Then it must be yarn

Today I sat on the deck carding some very dirty wool. This is the preparation to spinning the wool into singles-yarmn.  I found it quite fascinating to be the daily WordPress prompt for today. I spend the majority of my time thinking about yarn. 

Last night I searched for an hour trying to find a specific pattern for some woolyhat was ready for a shawl. It took me over three hours into the day this morning to remember that I wanted to try that pattern. Here’s how the rough-spun looks after a days work.

My fascination with yarn began as a child when my grandmother taught me how to crochet. It seems that she taught quite a few of her grandchildren. I have a sister that crochets and knits and a cousin or two that enjoy the craft.  

But it wasn’t until my adulthood shepherd days that I began to crave wool.  It was given to me as gifts and soon I began purchasing the expensive stuff on my own. Thus the desire for a spinning wheel. 

I am blessed to have married into a family of gift-gives and soon was overwhelmed with an Ashford travelier. It is beautifully made of wood and I enjoyed finishing the wheel with some nice poly-red oak finish.  Finishing wood is another story to tell.

My first project became a hat and fingerless gloves. While my first fully carded wool from self to finish became a hat that I gave away to one of my sisters.  I made another for myself soon after.  With our bitter Dakota winter winds a woo garment or two is a nescessity.  The hat or the turtle is the easiest project for homespun yarn as my spinning hasn’t been perfected yet and those objects call for the smaller amounts of yarn that my efforts produce. 

There are many crafts that involve the use of string. But in my humble opinion if it’s string that it must be yarn. Although I  have even learned to crochet with doily thread, but I never do just that. The tiny detail requires rest time for the eyes. Having some bulky yarn handy to do an easy crochet project gives relief to the eyes but keeps the fidgeting fingers pussy  My daughter once said that I was a “lazy”crocheter.  So I proved her wrong by challenging myself with new patterns every once in awhile. 

My ball of string is endless on this topic.  It’s like the beginning chain stitch that knows no other, going on until one runs out of the skein. That won’t happen anytime soon. As long as I have wool, the tools to spin some yarn, and the ability to look up new patterns the craft lives on.