January 2, 2010
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I am not yarnworthy …
That was my first and second reaction to two Christmas gifts this year. The first was from Liz Ging, who works with me at Crossroads Trade. A fabric artist in her own right, with an Etsy store of hand-dyed silk scarves and dresses, Liz gave me some of her first forays into working with natural dyes and yarn. (Her yarn will be for sale; check her site often!) These two skeins of wool yarn, one bulky weight, one worsted, were dyed with osage.
Meanwhile my daughter Rebecca Zimmerman was shopping at Osborn Fiber Studio, the creation of her friend Rebecca Osborn. She chose a skein of yarn dyed, in the variegated style, with pokeberries.
I have admired these frequently. But what the heck will I do with them? I knit like an eight-year-old. Here’s what I started after I got these gifts:
This is a scarf from Lion Yarn Fun Fur, which my boss Kate Harris got for $1 a ball at the Christmas Tree store, and which I got from her for free. The resulting scarf is 22 (and occasionally 23) stitches of garter stitch, on and on, with the fun furriness hiding most of the flaws. My only claim to a specific competence is that I can’t knit on the bus but I can on the subway; I can compensate for going side to side and back and forth but not for up and down.
Meanwhile, I have watched Mrs. Osborn knit lace socks while hiking. And did I mention that the dyers and knitters are under 25?
So I am completely intimidated by these beautiful skeins. My plastic knitting looms (the difference in levels is so laughable) call, because socks in variegated yarn are pretty cool. But I am not yarnworthy.
All suggestions appreciated.
