I Am a Yarn Junky

I don't know how it happened, but I am a yarn junky. I don't just buy yarn at stores, I also buy it from garage sales and wherever else I see nice yarn. If that's not bad enough, I also spin my own yarn.

I started spinning because of a fluffy white pygora goat named Q-Tip. Q-Tip was 3 months old when my husband bought her for me for Mother's Day one year. She was half angora goat and half pygmy goat and she looked more like a cotton ball than a Q-Tip, but I didn't name her. Of course, I didn't change her name, either.

Anyway, twice a year she needed shorn. I have a friend who spins, so I gave her the fiber. Eventually, she mentioned that I should learn to spin. I never thought about spinning before. Spinning was something I saw people do at fairs and earth mother type people with long braids and Birkenstocks. I tried my friends' Schact Matchless wheel and was hooked.

I bought an Ashford Traveler double drive wheel from a woman who spun at the local fair, and had her own spinning shop. It was unfinished and unassembled and in a small box. I was disappointed, since I wanted to take it out of the box and spin my heart out. Once the wheel was assembled and finished, I was ready to spin. Easier said than done, I soon discovered.

With much practice and getting my hands and feet coordinated, I was spinning. I was really hooked, now. Spinning is very relaxing, and there's just something about spinning your own yarn.

That led to a small herd of angora goats and 2 more spinning wheels; a Schact Matchless that I bought used for a price I couldn't pass up, and an Ashford Joy I received for my 40^th birthday.

I have become one of "those" people who spin at fairs. I gave spinning demonstrations at local schools and the local library. I have embarrassed my kids by bringing a hand spindle and cotton balls to doctor's appointments and other places that required waiting. I also took the spindle and cotton balls to the fair to spin and was remembered for it the in following years.

I don't think I bought as much yarn as I buy now before I spun. It seems with the store bought yarn, I never have the color I want when I get ready to work on a project. I have to buy more than I need, since I don't want to run out and I'll use the extra for later projects, only it seems I never have the color I want or the amount I need when that time comes. It's a vicious cycle.

As for spinning, I give a good portion of the yarn away and I hoard the rest. I don't want to use it for just any old thing. You see, you can never have enough yarn. Besides all the yarn, I have enough fiber to spin to last me a long time, but, you can also never have enough fiber, either. I have now added crochet thread to my addiction.

Spinners aren't required to wear them, but I also wear my hair in a braid and wear Birkenstocks. I usually spin bare footed.

I am a yarn junky, and proud of it.