Responsible Yarn Acquisition

How to avoid wanton stash expansion without feeling deprived

Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

This post was originally published in February 2024. Since then, hundreds of you have become new subscribers. If you’re new(ish), or if you just need some encouragement to feel good about the yarn you buy, here you go. I’ll be back with a new post next week.

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My inbox is filled with opportunities to buy yarn every day. New releases and healthy discounts from my favorite yarn companies and retailers are hard to resist. But I don't need more yarn. I could happily knit for the next two years (at least) using nothing but yarn I already own. You, too?

How can we keep from feeling like small children drooling at the window of a closed candy store, while still keeping the size of our yarn collections under control? By thinking of shopping for yarn the way we think of casual dating.

Swipe left, swipe right

Shopping for yarn online is like browsing potential matches in an online dating app. Many of the options presented aren't really to my taste. Others are yarns I've already met. Occasionally one will catch my eye, and I'll dig a little deeper. Read the description. Look at additional photos. If I'm still intrigued, I'll order a skein or two—the equivalent of that first coffee date.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

I would no more order a sweater quantity of an unfamiliar yarn than I would skip the coffee date and go straight to the sleepover. I want to get to know the yarn a little better before I commit to a big investment.

This is the yarn I had coffee with most recently. It is Knit Picks Altiplano, a worsted weight blend of wool and alpaca introduced late last year.

This is not one of those yarns where the first words that come to mind are mmmm, soft. I wouldn't say it's scratchy or itchy, but there is definitely a little friction. Altiplano is woolen spun; the fibers are not combed into strict alignment before spinning. This jumbled arrangement of fibers means the yarn doesn't have the silky softness you might expect from a blend with 35% alpaca. But it also means the yarn is loftier, warmer, and less likely to pill.

The Second Date

If coffee goes well, you might arrange a second date. The objective is to begin learning if you have similar tastes and interests. For me, this would be an afternoon at a bookstore or an art museum. In the case of yarn, there is no better test than making a swatch.

I know that many knitters hate to make swatches. But skipping the swatch with a new yarn is foolish. You can't really know how a yarn will behave until you've had it on your needles. Do you like how it feels in your hands? Is it easy to knit with? Do you like the fabric it creates? Will this fabric work well for the kinds of things you like to knit? After you've washed the swatch, how does the fabric change? Does it shrink, stretch out, become limp? Does it soften and bloom? Does the dye bleed? I want to know these things before I invest in enough yarn to make a sweater.

I am not one of those people who insists on making a gauge swatch at the start of every project. I will happily skip the swatch in either of the following circumstances:

• I know the yarn and can refer back to a previous project for needle size and gauge information, and the stitch pattern is simple—stockinette stitch or a knit/purl texture.

• I don't care what size the project turns out. A shawl, scarf, blanket, cowl—none of these need to be a precise size to be useful. Sometimes more-or-less is good enough.

Otherwise, I make a swatch at least 6" square in the stitch pattern I intend to use for the project. I will often test finishes like button bands on an edge of the swatch. I wash and dry the swatch the same way I intend to wash the finished project, then let it rest for a couple of days before measuring the gauge.

When swatching a new yarn, my approach is a little different. If I'm not enjoying the knitting, I cut my losses right away. There is no point knitting a 6" square with a yarn that annoys me. I might try several stitch patterns in a single long swatch—some lace, some cables, some slip stitch.

Sometimes my swatch is a hat. Hats are always useful, and they’re bound to fit someone. If, like me, you live in a warmer climate, you can always donate the hat. I periodically gather up surplus hats and send them to Knit the Rainbow.

Because of the slightly toothy texture, I thought Altiplano might do well in a stranded colorwork pattern. I drew a little chart, guesstimated how many stitches were needed, and cast on.

I'm really pleased with how this yarn behaves. It bloomed after washing just enough to form a nice, cohesive fabric. It is comfortable against the skin, and quite warm. Altiplano would make a beautiful cold-weather sweater. I might be ready to plan that sleepover.

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I'll be publishing the pattern for this hat within the next week or so. (You can find the pattern here: The Parquet Hat.) Paid subscribers will receive a special email with a link to download the pattern at no cost. For free subscribers, I'll include a Ravelry link in a future newsletter so you can purchase the pattern if you'd like.

I have not yet settled on a name for this hat design. Do you have a suggestion? If so, please let me know by leaving a comment. If I choose the name you suggest, I'll send you a link to download the pattern on me!

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The New York Times published an opinion piece last week by David Brooks about the impact of the arts on a society. That is a “gift” link, so you shouldn’t get hung up on the paywall. The article knocked my socks off. Here's a sample:

"Deep reading, immersing yourself in novels with complex characters, engaging with stories that explore the complexity of this character’s motivations or that character’s wounds, is a training ground for understanding human variety. It empowers us to see the real people in our lives more accurately and more generously, to better understand their intentions, fears and needs, the hidden kingdom of their unconscious drives. The resulting knowledge is not factual knowledge but emotional knowledge."

Yes, the article is long, but it is absolutely worthwhile. I could have highlighted nearly every other paragraph.

It took me a long time to warm up to David Brooks. I first became aware of him as a "conservative commentator". He was the political pundit with whom I always disagreed. Then I read his 2016 book The Road to Character.

In this book, Brooks looks at the lives of some of the world's great leaders and thinkers to discover how they developed a strong moral character. Through telling these stories, the author argues that nurturing core principles is more important than chasing external markers of success. He also reveals himself to be a deeply humane person. I still don't agree with his politics, but I admire the work he does toward promoting a more civil and caring society.

I'll leave you with one more quote from the Times article:

" The universe is a silent, colorless place. It’s just waves and particles out there. But by using our imaginations, we construct colors and sounds, tastes and stories, drama, laughter, joy and sorrow."

I hope your use your imagination this week to create a world full of beauty and kindness.

Thank you, as always, for granting me this bit of space in your head.