Perhaps the main contributor to my
knitting addiction is the abundance of beautiful yarn that is
available today. A good pattern can be a draw, and sometimes it is
the purpose for knitting a project that pulls me in, such as to knit
a donation for a particular charitable cause or an item to give as a
gift. I've even been so taken with a pair of beautiful multi-colored
wooden needles before that I found any excuse I could to put them
into action. But most often it's the sight of a skein of incredibly
beautiful yarn that makes my heart race and my fingers ache to pick
up my needles and knit.
Some people are inspired by viewing
paintings in art museums to pick up a pallet and brush and create.
Others wander through flower showrooms in nurseries and envision
gardens overflowing with blooms, their hands itching to get in the
dirt to dig and plant. For knitters, a stroll through a yarn shop has
the same effect. Row upon row of dazzling colors hanging in hanks of
yarn on racks, or bundled in balls in cubbyholes along a wall...even
the finished projects hung tantalizing about the store tempt one to
search the yarn it was knit with and recreate the item on your own.
More and more I find I'm attracted to
the multi-colored hand-dyed yarns that have burst on the market of
late. Such dazzling mixtures of colors and sparkles decorate store
walls anymore that if I dare to enter my local yarn shop I am unable
to leave without the tell-tale purple bag hanging from my hand as I
leave. One time I walked in just to pick up a ball of yarn I needed
to finish a project. I marched in with mental blinders on, refusing
to look to the right or the left as I headed straight to the bin
where I knew the yarn was located...to the point that the knitting
club seated and working away in the back of the room mentioned that I
looked like a woman on a mission! I confessed that if I lifted my
eyes off the floorboards for any amount of time I would be sucked in
to the temptation lining the walls, and I simply had no time or money
to spare on that particular day for such a delightful occupation. You
can't imagine the accomplishment I felt upon leaving with just that
one ball of yarn in my bag!
Equally important in the yarn selection
process are the names given to each particular color combination. For
example, how could anybody walk by a gorgeous purple and teal product
called “Unicorn Tears”? I was totally sucked in. I knit a heart
coaster for the start of baseball season simply because I passed a
ball called “Cincinnati Red”. The coaster turned out better than
the team's season so far, but that's neither here nor there. The
color names on other skeins have often caused me to toss them into my
shopping cart simply because they reminded me in some way of a
particular person or event. I have a weakness for the emotions
invoked by word combinations alone; a salesman's dream.
The one drawback to the beauty of the
hand-dyed yarns lining store walls are the high prices attached to
the skeins. The same has caused some yarn-enthusiasts to embark on
dying their own. My daughter-in-law was so intrigued by the idea that
she eventually gave it a try...an experiment she found so successful
and satisfying that it has sucked her up into a whirlwind of new
ideas, procedures, products and even business opportunities! So taken
is she with yarn production now that she declares she rarely has time
anymore to knit! While I know I'm too lazy to follow her in that
pursuit, I'm grateful that somebody has a passion to so
create, and I declare myself not just willing but waiting to
sit and knit a bit with anything she happens to produce!
“Now to Him who is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
(Ephesians 3:20-21
NKJV)
