I should not have laughed at the Yarn Harlot.

A couple of weeks ago, the Yarn Harlot wrote about running out of knitting, and said she took backup yarn to her LYS for Knit Night. I laughed at the Yarn Harlot - not just in that "gee, she's funny" way, but in that "gee, I'm glad I'm not that crazy" way. I may have even said something to Aaron along the lines of "see, I'm not that crazy! The Yarn Harlot is so obsessed with knitting that she brings spare yarn to the yarn store." (That he knows what I'm talking about when I cite the Yarn Harlot as a source of wisdom is clearly a sign of his love for me.) Prior to this, my best benchmark of not-that-crazy was Sam, who won't knit from stash yarn. But even if I don't quite get around to knitting from stash, and have to point to my good intentions as a sign of sanity, surely I can proclaim that I'm not crazy enough to bring spare yarn to the yarn store.

Well.

Last night was the monthly Knit Night at River Knits. I was looking forward to an exciting time - Christmas goodies, a yarn swap, and a chance to work on my Christmas Sock. I brought cookies and a yarn gift, found a seat, and pulled out my knitting - only to discover that I hadn't brought my pattern. Oops.

This is a pretty complicated sock, so there was no winging it. I was on the heel flap, so I knew I could knit for a little while, but then I'd run out of knitting. (To make things worse, I'd given myself a little "you remembered to pack the needle you're using right now! How organized!" pep talk as I was leaving home.) So I sat there with my lonely little heel, getting nervous and twitchy, wondering what I could possibly do once I'd finished.

There was really only one option, wasn't there? I may have said some things about finishing rather than starting projects. I may even have said some things about not buying any more yarn. But this was clearly an emergency.

We learn from our mistakes, right? In this case, I learned how to use the web browser on my cell phone, so I could copy down the Wavy Gravy Hat pattern. I'd already learned that I love this pattern. I may try to give away a couple of hats as Christmas presents, if I can bear to part with them, so it's possible that this won't be wasted effort.

Once I had knitting in hand, I could breathe easy and enjoy the evening. I've never seen such a crowd at Knit Night before! People were spilling out of the back room into the shop, and sitting on the floor - it's just lucky that I got there early enough that I could get to the yarn. We had to pass around all the treats, but that was ok - it meant that no one had to put down her knitting to fix a plate.

And the Yankee Yarn Swap was loads of fun. Enough people brought extra packages (which I will attribute to the natural generosity of my fellow knitters, and not to anyone's opportunistic de-stashing) that everyone there was able to participate.

I wound up with this - another ball of Tofutsies! I love Tofutsies - although if I started knitting right now, I doubt I'd work my way through all the yarn before it's warm enough to wear Tofutsies socks again. And yes, this yarn really came wrapped in this box - proof that good things come in small packages, and that Scotch tape is tough stuff.

Before I left, I picked up just a bit of yarn for a possible future project (I had to pay for the Kureyon, so why not add a bit more). Even so, I left with fewer skeins of yarn than I brought - and I traded yarn that I won't use for yarn that I will. That makes my Christmas merry.

And I won't laugh at the Yarn Harlot any more.