Some people call it...

Yarn porn. It is somewhat disturbing, but I can sort of see where it's coming from.

I spend a fair amount of time reading through my friends list on LiveJournal, and through a community on cloth diapering, I discovered the related (kind of) fandom of knitting and yarn-dying.

Yes, I picked up knitting so I could make wool longies for Rachel. I've yet to actually get around to starting a pair, because I wanted to make sure I got the basics down before I jumped headfirst into using a lot of yarn for something I'm not sure will fit. Doh.

The yarn-dying sites are very tempting, for they hold many colorways of nummy goodness, but I was looking for something cheaper to start on, and the local Hobby Lobby was a little lacking in the wool yarn department (surprising, but true). Google saves the day, and finds not only another yarn store ( it's really a crafts store, but with a better selection), but something called a Sit N Knit Cafe, which is exactly what it is. The Sit N Knit, though, didn't indicate that it actually had yarn, so I went to the other store to check it out, baby in tow.

For all that pictures on the internet look yummy (yes, yummy) with all the colors, I never actually thought I'd spend as much time staring at yarn as I did in that store. Manos del Uruguay, by the way, looks and feels awesome, but is expensive. Those skeins had their own little rack, too.

... I guess pictures on the internet will have to do, anyway.

Irish Baby Knits
ZenString
yarny_bits - where I found the phrase, incidentally

I will one day break down and buy something from them. Yummy, indeed.

(And in case you're wondering, I did buy 3 skeins of Patons, so it wasn't a total waste of a trip.)