At the time, I didn't know what happened, just suddenly, I stopped wanting to spin yarn. I have two beautiful spinning wheels that a delight to use, huge bags full of lovely fibre, and all the skill I need to spin just about any kind of yarn (yeah, I'm not that modest when it comes to my spinning these days.). So why wasn't I spinning?
Every time I saw my wheels sitting neglected, I was awash with guilt for not using them. Like they were neglected friends patiently waiting in the corner for me to pay attention to them.
As much as I still love spinning, I had no motivation to transform fibre into yarn. Why not?
I think I know now why not.
Over the last year or so I have come to realize that my knitting days are finished. The pain in my hands when I pick up the pointy sticks is no longer something I can ignore. Arthritis stopped my knitting before I even got to 30 - insert other self pitting remarks here - so I don't knit any more.
After the usual bout of denial, I decided to revive my etsy shop and start selling off my stash. I started with the handspun yarns and fibres, hoping to move onto some of the commercial yarns littering my stash, later on.
And then it happened!
I found this big bag of extra soft corriedale while sorting through my stash, deciding what to sell. Instead of listing it, I sat down at my wheel and spun.
Why?
Well, I think it's because as fun as creating yarn is, it doesn't fulfil the soul unless it has a purpose beyond being just yarn.
When you think about it, yarn is in a suspended state of becoming something else. If it just sits there being yarn, then it's purpose is unfulfilled. Knowing that people are enjoying my yarn, makes me feel invigorated. It gave me the motivation I needed to do one of the things I love most in the world.
In the end, I'm really thankful to my mentor OB1 who taught me how to spin. Without spinning, I don't think I would have any yarn connections left, now that my hands have....more self pitting remarks about arthritis.
1 comment:
I'm so sorry that knitting is no longer possible for you. However, I'm glad that you can still make use of your wonderful spinning skills, and that other knitters can benefit from it.
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