Wyld Ryd

Almost every Saturday, I volunteer at a genealogy library. Volunteering means hanging with my other crochet buddy, Meredith, who always inspires me to think outside the box when it comes to crochet and knitting. We discuss our current projects, new yarn finds, our families, our ancestors. It is, after all, a genealogy library and we are there to help patrons with their often elusive family searches.

Last Saturday, on my way to my "volunteer" (a genealogy library but my girls have always called it going to the volunteer), I pulled up behind a black Lexus sporting license plates that read "WYLD RYD." I thought, what a great title for a blog, but gave it up because cars and crochet don't mix, right!?.

I had brought my ball winder with me to wind a few skeins of yarn in preparation for some lace projects I am getting underway. Holiday gift giving and all that. Note to Vern and Con: yes, you each will be getting a lace shawl. I don't own a yarn swift so I thought I would take advantage of the highback chairs at the center to serve as an extra pair of hands. First up was a skein of KnitPicks Bare Peruvian Highland Wool fingering weight. Gonna use this for StitchStud's Peacock Track Mystery Crochet-A-Long. I plan to dye it in peacock blues and greens. Next up, Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm's Sock Weight, perfect for an oversized scarf. Although the chairs were a tad bit narrow to hold the yarns with any real tension, the skeins rolled off nicely as I wound them into balls. Then came Araucania's Lonco Multy. Some of you already are aware of my love-hate relationship with this yarn. I've been avoiding working on a second Bird of Paradise Shawl because of the hours spent unraveling this tough little cotton yarn.

Hoping to avoid any opportunity for a mishap, I grabbed the leather office chair. Its back is wider so it should hold the yarn better. As I cautiously started to unwind the skein, the chair shifted, revolving slowly like a yarn swift. I pushed it along and the yarn came off with little hesitation. I held my breath. The chair jerked to a stop as the yarn snagged. I cursed the yarn and wondered why I even bothered. In frustration, I gave the yarn a little downward tug, surprisingly freeing the yarn. I nudged the chair, smooth sailing for a few yards. Another snag, another damn, another tug. I spun the chair, faster. Another snag, another tug, finally, freedom. Soon, the chair was turning like a kid spinning on a merry-go-round. Patrons walking into to the library stopped short, fascinated by the spinning chair as yarn was pulled off and formed into a little ball. Finally, the last length of yarn left my hand, completing the new yarn ball. I reached out, stopped the chair, and took a deep breath -- I had been holding my breath somewhat. What took 13 hours to wind the first skein, only took 45 minutes for this ball. Cue the chorus of angels. I was in yarn heaven.

Lesson learned? Yarn can be quite temperamental. Some can be quite easy going, allowing you to wind it up with a child's helpful arms. Others need a swift kick in the @#$ and can only be controlled by the unyeilding arms of a yarn swift. Although I know that the unusual way the Araucania Lonco Multy was put up into a skein had a lot to do with my earlier problems, I realize that I had unwittingly created more twists and turns as I tried to "figure out" each and every snag by untwisting every perceived twist, only to twist it upon itself even more. Human nature being what it is, we try to outwit such yarn and think ahead of a snag, a twist, a perceived tangle. But under the constraint of a yarn swift, you are forced to let the swift and the yarn work together. Your hand just goes along for the ride.

So, if you need an extra pair hands and no yarn swift is handy, go to work and give that office chair a wyld ryd.

P.S. Get yourself some Araucania Lonco Multy but don't forget the swift.

Moving On Up

I'm in the midst of moving up from an apartment to a small townhouse on the east side of town (sort of like the Jeffersons* only this place is not a deluxe apartment in the sky but a quaint little townhome). Despite the somewhat dodgy comparison to an old 70s sitcom, what is it about moving that tends to shed light on one's little secrets?

Before the move, I could've sworn -- no, actually amitted out loud -- that I had 5 bins of yarn. Big bins, but still only five. I thought I knew since I called myself sorting it all out just before packing it all off to the new house. But wouldn't ya know, as I removed the top layers of boxes and bins cluttering my living room and bedroom, I found small bags and another bin of yarn! Sadly, my first response was not "where did this box come from?" or even "where am I going to put it?" but rather, "where had this yarn been hiding?" and "oooh, now I can make that thing I wanted to make." Yes, I have no shame.

