Yarn Snob

I love knitting! After a jam-packed day yesterday, Jay said to me, "Today was fun, wasn't it?" I thought a minute, reflecting on the hectic but productive day and said, "Yeah, but not as fun as staying home knitting."

I know what you're thinking.

But when it's snowy and slippery outside and the fire is heating the family room, there's nothing I like more than relaxing with some yummy yarn and a lot of time.

I love gorgeous natural fiber yarns. And I love yarn shops, but not necessarily all places that sell yarn. Good yarn shops have a certain vibe, a little humor. When we're in a distant city, I'll know which yarn shop to patronize by its name. Twisted, Black Sheep, Wooly West, Serial Knitters, Needlepoint Joint, Knitorious, Blazing Needles, Bad Woman Yarn, So Much Yarn, Webs (reminds me of the husband of a knitting friend in Chile who told me, "I married a spider."), Rumpelstiltskin, there's even an online knitting community, Ravelry, with thousands of patterns where people post probably millions of projects to show off their work and to help others decide what to knit and what yarns to use and where you encounter knitters who call themselves Willfulmina, Knotty Knitter, Mean Mrs. Mustard, ironical knitter--you get the idea--who write blogs like Yarn Harlot, I Am Addicted, My Sister's Knitter and Naughty Knitter.

And just look at the company I'm keeping!

I'm not sure Kiefer is really knitting. He just doesn't look relaxed enough (maybe it's the switchblade in his back pocket); but I'm pretty sure none of these folks are using yarn from Walmart.

I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Three things will survive the apocalypse: cockroaches, Twinkies and Red Heart Yarn." Ha! I curse the Christmas stockings I made with cheap acrylic yarn.
There are a zillion knitting quotes, some funnily unsuitable for this blog.

  

A few Chilean projects that kept my eyes off the scary roads and my mood tranquilo while Jay drove those 40,000 miles to our teaching appointments. The yarn from the white vest was a gift from the woman who owned the sheep, sheared and spun the wool and then gave it to me to knit. I love every nubby fiber in it! I have a stash of beautiful handspun wool she sent with us for some matching sweaters that are on my list of things to knit this winter.

Knitters love mastering a new technique, finishing a big project and starting something new. I like having something difficult on my needles and another project that I can work on at traffic lights, waiting at the dentist or during a good conversation. I used to knit at Busch Stadium. Knitting is frowned on at the symphony. I discovered this at Powell Hall in St. Louis, where there was a sign advising patrons of such. I managed to keep my own needles in my purse despite having the urge a few times; and seeing others knitting when I don't have anything to do sends me into paroxysms of knitters' envy. On the other hand, discovering a fellow knitter on an airplane, a cruise ship, or in the back row at church creates an instant sisterhood. We are always interested in each other's projects.  In Santiago, there's a whole block of little yarn stores that I discovered and visited several times months before we realized it's in the very center of the downtown central market and tourist destinations.

My knitting is free for people I love. For any other purpose, there's no price high enough. 

Saundra and I had just left a yarn shop and were in a gift store that had some nice socks. As we were handling them, I said, "Eight dollars? Ha! For twenty seven dollars and two weeks of my time, I could make them." This blogger said it better than I could. I leave it with you as I go off to do a little knitting:

When someone knits something for you, what they are really giving you is love.

It might look like a scarf, a hat, some gloves or socks, a tea cozy…whatever. It might be fine, classy, and beautiful. Or, it might be an ill-advised combination of colors in a horrifyingly inconsistent striping pattern. Either way, that handknit piece is a gift of love. You were thought of as the person chose the pattern, picked the yarn, worked a swatch, cast on, knit along, made mistakes, tangled their yarn, came to the end, cast off, wove in the yarn tails, and gazed at their completed piece. Every step in the process involved love.

Love, the secret of and key to the universe. Someone gave that to you. By knitting you a gift. Do you realize how divinely special that is? (Scrumptious Living blog)