What does it for you?  Is it a scoop of peanut butter straight from the jar at nine at night?  A pithy few words shouted at the driver who cuts you off?  For me, it’s a quick knitting project.

My dictionary defines a stash as “a secret store of something,” and when it comes to yarn, that’s pretty accurate.  Knitters hoard.  They buy yarn they have no business buying, then they bring it home and put it in a place where no one will see it.  They have paper bags stuffed with yarn, closets stuffed with yarn, trunks stuffed with yarn.  Me, I have bins in my basement, neatly stacked and out of my husband’s keen sight.  Other yarn I store in the open in huge (two gallon) glass jars.  Since these are for decoration, no one questions them.  I stuff in another skein, then another until the lids won’t close.

I finished my Kai-Mei socks last night.  Hours in front of the TV helped, because when what you’re watching is emotional, like the 9-11 memorials yesterday were, knitting is a comfort.

Part of it’s the rhythm, which is simple and timeless.  But part is the material.  I confess it.  I’m a fiber snob.  I mean, I understand the value of acrylics when it comes to some baby things, and certainly the cost can’t be beat.  But if life is about the process, I want natural and fine.  I want soft, not scratchy.  I want organic.  Wool, alpaca, cotton, silk – any of those will do – but if a yarn has even a whiff of cashmere, I’m in love.