Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

I knew that once I started bragging about keeping my resolutions (of using up stash yarn) I would take a serious tumble into yarn-buying oblivion. It is not entirely my fault: It was a couple weeks ago. I was on a pleasant Saturday outing with the girls. We visited a local, genuine yarn store that I didn't know existed. It's all a blur now, but I remember getting out of the car with the sun pouring down on my unsuspecting head. The wind blew through my hair as I opened the door of the little shop, the tiny bell above me tinkling merrily. It took a second for my eyes to become accustomed to the light. When they did I saw that I had walked into heaven! The luxurious yarns sat blinking innocently at me from their shelves in an array of colors and textures that joyously overwhelmed me. Everywhere I turned were beautiful yarns that I have tried to ignore ever since I started knitting. Gorgeous, high-quality yarns that were made from diamond-encrusted alpacas that graze on Mt. Olympus, and spun into gold by Rumpelstiltskin. Yes, they were that beautiful.

I felt myself spinning around, my senses overloaded. I couldn't resist touching the soft, silky ball of mohair sitting right in front of me. I could have sworn that the yarn purred lovingly under my hand. Everywhere I looked was another wonder. There was no way I was walking out of there without something. I knew it. The yarn knew it. The store clerks knew it.

Despite losing my senses, I did manage to keep my cool enough to buy a good value yarn--220 yards of washable wool. This is very necessary and practical for a child's garment. I somehow came away with buying a pattern, however, that I didn't ever expect to make? Also, because I had to hold the yarn double-stranded for the pattern, I needed to buy double the yarn amount, which was not a good economical choice. Again, I was overwhelmed.

I have justified my resolution-breaking guilt by telling myself that this is a special gift for Little C. His birthday is coming up soon. This sweater vest is pretty versatile and the color looks so handsome on him; it's close to the color of his eyes.  All parents know that it's much easier on the conscience to splurge on your child than it is on yourself. I am still looking for an appropriate zipper. I can't find a color match, so I'm still considering my options. I'm hoping to sew one in sometime in the next week or so.

The "pattern that I did not intend to buy" turned out to be really enjoyable, fast, and a pleasure to use. I would definitely recommend it. It's called Bulky Hooded Vest for Children from Knitting Pure & Simple. It also has instructions for a variety of sizes, so I can see myself revisiting this again. The vest is also unisex, which is handy in case I ever have a little girl.

In spite of my guilt, it was a wonderful experience. I am left with some problems now, though.
1. I have almost 2 whole skeins left of this yarn and I have no idea what to do with it
2. I have become mercilessly spoiled by working with this yarn
3. I can't stop thinking about some of the luxury yarns I saw at the yarn store, like Rowan Lima (so soft and squishy!), and Aslan Trends del Sur (slubby, thick and thin) among others.

Since I don't even know what I would make with those yarns if I had them, it's back to stash-busting and some stripey sweaters for Little C.