As I’ve put in a great many hours of knitting and crocheting and spinning in my lifetime (thousands upon thousands), a few things seem to recur… perhaps it’s just me, but I had to share:
Yarn:
1. WARPS TIME. Yes, indeedy. Have you ever had the experience where you sit down to knit a row (or crochet) and you look up and 3 hours have passed and it felt like 10 minutes? Happens to me all the time.
Or how about this: You work on your project until you’re blue in the face, for many agonizing hours (usually it’s those pesky patterns that make no sense that cause this) and then set down your work to realize 2 things. 1. You only achieved about a row’s worth of progress and 2. Only 10 minutes actually passed.
It’s weird, I tell you. Yarn has amazing time-warping abilities that I have yet to figure out!
2. MAKES YOU LOOK COOL. Have you ever sat down in a public place with your knitting or crocheting project and someone walks by and says, “What are you making?” Of course you have! It happens to us all! Yarn is a BRILLIANT conversation-opener!
Once asked, you can slide a small smirk on your face and proudly say, “Oh, I’m making an Estonian Lace Shawl.” *smirk. Or, if you’re like me and not into that fancy stuff, you can still show your crafting prowess by saying something like, “Oh, this is a scarf for my totally-appreciative, loving and supportive daughter/niece/granddaughter who worships the ground I walk on…And you are?” 😀 I’m kidding of course, but still. Yarn makes you LOOK COOL! And who doesn’t want to feel a little more snazzy and appreciated?
3. FEELS LIKE A FANTASY COME TRUE: Yarn might not be Prince Charming, but it sure has fantasy aspects… Nom nom nom! Can we all say soooofffftttt??? When you get your hands on the RIGHT kind of yarn, it can be AMAZING.
Merino wool… creamy and smooth and plump, like a voluptuous Renaissance maiden.
Mulberry silk? Like satiny ribbons of exotic cream pouring through your fingers.
Cashmere? Oh, casshhhmere, baby… come HITHER and let me ravage you with my hooks and needles! RAWR! Now you know the reasons I carry these fibers in my shop: Because they are Ah-mazing and truly carry you into a fantasy land of flushed-faced romance!
4. MAKES EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD LOOK BORING. I’m talkin’ about colors, baby! OHHH! Can we all say Ahhhh and Ohhhh and Ummmmm… The colors are the most drizzling/drooling aspect of yarn to me…Every color imaginable can be had if you know where to find them! Jewel tones, pastel deliciousness, solids, semi-solids, variegated, multi-colors, gradient, hand-dyed, hand-painted, you name it! It’s ALL yummy to the tummy!
Everything else just seems to fade into non-existence and unimportance and yarn slowly begins to take over the world.
Or perhaps it’s just taking over my mind. Let’s not think about that. It’s already taking over my HOUSE for goodness sake. Not my mind too! :-/
Anyhoo, enough blithering about it all! Have a click on over to the shop to see what creations I’ve got going on right now! Please keep in mind that most of my products are limited edition. Meaning they are around while they last and then they are gone. Poof! It’s magic! I just don’t want you to be frustrated or disappointed if you don’t get the color you want…so when a new product is announced, it’s best not to wait. Some colors sell out within 24 hours, never to return, while some last several days/weeks/or even months. There is just no way to know!
So let me know in the comments below why YOU think yarn is the best thing EVER! I can’t wait to read your responses! And make sure to come back and read replies!
Much love from me…
XoXoXo
~Chandi
Yarn fulfills the artistic side of me that I really didn’t know I had! 🙂
Connections – yarn and textiles are connections to others. I still cuddle with afghans my maternal grandmother crocheted and knit and a quilt my paternal grandmother made just for me. How many people have you touched? (Although, I am not allowed to make a vest/sweater for my son as he says it will kill any dating potential. Little does he know….)
I can absolutely relate to everything you say about yarn. It seems to have some magical powers, doesn’t it? I can escape into knitting or crocheting or even shopping for yarn. I work from home and will “sneak” in some knitting or crocheting while I am on a conference call. Once I was late getting on a call because I wanted to finish just one more row!! Yarn has been good for me. I stopped smoking January 1 and working with yarn helped get me through the tough spots. I have also made some new and wonderful friends through yarn…and we all know yarn folks are good folks!
