The Cult of Laura

All in all, I'm a simple girl. I don't have a big house, just a small 60-year old cottage that keeps me safe and warm. I don't buy expensive clothes. In fact, my mother constantly marvels at my ability to always find a sale or deal on clothes. I don't particularly like to eat out anymore since food standards are not what they would be at my home. I drive a Chevy, not a Lexus. So you get the point, I'm easy to please in most venues.

However, I do have a few luxuries I allow myself as a treat. They include:

Overpriced, but awesome chicken salad at Fairfield Grocery (very seldom)
European chocolates (Ritter Sport being my favorite)
Australian black licorice (much more flavorful)
Vera Bradley (but only on sale)
Scrapbooking toys and paper (also, only on sale)

....and then there's yarn. I like the good stuff. I crave the good, handpainted stuff. I NEED it. All my life I wanted to learn to knit. I'm like my grandmother, I love crafty stuff. I finally learned a few years ago. Basically I knit scarves. I've tried the complicated stuff but don't really have the patience for counting stitches, etc. I like the zen of scarf knitting. I don't have to think to do it. I just knit and when the row runs out I start another. Not fancy, I know, but great therapy for a self-stressed chickie like me, and they make good Christmas presents. Now then, the good stuff. I love the individuality of handpainted yarn. It's all one-of-a-kind and usually quite striking, even in something as simple as a scarf. Currently I am knitting with a hand dyed sugar cane yarn that is so silky! But never is it cheap.

So here's the part where my friend Laura comes in. I went to school with Laura Murphy. Who knew she would end up to be my yarn goddess? She's teaches fine arts at the college level way out west in Colorado. But more importantly, she makes yarn. Some she paints, some she spins and paints. And the colors of her yarn. I salivate each time I look at her Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=89689. So now, my piggy bank is filling so I can buy her yarn. But I can already tell it won't be a one-time buy. I might have to take a second job to fill my cravings for Laura's fiber...