Yarn Love

The latest collection of yarn porn WEBS catalog arrived in the mail yesterday. I've been thumbing through it looking at the tweeds trying to hit upon one for the Belted Pant Coat in The Crochet Closet by Lisa Gentry.

Before I purchase anything else from WEBS I will definitely need to go through my stash yarn to see if there is something appropriate. Or at least finish half a dozen other WIP before I take on another!

I wish WEBS was closer so that I could pop in and out when the fancy struck rather than having to take a day and drive two hours each way out to Western MA. I am a big fan of touching yarn before I buy it and seeing the colors close up in person.

In the spring during WEBS giant annual sale my mother and I made the trek out there. We met up with friends who live in the area for lunch and I was able to roam the back storehouse to my heart's content. Mom wanted me to crochet her a cardigan with the colors of the Southwest desert. We finally settled on Lang Colora in dyelot 5929. It was on sale and is now sold out so I sure hope we purchased enough for this sweater! I'll be doing her second fitting in it later today. We also purchased some gorgeous Sublime cashmere merino silk aran that was also on sale in shade #0132 but we have yet to agree upon an appropriate pattern for the yarn.

My one complaint with WEBS is that it is so knitting focused. I feel a little like a kid eating my cake with a spoon while everyone else is using a fork. But I can't be alone in this... there have got to be more people out there like me who only crochet. I'm not opposed to trying to learn how to knit... again, but crochet is so very pleasurable for me and knitting never was.

Perhaps I'll go downstairs and console myself with gleefully going through my beautiful, beautiful stash of yarn.

Channeling Grammie

My Grammie was one of those grandmothers. You know, the kind who not only knows the names of your dolls but can hand sew your teddy bear a robe that matches the one she made for you. The kind who makes melt-in-your mouth cookies, knits blankets to keep you warm when she isn't there to hug you (and are so well made you are confident you will wrap your someday children in them) and whose Sunday dinners are... wait for it... legendary.

When I was about eleven I asked Grammie to teach me to knit. She very patiently tried to teach me something that I just. didn't. get. We ended up making one neon watermelon headband (hey, it was the 80s) and I abandoned knitting forever.

I just wasn't crafty. Unless, of course, you count worming my way out of trouble, in which case my brother would say I was the craftiest kid in the neighborhood.

Speaking of my brother... that kid came out of womb painting like Rembrandt. OK - not really, but to my envious heart there was no point in even trying anything artistic because my big brother was better. A lot better. I saw my own attempts as childish, which, considering I was a child was being pretty tough on myself. My hands could not create what I saw in my mind's eye. To make matters worse, by the time I was in high school every art teacher I'd ever had expected brilliance since I was "John's little sister" and was almost as disappointed in my attempts as I was. The horrible part? I loved being creative. I went to art camp, took pottery and photography classes and was elated by the process - every time was a new opportunity to bring my vision to life... and many disappointing attempts were then stuffed in a drawer, the closet, or the trash.

Not until 2005 when two friends were pregnant did I really attempt anything creative again. I wanted to be able to give these brand new babies something made just for them to welcome them into the world. My then-boyfriend's mother was an avid crocheter and over several afternoons she succeeded in teaching me some basic stitches and how to read patterns. We started with two Anne Halliday books: Afghans by the Dozen: Shells and Love Me Tender Baby Afghans. From then on I was hooked (no pun intended. The boyfriend and I broke up but I kept on crocheting. And to my surprise... I didn't suck at it! I rewarded myself with Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet and went to work learning different stitches.

Fortunately I met and fell in love with a man who not only supports my yarn and craft habit but is pretty handy with a set of tools himself. So here we are - a couple of newlyweds in a two room apartment in the city on our great big DIY adventure.