I have several chronic illnesses, and at times cannot do much more than knit! The colors and textures feed my soul and the act of knitting makes me feel that I can still do something of value! I can’t afford your yarn right now because of all my medical bills, but I do so enjoy looking at your gorgeous colors and reading your blog that expresses so beautifully how you feel about fiber and knitting! Thanks!
I can absolutely relate. Yarn craft, wether it be knitting, crochet or any other, is there when I need it. When everything else is more effort than an exhausted body can handle. When I’m sad or feel that my lack of energy prevents me from being useful, yarn is there. The colours cheer me up, the patterns engage my mind and the finished projects make me feel like I’ve contributed something useful and pretty to the world. Like I made a difference. Honestly, learning to knit is one of the best things I have ever done. 🙂
This is so relaxing to me. I knit every night and go to two different knitting
groups.Get a lot done and before you know it , it’s time for bed.Take my knitting everywhere.My husband buys the yarn for me.He has good taste and likes buying it. The yarn is so soft and the colors are great.Keep up the good work…
Your husband buys you yarn???? I have to make secret sorties to yarn shops and smuggle the stuff into the house. So jealous of a husband that understands the needs of a knitting spouse.
I second Marion! Your husband buys you yarn? Awesome! Mine has stopped rolling his eyes when I bring a bag into the house.
So happy I found your site! I am a newb at knitting but totally agree. I am becoming and addict and have no desire to stop it. Absolutely love the other poster talking about conference calls. It helps me pay attention to the call and not the emails piling up! So see..yarn helps productivity. I am in love with all the possibilities and can’t wait to get better at it!
I agree totally. When I’m with the knitting group, time flies. I think the funniest conversation I ever had in public was at the hospital waiting for my Mother to have a procedure done. I was knitting away and a guy ask if I was crocheting. Told him knitting. He proceeds to say that no one knits anymore. I told him I knew a lot of people who knit. He didn’t believe me. DUH! I love to see the yarn become something even more beautiful. It is like a fantasy. I’m not a creative type, but I can make some pretty things with 2 sticks and a string. I really love it when I give something to someone. They appreciate it so much.
I am able to give friends exclusive gifts, make a few extra $$ and create a legacy for grandchildren and a couple great
My Grandmother taught me to knit when I was a little girl, about 9 years old. I used to make my own doll blankets. I have loved all kinds of needlework and art my “whole” life. If I don’t work on some kind of project at least part of my day it saddens me. I’ve spent a lifetime making, teaching, selling and giving my creations to friends and family. To give something I created to someone is truly a gift to myself. It is a part of my life I gave to them. When I walk into a yarn shop it’s not a room full of yarn. I see things, in every color, and every design. It inspires me. I could literally spend days in shops just picking out the perfect color or texture for projects that swarm through my head. I’ve worked on projects in literally every place imaginable, even with my eyes closed. I have been truly blessed by my art and have enjoyed every minute of it 🙂
It is so cool to be able to take a handfull of fleece and make a scarf/hat/mittens from the raw materials. The fleece needs to combed/carded, spun, then knitted. The product is unique, the only one like that in the world!!!
Yarn builds community! I was a closet knitter for many years but slowly started knitting openly in the staff room at my school–after only a year practically everyone now knits and brings their projects to work! (I’m talking about over 10 new and restored knitters!) I think we are closer as a group because we problem solve to together on so many levels–professionally, personally and over our shared love of knitting!
I have been knitting/crocheting for over 40 years…..yarn(colors, textures etc) have been my saving Grace.I find knitting/crocheting to my therapy…. to see the smiles on peoples faces when they in turn receive a product of my labor is just so fulfilling…..to think that a piece of so called string(yarn) can come to life when knitted or crocheted….the colors and textures that form a pattern and create such beauty!
Yarn is a companion who visits us in our loneliness. It is a comfort to those who simply find themselves in need of a shoulder. Yarn brings warmth to chilled arms on a cool evening. Yarn is palpable and brings great joy as it is fondled and coddled to the point of unraveling and ruin, yet without one complaint. Yarn can be trusted never to disappoint, abandon, or feel imposed upon when we find it irresistible to touch and caress, and audition it for our next potential labor of love.
