My beginning with a fascination with fiber
To begin: My name is Stephanie, I am a mother of 3 wonderful boys and married to a wonderful man who loves me despite my fiber obsession. My husband is helping me get my craft room set up with shelves and cubbies so that I can increase my stash supply. LOL 😊 Once it is complete, I will post a picture.
I had never thought of doing a blog before and mostly now I am just wanting to put my thoughts about what I am passionate about and that is Crocheting, Knitting and all things yarn, and fiber related. From acrylic yarn to the fanciest, softest, fluffiest wool yarns. I want to be able to put my thoughts down and share them with anyone who is interested and allow you all to share your opinions as well. Hopefully I can teach someone something they didn’t know and in turn I can learn from you all as well.
When I was a child around age 10 my grandmother tried to teach me how to crochet but being a bit OCD at that age, it was difficult with my initial chain not being perfect (ie. some chains bigger than others) and then I just could not understand how to go back on the chain to start the first row. Needless to say, I quit trying and so my Grams thought me how to Cross Stich and I was able to pick that up rite away and I enjoyed that immensely. Fast forward to about 2012 I am a stay at home mom and my mother in law comes to visit for the holidays and she brings knitting needles and yarn and is knitting I don’t remember what and I thought it look interesting. After she went back home, I went and bought a teach yourself how to knit kit, I got out my laptop and pulled up you tube and google and started learning how to knit. It took some time and I had to get in the mind set that it is not going to be perfect because I have to refine my technique. I definitely enjoy knitting but some things take along time to make especially if you are not sure of the stiches and have to look up the “How To” on line every time. I have made a few things with knitting like blankets and scarves. One of my favorites is a baby blanket I made for a coworker who had a little girl several years ago. It is knitted granny squares, I added a satin back and princess ribbons and the satin border. It was a tough piece and though I felt a great sense of accomplishment, it will be a long time before I make something that involved again.
After a while I wanted to try my hand at my nemesis “Crochet”. Again, the same as when I started with knitting, I had to remember that it is not going to be perfect at first and I will find my rhythm and correct tension with time. I have made a couple blankets for my dog’s and even recently crochet a few berets and scarves. I have started a few larger blankets but ended up running out of a color only to go back to the store that the yarn was from to find out that they discontinued a ” Black”. How do you discontinue the color black. The problem that I have with the doing any larger projects whether in Knitting or Crochet I have a difficult time finding enough yarn to complete the project at the local craft stores in my area. For example, there is a pattern for a lion brand blanket that I want to make that calls for a contrasting yarn but none of my local store’s have enough of either color than I want. It is very frustrating.
Part of what I want to accomplish with this blog is to get people’s opinions about Craft store’s that carry yarn verses an actual yarn and fiber store that specializes in what the fiber community wants and needs from a local yarn and fiber store. I love being able to go to the store and feel the different yarn textures and see the colors. I just wish there was more of a selection at the local craft stores. I see all the different stores on line but they are 2 plus hours away or in a different state, so its not the most convenient thing to go yarn shopping to update my stash or supplies unless I order online. Unfortunately with ordering on line you can not feel the texture or get an accurate color to see if the yarn is even something you would use for any given project, especially if it is a project that is wearable or going to come into contact with baby skin. I would like to be able to walk into a store that sells yarn and see floor to ceiling yarn with different fiber types and colors to choose from. For now, I must satisfy myself with local craft stores and online shopping for my fiber needs.
Thank you for listing to the ramblings of a Fiber Enthusiast. I hope this is the first of many. I love talking about fiber and yarn and all things related. Remember you can never have enough fiber in your life. LOL 😊
Fiber Stash Talk 