rampant consumerism

So many bloggers seem to be doing "knit from your stash"... And then there's me. I have a stash. I'd even like to knit from it. I just can't get to most of it yet. NB: Learn from my mistake, when your husband/partner tells you everything from your studio/craft room will "only have to be in storage a little while" while he does a remodelling job - don't you believe him/her. So, I have been buying. I think maybe we yarnaholics/fiberholics need to have a certain critical mass of yarns and/or fibers to feel comfortable. I think I do anyway. The end result is that while others were apparently being so restrained at Stitches West, I went wild. To whit:

I bought sock yarns to make socks for DH. He liked the idea when I broached it pre-shopping day so I bought a few kinds, figuring he'd like one and I'd get to have the rest. He, of course, decided he liked them all so I've got multiple pairs of socks for a size 11 1/2 shoe in my future. Good thing I bought something specifically for myself as well. Here's the yarn I got for me and two of the ones I got for DH:The purple is mine. All mine. Chasing Rainbows fingering weight wool in Iris. DH gets the Socks That Rock in Smoky Blue and Tofutsies in some number that means nothing to me but presumeably does to them. It's blue. It's got 3 or so shades of blue that'll dot or something I think when knit up.

In the accessible part of the stash (unearthed when the studio had been packed up for 6 months with no sign of being able to unpack for at least another 6) I have an Alice Starmore pattern (with yarn) for a child's sweater that I've been meaning to knit for DD for years. But I haven't yet because two color work stymied me a bit when I swatched. Also I couldn't get gauge. Not even close. At this point, if I don't hurry up I won't have enough yarn for my daughter's size even though (having a fair idea of my attention span) I bought enough for the largest size at the time I bought the yarn. So, anyway, this year at SW I bought a two color stranded knitting kit to practice with. A normal person would do mittens or a hat or something. I bought a kit to do Cheryl Oberle's Celtic Lattice vest from Folk Vests (the cover one) because I've wanted one ever since the book came out. No ladylike little bites around here. No sir.

My daughter was with me on shopping day so naturally she got to add to her stash too. The fact that she still can't knit yet is apparently immaterial to either of us. Here are some of her choices:The magpie gene came out in the Great Adirondack Holo Hoops yarn. The middle one is Koigu KPPM and the turquoise is Reynold's Saucy cotton. She also got a skein of Artyarns Cashmere 2 (she's got very expensive taste - also she's smart, she got Mommy to pay for it all) but I can't get a good picture of the colors yet. And in true fiberholic fashion the minute we got home with them I had to get out the swift and ball winder so she could wind her cashmere into a cake (see crap photo below).
The photo below is posted only to prove that I, too, have magpie genes, and I know how to use them: On the left is my Great Adirondack yarn purchase - Bali in Eggplant Eddie - c'mon who could resist that name? The sparklies are slightly more restrained than my daughter's but not much. And proving that I have a wide range of taste, or lack thereof, on the right is my fingering weight buffalo yarn.
Also at Stitches West I took a class and got to hang out with my best bud. All in all a fun weekend. I think next year I'll try for more classes and less shopping.