True confessions of a yarn addict

I really should stay away from yarn shops.


At lunchtime today, I went to Hobbycraft to buy a couple of row counters.  All the ones I've got are in use and I'll need one for my next project. Naturally, I browsed the yarn aisles, while I was there.  I had to - the knitting notions were buried in the middle.  I wasn't looking for anything - normally, I can resist the yarns at Hobbycraft because many have that cheap-and-nasty plastic acrylic feel.  Not today.

On an end-cap, I found a shelf of something that intrigued me:  Palette's Vintage, a worsted weight 70% wool, 30% soy blend.  The label knocked me for six - you never see a yarn labeled "worsted" in this country, it just doesn't exist.   If you didn't like brown, there wasn't a huge number of other skeins: 9 white ("Macadamia"), 6 blue ("Enamel"), 9 red ("Red Bud") and 20-odd brown ("Otter").  But there was no price.  I nabbed a shop assistant, who checked - it was 99p a ball and the stuff on the shelf was all they had. 

The yarn-lust took hold of me.  Worsted weight?  Less than a Pound a ball?  And it's 70% wool?  I stared at it for a few minutes.  Was there enough to make a sweater?  I did a swift calculation in my head, 9 balls at 125m/ball is 1125 metres of yarn.  Not quite enough for, say, a Must Have Cardigan.  I scrabbled on my phone to access Ravelry;  was there anything suitable in my favourites that didn't use much yarn?  Amy Christoffers' Acer Cardigan fitted the bill.  As did Bonne Marie Burns' Basic Chick V-Neck Cardigan and her Twist.  I could knit an entire garment for £8.91!  That's my sort of price.

In the end, I couldn't decide between the red and the white.  At 99p a ball, I decided I didn't have to.

- Pam (It's not stash enhancement if you have a pattern for it; it's project acquisition)