few skeins at a time because it’s pricier than some other favorites. I wish it came in different colors, but I could also get some in natural white and dye it whatever color I wanted. Hmmm….

The problem is that I really don’t have a particular project in my head right now, at least not one that I don’t already have yarn for. I don’t believe in yarn diets, as I consider yarn and knitting to be much more affordable than movies plus a VCR plus cable TV, all three of which are nearly standard expenses in most folks’ lives (at least in my social circles). I figure knitting is much more affordable per hour than a movie, for example… and I honestly do not like movies at all, so I have all that movie money I can spend on yarn!

I just got the yarn for the Sally Melville Maximum Legwarmers from her “Knit Stitch” book, and am up to the knees already on those. (I do have to get that part exactly right or the legwarmers will fall down, so I’m doing my typical knit/rip/knit/rip process now to make sure they are just right.) I also want to do her mohair “not your mother’s suit dress” from the Purl Stitch book (pictured on the cover, seen here), but I already have yarn I can use for that, in either turquoise or hot pink.

I am also seriously considering the extra-super-bulky “not your mother’s suit coat” to go with the dress, which takes huge amounts of yarn (one strand of bulky and one strand of super bulky, knit together as one). However, I have some turquoise lopi in stash in enough quantity to be one of the yarns… and a pound of some sport-to-DK weight handspun yarn I made in hot pink/aqua with bits of cobalt and purple. That coat requires even yet another bulky yarn and I found some mint green lopi from an individual at a very good price, that I planned to dye dark teal to go with the other two yarns. I’m not convinced I will love the coat when it’s done, so I don’t really want to dig deep in the pocket for that yarn. (I pray it works out, though, because of the handspun).

So I sort of have those two cool projects covered. And I have enough sockyarn to last me a while. I think nobody ever has enough alpaca, however… we’ll have to think about that possibility. Or some Debbie Bliss. I’m told it knits really beautifully on the knitting frame/Ultimate Sweater Machine.

I tend to think I have too many sweaters to consider knitting one. However, this morning I realized that I don’t have enough sweaters that are REALLY warm for this time of year. I have such a hard time adjusting my inner thermostat to keep me warm at the beginning of the winter. And some of my sweaters are not long enough to really keep me warm, even if the fiber content is adequate.

So maybe with my Singer knitting frame or the USM I could consider making myself a sweater that is long enough to cover my tush and warm enough to grab when I have the chills (which is often). I love my mohair sweaters but sometimes mohair alone just isn’t warm enough.

I adore Koigu but Yarn for Ewe doesn’t always have it in stock. They do have a lot of Noro Kureyon, but I don’t really like the texture of it as I’m knitting… and it doesn’t knit up as pretty as it promises, a lot of times. (OK, I need to learn entrelac and then I’ll like Kureyon better and I know it.)

They *do* have some incredible scarf yarns/eyelash yarns. They also just got in a nice collection of that Manos de Uruguay yarn that is handspun and hand-dyed. I like it, there are some pretty jeweltoned colors. Even though it is dyed pretty dark, there is a bit of a luminescence about it because the dye is not perfectly even. I’m a bit afraid I’d be allergic to that yarn, though, as I don’t do well with rustic yarns like Philosophers Wool and Peace Fleece until they are washed.

I have a pattern for a very plain cardigan from Dale of Norway that would look really good on me, but Dale doesn’t have yarns in the colors I wear. I have considered buying the natural white and dyeing it, but there is no way I could get the color even enough in the dyepot to look solid when knit. Dale washable yarns are the best, though! That sweater is in Daletta which is a heavy fingering weight. I have done several pair of sox from their Free Style yarn which I think is the same wool but in worsted weight. It washes like a dream and feels wonderful.

I’m not interested in knitting an afghan, but I like knitting socks, hats, stoles and the very-occasional sweater. I don’t want laceweight anything, as lace is not my style. Color is *it* for me, but texture does feature in my decision. I don’t like cotton much at all, although I do like Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece which is a blend with wool. I really love wool, alpaca and mohair the best.

OK, it’s clear that I don’t NEED any more yarn. My current projects are covered. But I would just love to find some passion for a project right now. I’m a little into a rut these days and not super excited about anything much. I just keep handknitting sox and legwarmers/wristwarmers, as I also knit eyelash yarn scarves on the Singer knitting frame for my upcoming art show.

Decisions, decisions. You guys must have some suggestions for me? I’d love to hear what you have to say. I need to find something that really grabs my imagination. Your input is most welcome.