Rantin' and Whinin'

First the rant, which I think is long overdue.

I've been reading other blogs, none in particular, just following links from one page to another and reading as I went. But one thing is really starting to bother me... this idea that knitters seem to have taken to their heads that less expensive yarn is "ghetto" and not worth the time. The yarns I'm talking of include Red Heart, Caron, Lion Brand, Bernat and other common yarns you can find at any Michaels, Hobby Lobby or even WalMart. Frankly, this pisses me off.

It's one thing to treat yourself to some special yarn to make that sweater or that shawl, I did to make mine. But to insist that unless you spend disgusting amounts of money on your yarn your knitting isn't the same quality, that's crap. And I found one blog where it was referred to as "that cheap ghetto yarn" and it infuriated me. Does that make me a ghetto knitter because I like to use something that doesn't make me cringe at the thought of the price each time I pick it up?

I'm not ashamed of anything I've made with less expensive yarn. Yeah, Red Heart might be a little scratchy, that's why you use it for an afghan instead of a sweater. Yeah, it's acrylic instead of pure wool or alpaca or something equally exotic, but that doesn't change the time and energy and effort that you put into everything that you make. Does a scarf made of Lion Brand Homespun mean less than a scarf made from handspun, hand dyed wool that cost ten times as much? No, it doesn't.

Having said that, I want to clarify that I'm not putting down people who spend the money for the more expensive yarn, not at all. I'm upset at the people who think that they're above using cheaper yarn. Who think that people who don't invest hundreds of dollars a month to their craft aren't real knitters.

Remember, it's the energy and effort you put into a project that makes it a work of art, not the yarn.

That being said, I'm going to whine now...

I've been working on my psychedelic squares blanket a lot lately and I don't know what I did or how I did it, but my right hand is killing me. And a little swollen. I think it might have been the direct result of using my knitting to distract me from the migraine I was suffering through Saturday. It does help to focus on something other than the pain. Sadly now my hand is the painful object and I can't do anything to distract me from that... maybe read.... but I wanna knit!!

9 squares of the blanket done!! I have no idea how many more to go. I also bought more yarn.

Yes, my money always seems to fly away. But anyways, I bought 3 more colors of the Caron Simply Soft Brites! for my blanket. Lemonade, Grape and Papaya. I'm still waiting for the store to get Blueberry in stock. I also bought a skein of Jo-Ann Rainbow Boucle yarn. Each skein is over 800 yards and costs less than $8. I got a really cute denim blue boucle color, varegated from dark to light and back again. I'm going to make a shawl out of it. Then I'll have a green and grey one (From Jasmine), a dark green one and a blue one. I also plan on making a black one eventually. That one I'm hoping I'll be able to make a design all my own for.

I also bought a pair of wooden needles from Michaels and fell in love with them. They're so light and a pleasure to use. I've now used metal, wooden and plastic and I think I prefer the plastic and wooden over the metal. They're lighter and easier on the hands. But perhaps that's why my hands hurt, I was using the metal needles. I may have to start accumulating a collection of wooden needles. The only down side, they're more expensive than the metal. But no one said that knitting was cheap!