Life is good. We're doing okay and have even been known to P--S money away on "like to haves, not need to haves".
However, not being fashionably inclined nor subject to whims of design I tend to knit items that will still be in style when I get around to finishing the project. I admit it...I don't let fashion magazines make me feel inferior because I don't follow the trends, I ask myself "where would I wear this?" in stores, I don't wear something that looks bad on me (intentionally) because it's the rage (forget Flashdance - it was the eighties), I actually don't have a blowdryer. So when I saw this darling pattern Pimlico Shrug, I thought, yeah, I'd wear that. I'd even wear it years from now. So I turned to the requirements.
If there are delicate ears nearby you may wish to shoo them away. It takes 14 - not a typo - 14, ten plus four, one less than fifteen - fourteen skeins of Koigu. Yeah, Ri-i-ght. So that shrug that I would sling over furniture, toss over sweats, catch on door handles, cram into the carry on would be $168.00 (let's see, hourly wage minus taxes, divided into 168 equals how many hours of my life in trade before I even cast on a stitch?).
I wouldn't spend that on sweater in Barneys. I couldn't enjoy a sweater that cost that much. Can't you see it..."Hey Elysbeth, nice sweater." "Yeah, sure, look could you and your wineglass back away carefully?"
It's not the yarn...I love Koigu. I mean it's practically a mantra, Koigu, om shanti shanti, Koigu.
It's a great wearable pattern. Go check it out. Very cute right?
Yes yarn substitutes are available, but if you're going to pay for 1456 metres of sleekly spun merino that will wear nicely you are going to pay close to Koigu prices. (oh, the agony of the complicated sweater that pilled and fuzzed in cheap yarn)
The Adored One summed it up nicely..."Honey, I think this might be about you, not the yarn."
2 comments:
Very cute, but yeah, that's expensive. Perhaps there'll be a good sale on Koigu or a sub.
I struggle with the same thing. But lately I've been thinking of all the time I spend knitting things for other people. Don't I deserve something nice? Aren't I worthy of the hours it takes to make a handknit, and of beautiful yarn? Who would appreciate it more than me? And I hardly ever see patterns that I would actually wear, so when I do see one I strive to make it.
Another justification: Take the cost of the yarn and, instead of adding your hours of labor, divide it by those hours. Knitting is also entertainment, and I figure that if something is going to keep me busy for that many hours, it's cheaper than other forms of entertainment.
I think you should go for it!
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