Arlee Bird of Tossing It Out had a wonderful post for bloggers on Friday called “I Don’t Know What to Blog About.”
You can blame him for this post about yarn.
Now, because a lot of you are writers and this is general a writerly/bookish blog, you might think I plan to write about “a narrative of adventures” or a “tall tale.”
Not at all.
The kind of yarn I’m focusing on today is “a continuous often plied strand composed of either natural or man-made fibers…”
because I have a whole bunch of yarn stashed in the guest room and my crocheting basket and even in a footstool that has a convenient storage place under a removable lid.
As with my books, I have a fear of being stranded in my home with no way to get to a store or library, so I stock up.
I have enough yarn on hand to last two or three winters, which is when I do most of my projects (while “watching” television). Colors range from baby blanket pastels to vibrant Christmas reds and greens. Soft textures for newborns and sturdy washable yarns for teen afghans.
Sometimes I do a few baby afghans and donate them to Project Linus, which by the way is a great thing to do if you knit, crochet, weave or quilt baby blankets. Other times I work on afghans to use at home or to give as gifts to my kids and other family members. I have a granny square shawl pattern I like (but have given all of them away so I have no photo to show), and like to experiment with other granny square projects.
Arlee says he was able to go on and on about his stapler when he was reaching for a blogging topic. I, however, think I’ve said what I need to see about my yarn addiction.
I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.
I can relate to the stocking up bit. In fact I have a fascination for yarn, thread, fabrics, and all sorts of sewing things. I love looking around in fabric shops. I should have been a seamstress (or whatever the male version of that is).
I’m going to link to your post where you called out for guest bloggers on my Friday 9/28 post.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Hi Sylvia — I’m amazed at how many of us there are. 😀
Yay for yarn addiction! Suffer from it too 😉
Hi Golden — I mostly crochet in the wintertime when it actually feels good to have a lap full of afghan or shawl.
Those look like amazing pieces. I knit and crochet, but not as much or as frequently as that.
Jemi, I learned from a book, so you can see how easy it is to pick up.
Jenny, it’s fun and relaxing. And easy…
Hi Sue. You’re right. It can almost be a form of meditation. I have instructions for these projects, so if there’s one you want to try, send me an e-mail to the contact address in my blog profile.
Love those pictures – particularly like the ones towards the bottom (3rd from last is my favourite) / enlarged the image to try and work out how you did it (still none the wiser!)
I’m a dyed-in-the-wool knitter (awful pun, I know ;-p) – but I can crochet squares and hexagons!
Yarn-work of any kind is useful ‘plotting’ time – hands occupied while your mind explores story lines !
You do beautiful work. I can knit a scarf, and that’s it. But I love the yarn!
My daughter decided to learn to crochet last winter so she looked it up online and away she went! She makes some awesome kids’ hats (pumpkins, sock monkeys, elf hats…). So much fun!
Gillian, that’s a wonderful idea. It’s also pretty great to hear stories like this about our kids. The hats sound like fun projects.
I have a stash too….I’m a knitter. Just remember – when the stash is longer than life expectancy, it’s time to start gifting yarn! If you want a good place to gift yarn, let me know. I knit every Wednesday with a great group of high school students at Mountain View High School in Loveland. They have had a thriving knitting club for about 7 years and knit hats for chemo patients and for children. Each school year they donate around 120 hats. They teach each other to knit in about 5 minutes – boys and girls. That’s the other side of “kids today.”
Lynn, I found crocheting a lot easier to learn than knitting.
Hi LD — I have a cousin who does much more intricate and beautiful work than I’d have the patience for.
Lovely. I have no talent in this area at all so I have great respect for those who do. My mum-in-law and my grandmother created beautiful work.
i love this and always think i am going to start doing it–you do it great 🙂
Margot, Katie can be a real problem. She thinks she needs to displace all that stuff from my lap so she can park there…and yarn left where she can get hold of it is a big temptation. I have to stash my projects out of sight when I’m not working on them.
Alex, there are also polyester and other synthetic yarns, yarns made from bamboo, and the wools include super soft alpaca among others. I mostly use the ones that have at least some polyester because they are easiest to wash and can be dried in the drier.
That’s nice you donate some of your creations to Project Linus. I know yarn comes from cotton or wool and that’s about it.
Pat – Oh, and you have some lovely yarn, too! I used to crochet quite a long time ago but I haven’t in a very long time. Thanks for reminding me of how soothing it can be. And Project Linus sounds terrific. Thanks for sharing it. I’ll bet Katie Cat loves your yarn, too 🙂