Thursday, September 6, 2007
R is for ravishing
There are a bunch of new yarns out there, and extraordinary patterns, so the only word I can think of that's appropriate is "ravishing." When I learned to knit - in prehistoric days - there was only acrylic yarn in most stores (Coats & Clark, notably). You could find wool if you were willing to spend lots of money and go to out-of-the-way places or knew a farm and a store. Nowadays, it's almost hard to find yarn that's not lovely. The general consumer stores (Michael's, Joann's, A.C.Moore, for example) have plenty of inexpensive yarn that's perfectly nice to the touch and knits up just fine. Lion Brand has a wide range of yarn, too. For some purposes, the inexpensive stuff is best, as a matter of fact, like a blanket for a baby who may spit up on it and whose parents may want to be able to throw it in the wash without worrying about cold or warm water, or air drying. (Which isn't to say that an heirloom doesn't have its place, of course!) Many available yarns these days are cashmere or alpaca or buffalo (honestly!) and it's so nice to know yarn can come from anything with fur, without having to damage the animal. One of my favorite stops at October's annual NYS Sheep & Wool festival is the angora rabbits who sit demurely on an owner's lap while their fur is coaxed and stroked off of their backs directly onto a spinning wheel. Anyway, it's all just ravishing!!
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