When I was about 7 years old my grandmother decided I needed a hobby for when I came to her house. Apparently she didnt want me playing on her organ, following her around, bugging her to play ping pong, running around scaring her birds or pestering my grandfather to take me for a ride on their tandem bike. She sat me down with a skein of squeaky, scratchy, acrylic yellow yarn, a crochet hook and taught me the basics of the craft. Chain. SC. DC. HDC, Trbl. The more I hooked, the more addicting it became. That econo yarn was itchy and squeaky, but by golly I made a chain about 14 miles long and practiced my stitches. They became more uniform, more evenly spaced and by the end of the week my stitches were perfect. Eventually I advanced to granny squares and lacy patterns. I was mostly self taught, learning what I could from books and pamphlets, using what I had always used SQUEAKY ACRYLIC YARN!
One day, I decided to make my parents an Afghan for Christmas. I was in College at the time, so I went to the local fabric store and picked out the booklet I wanted with the patterns, the hook and then wandered over to the yarn section. Now many fabric stores have a limited yarn selection. But I was living in Utah, home of the handicrafts. I was AMAZED at the selection. Beautiful colors. SOFT yarns. Yarns that didnt squeak when you ran the hook through their series of movements. Yarns that ranged from the subtle to the vivid. Cottons, wools, mohair blends, alpaca blends, acrylics that didnt leave a film on your fingers. I was in heaven. I never knew such a world of yarns existed.
After that, I tossed out my economy acrylic yarns, and I have never looked back. In my craft room I have boxes and boxes and boxes of it, waiting to be used. My husband gets quite irritated wading through the room and through the maze of Rubbermaids! (If he ever goes missing, I expect to find him tangled in a spiderweb of yarn, like a desperate fly.)
Cottons, handpainted, homespuns, suede, eyelash, alpaca, mohair blends, wools. It doesnt matter. I know i dont NEED more yarn. I WANT more yarn. Want ALWAYS outweighs need when it comes to yarn. I am a junkie. I cant get enough. I will drive 10 miles out of the way JUST to stop by my favorite yarn shop, just to look. My "just to look" usually turns into a $30 field trip. If I could, I would put all my yarns on the floor and roll in them like Demi Moore rolling in money in Indecent Proposal.
Thusfar I have been able to resist the allure of the yarns on etsy. But it hasnt been easy. I look...every day. Then I start to drool and feel the twitch and I know a full fledged yarn withdrawal is upon me. Good thing I will be getting a tax return soon-then I can come to my faves and get my fix!
ROVING: This is the cleaned material(wool) you use to actually spin into yarn. If you have a spinning wheel, or if you have a spindle to spin your own yarn, give these sellers a try
http://www.maryjanesattic.etsy.com/ She has some beautiful roving, samplers and more. Gorgeous colors, even plain roving for natural yarn.
this listing is called Water Hyacinth
Can't you imagine spinning yarn from this GORGEOUS wool?? I can see a bright and cheerful winter hat.
http://www.hobbledehoy.etsy.com/- her yarns and rovings are really unique and cool. Not your typical straighlaced yarns. Splashes of color and lights and darks and daring color combinations. I LOVE these merino wool fiber batts. It is called Constellations.
http://www.theranch.etsy.com/ This may be one of the greatest etsy shops for roving and batts. They have all sorts. wools, mohairs, alpaca and more. They have handpainted roving, or you can get natural colored roving as well. they also do handspun yarns, but I love their rovings.This is called Palmdale superwash merino
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9077962
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9077962
HAND SPUN YARNS
If you arent lucky enough to have a spinning wheel or a spindle, try out these beautiful handspun yarns from other etsy artisans. Handspun wool is usually a little thicker, nobbier , uneven and very unique. I LOVE handspun wool. It has character.
http://www.seejayneknityarns.etsy.com/ - her colorways are beautiful and her yarns look simply amazing.this yarn happens to be Teal-Liscious corriedale wool
http://www.pancakeandlulu.etsy.com/ They have both handspun and dyed, but their handspun yarns are breathtaking.
This skein is called Moonwalk
This skein is called Moonwalk
www.fuzzyfibers1960.etsy.com this shop has some of the coolest handspun yarn! beautiful colors, great spinning.
This skein is Vortex art yarn
I dont know exactly what I would do with it, BUT I know that I Love it, and I must have it.
HAND PAINTED YARN
Hand painted yarn is usually thinner,commercially spun natural yarn that has been dyed in stripes, blobs, patterns or whatever. I love the colorways of some of the following handpainters.
http://www.skeinqueen.etsy.com/keinqueen.etsy.com/. Oh how you tantalize me with your beautiful colors and vibrant hues!This lovely purple skein is a Damson superwash merino called DIVINE. yes, it is.
http://www.lovesyarn.etsy.com/- I really like some of the vivid handpainted yarns she has in her shop.
This is called BE Mine and is a merino/nylon blend
http://www.fearlessfibers.etsy.com/ she is quite possibly the best yarn seller on etsy. with over 4400 items sold and 100% positive feedback you know she is good at what she does.
She has every color of the rainbow available too!
This is Meadow Colorway sock yarn.
her colors are pretty vibrant and bright in general. They make me happy just looking at them.
This is merino Sock yarn called Rose Garden
Yarn is beautiful in any way shape or form. Especially etsy yarns!
so excuse me while I browse through some more and slobber in longing at the beauty on my computer screen.
5 comments:
I love handspun yarn. I've bought a few on Etsy and have a few more in my favorites.
my grandma taught me to crochet when I was 5....probably for the same reason!
Sadly, I didn't keep up. BUT! My friend Celia opened a yarn store (in Silverton, OR where I used to live) and yarn fever took over. Fabulous. check it out
http://www.thepurldistrict.blogspot.com/
I don't even know how to do anything with yarn, and I find myself wanting to buy it. Excellent post. :)
what a wonderful entry! so much good information. i'm presently trying to resist throwing myself into spinning so that i can get the work done i need to do before march. but then...
I wish someone would teach me to crochet so I could have a reason to buy all of that beautiful yarn! Beautiful stuff!
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