The Price of Snobbery

Ok, I admit it. Somewhere along the way I became a yarn snob. As I've told you, I learned to knit on Red Heart. For many years, the acrylic yarn at Woolworth's was all I could afford, and it helped me to learn how to knit. As I grew older (and my wallet grew a bit fatter) I discovered Real Wool (it was definitely worthy of capital letters). From there, I found all the other amazing animal and plant fibers that are out there, and developed a predictable disdain of all things acrylic.

So far, a fairly typical path I'd say. Here's where the problem came in. Not only had I dismissed "non-natural" (and in my mind, inferior) yarns, I had also dismissed the companies that made them, regardless of what else they might make. What I did not realize (because of my snobbery) was that (a) in the intervening years, synthetic yarn had come a long way, and that there were actually some really beautiful synthetics and blends and (b) that just because a company sold inexpensive synthetic yarns did not mean that they didn't also offer some perfectly acceptable Real Wool.

Witness the Red Heart Heart and Sole socks in progress:

I just love the colors in this yarn and the intricacy of the self patterning (the repeat goes on forever!). And, my snobbery almost made me miss it. Now, I'll have a cute little pair of Real Wool socks at almost a third of the cost of my usual upscale sock yarn finds.

Speaking of socks, I don't think I ever posted these:

These little house socks are from some of my handspun. It was done from one of Spunky Eclectic's rovings that I got from Amy a while back at Mass Sheep & Wool. (I think it was called "The New Black" or something like that). I was testing out Abby's theory on putting lots of twist into sock yarns at the time. I can see the trade-off -- these are definitely not my softest socks, but they're perfectly comfortable, and they wear like iron. I love them and wear them frequently, although I might still go with something more soft and squishy if I planned to give them as a gift.

And speaking of gifts, I guess I can show you this little cutie now, too:

This is a ladybug tea cozy that I made for my SP12 "spoilee". She was a huge tea fan and a ladybug fan as well, so it was perfect. Since she has received and enjoyed it, and I have "outed" myself to her, I guess there's no reason not to share. I got the pattern from Cakes, Knits and Cosies on Etsy, and if you look at the picture with the pattern, you'll see that there were optional "antennae" that I chose not to make, but I can see where they would be darling, too.

Rainy Sunday here, with the remains of some weather front going through. I'm sure the remains of Ike will keep us wet here for a good portion of the week. Warm thoughts and prayers to all who were in the path of Ike in his more ferocious form.