To be honest, I love all kinds of crafts, and have the odds and ends stored in my recently organized craft room to prove it. But there is something so reassuring about yarn. To begin with, it's pretty. And soft. Even before I do anything with the skein of yarn, it is already a work of art. All that is left for me to do is take it one more step and tun the ball of yarn into something useful...at least something pretending to be useful. And I know that no matter how horribly messy my final project may turn out and how poorly my feeble attempts at a sweater may be, at least the yarn started out looking pretty.
As much as I love just standing in the yarn aisle and admiring the varied hues and patterns, I also love buying yarn. Armed with a new pattern for something that can potentially be my new favorite accessory or a warm snuggly blanket or a super cute baby gift, I comb the racks for the perfect material. I have to consider color and texture and weight and pattern and, sadly, price. Right now I'm infatuated with sock yarn. Why, I'm not sure. Possibly because I am a die hard crochet-er and there are not very many crochet sock patterns (I've looked. I found one that uses sock yarn. ONE. I'm sure there are others out there, but good luck finding them with out digging for hours.) It's the forbidden fruit syndrome. Sure, there is no possible reason I need to buy five skeins of sock yarn, but it's on sale! And it's so pretty!
Of course, after buying the yarn and guiltily sneaking it into the house hoping my dear sweet husband won't care too much that I have bought more yarn yet again, I have to ball it all up. I'm sure there are many of you who know that this step is unneeded and just a waste of time, but to you I say oh well. I like to ball up my yarn. It gives me a chance to get to know my material, to examine the coloring, the texture, and to see if it will be the kind of yarn that likes to snag or shred. Balling the yarn is a very important ritual. Besides, then I know for certain that there won't be any surprise knots or breaks in the middle of my project.
This fascination with sock yarn lasted until about 45 minutes ago, when I decided to start a blog. I'll admit it, I'm avoiding the sock yarn that is so incredibly thin, the hook that is also microscopic and the pattern with it's annoying "extended single crochet". Who's even heard of extended single crochet? Let's just say that while it's not a difficult stitch, it's obnoxious, especially while using my lovely half-price sock yarn. It gave me a hand cramp. So the project is taking a back seat for the moment while I rediscover my love of all things yarn, even sock yarn. It does have a really nifty pink and grey striped pattern, which is the reason I bought it in the first place.
I have a problem with finishing things. I love to start a new project, a new hobby, a new blog, whatever it is, and then I get tired of it and walk off. For example, sitting on the desk next to me is the sock that I am in the middle of crocheting. So far I've been working on it pretty consistently, but the problem with socks and slippers and such is that there are two of them. I can usually make it through the first one with no problem; it's the second that gives me issues. So maybe I'm writing this as a way to remind myself that I need to stop beginning so many new things and maybe stick with something and see it through to the end. Maybe I need to stop buying so much new yarn and finally figure out what to do with the mounds of it that are stacked neatly (for now) on the shelves in my room.
But where's the fun in that?
No comments:
Post a Comment