Etherknitter:

1. Don't buy junk. Fried or baked, in bags = paying for processing that isn't necessarily good for you. Most are high glycemic carb items. It is expensive relative to what it is providing for your bod.

2. Use what you buy. I sometimes end up with the most expensive compost possible. Dumb.

3. Buy in quantity. Duh. But only if you use what you will buy.

4. Look at the shelf talkers, and comparison shop the pricing. I'm buying the store's generic brands for cheaper on things that don't matter: sugar, eggs, tomato sauce for chili. I can't taste a difference, I can't see a difference, so I might as well save $$.

5. Don't impulse buy. Make a list, stick to the list.

6. Don't buy your cleaning staples there. You can get them cheaper at discount stores.

7. Don't let the magazine racks tempt you one expensive issue at a time. If you like the content, subscribe.

8. Buy less pre-prepared food. Big profit item for them, convenience for you, spends lots of money. Do it only if you have to, or as a treat.

9. Don't shop hungry. This is important for #5.

10. Buy fruits and vegetables in season. Out of season costs more, ships farther, flavors are inferior, carbon footprint sucks.

11. Don't shop at Whole Paycheck unless you can't find the item you want anywhere else. We save lots of bux by picking out stuff at Trader Joe's. Their nuts are just as fresh (high volume at the store helps this), and cost lots less than the Wholey place.

Ooops. Eleven. I could combine #5 and #9, but I won't.

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Etherknitter. She was not like most princesses. Peas under mattresses bothered her not a whit. Her sensititivies were different. Other lumps kept her up at night, and these were called nepps.

During one Rhinebeck several years past, she purchased soft Jacob that was not soft. It was dyed with indigo and osage. The blue bump was beautiful until drafting began, and nepps were revealed.

Fate also decreed that this fiber would be spun on a new wheel. Nepps plus new wheel made overspun, neppy yarn. The princess cried. New knowledge is often painful. She understood that, but cried still. And she stopped spinning the fiber.

Then the Tour de Fleece happened in 2010. (It actually happens every year, but in our kingdom, this is the year that was important to our tale.)

Part of the princess' Tour de Fleece vow was to finish unfinished SIPs. The Jacob, long abandoned, was one SIP that was finished. Her intention was a 2-ply.

She looked at the fiber. She examined the deadlines for the Tour. Finishing the single is ENOUGH, she decreed. The blog documented this.

Fairy Godmothers happen to read blogs. They heed cries of princesses in spinning pain. Princess Etherknitter's fairy godmother happened to live across the pond in the UK. She understood in her wise heart, that those singles would be good for weaving. Fairy godmothers communicate in modern ways in modern times. Soon, emails initiated a mailing of singles to the fairy godmother (hereafter known as CarolineM).

She waved her magic wand over the fiber. It became a plyed yarn, then a weaving project, and then a sewing project. A package hurtled back across the pond to the USA. And Princess Etherknitter smiled.

It was more than a smile. It was joy. Disbelief. Wonder. Gratitude. The transformation of ugly single to beautiful FO was beyond anything she had been able to visualize, or anticipate. The yarn sent is the dark blue. CarolineM conjured the rest with her wand, and put it all together.

The wise ones say a picture is worth a thousand words. Let us end our fairy tale with that.