Saturday, February 18, 2012

Peace of Yarns


Chaos



There was chaos in the "warehouse." Generous gifts from two friends who encouraged me to sort through and keep treasures from their huge yarn bins resulted in bags that overflow my warehouse (single, previously-half-full crate). Bags are on the floor and a great mishmash lives in the crate. I am not complaining! But I like order.  And I like to handle the wool--the more I did repeated hands-on reviews of my stash, the more tangled it became.


Another dear friend, the wool winder








My delight  after finishing other Things I get to do today is to settle into some serious wool winding.  There is a soothing magic that happens as scrambled hanks of yarn are transformed into beautiful cylinders of wound wool.  It is a restful and unhurried process, draping the opened hanks of fiber around my knees to hold it in place, one hand holding the strand high and one hand turning the handle of the winder.
Never thought of my knees being a substitute for hands before

















Still space for the last bag








It creates such peace and order that three bags of fibers now fit neatly in the space which before held only one.  Make peace in the yarn bin.  Make peace with where you are.  Make peace.  Look how tightly we can live together when we are at peace.
Everybody's in the bin!

9 comments:

  1. I love the wool winder gadget! They all look so happy in there, waiting their turn to become something beautiful; not that they are not already beautiful.

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    1. Thanks, Kat, for the affirmation of admiration toward the wool winder. When I first got it, I nearly wore out a skein of wool as I wound it and rewound it and rewound it. Yes. Beautiful they all were and more beautiful they have become.

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  2. is it Swedish, that wool winder?! i need one, yes, i do, and can order one from WEBS or get it from my local yarn store, i bet anything. and now, i'm decorating my house, as was suggested by artistic friends (you or marcia or asta or all three of you), with bowls piled high with colorful yarns from my stash. (and the local yard store is having a sale! pray that i won't buy any more yarn, or that i'll limit myself, or that i won't find any i like (ha! as though that will ever happen!), or that a friend from AA who also likes to knit will make me recite the 12 steps, or or or......

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    1. The wool winder may have Swedish roots but I'm certain is Chinese at this point. I don't think they are expensive, and they are such a terrific time saver to say nothing of being gentle with the yarn so it isn't stretched out unnecessarily. Or you will just go and bask in the delicious beauty of the all the fabulous fiber! Have a good time! Buy something for me!

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  3. You could use a swift to replace the knees. i have several beautiful wooden ones and a metal one. they attach to a table top, back of a chair etc. It keeps the yarn more in order and less likely to tangle when using the winder.Also, in an interupted world allows for stop and go, helpful cats and dogs that always get entangled. You can check out- most likely- gimarkra's web page and look up swifts. i found one of mine at a garage sale labeled handkerchef drying rack.
    cheers,
    kathe

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    1. I'll check it out. I've seen those swifts, but thought they were out of my price range. And I do love how efficient they are for the task! Thanks for the nudge, Kathe.

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  4. should be glimarkra not gimarkra.

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  5. i know that WEBS has both the winder and swift for sale, separately or together; i just haven't sprung for one yet.

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    1. If I can locate a cheap one of either or both for you, I'll send it out, Karen.

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