I bought sock yarn. I’ll tell you about it when it gets here. The rules for Yarn Diet 2007 will be posted here and on Moraie Knitting on November 15, 2006. The contest will begin January 1, 2007.

Anyway, I thought I should give you a little overview now. But first I’m going to tell you what prompted this excursion. I have been keeping an excel spreadsheet of my yarn; I made it this fall and put in what I can remember about this summer and this fall. It was a little scary and the fact that it was only a 3 digit number was not consoling. Then the Girl on the Rocks‘ fake Rhinebeck contest came along and taking out my yarn made me feel guilty all over again.

The truth of the matter is I have a lot of yarn. I’m lucky to have it. I can’t really afford what I have and I can’t afford to buy anymore. In January of 2006 I declared a Yarn Diet for the entire year. I was ambitious and crazy. Within a month I had bought $200 worth of yarn with some feeble excuses. The first $100 I spent on yarn for a sweater. It was birthday money, so hey right? That is the Jaegger Extra fine Merino depicted in this photograph. Then La Ti Da had a going out of business sale on January 20th and I bought about $200 worth of yarn for $100.00. I can’t even remember half of what I got. I know I bought some Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere and some Blue Sky Alpaca because I’ve seen the finished work. I think the Debbie Bliss was in 2005 because it is what inspired the 2006 La Ti Da choice of more Debbie Bliss. I did okay for a month or two. Which in retrospect sounds pretty amazing. When April came around all hell broke loose. Thus, the inspiration for Yarn Diet 2007.

There are two ways of participating in Yarn Diet 2007. As we all know there are two main strategies for losing weight, which can be exercised singly or in combination: burn more calories and consume fewer calories. So I’ve created two yarn diets (contests) for you. The first is the Sock Beach Diet, which opts for a healthy combination of knittercise and limited consumption. The second way to participate is to join the Greatest Knitter’s New Year Resolution. You may only pick one diet.The rules will come next week.

In the mean time, I might buy some sock yarn tomorrow. Or rather, I will if my husband does it for me.