Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Yarn Fixations



Most folks I know who either knit or crochet end up going through various yarn or thread fixations. Very few seem to pick one weight and stick with it and work with nothing else. I'm no different. 

Even though I have some arthritis in my one knee, my hands seem to still be fine. I can still work with everything from fine cotton thread (and steel hooks) to chunky yarns. I have to admit that I'm not very fond of the chunky weight. I will even work with specialty yarns such as fun furs.

During the winter, I work a lot with worsted weight. This is because I do a lot of scarves, gloves and hats for the local homeless with our charity crafting group. All year long, I also work with baby yarn, sport yarn and even some lighter weight worsteds, for preemie caps and blankies for a local preemie ward.

But this week I felt driven to my stash of cotton worsted. I usually only use this for kitchen towel toppers, beverage cozies, coasters, potholders, dishcloths and that sort of thing. When I went through my stash, I decided to begin with dish scrubbies. I whip these up fairly quickly, usingthis pattern. I've made a dozen this week already and will plop them into one bin I keep for instant gifts or token thank-you's. I daydream of filling that bin each year, but it seems to empty almost as soon as I toss something in there.

Anyhow, after I finished the scrubbies, I began on a batch of 10-minute coasters. Yep, they really only take 10 minutes to make, with thispattern. I'll make as many of those as I can with what is left of the stash.

When those are done, I'll use up the rest in variegated dishcloths with the pattern I made for myself, the Easy Peasy Dishcloth. This is a great pattern for leftovers. I can make just a few rows in one color until it is gone, then another color, and so on. I can even leave the knots in, for a shaggy effect, and to add scrubability.

The whole thing is, I want and crave some NEW cotton worsted yarn. I need to use up the old stuff before I can justify buying any new supplies.

And while I wait for the new supplies, I'll go on with a new yarn fixation, I'm sure.  



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