Dirty little secrets

One of the things I admire about professional knitting bloggers is their ability to score top shelf yarn.  Can you imagine the yarn the Yarn Harlot must receive, gratis?  I love her blog, applaud that she is Canadian, and hold no ill will against her, but damn, the yarn she uses...well, thats just a dream come true isn't it?  Good yarn is expensive.  Gorgeous yarn is really expensive.  And the yarn that I crave is ridiculously, totally out of my reach, expensive.

But I love to knit and I outgrew acrylic about 20 years ago.  So I have a few economical go-tos.  KnitPicks is one.  Their yarn isn't imaginative but it's serviceable.  My lys' annual "clear the shelves" sale is always good for stocking the stash. And then there is Michaels and their Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool. There always seems to be a coupon or sale so I never pay the full $15 a skein. And, and this is a big "and", the skeins are 465 yards. Thats a lot of "100%  Pure virgin wool containing natural oils".

I really like this yarn.  The colors are basic variations on beiges and browns which is fine with me.  I don't have problems with splitting or mid-skein tied ends.  The yarn fluffs up nicely when knit, blocks well and gives me a stiff, thick fabric when I knit it on size 6 needles and a nice drape when I knit on 9s. All in all a great yarn. 

Which, of course, means that by this time next year it will have been discontinued, much like my favorite neutral lipstick color, favorite aerobics shoes and favorite perfectly fitting bra.