Got stash? I got stash! Let me show you it!

Oh blogger, why art thou beingst a butt? I entreat your good humour so I can post my electronic missive.

Anyways, I thought I'd show you all my stash. You know, since we are friends and all. I'd also like to share with you my insights *snerk* on my yarn choices and how they've changed over the years that I've been knitting.

When I first started knitting, I'd collect balls of yarn willy nilly. I'd buy one ball with the premise of knitting up, and if I liked more, I'd come back. I knew nothing about the weight or type of yarn. I just bought it (and ask people to send yarns for me) because it was pretty. But knitting yarn companies, they tend to discontinue yarn with the blink of an eye, so my first stash (first image) is disorganised: the odd balls of yarn in colour, weight of yarn, et al. It looks a muddled mess, no?

My second stash of yarn (the one with the GAP bag in the right corner) shows my prejudices more. I like yarn that's 4ply or double knit, with colours that are jewel like rather than pastel/chalky. My colours veer on reds and greens. I like wool in all its permutations, I prefer cotton with an acrylic/wool mix and am being seduced by bamboo. I also buy yarns in numbers of six to ten so that I can get a decent top out - when I get around to knitting said yarn.

Speaking of yarn and weights, I've noticed that not a lot of yarn companies do 4ply yarns anymore. Why not? There are a lot of other yarns: Rowan has a new cashsoft chunky, a heavy yarn (cacoon), a couple of aran weight yarns (a tweed and kidsilk aura). Debbie Bliss has a new aran weight yarn (rialto), Louisa Harding has two new yarns out which are aran weight, Sublime has an aran weight as well, and sirdar click is coming out with a double knit yarn. But really, there are no 4 ply yarns. What's up with that?

The reason I ask is that I'm trying to find a suitable yarn for Blithe. Heh. Remember that? Well, I've been trying to find a yarn that speaks to me. The original yarn for this pattern is 4ply cotton, but I don't like knitting with a 100 percent cotton. It's like knitting with string. Also, the yellow is more a spring like colour than fall. That bright melon colour is katia which is a bamboo/cotton blend. I think it's a bit heavier than a 4ply though. But I shall keep that colour, oh yes. The green that is nearer to the picture of Blithe is a Bergere de France tweedine 30 wool/70 acylique. It's very soft, and when it's knitted, it's tweedy. A lovely yarn, but the play of colour will take away from the structure of Blithe. The green nearest to the yellow 4ply is the Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 100 percent wool. It's a nice yarn, okay colour, but I wanted something more military. Nice, but no cigar. The other yarn - the last colour is a a good, dark brown. Patons's diploma gold, 4ply. 55 wool/acrylic/nylon blend. I think the last colour might be the best. Pat has suggested a navy blue, but there are many colours of navy blue, and that's for another post.