Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sunshine Outside My Window. Fiber Waiting To Be Spun. Knitting On Short Needles. Life In The Knitting Lane.

I have been sitting here for a while trying to figure out how to describe my weekend. It has been superb. A weekend that will never ever come again. I suppose I could go in great detail, but then I am afraid I wouldn't be able to describe it in proper fashion with the necessary words of glory and praise. So, I will just leave the weekend in all of its expanse alone for the moment and just concentrate on the fibery goodness portion.

Saturday, after tai chi, DH and I went to Stone's Throw, of course. We were able to glimpse Megan and the childrens as well as hubby, and then spend wonderful time in the store surrounded by fiber and yarns. DH picks on me for just going into the shop to simply feel the fiber and plan projects as well as just visit with Beth or Megan or both depending on the happenings in the store at the time; however, DH understands just how much I love it. The fiber. The yarn. The knitting needles, spindles, niddy noddies and so many more wonderful tools.

Right now Beth has a wonderful loom in the "soap room", which was once called the "nap room" or "meditation room" (I think DH misses the nap room personally). I can't wait to see it in operation! Anything to do with fiber has begun to fascinate me, as well as history and fiber properties. DH says, or hints, I am crossing some threshold, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out what kind of said threshold it could possibly be. Seeing fiber, thread, becoming fabric thrills my heart in that deep down good way that actually means CREATIVITY.

Before now the mere act of knitting, of creating something beautiful and useful has been all that I have needed to give me great peace and happiness. Now, it seems, not only does this wonderful peace and happiness occur in the actual knitting process, but in the planning stages, choosing of yarn, and even fiber now.

My hands, head, and heart are choosing fibers that work well and are enjoying the working with the items. It is as if my hands have sight of their own and by touching the yarn is easily put with this project or, sometimes, kept from a project because of said properties. This wasn't apparent to me until yesterday when I was telling Beth the flaws of Maizy yarn I had discovered: It practically melts!

Maizy was used for the main top of a tam for DH. The lower section of the hat was done in bamboo and the bottom was a good grade of cotton. The cotton and bamboo get along fantastically, but recently the Maizy section of the hat just melted and then proceeded to unravel. Maizy doesn't wear well at all for garments. DH went so far as to say the top of his hat looked as if a mouse had eaten the very top!

Now, you have to understand: DH LOVES the tam. He wears it every day. He knows where it is at all times. He washes it by hand and lets it dry flat. He takes care of the thing better than a lot of items I have given him. He was upset when he told me about the hole he had discovered. He also wanted it fixed ASAP.

When removing the Maizy yarn it wasn't difficult to see just how worn it looked and felt. The bamboo section was absolutely perfect, considering all of the wear and tear it has gone through since its original completion date, and, though there was some wear, the fibers of the bamboo yarn was still very strong.

When I was describing the wear and what I wanted to get to fix it with, DH told me I had changed and was crossing the threshold mentioned earlier. Then, when I was talking to Beth, it was easier for me to see what DH was talking about. It is as if a new level of language has opened up for me. I am no where near as knowledgeable as Beth and Megan, but I understand more now than what I did before, and it is knowledge that has been obtained through working with the fibers and different yarns themselves.

Now I want to know more, but am not rushing out to buy books or look up things on the Internet. This sort of knowledge I want to learn because of the craft itself, and so, through the crafting of garments and thread is how I feel it is to be learned, with a few well-placed questions (OK, more than a "few" probably) here and there to those more in the know than I am.

Isn't life wonderful in the knitting lane?

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