If I don’t have some form of knitting, crochet project in my hands at some point every day, I feel as though my day isn’t complete! I agree with all you’ve said about yarns miraculous ability to change things. But I also feel that in its purest form, yarn (and the creation of things from yarn) is simply happiness, peace and serenity for me. Happy knitting to all:)
I have been knitting for 52 yrs I am now teaching and selling yarn . I love and live yarn . You have the greatest marketing of yarn that I have seen in my knitting life time. You inspire and capture knitters and crocheters. I hope that I get to meet you in my life time. I also dream that I get to Alaska in my life time Thankyou for your enthusiasm. Bernadette
Chandi,
Love your writing style, your enthusiasm, your understanding. Keep up the great work. The colors and texture of beautiful yarn are a glimpse of heaven.
Yarn definitely has mystical qualities. I think the Navajo have the legend of the Spider Woman who spun the world into being. Sometimes I feel like I am knitting my life into existence!
Yarn can take me to my Zen place 🙂 I have chronic pain and when the meds don’t work as well as they should I can set down and crochet and soon I have forgotten how much I hurt. Last fall my hands were really hurting a lot until I started crocheting every day. So I started making hats for charity. My mantra was “Take one vicoden and crochet 2 hats.” I was able to get through the bad spell with my hands and make 50 hats for local charities. ♥ Even though my hands are much better this year my goal is to make 100 hats for charity in gratitude for my rediscovery of many benefits of crochet.
Keep at it Carol, I deal with depression on a daily basis and knitting takes me to my Zen place. You sound like a wonderful woman and that charity is very lucky to have your donations. Anne
I really did laugh out loud when I read the above post. Really couldn’t have described any better than you did – that time-warp thing happens to me every day! I get into the “zone” and forget it, the whole day could go by – and sometimes does(!) – without me noticing. Then I get so mad that it’s so late sometimes. . .
Oh well, there are much worse things – I’m happy to be in my own little world with my yarn and knitting!
Have a fabulous day and thanks for the fun!
Yarn is a world within itself. Being able to knit during the news, on an airplane, a slow day at work, or any time that would otherwise be boring, is the most fantastic thing!! It gives my hands something to do, and being able to fondle all that beautiful silk, cashmere, baby alpaca, etc is just heavenly!!
You sure summed up the finer points of yarn. All yarn is beautiful and useful for a project, but your selection is the best I’ve ever seen.
Yarn is like coffee in a travel mug for me; I can’t go anywhere without something portable in my purse. You just don’t know when you are going to need it; for example when hubby is in the hardware store, I prefer sometimes to stay in the car and work on my current colour colaboration. Over the years when family or friends are about to welcome a new baby, I have produced a layette, complete with cotton sleepers and a favourite book of mine “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch. My new found love is knitting for my dogs I live in Ontario Canada where it can get cold. Thanks for letting me write about my favourite thing. Cheers everyone and Happy Easter if you celebrate it. Anne
I knitted and crochet with my grandmother 65 years ago. I have made things for my children, my grandchildren, myself and friends. I taught my gifted 6th graders to knit and made blankets for the homeless. I do it while I ride in the car and while I watch t.v. Things are seldom perfect, but I enjoy making them. I have enjoyed reading your blog and love your attitude towards life.
I can’t help myself as I smiled as I read your blog today. You make what us knitters like to do sound like a treat! Which it is. I went to a new knit shop today while visiting my daughter up at college and felt welcome as I walked in the door. To walk into a place knowing you have something in common with everyone there is a such a nice feeling. To make something with our hands, our creative side, to be inspired is a treasure I hold dear to my heart and feel very fortunate to be able to do.
You are definitely the Nigella Lawson of the knitting world ….Keep it up !
Knitting is like meditation for me. It calms the mind and the spirit. I’ve only been knitting for about 3 years but it has become an obsession.
It always amazes me that I start with a single strand of luscious yarn and a crochet hook to end up with a wonderful something to wear. A single strand becomes a hat, a scarf, a shawl, a sweater. Amazing.
So love the bit about knitting in public. Last week whilst waiting patiently and calmly airside at the airport – knitting in hand – two ladies commented on the fact I had got my knitting needles through security. so I explained to both that the needles were plastic, but usually I have wooden needles and there is usually no problem, though I was once told by the cabin crew to put my knitting away for take off and landing….
My proudest accomplishment was my daughter’s wedding dress which I crocheted. I also made a matching hooded jacket with what seemed like a quazillian small pearl shank buttons and a garter. Maureen’s wedding was in a Ukrainian Orthadox Church…she and her husband wore crowns…so no veil. They are celebrating their 25th anniversary this June and she, of course, does not fit the dress anymore but it is lovingly packed away for the day her 2 daughters are wed…..Judie
Knitting or Crochet are magical! They transform a simple humble “string” into a wonderful, unique object that is filled with love, beauty, creativity, and the priceless gift of one’s time~either to someone else or to one’s own self. I always think of the millions of women and men who have been a part of the story of yarn and the creation of billions (well maybe just millions) of functional and decorative objects that have been treasured (see above) lost (mittens and socks and sweaters) tossed aside (can’t get my head through that neckline!) as a part of our human story.
