Charles Dickens to the contrary, why is it that the beautiful ones often are the most ornery? My lovely skein of Araucania Lonco Multy fingering weight cotton yarn came in 440-yard hank that needed to be wound into a ball before it could be used. Eager to get started with turning my Parrot colored hank into a multi-hued lacy shawl, I began what I thought would be an hour-long process. Lacking a yarn swift and choosing not to use my ball winder (okay, I admit, my winder is somewhere to be found), I put the hank over the back of a tall chair and started the wind up Friday evening. The process was slow and then grew laborious as realization dawned that the skein was twisted upon itself. It appears the hank had been tied in a way different from other skeins I had wound in the past. Five hours later, I, and approximately 50 yards, was undone and I needed my bed. Saturday afternoon, I drafted the able hands and neck of my eldest and took up the chore anew. Two hours later, I excused my human yarn swift to work the the last 25 yards alone. I wanted so much to find a short cut but refused to cut the yarn. Another two hours passed before I wrapped the final length of strand around the ball. Damn! Nine hours in total to produce the lovely ball above. I probably will spend less time crocheting the shawl than I did in making the ball! But isn't it georgous! The sheen, the strength of color. Can't wait to get started.
As part of the Ravelry Warm Ewe Up Winter Yarn Swap, we must blog at least once every other week. To help the blog-shy along, our swap coordinators have thoughtfully provided thought-provoking questions that we can answer on our blog. Question # 1 asks, "why did I learn to knit?" Hmmmm, knit? But I crochet! Almost exclusively! But admittedly, I do knit, a bit, and just well enough to guide my 15-year old and 13-year old nieces along their knitting journey.
Ok, so why did I learn to knit? I learned as a 10-year old Junior Girl Scout where I earned my knitting badge. We're talking about the 60s now. Too many years ago and so many memories. Today's Girl Scouts don't even have a knitting badge; rather girls earn the Yarn and Fabric Arts badge, which is a sampler of knitting, crochet, macrame, cross-stitch, quilting, textiles, and other yarn and fabric crafts. Don't get me wrong; I think girls should be exposed to many different types of crafts, but not in a single six-activity badge. This cursory sampling just seems to reinforce what I see as a lack of attention span in many children today. Okay, rant over. I picked up knitting needles again almost two years ago while watching Vicki Howell on the Knitty Gritty. Loved the show. Simple hats and scarves are the extent of my knitting repertoire.As I said, I can knit, a bit, although I much, much, much prefer to crochet. Nothing personal, just my cup of tea. Why I learned to crochet is covered in my first blog.
Is it my imagination or are big box chain/discount stores reducing the amount of yarn they carry?
For the past six years, my "local yarn store" of choice was the A.C. Moore located just a mile or two from the house. My devotion was less about convenience and more about lust -- I blame (or is it credit) it's sizable and diverse yarn selection for helping me build my stash to the size that it is now. In fact, it was this large yarn selection that drew me back into crocheting. I had gone into the store to buy supplies for a Girl Scout project and like with any store, I wandered up and down the aisle just window shopping. I stopped short when I saw walls of beautiful yarn in a wide spectrum of colors and textures -- Katia's Grenada, Knitting Fever's King Tut Egyptian Cotton, Lion Brand's Suede, I could go on. Unfortunately, with the addition of each new store manager, the department shrunk, the aisles got narrower, and the staff grew blissfully ignorant. I hesitate to even buy yarn there because of the overwhelming, often conflicting scents of candles, potpourri, and other junk placed close by. I get a headache just walking into the store. I asked the most recent store manager and he admits that he plans to downsize even more and just carry the "thick yarn" that women seem to use for crafting, like bulky red, white, and green to make Christmas wreaths and stockings. Yukkk.
The local Joann's and Michaels stores also appear to be suffering from the same affliction. And just this past weekend, after a brief visit with my Michigan cousin, I see that Hobby Lobby's yarn department has shrunk as well. They have limited the yarn manufacturers they carry to just a few -- Red Heart, Bernat, Patons, Lion Brand -- and even then to a select few of their yarns.
What gives? Perhaps these big box stores think we are fueling our fiber addiction by buying online. Admittedly, my knitty and crochety friends and I have purchased online, but only after sampling the real stuff in person. Now that I think about it, I bought my skeins online from a LYS in Kansas City after I had visited its store. Perhaps the big box stores think real LYSs like Aylin's Woolgathers here in Northern Virginia or the handspun yarn stores that abound on Etsy will carry the load. I rather doubt it because most don't have the capacity or desire to carry a broad selection of yarns like the big box stores used to.
So, I guess I am reduced to shopping my own stash and hope that by the time I really "need" some yarn we have other options.
Charles Dickens to the contrary, why is it that the beautiful ones often are the most ornery? 
