i know, i know

The shop is empty. But I have good reasons! I've been busy! I've been cooking! I've been cleaning! I've been reading! I've been working!

Actually, I have 3 skeins on the drying rack in my living room, waiting patiently for a photo shoot and some attention. I'd love to give them and the shop my attention, but things have been absolutely crazy lately. And honestly, as much as I would love to make buckets of cash selling my handspun woolies, that just isn't my thing. Well, not that money isn't my thing, I really wouldn't complain about having more money.

My point is, I really love spinning. I love choosing delicious colors and textures, selecting them either with a particular combination in mind or a spin-as-I-go mentality, supporting other etsy artists who hand dye, paint and/or card their wool, watching movies and laughing with my husband as I spin, stopping for some tea or a snack, reading or doing laundry in between, thinking of dreamy run-on sentences, etc. etc. Opening my etsy shop was more about making connections with other artists/crafters and participating in that wonderful world. I'm not cranking out yarn left and right to make a profit. In fact, in the months that I do anything more than break even, I promptly spend my surplus on vintage dishware or cool prints. Or a "Beards not Bombs" t-shirt for my husband.

If I spun just to make money from it, I doubt I would enjoy it as much as I do. But I work full time in a field that I'm passionate about, and man, sometimes I'm dog tired when I get home. And then there's French classes, the gym, yoga, a half-assed social life (I don't do well with crowds), and a marriage to spent my time with. So spinning is a relaxing, meditative and creative activity for me. And every yarn I produce is special to me, even more so because I get to share them with other crafters.

For instance, I spun Anne-Marie while watching Poirot with M and giggling at the TV as we tried to guess who had committed the crimes and why. Good thing I made it from an incredibly smooth merino/bamboo blend, because I hardly had to pay attention to what was passing through my fingers. And I wonder what the real Anne-Marie's mother will be watching/listening to/thinking about while she knits something out of it for her daughter.

Goldfinger was spun into singles while watching Stargate Atlantis episodes with M, TV marathon style. I plied the 2 singles together while watching even more Atlantis, on a Sunday morning when I couldn't open my hands completely. The wool slid through my poor arthritic fingers, gently coaxing them with soft movements and warmth until I could eventually pedal at full speed and control the forming yarn. I felt content, cozy in my spinning corner and wearing my pajamas, with Mr. Y watching from one side and M from the other. Ok, Mr. Y was really asleep and M was watching Atlantis, but it was still really nice.

I spun Carmen late at night drinking hot water with lemon and honey, listening to Norah Jones and daydreaming about being the queen of a far off land. During my reign as an absolute monarch, I have instituted with little opposition many policies in favor of positive and progressive social change, including a reformed universal healthcare system, free higher education for all, and have made childcare a women's rights issue that has been solved through full employer subsidies and flexible working schedules. I am also setting up a democratic government so I may step down as ruler in order to spend the rest of my life adopting children with my hunky, quiet but intelligent and witty head bodyguard who looks astonishingly similar to Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock. This is a recurring daydream. Possibly more than you wanted to know about me.

Basically, knitting with a handspun yarn is like infusing a snapshot your life in with a snapshot of someone else's. And that's why I do what I do, when I do it.