Happy Yarn

Did anyone hear me on the radio this morning? Yes, that was me! I correctly guessed today's TV theme song. "Charlie's Angels". I'm mortified and can't believe I'm telling on myself, but we're friends right? And you say I'm a trivia geek like it's a bad thing.

On to the big news...and the real reason why I'm blogging tonight even though the carpal tunnel in my right hand has compelled me to consume a 1/2 glass of "flying monkey wine." (Long story, but can anyone guess the real name of the wine?)

I have had a huge yarn epiphany that has been building over the past couple weeks. Here it is:

Just because I loved the yarn at one time doesn't mean I still have to love it...but there's someone out there who might.

Folks, this is huge.

The surge started at the yard sale a couple weeks ago. A teenage girl squealed as she pulled out all the Sugar-n-Cream cotton yarn from the "yarn for sale", clutching it like it was the holy grail. She was truly excited and even used her own money (mom was with her) to buy every ball I had. That was a good feeling. I was happy because I got rid of yarn I no longer loved, the girl was happy because she got a lot of great colors really cheap, and the yarn was happy because it found new love!

The surge built last weekend when Fran and I went to a Prayer Shawl Ministry Workshop at Glendale Methodist Church. The workshop was put on by the women who founded the prayer shalw ministry years ago. I've been part of the prayer shawl ministry at my church for a couple years now and have knit 3.5 shawls (one in progress) out of Lion Brand Homespun yarn. While the shawls were lovely, they paled in comparison to the shawls presented at the workshop. I don't want to turn this into a sales pitch for the book but if you're involved in a prayer shawl ministry, buy the Prayer Shawl Companion. (If you knit with me on Wednesdays, I'll bring it next week.) The most stunning shawls were knit out of various scraps from other shawls. You know those oddballs that are intermingled with your stash? Think shawls. So the individual balls of yarn I was trying to get rid of at the yard sale are back in with the stash. However, now I'm looking at my stash in a whole new way. What was once a box of single, mismatched partial balls and skeins of yarn is now an artist's palette. I got so excited about the first scrap shawl that I cast on Tuesday night and started painting. (Knitting and spinning doesn't hurt as much as typing and mousing.

To bring the epiphany full circle, tonight when I got home there was a package waiting for me. It contained yarn! And NO, I did not buy any yarn. I swapped. Can you say loophole!?!? This little gem may be the lifeline I needed to keep me from buying yarn prior to Stitches South. How does it work? Well, did you know that you can go out on Ravelry and search other people's online stashes? I got an e-mail from YarnDoc the other day asking if I'd be willing to sell or swap my Socks that Rock. I checked out her online stash and told her I'd swap for Miss Babbs Yummy Superwash. YarnDoc and I are both happy because we got rid of unloved yarn and got "new" yarn in the mail. The yarn is happy because the minute I pulled it out of the package, I loved it! I petted it. I introduced it to the stash. (There might have even been some drooling.) Happy yarn!