There is no sin in yarn.

Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned.

It's been 22 days since my last blog post, and my sins have been legion. I have engaged in all manner of sinful activities, including spinning yarns, knitting to exclusion of all else (well, not really, but it sounds good, yes?).

But in that time, I have never ever, not even once, regretted my yarn and fiber stash. I have been quilting a bit (the quilt for DS's bed that I got fabric for **cough** 7 years ago), spinning with the fiber that I did not need when I bought it, and knitting with yarn that also was unneeded.

Unneeded, but never unwanted. Never is yarn unwanted. There is always something to be done with it, whether it is made into shawls for me or my mother, socks for anyone in house, sweaters to keep the littles warm in winter because we have not turned the heat on because of the price of gas.

I know that there are knitters out there who feel horribly guilty for purchasing yarn that is not needed at that moment, who feel that they need to diet or somehow limit their yarn purchases to only what they can knit in the next project. There is some wisdom of course in not bankrupting the country with your yarn purchases, of course, but most of us are not at that point.

I am here to allay your fears.

Buy yarn.

Enjoy the wooly squishy goodness of your yarn and fiber stash.

There may come a time when the goodness of stash makes itself known. Such as now, when I find myself unemployed in fourth quarter, when hiring is seasonally low in my field, and the job search really does not take a lot of time each week. So what to do with my used-to-being-on-the-move self in the meantime? Well, aside from repainting parts of the house (check), finishing up latent home projects (check), and generally driving my husband insane with being alternately under his feet, at his throat and on his back (check), I am knitting, dyeing, spinning, and sewing.

But this would not be possible if not for what I thought was a prodigiously large stash of yarn, built up somewhat quickly by unabashed purchases at yarn shows, vacation purchases, and things that just could not be passed up. And let's not forget the year that I gave the husbeast a list of KnitPicks sample kits as options, and he gave me every. thing. on. the. list. All four samplers, including Palette, which folks should be familiar with by now.

Really, I am surprised that my stash has not started to knit itself, which might be odd, if its project choices were strange, but would in fact save me a great deal of time.

So without further ado, here are the current projects in queue. A poncho knit in Ceallach Dyes Twist with a cable running through it. This is a pattern that will be on offer with the yarn, you will be able to get it at Stitches West 2008 or from my retailers.

Regia Silk sock toes on the needles. These will be a Holiday gift for my mother....I have 3 skeins total, and so she may get 2 pairs of socks, if I play my cards right. I am planning on trying out the Ridgeline pattern from Cat Bordhi's sock book. A Unidentified Knitted Object in progress with Sirdar Evita purchased while in Ireland. I am not sure what it will be yet, as it depends on how far the yarn goes. A shawl or shrug is my best guess. A poncho sweater from Sandra magazine. I have just knit the rib, and cast on for the poncho part, but as you can see from the markers, need to start the 'ajoure' pattern, and can't quite get the pattern marked out correctly. The yarn was purchased in a little store in Dingle, Co. Cork I believe in Ireland. It is Kilcarra Donegal Tweed, sold in the US by Tahki under the same yarn name. Some Cross Patch Creations fiber, spun up. This is two bags worth of fiber, which I plied together. Not a great picture, because Isabelle there was interfering. I got about 800 yards worth of yarn, which is very good output for me on handspun. Do not ask me what I plan to make with it. It's yarn, that's all you need to know, and sadly, all that I know.

For those of you who are curious, the weaving behind the yarn and the knitting is from Borneo. While in Singapore and Malaysia two years ago, Husbeast flew to Kuching for a day, to collect the country (I keep telling him to collect yarn or stamps or summat) and brought back this weaving along with some others. It is handwoven, natural dyed, and gorgeous work. Not silk but probably cotton and a dying art in the area.

He also brought back a tattoo kit, complete with rusty needles and safely ensconced within a carved wooden box. Beautiful work, but not the way that I would get a tattoo. If you are not sure what I mean, well turn to the Discovery Channel and put on one of the shows that talks about traditional tats. At some point in the show, there will be a wizened old man, with no teeth, no English and his chin disappearing into his face.....he will take this stick with needles in the end and tap tap tap on the skin, do the tattoo, one needle prick at a time. Okay, now look at the equipment he's using. Yep that's it.

In my home.