Buck the System

A while back, I sent some fiber to someone and, thinking she wasn't bluffing when she announced herself a 'beginner spinner', I put in a foolish note about spinning and plying. She emailed me back in thanks but informed me that she'd be single spinning her yarn. I was shocked! Not because of what she was doing - because of what I was doing. I'd bought into the 'manufacter-emulating' notion that only a plied yarn is a knit yarn. Of course, I should admit right here that I am a bi-fiber artist. Ya'll, I crochet, too (stop throwing rotten tomatoes at me). Anyone who's tried to crochet handspun knows that a good lopi or single yarn is the best - handspun 2 ply being somewhat difficult and catching your hook the wrong way. Hookers, unite! But Knitters, c'mon with us. I love to knit lopi yarns. And single spun yarns are softer (insert my unabashed fascination with Paula Simmons who wrote about just this ). So, why have we bought the notion that a yarn that takes at least twice as long to spin, is half as soft to wear, and gives you less yardage per precious minute you spend whirling the wheel and ignoring the chaos that surrounds you - why do we believe this 'plied' yarn is a standard. Girls and boys, I challenge you, strip down to a single. Just so you don't think I'm a hypocrite, I jumped first. I soft-spun this 50/50 merino/mohair yarn and started crocheting it (HOOKERS ARE COOL - YOU HEARD IT FROM ME) into a tam for a sweet little mermaid loving girl I know who's having a birthday soon. So, for her, we'll call the tam "Irie". Pattern available as soon as someone tells me how to make an adobe pdf file or never, whichever comes first.

Then, I totally lost control. Those of you who know me well, and those who were unfortunate enough to just get to know me this week, have probably determined that it is maybe a good thing that I don't get terribly irrate often. The tongue is razor sharp so to keep myself from getting arrested, I started spinning and dyeing. When the urge to strangle only mildly subsided, I spun and dyed some more. When I realized this is just WHO i AM, I took pictures of my hard work for you to show me when I stop drooling and slapping myself.

Oh, I listed a whole bunch of my batts on ebay this week, please check it out - they start at 1/2 price there! I'm doing this because I'm about to start making the batts for my next show. Special orders are most welcome at this time, as I'll have my equipment out. Thanks!