Sunday, December 23, 2007

Scrumptious textiles

I like to knit and crochet a little. I'm no expert, but it's fun to do. I love textiles -- be it yarn or fabric.

I've only recently discovered my love for luscious, natural yarns. If you just go to a chain craft store, you're going to have to choose from mostly synthetic, mass-produced yarns. They are evenly spun, evenly dyed, and to me they lack personality.

Once I stepped foot in Village Wools, I realized I could never go back. Local yarns, exotic yarns, fat yarns, skinny yarns, alpaca yarns, wool yarns. And naturally, synthetics, too. All these yarns are beautiful, but also so much more expensive. I'm currently making myself a wide scarf/narrow shawl from an alpaca/silk blend and I think it's going to cost me $50 in supplies -- never mind the time it takes to knit it. This is why a hand knitted or crocheted item made with nice yarn will cost you a pretty penny.

I especially love bulky wool yarn. Thick and chunky, with plenty of personality. They hold up well when you use huge knitting needles. They knit up fast and look so snuggly. But even better are bulky WILD yarns, like this one I drooled over and finally bought:
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The colors are so dreamy together.

I like when some parts are spun skinny and some are spun fat, like this, which I also want to buy from etsy.com shop Hobbledehoy (click photo for link to item):

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I am interested in learning how to spin yarn from roving, and also to hand paint it. Some beautiful, hand-painted yarns that I love include this one from etsy shop Jirbydesigns:

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I hope that for my birthday I can get the gift of taking a spinning class at Village Wools, and maybe a dyeing class, too.

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