How should your yarn taste?

My bookclub's selection this month is The Little Paris Bookshop, a novel about love and loss and grief and recovery, all wrapped up in the enchanting notion that books are medicine for the soul.  The bookstore owner refuses to sell a particular book to a particular client because, "It's not what you need right now."  When recommending a book he asks, "How do you want to feel when you go to sleep at night?" and "How should the book taste ?  Of ice cream? spicy and meaty? or like a chilled rose?"  Seems odd maybe, but really, probably as good a way as any to choose a book.  There are books for when you need a good cry - Little Women, Anna Karenina.  When you need a thrill, there are books that take you on a roller coaster ride of fear and excitement -- The Scarecrow, and Silence of the Lambs.   And there are books like The Night Circus that take you away to a magical place when you really need to go there. If you ever need an intellectual challenge, choose  anything Umberto Eco has written.

As we get ready for Fallfest this weekend and planning our yarn tastings, I am reminded that yarn might easily be selected in much the same way.  Do you want your project to taste like ice cream?  Definitely Moonshine.  Do you need to be comforted and reassured?  Berroco Noble.  Are you looking for something indulgent because you deserve to be pampered?  Shibui Drift is the yarn for you.  Craving something spicy and meaty suggests Noro Silk Garden. 

Likewise, a project.  Do you want something simple just to fill your hands with something tasty to knit?  Luxe Alpaca Stole is perfect - it's the knitting equivalent of a rich earthy stew.  I remember many years ago, long before Ginni was Crazy for Ewe's Technical Genius, she came in fresh off weeks of knitting for the church bazaar.  Bored out of her gourd, she threw her latest novelty yarn garter stitch scarf on the table and announced, "I want to knit something challenging!"  Ok. I scanned my brain for the knitting equivalent of Foucalt's Pendulum by Umberto Eco and came up with a pattern   We found it in a gorgeous vest with half a dozen different cable patterns and short rows at the facing worked in fingering weight yarn on size 1 needles. 

Of course, there are plenty of things we knit or crochet because we want to own this garment or that accessory, but it's important to remember that this is our hobby.  The days of women's utilitarian production knitting are over (thank heavens) and we knit because we love the process and because it feeds our soul.  Like the books we choose to read, and the foods we choose to eat, there's much more to be satisfied with our craft than simple hunger. 

Join us at Fallfest this Saturday for a terrific lineup of yarn tastings every hour and see which fibers feed your soul.  I look forward to seeing you soon - you are always welcome here.

Ellen

 Back to the 19 September 2017 Newsletter