You know that yarn you buy because it's oh so beautiful, and then you stash it away until a rainy day? The yarn you absolutely had to have because the colourway was just perfect and it would have made the most beautiful little shawl?

How is already the last week of February? Last week it was New Year's Eve, then suddenly it was Valentine's Day, and now - March is in sight.

Sometimes we all just need to slow down a bit. For most, that means sitting down and enjoying a few of our favourite things and one of my favourite things (in case you didn't already know) is yarn. I love yarn. I love to walk into yarn shops that have enormous shelves from ceiling to floor, stacked with balls of colourful softness. I love the potential of yarn, ready - waiting to be knit into your favourite projects. I love the way that yarn looks when it unravels out of hanks and skeins into neatly-knitted rows of perfectly-shaped Vs. I admit, I even put yarn on display in our house sometimes ("Stacey, what's the wool doing on the dinner table?") or insist that the OH smells how lovely it is.

It's not odd.
















This is what has been on my table this past few days. It's Araucania Aysen yarn, hand-dyed from yarn-makers in Chile. It is beautiful, striped, patterned yarn. Each batch is hand-dyed so you can never get two hanks the same. It's precious yarny Alpaca treasure.

















The colours in this yarn dye-lots are sensational. They're warm and full of personality. Some of them are nicer than others, but, on the whole, it's all down to personal preference.















I stocked up on Araucania recently when Stash Fine Yarns announced a half-price sale on discontinued yarns. I normally pick this range up at John Lewis when I absolutely have to, but at half-price - who can resist a bit of yarny inspiration and a bold splash of colour? It's not just for knitting inspiration: I often draw on yarny colour schemes when designing websites or other materials. I also use it to coordinate button designs. The list is endless!
















This yarn is wonderfully soft and comfortable, and it knits up really well. I've stacked up on 8 hanks of this oh-so-pretty inspiration wool and I'm planning on converting some of the lace-weight Ranco yarn into shawls, and the thicker DK Aysen into entrelac pieces.















... but for now, they'll sit on our dining room table so that I can admire them each time I pass by to get to the kitchen. Oh, hello there.