Fascism and why I am glad I have a ridiculously large stash of yarn.

OK, not really FASCISM. More like, fasciitism.

Specifically, plantar fasciitis in my left foot. It flared up, or came on, or whatever you call it right after my 14 mile run last weekend. Yeah, I ran 14 miles last weekend... all at once. And then my foot revolted and placed a dictator in charge. This new little foot czar is apparently opposed to my health and well-being, because he puts an immediate stop to even walking for much more than a block. Supposedly, with stretching and proper care, I may still be able to run the half marathon at the end of the month. My fingers are crossed, as are my (elevated) toes.

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Sneak peek:


[the finished Coraline, reclining on the blocking towel... she is gorgeous!]

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In other, less depressing news, I have fallen back in love with my stash.

Remember how everyone was so embarrassed to flash their stashes, way back when? All the talk of, what am I hoarding all this yarn for? This is a sickness, who needs all this yarn? Am I stashing for the zombie Armageddon or what? Well, if you still don't know why you are hoarding yarn in unbelievable quantities, I will tell you.

UNEMPLOYMENT

That's right, I am covered. No need to freak out, here! I have so much fantastic yarn stashed up that my knitting will not suffer through these trying economic times. I may have to cut out cable and netflix and brand name soup and even [gasp] my Interweave subscription... but yarn, I have got! Good yarn, beautiful yarn, abundant, wonderful yarn.



In fact, while my newest sweater (I love her sooooo much, and can't wait to put together an official photo shoot) was blocking, I started a quicker knit with yarn from the stash.



It's the Back-to-School U-neck sweater vest (ravelry link) from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits: 25 Projects for the Fashionable Knitter. I am using this fantastic angora/wool/polymide blend that I found somewhere online while I still lived in Maryland. I have enough for this vest, and possibly a cardigan in the brown, and also have enough in a denim-y blue tweed for a pullover. It is creating a soft, firm fabric so far, which should work well with the corset-like style of the vest. And after working on Coraline with size 4 needles, this lil number on 7s is flying right along.

While digging through those plastic bins, looking for the perfect yarn for a sweater vest, I came across so many awesome potential projects. Socks, hats, scarves, shawls, mittens, and so many sweaters... And even fiber! I have a whole bin of lovely hand-dyed merino blends to spin up and make even more socks and hats and scarves and maybe even a sweater. It felt so great to know that I had managed to save something in quantities appropriate for surviving the recession (lord knows I didn't stash money away like I did fiber).

So be proud of your stash... Unlike a 401k or your stock portfolio, it will not lose value based on the price per barrel of oil. If your bank fails, your knitting will not need a federal bailout. Even though I barely have two nickels available for rubbing together, I can make beautiful new luxurious sweaters and socks. And that, my friends, is a very good feeling.

And once I am on the other side of this thing, this... restructuring of my life, I am going to try to remember this feeling. I could have saved more money than I did; we all could have. It would be nice to feel the same sense of relief when I look at my finances as I did when digging through the abundance of those bins.