Yarn Stores, A Study in Self Control

Here's the thing. Yarn is pretty. It is. Yarn can be Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise -- but more easily hidden in your purse. Or kittens. Bunnies.* Fat-free cheese.

But here's the other thing yarn can be: EXPENSIVE. Need-to-hide-the-receipt-from-my-spouse expensive. I'll-take-a-sack-lunch-for-the-next-two-months expensive. I-hate-this-eighty-dollar-scarf expensive.

What I'm saying is, pace yourself. Don't buy a horde of expensive yarn if you don't know what you're going to do with it. You'll resent it. There's nothing wrong with having a stash -- in fact, absolutely everyone who knits has a you-ge stash hiding in their home. But as a beginning knitter, figure out what you want to make before you buy. Otherwise you'll decide this is an expensive hobby and you might give up.

Don't do that.

I like the store Loops precisely because whatever yarn is there, they can show you a pattern for it. The store is project-based so you don't have to feel lost. (Dallas/Plano-area friends, should check out The Woolie Ewe, a local yarn store on the SW corner of Custer and 15th Street). Don't get me wrong, they have some drop-kick-me-Jesus-expensive yarn too ($80 a skein buffalo yarn anyone? How about $100-something a skein crystal-studded yarn?) But it's a great store with some beautiful and affordable stuff. Their staff and customers are very helpful too.

Also, the first time I went there, they gave me free wine and cheese. Booze, cheese and yarn? Did I die and go to Heaven? Is Nathan Fillian going to walk in and give me back massages?



"Hello, dear. More Gouda and Riesling? How about I work on those tense shoulders?"








OK, so all that being said, you don't want to just buy cheap yarn and spend a lot of time knitting stuff that looks, well, like cheap handmade crap. So splurge every once in a while but reign it in before it goes too far. Moderation, people. Moderation.


*Also easily hidden in your purse but will cause a SWAT team to jump out at you if you attempt to stuff one in your purse on government property. See: My Life, circa 1998, Ft. Sam Army Base, San Antonio, TX.