I still will not admit to being a yarnaholic. I have a few fellow fiber artists who shall remain nameless, who share their homes with their yarn. Actually, for one of them, it seems the yarn shares its home with her.

So, I have to rethink, just a bit, how I will store my yarn in the new place. Give me time. I'm sure I will find more. I haven't really uncovered everything in the closets or under my bed.

* For those of you who remember the Jeffersons:

We're a movin' on up,
(We're a movin on up.)
To the east side.
(Mo-vin on up.)
To a de-luxe apartment,
In the sky-.
Mo-vin' on up
(Mo-vin on up.)
To the east side,
(Mo-vin on up.)
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen,
A beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lot of trying
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin our turn at bat.
As long as we live
It's you and me baby.
There ain't nothing wrong with that.

We're a moving on up
(Mo-vin on up.)
To the east side,
(Mo-vin on up.)
To a de-luxe apartment
In the sky-.
Mo-vin on up
(Mo-vin on up.)
To the east side.
(Mo-vin on up.)
We finally got a piece of the pie-.

To Frog or . . . What is the Question?

The past week, I have spent a not so unconsiderable amount of time getting caught up with the online crochet community. Everyday, I find something new in the Ravelry community, whether it is a new group, undiscovered features, or new terminology.

Take for example, frogging. I wondered what a little green bug eater had to do with the fiber arts. Imagine my surprise when I realized that it means to pull out your yarn to undo stitches and, if you are unlucky, to undo rows. I had always called it *!%*&@!. Still, why Frog and not just Rip? Well, the Ravelry lexicon says frogging happens when you rip out your stitches, i.e., rip-it, rip- it, rip-it. And any items waiting to be frogged hang out in the frog pond. HaHa.

In the forums, there also is a lot of lingo bandied about:

• FO (Finished Object), the holy grail


• Muggle (non-knitter), which I daresay applies equally to all those non-crocheters out there.


• NoTN (Not On The Needles) which perhaps reflects those moments when we are without our hooks or needles (like when we're working, cooking, cleaning, etc!). Maybe there should be a NoTH (Not on The Hook) for crocheters like me but Law and Order fans might confuse this with talk of Chris Noth (detective Mike Logan).


• OTH (On The Hooks) or OTN (On The Needles), where, I suspect, "life" happens for most of us


• UFO (unfinished object), a stop over in that journey in search of the holy grail

But my favorite is SEX: when buying yarn = a Stash Enhancement eXperience. As my previous post shows, I have no problem in this department. But at this rate, I might soon reach SABLE -- that point where my Stash Acquisition [is] Beyond [my] Life Expectancy.

Stash This!

[originally posted July 1, 2008 on my old blog vicjorob.spaces.live.com]

Ok, I readily admit that I am a clutter-holic. I keep most everything, even empty boxes stuff came in from Amazon (I know I will use them, I just don't know when). It's a trait I inherited honestly from my parents. When it comes to yarn I'm no slouch there either.

A couple of months ago, I joined the Ravelry community. Great site! I entered projects, visited forums, joined a couple of groups, and then I saw it -- the STASH. I thought, what a perfect opportunity to catalog my 120 or so skeins of yarn currently housed in four bins. I needed to get reacquainted with my yarn, some of which had been separated into bags just waiting for the perfect patern to come along. So, with a little bit of glee -- I can get a bit giddy when I finally get around to organinizing things -- I was ready to see what I had stashed away. I knew this needed to be done before I purchased any new yarn. I had even avoided going to my favorite yarn store's annual summer sale because I never can leave without purchasing at least one skein.

So, I organized the heck out of my yarn -- all the cottons together in those zip up plastic bags that sheets and curtains come in. My Mohair went into a comforter bag (I had more than I thought). The fun fur lying untouched for five years found its way into a smaller bag (it's still untouched) Ravelry's Stash asks for the number of skeins for each type, color, and size of yarn. This stash can be linked to projects where you can indicate whether you purchased more yarn or used your stash. Howver, I'm not sure if I want to know that I added to my stash. As with most yarn lovers, we have become very adept at hiding yarn purchases from ourselves.

What was my bottom line? 235 skeins of yarn -- make that 238 skeins. I just bought 3 skeins to finish up the romper I am making for my cousin's future grandson.