About This Blog

The last thing I tried to cast on.

The idea for “Yarn, Vicariously” was born out of a conversation with my good friend, Allison, during which she casually mentioned a ball of yarn she was browsing for possible patterns for. She didn't really ask for my advice, but I couldn't help myself. I was a shark on chum. Forty five minutes later I had sent her a long list of what I felt were her best options for her yarn and yardage. (Curious? Stay tuned, I’m sure it will become blog fodder in the near future.) She at least was gracious enough to act grateful instead of overwhelmed. What are friends for, if not to indulge my yarny pontificating?

While I was searching for patterns for her, and during the ensuing conversation, I realized that if I could do any job, it would probably be exactly this: helping people pair up yarn and projects. Whenever I have that fantasy so many knitters have about working in a yarn store, I’m never helping to fix people’s mistakes (blech! ) or untangling their yarn (double blech!) No, I’m buzzing around the store with them, shoving yarn under their noses, discussing the relative merits of 2 ply versus 3 ply, and expounding on the wonderful qualities of a sensible wool. 

Not to get all braggy, but I spent the last decade of my life absorbing everything I could about yarn and knitting, and I’m passionate about it. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but I have a darn good memory for yarns, patterns, designers, and techniques. I have been called the Rain Man of knitting. Mostly by myself, but I'm okay with that. I’m pretty handy with navigating Ravelry too. Now, all this makes me a hit at (knitting) parties, but I’d like to see my skills go to something besides amusing parlor tricks.

Enter the blog. 

It’s not practical for me to work at a real yarn store at this time in my life (and given the wide berth between my fantasies and what I have seen to be reality, I’m not sure I would want to), but there’s nothing stopping me from offering my services virtually. As much as I love giving my friends strongly opinionated, completely unsolicited advice, I think I would even more enjoy giving solicited advice to the public at large. So please, ask me anything (about the yarn or pattern selecting process, that is) and I will do my level best to give you practical suggestions. Or at least, entertaining suggestions. Maybe even both at the same time? You’ll totally be doing me a solid, allowing me to enjoy the knitting world vicariously through your work (hence the catchy title.)

Basically, it’s a way for me to keep a toe in the yarn culture pool, without having to actually swim. Though if I do swim, you’ll be the first to know. Who knows, my fantasy knitting could turn into reality knitting at ANY MOMENT. 

You can always reach me in the comments, at knitvi AT gmail DOT com, or on Ravelry as knitvi. Anything you say can and will be used to help you in a court of blog. Tell your friends!