Yarn Tales... The Blog
Samantha's Adventures in Fiber
Yarn Tales, The Blog
low flying aircraft....
So while driving up to Wisconsin Sheep & Wool I saw my new favorite traffic sign.
"Watch for low flying aircraft"
Really? Just how damn low are these planes going to be flying that I need to watch out for them on the ground... and furthermore shouldn't they be watching for me?
I want to know what the world is coming to when people on the ground need to be advised to watch for airplanes! And what we, as a society are doing spending money on making these signs!!!
Busy working....
Lots of dyeing is being done in preparation for Wisconsin Sheep & Wool this coming weekend. I didn't get my base yarns as quickly as I thought they would arrive so now it's CRUNCH time!
I am also experimenting with a new (at least to me) dyeing technique and it's giving me some great results but it's very time consuming!
I have 3 pots going as I type and yarn to prep waiting in the wings.
Look for lots of deep, rich tones in the line up this fall at shows and in the online shop!
On Pooling....
This is what I have to say on pooling...
It never ceases to amaze me to hear people talk about pooling, like it's a predictable or plannable phenomenom (which in and of itself is an oxymoron). I am not sure what makes people think that pooling would be something a dyer could plan for or against. Pooling afterall occurs when the color repeats in yarn wind up on top of each other (for lack of a better way to explain...) when a person is knitting. I am going to go out on a limb and say the most common occurance of pooling happens when knitting socks.
And sock knitting is the perfect example for me explaining my thoughts on why you cannot predict/plan pooling.
Of all the folks I know who knit socks, I don't think I know two who knit socks the exact same way. We all cast on a different number, afterall, why would someone with size 7 feet cast on the same as someone with size 9? Some of us knit from the toe up, some from the toe down, some both depending on the mood. Some of us knit on size 2 needles, some people (who I marvel for thier patience) knit with the same yarn on size 1 or even 0. Some people knit fancy socks like Baudelaire by Cookie A. and some people keep it simple with patterns like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's good plain sock and some of us bounce back and forth depending on our mood.
And what happens when two people knit different socks in different sizes on different needles at different gauges, even with the same yarn? They get socks that look completely different from one another! While one person might get narrow stripes another's could wind up completely varigated while yet another person's could result in some pooling. It just depends on all those variables.
So if you are knitting something and get more pooling than you would like, I would suggest frogging and trying a different pattern or changing your needle size one way or the other....
The long and short of it is, that very few yarns, less solids and those designed to create large stripes or fake fair isle patterns, are going to give you a predictable result, because knitters create unique things and that's why we knit after all isn't it?
What is it?
Well, it's a good thing this is a blog and not a podcast because I have barely been able to talk for nearly 4 days, lost my voice to a terrible sore throat and I think my husband is enjoying it a bit too much... But enough about me. Today I want to share with you, presumably a knitter, crocheter or some type of fiber-lover, something that has boggled my mind since I began selling yarn.
What is it?
That may be what you are asking now, what is it that I want to share? Well, without going totally Abott and Costello on you, "What is it?" is what I want to share.
It never ceases to amaze me when it happens. I am sitting in my little fold-up camp style chair at a farmer's market or craft event with my wares on display when someone walks up and asks: "What is it?" as they fondle a hank of yarn much as any knitter would, admiring the color combinations and softness.
The first time it happened I thought they were joking, much as I am guessing you might be trying to figure out if I am now. They were not and neither am I. And it happens more often than you might think.
It seems that even after I tell people what "it" is they aren't sure what to do with it. Now even if all folks don't recognize yarn when it's not in it's 1 lb. Red Heart balls at Michael's I would expect anyone who got through the crafts portion of Kindergarten to know what Yarn is.
My husband got a question I only wish I could have been there to hear, and apparently he's been asked it more than once.
Q: Is this a dog toy?
A: It's hand-dyed yarn.
Q: Can I give it to my dog?
A: For $23 you can do whatever you want with it.
He has less patients with people than I tend to, which says a lot because I am not, nor I expect will I ever, be known for being patient. People have wandered up and asked about using it as decoration in a bowl on a table, (not like no knitter has never done this), asked what it was, what to do with it, if it was dog toy, if it can be used for crochet or only knitting, as if the yarn will immediately self-distruct if it senses a crochet hook near by, what it "does," and I can only guess what I will hear next. So if there is a lesson that can be learned from this, don't wait to World Wide Knit in Public Day to do it in public. People need to be educated!!!!
