Confessions of a closeted yarn freak - posted at 18:43

So I have this hobby. It's kind of a dark little secret for me.

It's just so... girly.

See, here's the thing.

...

I knit.

No, really! It's a good thing, for the benefit of humanity! I knit things to keep people warm! I knit for cancer patients! Really, it's ok!

Yeah. I still feel like I have to justify myself. Like I said, it's so damn girly.

At first it was just this thing I did when I moved to Alaska 'cause I didn't have a house yet and I didn't know anyone and I wasn't working much and I was bored and it was cold. A friend of mine had given me a handmade scarf as thanks for watching her dog for a week and I was all inspired and stuff and thought that making hats and scarves and other stuff like that would be, y'know, functional, not, y'know.... girly. Not... at odds with everything that I am. Nooo. Not at all.

So I bought a book and learned how to knit. I had dreams of warm hats and mittens and basketweave blankets. First things first though: I knew it was cold where Cory was stationed so I made him a scarf. Then my cramped-up hands put down the knitting needles and didn't pick them up again for a year. See, at around that year point, Cory came to visit and it was really freakin' cold. Yes, cold for Alaska, like -20 degrees cold. Cory had brought his scarf and I was really jealous of it because it was so thick, warm, soft, and cozy (yet manly.... c'mon, it's not like I made him a furry bubblegum pink thing). I knew I had to make another one... and so I did. It kept me occupied on three cross-country flights, and finally I had my own super-warm super-cozy scarf. And the knitting needles got squirreled away yet again...

Until this year around the time the leaves began to change, the days got shorter, and a chill crept into the air.... and I remembered my dream of the basketweave blanket. And it was weird -- it was like I had been able to shake off the knitting bug twice before, but now it was back and it demanded a substantial project. I started to scout for yarn and I branched out from crappy big-box craft stores... and I discovered the institution known as the Local Yarn Shop. It is on this that I blame my current obsession... once you discover the myriad of artisan yarns out there that are so beautiful and so soft and so personalized you just can't go back. My yarn stash exploded and now barely squeezes into three big baskets in my living room. I've got more projects -- and more yarn -- lined up than I could hope to finish in a year, and yet... well, like I said, it's a bug. An addiction.

Hi. My name is Stacey, and I'm a yarn fiend.

Kelsey commented:

Hi I'm Kelsey, and I am too!!!!!!

Jitterbean Girl commented:

... It's so good to know I'm not alone :)

Cari commented:

I made Nick a scarf while he was in Iraq (it was cold during the night, I swear). Unfortunately, I crocheted rather than knitted and, since I'm a yarn novice, the scarf ended up being way wider at the ends and narrow in the middle. At least I tried. I wanted to get into it again, too, but I can't remember how! Alas.

Jitterbean Girl commented:

Ha, I love how you have the I-need-to-justify-this-because-it's-out-of-character note in your comment too :)

It's too bad you're not near here so that you could have a yarn buddy! It'd be fun to do that stuff with you! I guess you could always take a class at a local yarn shop if you want to learn how to do it again - 'cause, y'know, you don't have enough on your plate already!