God Should Have Also Included Thy Neighbor's Yarn

Our regular knit night festivities were a bit different this week due to illness. Usually we make do with the amount of wine brought by those who remember to bring it, not that it has been a hardship mind you. Something happens to knitters when they have access to unlimited alcohol and food that makes others very nervous. I think it has to do with the pointy sticks and the fear that buzzed knitting is most probably dangerous. Since we were all knitting socks, we had more pointy sticks than usual.

I truly enjoy being around knitters who are working on the same type of project because it reminds me of the endless variety possible with sticks, string, and garment. I enjoyed trading stories of past project failures. More importantly, I enjoyed ooo'ing and ahhh'ing over the others' yarn. If knitting were a truly solitary endeavor, I would have half the stash I have now.

Yes, yarn covetousness violates one of the big ten and leads to owning more beautiful yarn to knit socks than one can hope to wear out in a lifetime. The problem is that my friends keep finding more fabulous stuff. (Drug dealers could take some pointers from them.) Each week is the same story. Having finished knitting one project, my knit friend brings in a new one with yarn, new or from stash. Within moments of taking the yarn out of her bag, you can see the yarn covet drool move around the room like some kind of slobbery imitation of the wave they do in a stadium during a game. Then the yarn must be passed around for all of us to see the colors up close, caress the yarn, and find out where we can get some of the fibery lusciousness. If we discover that the yarn is no longer available, various plots are hatched as to how we might liberate the yarn from its current owner without her knowledge and take it home to live happily in our stash.

The best part of the yarn covet phenonmenon is when my yarn is the object of desire. Stash yarn can feel boring - I mean after all it isn't new yarn. So, when I take my yarn to knit night and I see that someone is plotting to liberate my skein, I see what made me pick my yarn all over again. It makes stash knitting feel like less of a sacrifice and more of a luxury.