Q: What is this?
A: Yarn
Q: What do I do with it?
A: What ever you want...
Won't be able to help it
So I started the blog with all the intentions of posting about every other day. The first two were pretty easy, then I realized that for me, for the type of person I am, it would be hard to keep writing without possibly offending people. Whether I stick to yarn chat or move out of the zone once in a while I realized I am not typically going to be able to write without a bit of sarcasm now and again.
I have thus decided that I just need to take the leap and hope that more people love my stories (or at least tolerate them) than hate them.
Why I love it
Long before I began my love affair with all things fibery, I went to college, first for arts and then for journalism. I was a good student, and through my tribulations with trying to find a job have often looked back and thought of school as the only thing I was really good at.
I know this sounds pretty pathetic. But job hunting with a masters degree and winding up as a waitress is a hit to the ego.
I was probably not the average student. I liked school. Alot. Enough to go to college for eight years. And not become a doctor or a lawyer.
Learning and exploring new ideas and arguing with those I knew to be smarter than me was stimulating. While not the most on-top of things like homework I was always up to a challenge, which is where school fell short. Education via college, I found, was finite. The class was always going to end, the book have a final page, the conversation a last word. And while I suppose I could have read the rest of Shakespeare's works at home, or attempted to self-teach myself calculus, doing these things at home, on more or less my own terms, without deadlines or arguements lacked inspiration.
Then came yarn. It started after a bad break-up. I needed something to occupy my time and thoughts so I started to knit. I had previously self-taught the basic knit stitch to make a scarf, but during this time of admitted neediness I needed more, so I figured out the purl stitch after doing some online searching. While doing all that searching for information on purling, I discovered there was a whole plethora of information on knitting out there. The web sites full of patterns and tutorials. I had the distraction I so desperately needed.
And, getting to the point, that's why I Love with a capital L, all things fibery. I used to say knitting, but as we all know, it's so much more than that. It's spinning and dyeing, and all the processes that go along with those facets of the art. It's finding the perfect pattern and the perfect yarn and then mustering up the courage to try that new skill, like entrelac or lace, or lace entrelac. Intarsia, Fair Isle, thrummed mittens, socks, the magic loop, double points, hell, I could go on forever. It's infinate learning and exploring and the motivation and inspiration are built-in. Working with all the fabulous yarns available, stash building, the creative process and the glory of the finished object. I could knit or spin everyday for the rest of my life and not master or experience all there is to in the world of fibery goodness.
For the record, I did continue to read post college 
It's not a divorce, it's bigamy
So a while ago I pretty much gave up on my career as a journalist. Though I had a successful beginning to a life as a professional journalist a series of bad decisions, bad luck and bad presidents led me to a time in my life where I couldn't find a job. I was either over-educated, over-expereinced, under-experienced, lived to far away, or wasn't related to or "in-bed" with the right people. As the economy declined so did my chances of getting another job in my field.
As things go when stress levels raise people look for outlets. I began to knit. And knit. And then I knit some more. The more educated I became about yarn and the more snobby I became about the yarn I used the more I wanted to make my own yarns. I then started to dye, first experiementing with over-dyeing popular brands with Kool-Aid and other household dyes and eventually taking the plunge into professional dyes. I still never thought I would become a fiber artist. After all, I had gone to college for eight years. I had a masters degree. I was an editor, a writer, a designer. I couldn't see myself leaving behind the life I spent most of my life working towards.
Then came the e
piphany.
I had have a masters degree. I was am an editor, a writer and a designer. I couldn't see myself leaving don't have to leave behind the life I spent most of my life working towards. Change happens. Dyeing yarn and knitting doesn't mean I need to stop writing or abandon the life I worked for. The same way I never planned on writing about financial services when going to J-School, I could write about yarn and knitting and the adventures therein, and be just as fulfilled. I used to write ATM like no one before and there is no reason I cannot do the same for yarn and fiber.
Of course, there are benefits to this. I am my own editor, my own boss, and can publish without spell-checking and if my grammar isn't perfect it's likely only to bother me.
So here I am, laying it all out on the table. Internet. I am not divorcing my career or my education I am just adding some fibery goodness to the family.