I have done both steps one and two! What would I do with the yarn? Not sure but my head is full of the possibilities!! Maybe some dresses for my daughter, maybe a blanket…who knows!! Thank you for this amazing contest! You do incredibly gorgeous work!!!
When I saw the title to this post, I was expecting to walk away knowing how a ball of yarn won or changed the tide of war. Maybe how a scientist solved a massive equation by knitting a few rows. Or even how the person who knitted a sweater from the cast off hair from Einstein’s dog (or was he a cat person?) suddenly jumped up in 1000 IQ points & invented the internet. Instead, I happily had several truths reinforced. Yarn DOES warp time. Makes me look cool & prevents me from counting the carpet tiles in the Dr’s waiting room. Sometimes I fantasize about yarn & when I walk into a yarn store, I have to pick my mouth up off the floor & wipe the drool off my chin. The colors. The texture. Is sooo much more than I have at home. Sigh. Thank you.
WOW, what a connection with everyone, its like the string of a beautiful cashmere yarn connects us all…Knit stitches make my mouth water when I see a pattern I just have to do it…somehow I do it…I feel my whole body just decompresses around about my second row…and I thought no one knew how I felt feeling that sumptious fingering yarn…I stop to rub my 1/2 complete knitting on my neck to feel its warmth and softness…I love crochet too… my grandmother taught me thread crochet and how to make Star quilts…I learned knitting in home economics in Pierre High School…we had to make a book of samples…mine we perfect… schools don’t teach knitting anymore…I took to knitting like a duck takes to water…I love to make something useful out of just yarn…I tried to make my sons learn…I told them if they got stuck on an island they could make a net to catch fish, a hammock to sleep on, clothes to stay warm…but no luck there…Anyway Thank you for sharing your warm Yarn loving thoughtful heart with us…I”ll save some money to get some of that pretty yarn of yours!
Tara
I’ve made afghans for almost everyone in my family and I keep saying I’m going to keep the next one I make! I learned how to knit this afghan stitch when I was under the age of 10, and I can do it in the dark, in my sleep, while watching TV, and carrying on conversations. I have recently retired and besides my sewing, I want to spend more time knitting and learning new stitches. I also just in the past couple of months learned to crochet, and I’m hooked! (no pun intended!)
I’m a crocheter with six kids and thirty (yes, 30!) nieces and nephews. More than half of these people are of child-bearing age and I make baby blankets for each and every one of them! Not a single one has the same pattern or color scheme. I love giving these as they will be used and are cherished by the parents. I crochet in public (as does my sister, who taught my) and there is almost always a conversation started because of it. I end most of my days working on “something” just to relax and ground myself from the hectic life I lead.
Recently had a stroke and was getting very frustrated at my inability to crochet. Then I came across your site and was blown away by the colors of your yarn. Good incentive for me to keep practicing as I am in love with your color combinations. I will be ordering as soon as I can get the hang of crocheting again. Have three baby afghans that I would like o be done before the kids get into college.
All of your stories, love, and reasons for Yarn Art are so heart-warming! My Mom taught me how to crochet many years ago, and recently, between Chandi’s You Tube video for beginning knitters and one of my best girlfriends, I’m learning how to knit. I’m about two feet into my first simple scarf, and I’m already loving it! Even when I mess up, the act of trying to figure out how to fix whatever it is that I did, can be a fun challenge. For me, another wonderful aspect of crocheting or knitting has been that it keeps my hands and mind occupied. I can at times be a real obsessive over-eater, and have a long past of dwelling and worrying. I tend to eat my emotions… I eat when I’m bored, depressed, to celebrate, when I’m anxious, or avoiding something that needs my attention. Even while sitting and enjoying a movie on the couch with my guy, if my hands don’t have something to do, they immediately want to stuff food into my mouth. Creating something with yarn helps to not only focus that anxious tendency, but by the time I realize how meditative it feels, that urge to eat more than I actually need has passed.
Thanks, yarn! You help me keep fitting into my clothes. 😉