On being an yarn snob...

Yes, I confess I'm a closeted yarn snob. I agree with my friends that acrylic and acrylic blends have their place in the knitting world but after I knitted with real wool, real cotton, real bamboo, and real silk, how could I go back?!?!?!

When I'm at a yarn shop, I look at the ball band before anything else. If it has more than 50% acrylic or other synthetics, I'll think twice about buying it. And as a southerner, I prefer cotton, linen, silk and other non-wool fibers because it just doesn't get cool enough down here for heavy wool. 

When I first started knitting, I read something about yarn snobs and how the 21st century acrylics were not our grandmother's acrylics. My first yarn purchases were from the local big box craft store because I was too nervous to go to the LYS.  My grandmother shopped at the LYS for needlepoint supplies but I hadn't been there in years. I was new to knitting and I wanted to do my research before trying to mingle with the experts.

So my first skein was Lion Brand Homespun and I knitted a garter stitch scarf. The Homespun color was very pretty but the yarn didn't have much give and because of the way it is spun, I kept splitting the yarn. Do all new knitters get a chunky yarn and better needles because somehow that will be easier?

Then a few years ago the Hancocks Fabrics in El Dorado, Arkansas was going out of business and they had a 60% off sale on everything - including yarn. I went crazy and bought skein after skein of Loin Brand Wool-Ease, Cotton and Landscapes. The check-out lady asked me what I was going to do with it and I responded "At prices like this, who cares!!!!" I knitted a jacket for my son with some of the cotton and started a sweater for him with some of the Wool-Ease but I frogged it because it was not working out. I have done very little with it other than that.

But I've made a goal for myself to knit something with it. So last week I search the Pattern Browser on Ravelry and assigned projects to all my stash yarn - even the acrylic. So as part of my "knit my stash down" resolution, I will also knit my acrylic down. Yes, there is a place for acrylic and I do have some in my yarn stash but if I knit it all down then I have more room for other yarns. YEA!!!