I have spent many years and traveled tens of thousands of miles accumulating what is, by all accounts, a shockingly huge yarn stash. As my husband tells me frequently, I could start knitting right now and knit every minute of the rest of my life, and never come close to running out of yarn. The recent advent of the 'reality show' genre has everyone I know totally convinced that I must plead guilty to being a yarn and fiber 'hoarder.' Were the moniker not already taken, I could safely be known as a Yarn Harlot. All that being said, I really should not have to buy yarn ever again; particularly since my other passion is spinning. Alas, when I'm not buying new yarn, I am spinning it.
Having lived all over the world at one point or another in my life, I have had several LYS (local yarn shop[s]). However, once I discovered Knit Picks, they became my one and only LYS (though not terribly local) forevermore. I can't even remember how I first found them; most likely in a knitting mag or while searching for some tool I needed. From that first visit on, I have become a true Knit Picks devotee and the love affair continues to this day.
If my recollection is accurate, I believe my first purchase from them was their Options Interchangeable Nickel Plated Circular Knitting Needle Set. From then on, I could not live without Knit Picks wide selection of tools, which truly are created with the knitter in mind. Having fallen deeply in love with their Nickel Plated Circulars, I promptly put my Addi Turbos away. While Addi is a great knitting needle, I consistently have problems with their cables. Once I had my hands on that first set of little, floppy purple cables, my heart soared. I have tried the Harmony needles, which are indescribably beautiful. Unfortunately, I have panicky visions of snapping the delicate wood in half and am afraid to invest in the full Harmony circular set. Based on my experience with Knit Picks customer service, however, I am quite certain that snapped needle would be replaced in an instant.
After buying nearly ALL of Knit Picks tools (and I still buy the new ones as they come out), I began sampling their yarn. It's not as though I really need any yarn, yet I always find some pattern I want to knit that my stash just doesn't seem to cover. Actually, it probably DOES cover it but I'm just too lazy to go to the basement to look through my yarn bins (shhhh-h-h-h-h)! My favorites include their sock yarns, particularly Stroll and Stroll Kettle-Dyed. My latest favorite is their Shine yarn (any and ALL weights). The first time I felt this wonderful yarn, I couldn't stop "petting" it, I just feels wonderful in your hands. While it's a Spring/Summer blend of cotton and modal, I can't make myself STOP buying it. I just keep telling myself I'll have a great stash for next Spring's knitting. My favorite colorway (of all time) in the Knit Picks line is Queen Anne, named for cherries of the same name. Sometimes, I just surf over to Knit Picks to admire that colorway and to send up a little prayer that someday, the colorway will be included in ALL of their yarn lines.
In closing, give yourself a little treat no matter how large your stash may be, and check out all the offerings at Knit Picks. You'll never regret it! I highly recommend them!
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