[amiyesiam]

Yarn snob here. I use walmart, craft store, acrylic yarns for pet blankets and some toys and charity knitting (needs to be washable and dryable)

For most of my stuff I use indie dyers.

My #1 favorite~ Desert Vista Dyeworks

Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Highland Handmades
Cloudlover Yarn and Fiber
Cakewalk Yarns
Madeline Tosh Yarns
Beaverslide Dry Goods and Cascade Yarns for work horse yarns

Knit picks for better quality acrylics and a wide selection of good quality yarns. Their Brava worsted is wonderfully soft and very well priced.
Jimmybean, Webs, Lorna's laces, for wide selection of good yarns

A word on yarn, it can be a very individual thing. What some people rave about someone else may not like at all. I do not care for the variagated yarns, they pool in odd ways and there is no way to tell what the final project will look like. Except for when the colors blend together well (ex. creams, pale blues, light grays) (ex of not blending well, purple, green, red)

I do like self striping sock yarns. It it doesn't say that the yarn is self striping then it isn't.

Most yarns are listed on Ravelry and you can actually see things knit up with that yarn. It can be very helpful.

Plover bird for project bags that are resonably priced.
There are many bag makers out there and they can get expensive.

There are beautiful stitch markers out there, and other tools, that make the whole knitting process more enjoyable. Etsy is a good place to look.

Chiagoo Red Lace for metal needles (I only buy circular needles and never use straight needles anymore) Wood needles (DPN's and circulars) I use knit picks Harmony needles.
Some yarns are very slippery and do better on wood needles and some yarns have grip and do better on metal needles. The Chiagoo needles are very pointy which I like.
Several companies have come out with new needle lines. Knitters pride, Hiya Hiya, are two of them. I have not tried them.

I have found that needles are like yarn. A lot of people try knitting using cheap needles and yarn and find they don't like to knit. I think when you find the needles you love and yarn that makes you happy knitting can become a joy.

I love my pod casts. Here are a few that have stated their support of gays/gay marriage. (I listen to a lot more than this, these are just the ones I know are supportive)

The Knit Girllls (3 L's)
Girl Friends knitting
Dramatic knits
The Stockinette Zombies
Knittin' on the Fly
Fiberista Files
Lemknitcrochet podcast (young woman who made her support of gays/rights very clear~ her best friend was gay and he killed himself when they were in high school)