Not doing so well on the 12 step Fibe-holics Anon program

Well, after the dust of March Madness has settled, I've had a chance to evaluate the fluctuations in my stash over the last few weeks. My search for Jayhawk Crimson and Blue yarn for my Jayhawk Jaywalker Socks did NOT help to whittle down the stash. I seem to have totally lost control, again. It seems that every March, I totally loose control. Really, it's the only sports that I ever really follow. I start watching about the time they post the stuff to pick your brackets, and by the time they're at the Final Four I can't leave the TV for a moment. And in between games, I go foraging for yarn! Why is that? What was I thinking? If I was a drinker, I would probably be having horrible hangovers for the whole Championships. In a weird way, it is a lot like drinking in that I don't seem to realize what I'm doing while I'm doing it.

You know, a rational adult (notice I'm not counting college students) does not go out and say "I'm going to spend all the money I can get my hands on to get so totally drunk that I cannot even remember what I was doing, where I was, or who I was with". Right? Do they?

But here I am, "coming to" the week after the Championships with a "Yarn-Over". I have holes in my memory as to why I bought yarn that I'm finding that I obviously obliviously stashed around during a 3 week spree of LYS SEX. I have bags in my car that I have no Idea How to smuggle into the house.

I could blame it on the extra traveling that I was doing. Yeah, that's it, I'm only in some of those cities Once A Year. I HAD to go to the Best LYS in Town while I was there. Right? You can't go to New York and not go to Times Square, Chicago and miss Marshal's, Minnesota and skip the Mall of America? No, that would be Un-American. So, when you're in a town with a great Yarn Shop, you MUST GO there. That's just all there is to it.

So, this weekend, I can either do the TAXES or I can list all my stash on Ravelry and eBay so I can pay my taxes.
What a Decision.
I really am going to have to count on the Ravelry groups to help me Bust this Stash. Maybe I can knit Basketball stuff? Those nets surely use up some yarn.

Yarn to dye for

The Regia yarn just turned out to be the wrong colors. Those patches of MUish were just too much. So, I dyed it. I used the Wilton cake colors and dyed the sections that were going to be grey/white/black and yellow/ white / black with the bright blue. The sections that were too much orange got a dose of red. It is ssooo cool, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.
Anyway, I used vinegar and cooked the whole thing in canning jars and the smallish canner. I hadn't understood how dye could be "exhausted" before. I get it now. This is so cool.
Photos in the AM dy

Fur Yarn by Paula Lishman

Now, this is absolute luxury.
Fur That has been made into Yarn yep You read that right.

Fur + Thread = Yarn

They don't make a lot of guarantees about weight or gauge.
It sure looks pretty, comes in a lot of colors, and natural critter colors.
Be forwarned, this is one of those intrest vs committment things. The Chicken has an interest in breakfast and the Pig has a committment in a ham & egg breakfast. Therefore, in this case the sheep or alpaca has an interest in your yarn, whereas the fox or rabbit (in this case) is committed. Other forms of yarn probably require less of the donor animal.

Photo from the FurYarn.com website.

The prices seem to run about $60, Canadian, for a kit to make a Rex Rabbit Collar
$100 for a hat kit.

Maybe not bad, I don't know. It seems like a lot of extra work.
But, isn't that what Luxury is about? Most of us probably don't knit because it's the easiest or cheapest way to clothe our families. Those Canadians sure do know how to stay warm.
You Betcha'.

I'm thinking that anything made out of a $100 ball of yarn is going to make someone feel pretty pampered.

Time to use that fancy scarf technique in Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's book on how to have two matching ends with no waste.