Y is for.....

Yarn.  An easy one, I know!  I will, however, spare you more pictures of the Wool Vault, and just highlight some handspun, alrighty?

Given the wide breadth of choices (from fiber type to color to weight) available in a LYS, it sorta begs the question why anyone would spin.  To be honest, I'm not sure why I thought spinning would be something I'd like, but after trying it, I was absolutely hooked.  It is peaceful, meditative, and centering, AND you get yarn to work with when you are finished.  Even better, you get to customize that yarn to be exactly what you want (even if you just want to admire and pet the skeins when you are finished spinning them).

The other thing that holds great meaning for me is to work with yarns that have a wee bit of one of my dear animals mixed in (I'm not counting cat or dog fur here - just bunnies.)  Having a warm angora hat to put on my head to go out to feed in the barn when it's pitch dark and 11 degrees out is nothing but a good thing.

And when you spin your own yarn, you can have infinite variations on a theme.  Take purple, for instance:

Darker purples with heathered flecks of blues, yellows, white, and greens, blended into pale lilac and fuschia:

Deep midnight blue/purple with flecks of yellow stars and twilight lavender:

Slightly thicker, puffier and paler in hue:

(Hm.... let's note how the kitty model gets more and more helpful in each picture, shall we?)

One of my resolutions for next year is to have one day a week devoted to spinning, so I can stockpile a whole bunch of handspun Yarn to work with in 2007.

All for now......

Comments

[margene]

Emma has good taste. She should higher out as a hand model.

[minnie]

pretty yarn! i've been spinning more lately myself. granted right now it's gift driven, but still. i've made it a policy to go to my house every morning i can (barring motherly doctor appointments and such) after i take the kids to school, and spin until 9. then i come back here (we're living in my husband's house right now) and do whatever housework i need to do, etc. it's working pretty well, so far!

[Cathy]

What? No pix of the yarn stash? I do love the dream kitty. Puuurrrrfect. Oh - stockpiling for 2007 or 2008?

[AmyP]

What a "helpful" model you have there! Lovely handspun.

[Marcia]

Unfortunately, there is the Spinner's Conundrum: the more you spin, the more yarn you make but the less time you have to knit the yarn you have and.....well, you get the picture.

[knitnana]

Kitty is a "natural" VANNA!
(((hugs)))

[Birdsong]

Good point about being able to create your own... I also love the kitty. How's the bun doing? Better, I hope!

[Laurie]

I do love the kitty paw making sure the yarn is posing correctly.

[June]

Fluffy white kitty paw! Must pet the yarn, purr....

[Karen]

I never got the appeal of spinning either before I tried it myself. Now I can't get enough of it. I have to tell you that I LOVE the handspun in your first picture. It's beautiful!