yarnporn.com

365 days a year there’s a particular store that carries white worsted weight cotton yarn with green and red dyed bits, on the cone, for just under $7 a pound. I’m not terribly fond of it, I don’t ever consider buying it until I need something that is Christmas themed, and then when I do have this particular yarn in my possession, I do my best to rid myself of it in every conceivable way.

I went to pickup a cone yesterday and surprise– it’s not there. They are out and not planning on restocking. I’m not totally destroyed by this turn of events, but I’d planned on some lazy evenings next to a cozy fire, bundled in my quilt with Blue at my feet (and Greta sneaking off to eat Blue’s food) knitting a g’zillion (or more likely a few dozen) random and oddly conservative Christmassy looking things to hawk at the craft fair next month.

Instead, I’ll be forced back to the sewing machine. Away from the fire. My quilt carefully folded across the foot of the bed.Blue no doubt will be fastidious in avoiding the mind-numbing hum of the sewing machine and Greta will guard the couch, sure to warn away any potential trespassers with her deep and rumbling snore.

The good news is that sewing goes much faster than knitting, and I’ll be done with fewer hours dedicated to the dull throb of knitting with yarn that I don’t like. It also gives me a chance to skinny down the stacks of fabric that are currently threatening to take over the dining room.

Unfortunately, most of the fabrics that I own aren’t exactly Christmas and holiday fare. I have an inordinate amount of stretch fabrics, most in eye searing colors. Very few calico or prints on cotton. A little bit of batik. A little bit of linen stuff that I dyed myself. Some more or less wool blend plaid (the leftovers of a corset that I made about 8 years ago and cannot conceivably throw out) and lots of vintage bits that must be quilted together in order to qualify for any significant contribution.

Have I mentioned that I’m not really a quilter? I understand the theories behind quilting, I even understand the technical details and have a basic mastery of “cut things and sew them together.” Somehow, the idea of me actually quilting, just doesn’t work into my concept of the universe.

Unlike various other pursuits, I don’t recall ever having a quilt related trauma. I don’t have a relentless and overwhelming reason for quilt avoidance, and I even own books that are meant to guide the new quilter to aptitude and I live next to a quilting Goddess who has offered multiple times to mentor my quilting journey. No excuse.

And so, it is with no excuse that I am going to continue not quilting. I have no idea what I’ll be making when I do set down to make. Not a clue. Other than I need to make enough to fill a six foot table for three days of a craft show, that I have an eleven day deadline to get to that comfortable place. and that I intend on listening to my collection of Johnny Cash cds in chronological order while I work. With any luck I’ll finish before the man in black reaches the cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.”